Page 14 of Headless Hollow

“Fine, I’ll help you do this. But Izzy, I’ll never forgive myself if I fail you. If he hurts you…I might as well tell him to rip my heart from my chest. It will kill me if you get hurt, and I can’t stop him.”

“You’re not going to lose me, I promise.” I glanced at the door. “Will you walk me in?”

“Of course.” He smiled like I was his whole world. The Headless Horseman was about to find out just out protective I could be.

Nine

Izzy

I’d never considered the office unnerving before. With as many bodies that had been wheeled through the halls and the feeling that their ghosts were pleading with me to find out what happened, I had always been calm doing what I did. But as we stepped inside the dark building, a chill swept through my body.

Re-locking the door, I walked over to the security panel and put in the code. The light shined green, not that it mattered. The Horseman had already proven that if he wanted in, he would find a way, and no alarm was stopping him. Our feet echoed down the hallway, and as if the lights were wanting to play a joke on me, the fluorescent bulbs flickered and hummed.

“Does the police station get like this,” I asked, just so that it wasn’t so quiet.

“Rarely. We always have two to three officers on through the night, and of course, the 911 operators for the entire county are there 24/7.”

I already knew that, but the sound of Branson’s voice was comforting as we waited for the elevator. The little arrow dinged as the car arrived, and my body jerked from the sound. Was I crazy thinking I could use myself as bait? Yes, I definitely was, but he was coming at me anyway. At least if we purposely drew him in then there was a higher chance of catching him and not ending up with our heads removed.

We stepped out of the elevator, and I froze before waving my hands in the air.

“What’s wrong,” Branson asked as I reached back and held the doors open.

“The sensor lights aren’t coming on.” We had been pulling so many late hours that I’d given everyone the day off, which normally wouldn’t be an issue, but that was before we had a serial killer who decided to leave my ex’s head on my pillow.

“Is there a manual switch?”

“Yes, but it’s at the end of the hall near the morgue,” I said.

“Great spot to have it,” Branson drawled. “Well, we all know that every good apocalypse movie starts with a morgue and the bodies banging inside the cold cabinets.”

“Are you trying to freak me out?”

Branson laughed. “Is it working?”

“You’re a jerk,” I teased as he pulled out his phone and turned on the flashlight.

“Maybe I just want you to cuddle closer.” He shined the light around. Nothing seemed out of place, and no one was hiding in the shadows.

“Trust me, there are easier ways to get me to cuddle than scaring the daylights out of me. That will get you a swift punch to the face.”

“Noted.” He laughed again and looked down at me, making me swallow hard. He’d always had the most alluring and intoxicating eyes. My heart thumped harder in my chest. “You’re going to have to let go of the elevator for us to walk to the end of the hall.”

I really didn’t want to let go of our escape route, but I nodded and moved my hand. The light it offered disappeared as it closed. Every little sound was enhanced like my body was hyper aware and all my senses were on high alert. The thump of our shoes and the sound of our breathing only notched up my anticipation. Unable to help myself I looked over my shoulder and wished I hadn’t as I stared at the pitch-black void and the only source of light, a softly glowing exit sign.

Reaching the end of the hall, Branson shined the light onto the four switches before flicking them up. There was a moment of hesitation, but the bulbs flashed and then began to warm.

I pushed open the morgue door and screamed as something hit my leg. It took a second to realize that it was a cat as it raced down the hall.

“How the hell did a cat get in here,” I asked, more terrified than I was before. We were never allowed animals as they compromised the collection of evidence. The gun-metal grey cat reached the end and then whipped down the far hallway, obviously scared to death.

Branson pulled his gun, all joking disappearing from his face. “Hold the door open,” he said as he stepped over the threshold and turned on the lights inside the room that used to be my safe space. I hated that this guy was all up in my business. The head in my home…okay, it was sick, but I actually got that. This was a different game altogether. He was toying with me and ruining every single place I was comfortable. My family home and the lipstick, Branson’s place, and now my work, where I spent so much time alone.

Branson walked through the morgue looking in every container and dark space—not that there was much in the way of furniture or things to hide behind—and then walked to my closed office door. I held my breath as he turned the handle and pushed. Nothing jumped out, and I knew it was all clear when he put the gun away.

“Jesus,” Branson said, and immediately, the relief washed away once more.

I didn’t know if I wanted to see what he was staring at, but I walked up to the door and gasped as I stared at my office. The once tidy space looked like a chaos bomb had exploded, except the chaos was all pictures of me. My stomach fell through the floor as my eyes bounced around the office.