Slenderman Read online

  “Me too,” Rian agreed.

  That drew Jo’s attention. Rian liked everyone. There were few people he didn’t immediately befriend. It was part of his bright personality. But these two he didn’t like. “Why?”

  “Because they’re hi-level bridge trolls,” Evan replied.

  Confused, Jo looked to Sullivan but found the same befuddled frown on his face.

  “I don’t understand.” Jo stepped over to the table.

  “Well, like a bridge troll. They’re kind of sneaky hiding under the bridge, so you don’t see they’re a troll until you’re already out on the shaky bridge. Then they jump out and kill you or cut the ropes on the bridge,” Evan explained, zipping his case shut.

  Sullivan scratched his chin. “How do they do that?”

  “Okay, say I achieved a level 60 in my range attack. Everyone in our clan would say stuff like ‘Grats!’ or ‘WTG!’ for way to go. Spacedog would say ‘That’s great, but level 80 is better. I have so many other armors or weapons I can equip.’“

  “Like a backhanded compliment,” Jo said.

  Rian looked at Evan, and they shook their heads. “No, like a bridge troll.”

  Leaving the term alone, Jo pulled open the file of clean photos of their victims. “Do any of these look like QueenAmethyst or Spacedog?”

  “We never chatted with them face-to-face. We had some group convos with them, but those don’t have pictures,” Rian said flipping through the pictures again.

  “So you don’t know what they look like?”

  The boys shook their heads. “But we know a lot of the ones that went missing. You only have eight we know of, but before Queen and Dog went off the grid, we were up to fifty-one that left us.”

  That caught her attention. “How do you know the exact count?” It wasn’t possible their serial killer had killed that many.

  “Because I keep track of who leaves, when they leave, why they leave, their rank, and if we would allow them to rejoin,” Evan stated.

  “Why?” Jo was out of her depth trying to follow the paths of an online group like this.

  Rian’s eyes widened as if she were an idiot. “We do that to keep the ex-members who are jerks from coming back. We don’t even allow some of them to visit.”

  “But the others visit?” Sullivan joined them.

  “Most of them. Some unfriend us so we can’t see their experience gains. So of the fifty-one, maybe thirty visit our chat regularly as guests, and we have about half as friends on Facebook.”

  Fifty-one was a good place to start. They could always broaden the list if it was needed, but her gut said this was their best shot.

  “Send me the full member list and a separate list with the fifty-one, Evan.” Jo passed him a card with her email address on it.

  Chapter 6

  The basement gym was large. Scuffed white walls took up two walls. Half the room had no wall or barrier it opened into a hallway. Straight ahead were the stairs that led to the upstairs hallway, and to the right of the stairs was the media room with gaming stations set up each with their own television. Overstuffed leather couches and chairs were strewn throughout the room, easy to push back when they wanted to play one of the more active games that required dancing, skiing, or throwing a bowling ball. To the left of the stairs was another hallway that led to a sauna and showers. Jo was impressed with all the equipment set up in the gym.

  Spongy mats were set up on one side as a martial arts ring but could quickly be pushed aside to turn the area into a sparring ring. The other side held various machines that could be found in a top-notch gym. Mirrors circled the area so they could watch their forms when weight training. Jo didn’t use the weights much. Instead, she worked out on the machines or on the mats. Her favorite pastime was watching Rhys at the free weights. Sweat slicking his toned arms and darkening the fur on his chest. The shower after always ended with them making love against the tiles downstairs the door firmly locked. With his residency’s erratic schedule, it was rare for both to be in the gym at the same time. She couldn’t wait until that piece of his schooling ended.

  “Watch your guard, Rian,” Joseph commanded.

  Jo flinched as Rian hit the mat again. Never in a million years had she thought she would invite her biological dad into her life. And especially into her home to train her, Rhys, and Rian. But here they were.

  After Rhys’s abduction last year, she was determined they both be in top form to defend themselves if it ever happened again. Rhys had held his own with her. But Rian was like a puppy hopping all over the place and using moves better left in the gaming world as they had no place in a real fight. The thump of Rian’s larger frame slamming into the mat drew an exasperated huff from Rhys. His arms crossed, she forced herself to look away from all his skin on display. In a black sleeveless shirt and shorts, she wished they were alone and headed for those showers in the back. He’d already slipped on his white socks and black tennis shoes while she was distracted by Rian and Joseph.

  “He’ll get it, eventually.” Jo patted his arm.

  “I should’ve re-enrolled him in Karate years ago. My parents had him taking classes when he was younger. After the accident, the doctors were concerned about him being punched in the face or back of the head—”

  Jo froze. “Now?”

  “Oh no, now it’s fine. He’s had plenty of time for his brain to heal as well as it can, and if you notice your dad—”

  “Bio-dad. Dad is reserved for Carl.” Jo loved Carl as her own father. He’d adopted her and brought her and her mother into his family. And though she was forming a bond with her biological father, their budding relationship didn’t diminish her feelings for Carl.

  “Okay, your bio-dad, which sounds sci-fi-y, takes great care not to hit Rian in the head. He’s kept it strictly to tossing him to the mat and hitting his body.”

  It was nice that Rian could have ties to both of Jo’s fathers. He enjoyed fishing with Carl even if he talked all the fish away, as Carl said. And he enjoyed sparring and learning all the intricate ways to protect himself from Joseph.

  “Rian! I won’t warn you again watch the guard. Otherwise, I’ll have you scrubbing toilets, boy.” Joseph’s sharp bark jerked them all to attention.

  “Is this really necessary?” Rian asked between pants of breath.

  “Yes,” Joseph and Rhys stated at the same time with almost the same commanding tone. Then Joseph took control and walked Rian through a series of forms which would have helped him defend against Joseph’s attacks.

  “Rhys, you said your parents put you and Rian in Karate to prevent kidnappings.”

  He nodded.

  Jo took a few steps away from the ring and waited for Rhys to join her. “Was it because of their money?”

  “Yes.” Rhys tugged at the ends of his hair and tipped his head back.

  It always came back to his family’s money. Sharon had used Rhys for his money. Rhys had been hesitant to invite Jo to his house when they first started dating because of his bank account. And Jo took a lot of flak at work because of his wealth.

  “Someday you’re going to trust me enough to tell me how much you have. Especially now that I signed a prenup.” Jo turned to him hoping he wouldn’t explode. The prenup had been a sticking point for them. She wanted one. He told her it was a matter of trust. She disagreed.

  Rhys’s gold gaze bore into her. “You what?”

  “Seemed like the thing to do. I never want you to think I married you for your money. So I made damn sure to protect you. Even though you were just as adamant I not sign one.” She wrapped her arms around his waist. He smelled of sweat and man, and she leaned her head on his shoulder to enjoy it. “What does it matter? It’s a piece of paper, just like the marriage certificate. We’re committed to each other and are in this for the long haul.
No scribblings on pieces of paper will make or break us, even ones denoting currency. Because our hearts belong to each other.”

  Rhys pressed a kiss to her temple. “I love it when you get mushy.”

  She shoved him away as she grabbed two water bottles from the fridge. “Whatever.”

  “Are people at work still giving you a hard time?” He took the water she passed him as they made their way over to the machines.

  She wanted to tell him she could handle it. The wealth was a challenge, and one she hated. It hadn’t come up until last spring when Rhys had dragged Jo around as his plus one to all the charity dinners. There were so many she lost track after a while and still couldn’t remember which rubber chicken had tasted better. Even the rubber steak tasted like ash when all eyes were focused on her. The limelight and she did not mix, and her conversations came across more like an interrogation than chatting.

  “Jo?”

  “Some. I had an officer stop by and ask if we would be willing to contribute to a few of the police charities now.”

  “If that’s something you want, I’ll be more than happy to go over our finances later.” He hopped on the treadmill, and she took the elliptical.

  She didn’t know if it was something she wanted. There were so many causes that touched her. One was the group that helped families of fallen cops. Another was a youth shelter on Southside that helped teens kicked out of their houses. But did she want that much responsibility? That much wealth most times led to people with too much power.

  “You know you could just give it away.” Her gaze sought his in the mirror across from them.

  Sweat sleeked muscles worked under his black tank top and loose gym shorts. His hair was a dark gold instead of the multi-colored wheat, blond, white, and lighter strawberry. But it was the play of golden skin as he jogged next to her that had her mis-stepping on the elliptical and almost pitching off the machine.

  “Pay attention, hon. You can ogle me later.” He chuckled.

  “You’re such an ass sometimes.” She flipped him off and faced forward.

  “Oh, don’t think I’m not checking you out in that tight halter top and bike shorts. They might be black, but they don’t hide a thing,” he teased then sobered. “As for giving it away,” a deep sigh. “I can’t. My dad taught me we are stewards of the money. If I give it away in one lump sum, I can’t monitor where it’s going. I can’t say, No, the soup kitchen needs this more than this. Or the hospital needs this above that machine they already have five of. Another thing Dad said was once we gave it away in a lump sum then the money was gone. It wouldn’t grow to help the organization. It’d be spent because most of the non-profits can’t carry much money over to a new year. I’m not sure why and I didn’t think to ask back then.”

  “And you grow the money?” Jo tried to wrap her head around having enough money to support several endeavors while still keeping enough in reserves to grow. And as he rarely talked about his wealth, Jo worried.

  “Yes, this way the projects my parents hold dear will do more than survive, they thrive as I keep a portion back to always make sure they’re funded. Oh, they always need more money, that’s never the question, but with the way my father set it up they can stay afloat in lean times.”

  “What about projects you hold dear?”

  Rhys tipped his head from side to side. “Rian and I have a few. One is GlenCare, where he attends school during the week. There are those less fortunate than him who can’t afford the fees so I’ve set up a trust to make sure those that need the care can receive it. It’s not bottomless, but it helps some.”

  “And you?”

  “Recently, I’ve been looking into donating to more of the youth shelters like the one you volunteer at. I’ve always felt like we should invest in our youth. Those youths will be the ones taking care of us when we grow old. So we need to take care of them now.”

  Jo’s heart lurched to hear the underlying passion in Rhys’s voice. He might sound calm and collected, but underneath she could hear the tremble of his voice as if he wanted to jump on a soapbox and rail at the injustices. She understood. Especially the youth center. It was a group she was passionate about too. And though she didn’t have much money to donate, she always carved out a few days a month to teach self-defense. Every time she went, Rian tagged along like a shadow. Making friends everywhere he went, Rhys had only gone a handful of times so far, but she knew that would change in the future.

  It was one reason she wanted to be a foster parent. She dreamed of helping some of those kids who just needed a leg up so they could have an amazing life. With Rhys, the dream was closer to reality since her job’s hours weren’t as stable as his hours would be.

  Taking a sip from her water, she gathered her thoughts. “Have you ever thought of either fostering or adopting?”

  Rhys turned his head and beamed at her. “Yes. I know we’ve talked about having our own kids, but I really want to open our home as well . . . ” he went through the details, and Jo knew at that moment they were soulmates.

  No one else understood why she wanted to foster kids. Yes, she still wanted to have children, but why couldn’t she do both? Not until they were settled at their new jobs of course, but it was nice to know they were on the same page in this as with so many other pieces.

  She hoped when she finally broke down and told Rhys about Rian helping her on the new serial killer case, it wouldn’t break them. That was one area they had very different views on, how much to shelter Rian and how much to give him the unvarnished truth. She felt like Rian needed to be prepared and Rhys wanted to protect his little brother. Especially after the Skinned case. Rhys had become even more protective of his brother. They’d agreed to disagree, but with Rian’s involvement yesterday she might have crossed a line. She hoped it wasn’t a line Rhys would hold against her.

  Just as she opened her mouth to fill Rhys in, Ian and Redden walked into the personal gym. She brought the elliptical to a stop and hopped down, unsure whether she should join them or stay near Rhys.

  “Jo, you weren’t kidding, this place has everything,” Ian said.

  Redden, who told Jo to call him Tom at which point she’d rolled her eyes and said Redden worked fine for her, stopped with Ian next to the sparring area. She was used to calling the man Redden and didn’t want to remember another name. Blair was easier to transition to Ian. She hadn’t known him that long and everyone but Jo called him Ian. Now he was Ian to her too.

  “Hi, I’m Ian Blair, and this is Tom Redden,” Ian held his hand out to Joseph who took it and gave it a shake before doing the same to Redden’s hand.

  “Joseph Smith.” Joseph’s gaze tangled with Jo’s but directed his question to the two men. “How do you know Rhys?”

  “We don’t. We’re working with Jo on the Slenderman case—”

  “I’m helping,” Rian all but shouted interrupting Ian.

  “Helping?” Rhys’s voice was whisper soft as he jumped off the treadmill. “How’re you helping, Ri?”

  Jo swallowed hard pushing the nerves creeping up the back of her throat down to her stomach again. Rhys came to stand in front of her, his tawny-colored eyes frosty. Silent accusations flew like jagged shards from his gaze and bored into her.

  “Well, a lot of the pictures they had were people me and Evan knew—”

  “Knew?” Rhys’s frown morphed into a scowl.

  She was in trouble. How much? She didn’t know, but she saw Rhys’s warmth slowly drain away leaving a frozen wasteland the more Rian talked.

  “Yeah, from Legends of Stone.”

  Rhys swung away from her, and Jo could finally breathe. The anger at her involving Rian in this case poured from Rhys in waves. “Your online game?”

  Rian’s grin broadened at having his brother’s entire attention. “Yes. She just needed names
of people we’ve noticed who have gone silent. It was really easy.”

  Joseph seemed to understand Rhys was about to lose it and slapped Rian on his shoulders. “Come on, my man. Let’s see what Marta made us for breakfast.” Joseph motioned for the two agents to come too.

  It wasn’t until they heard the scrape of the upstairs door closing that Rhys unleashed his rage.

  “I told you after getting shot I did not want your cases touching Rian—”

  “Rhys, you know I wouldn’t pull him into anything dangerous. I always watch out for both of you.” Jo scrubbed a hand through her hair loosening her ponytail. “Do you want me to move the stuff from my office? We can use a conference room in the basement at the precinct, but it means longer hours for me.”

  His fingers rubbed over his face and speared through his hair. “It’s just a list like he said, right?”

  Jo remained silent unsure how much information to share right now. She wanted to lay it all out between them. No secrets. But she’d learned after many arguments with Rhys it was better to walk away and give each other a chance to cool off first. With how volatile this was, it might take a few days for him to calm down.

  When he didn’t fill the silence, Jo took the easiest path. Her hope. To approach him when he wasn’t reliving his kidnapping on her last big case. The same one where Rian had almost been taken as well. “Yes.”

  “And it’s just to help him feel like he’s contributing, not because this is wrapped around him, right?”

  “At the moment it’s a bit of both—”

  “Jesus, Jo. It’s Skinned all over again.”

  “It’s not.” She saw he wasn’t listening to anything she said. Her defenses wanted to come up, but she forced them back. Rhys had a right to be angry, she had kept this from him. Not on purpose but dragging it out until the right time. One thing she should have remembered, secrets were always revealed before the keeper of them wanted. She was a cop, so she knew that better than anyone else.