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“You’re wrong,” I told him pointblank. “I am not like you. You are like me, only a pathetic imitation. You crave attention, and the media gives it to you. Unlike you, I was taught being in the limelight was a terrible thing. You are no more than a diseased rat running around and making a fuss. Me? I’m the fucking exterminator.” Well, technically I wasn’t quite yet, because I’d practically begged my family to let me come to Hillcrest, but he didn’t need to know that.
My family didn’t need college education. We just needed logic, common sense, and hardly any empathy.
“I can’t wait to wrap my hands around that neck and strangle all those pretty words out of you,” Ray muttered, frowning.
“Good luck,” I said, knowing that if something happened to me, the family would return cold, hard justice. If I was hurt or killed, Markus would definitely find the time for me then. “You’re going to need it.”
Ray said nothing, but he never broke eye contact with me as he set down the box. He took his time in standing once the box was on the grass, an omen of what was to come. “For Ash, not you, but I suspect you’ll take it anyway.”
“I’m surprised you didn’t leave it near the front door.”
A killer smile crossed Ray’s face. “This isn’t the type of gift you can leave out in the open, for anyone to find.” He took a step back, then another, then another. Within a few minutes, he was gone, out of the yard completely, leaving me alone with the box, and whatever was inside it.
I waited a long while, focusing on my cigarette and the rapidly beating heart resting in my chest. Had to calm myself down, had to tell myself that the wait would be perfect. We’d get him, and once we did, I would make him lament the day he decided to become obsessed with Ash.
He thought he was the psycho king? Bullshit. I came from an entire family of calculated psychos, and unlike him, we never got caught.
After I finished my cigarette and threw the butt on the patio, I moved into the grass and went for the shoebox. I brought it back to the patio, setting it on the glass table before lifting the lid and revealing what was inside.
I’d like to think I was shocked at what I saw, but I wasn’t. Ray seemed like the type of guy who thought body parts made good gifts. With how Ash acted when she spoke of Ray, I knew body parts weren’t what she wanted. This box…and the fingers inside it were things she would not see.
The shoebox was lined with plastic to stop any blood from staining its cardboard. The fingers rolling around in it looked to belong to the same person, long and slender and…
Hold on.
The fingernails were painted green and brown, reminding me of a camo pattern. Who did I know who wore a camo pattern?
I knew. I knew even before I abandoned the box to grab my phone inside the house. It was on the nightstand near Ash’s head, and I unplugged it as quietly as I could before heading back out. The box hadn’t moved, not that I expected it to. I searched the bitch’s name, and a whole flurry of news articles popped up.
Stanton student missing, three weeks ago. Brooklyn had survived the night of the Halloween party only to be taken by a serial killer. A part of me wanted to laugh—and the other part of me grew angry. I thought body parts wouldn’t be the way to Ash’s heart, but the fingers of the girl who’d convinced someone to rape her and hit her with her car? Those might actually be body parts she’d accept.
How did Ray find out about what happened? Did he overhear us talking in the house, or did Ash tell him while she was with him? Either way, didn’t matter much now. Brooklyn had disappeared off Stanton’s campus the week after the party, not a trace of her had been seen—well, other than her fingers right now, that was. Ray had kidnapped her, but instead of a happily ever after like he wanted with Ash, Brooklyn was simply the way back into Ash’s heart.
Well, I’d be lying if I said I didn’t think about killing Brooklyn myself, not to mention that Batman freak. Still, I’d held back, knowing I’d already gone crazy enough on the Batman kid—and Brooklyn had seen it. No, my plan was to let them be for now, and if they ever made another entrance in our lives, then maybe they’d take a long walk off a short pier.
But Ray had beat me to it. Ray had Brooklyn, and I wondered if he also had Batman.
Didn’t matter. Ash wasn’t going to see what was in this box. I didn’t like hiding things from her, but with Thanksgiving on the horizon and Markus’s aid so close, I couldn’t take any chances. I didn’t think she’d leave me for him, but…Ray was persistent. Ash was the opposite of stable when it came to her ex, and if you tossed some body parts into that equation, I knew she might just break again.
No, she couldn’t know about this. I didn’t enjoy the prospect of lying to her, but what else could I do?
Chapter Twenty – Ash
My mom’s voice spoke through the phone, “I’m sorry I won’t be able to come earlier honey. I wish I could, but these clients have been trying to get photos taken at the park for ages, and the weather’s been shitty over here, so—”
“It’s okay, Mom,” I told her, because it was. Honestly, the less time my mom spent with me, the better. “Really, I’ll be fine. I’ll be with Declan and Dean Briggs.” And Will, but Mom didn’t need to know how well I knew Will right now. We’d definitely have to talk about the ground rules before my mom arrived. Such as no outright ogling, no fondling, no touching at all. “I’m sure they’ll entertain me.”
“I’ll have to swing by the store later, make something to thank Dean Briggs for everything—”
“Mom,” I cut in, knowing she’d go on and on about it for as long as I’d let her, “you don’t have to bring anything. They have money coming out of their asses. I’m sure they have it all covered.”
“Language, honey.”
“Right, sorry.” I rolled my eyes. Declan and I were in our dorm room, for the first time in what felt like forever, packing up everything we’d need for our little trip to his house. Mom was sad that I wouldn’t get to go home for break, but she was also thankful she didn’t have to cook turkey and all that. Even though it was just the two of us, she always felt like she needed to do the whole shebang, have a huge Thanksgiving and basically leftovers for a week straight.
Ray…all had been quiet on the Ray front, which I found odd and not like him, but after the craziness that was my life lately, I’d take it. Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth and all that.
“All right,” Mom said, “I’ll see you Thursday then. I feel like it’s been so long since I’ve seen you. I miss you so much.”
