AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Yeah, I could do Saturday.” He takes another swig and smacks his lips.
I pull my phone from my back pocket and swipe to answer the call. “I’ll only be a moment,” I say to the man at the bar.
Heading for the front of the building, I bring the phone to my ear. “Bennett, I’m a bit busy. Is there any chance this could wait?”
“Are we talking elbows-deep-in-a-vic kind of busy? Or muff-diving kind of busy? If it’s the second one, send her my way when you’re done.” My brother was raised in America, so he lacks my refined accent. And manners.
“First, you’re disgusting. Second, neither. I’ve got one on the hook, so if you don’t mind?—”
“Two more just signed on for the trip.”
I grip the phone a little tighter. With every new name that appears on the trip roster, the odds of meeting my idol increase.
HBK.
The Heartbreak Killer.
The vast majority of serial killers choose to enter this hobby as an outlet for some frustration in their lives. Strange sexual urges, a need for power—the reasons are endless. But a rare few are vigilantes like me. We kill as a way to end the suffering of so many.
And the secretive Heartbreak Killer is one of us.
“Names?” I ask.
Fingers clack on a keyboard, and then my brother says, “The Sunshine Strangler and The Cat Scratch Killer.”
“The Cat Scratch Killer? What a stupid fucking name.”
“To be fair, over half of the provided names appear to be made up. I haven’t heard of most of these people. At this point, you may be the only one Ihaveheard of.”
I’m not surprised. Many of the attendees are probably first timers. Too scared to put down their real names, they prefer to make something up. By the end of the retreat, their MO will shine like a beacon in the night and tell me who they really are. I can only hope that one of them enjoys cutting a heart from the chest and leaving it in the victim’s dominant hand.
Discovering people’s secrets is a gift, really, and I use it often. That’s why I’m a private detective. The only person to elude me has been the Heartbreak Killer.
“Have you received the flight plans yet?” I ask.
“Yeah, but they canceled the private flight on Sunday because there weren’t enough people to fly out. Now we need to take acommercial flight on Saturday, spend the night in Miami, then catch the private jet to the island from there.”
Well, shit. Looks like I’ll have to cancel that poker game.
“Don’t get your hopes up too high,” Bennett adds. “The odds of HBK learning about the retreat are already slim. The odds of him showing up are even lower.”
“It could be a woman. You never know,” I say.
“And what if HBK turns out to be a man? You gonna get on your knees and suck him off?”
I shrug. “I might consider myself an equal-opportunity sex god for the right person.”
“Sex god?” Bennett huffs a single laugh into the phone. “A blind gynecologist sees more pussy than you do.”
“Are you kidding? With looks like mine, I’m spoilt for choice.”
“Jesus fuck. Don’t start with the British lingo.”
I glance back at the woman who made a move on me earlier. “I’m only stating the obvious. I could have any woman I wanted if I actually found someone worth wanting. In the interim, I have my right hand and the internet.”
The man at the end of the bar tosses back the rest of his drink and eases off the barstool.
“I gotta run,” I say before ending the call and stuffing the phone into my pocket.
