Page 119 of I Never Stopped Loving You

That’s why I do it. That’s why I hunt down and kill every last one of them who manage to slip through the cracks. No one saved her or her mother. She never got her justice. Or her revenge, but maybe someday she will.

“What number is this one, Killer?” my second prey still decides to speak.

“Why does it matter? They deserve it. You all do.”

He laughs, and the sound is more like a cracking wheeze.

“What’s so funny?” I ask.

“How long have you had me down here for?” he asks.

“Four years,” I reply, never looking at him.

“Four years…That’s a long time to keep someone alive, so I’ve had a lot of time to think. Oh, it’s forty-two by the way. I’ve had to listen while forty-two men had their lives ended by you. And it’s always the same kind of men. Abusers and murderers. So that got me thinking.”

He coughs, and I can hear the rattle in his chest. If I don’t find her soon, she won’t get the chance to seek her revenge. The fucker will get off easy and not have to face what he did to her.

“Why have you kept me alive all these years? After those first few torture sessions, you’ve eased up on the pain. I almost miss it, you know…It made my mind stable knowing the pain meant that I was still alive, but this…Fuck. This is the real torture. So tell me, Killer. Why do you keep me alive?” he asks.

He tilts his head at me. I don’t bother with the blindfold anymore with him. He’s still naked and restrained, but that’s all.

“You’re not mine to kill,” I say flatly.

He laughs again before the wheeze is cut off by violent coughs that have his whole body shaking. He's left gasping as his grimace turns to a smile.

“You give them all the same deal. If they guess who you are, you’ll let them go. Do I get that same deal?”

“No,” I snap, and his grin only widens.

Like the creepy demented clowns at the horror circus Angela dragged me to last week, he smiles. Most of his teeth are cracked or missing. The remaining ones are black and faded with decay. Blood, and God only knows what else, fills in the gaps of his smile.

“I know who you are, Killer. It’s taken years to remember the finer details from all those years ago, but things finally make sense…and you just fucking confirmed it.”

“I didn’t confirm shit,” I bite.

Unfortunately, my rage can be heard even in my electronic voice, and it only makes him happier. He knows I won’t kill him. Not when I’m saving him for her.

“A young boy, maybe a year or so older than my sweet baby girl. You used to hang around my house too often. You were obsessed with her back then, and you still are today. Aren’t you…Noah.”

I feel like I’ve been kicked in the balls. My stomach nearly heaves when I hear him say my name. All this time, I thought his mind was broken, cracked, and on the verge of completely shutting down. But I should have known a monster like him couldn’t have been broken so easily.

“I still can’t believe after all these years you still love her. If you haven’t found her yet, you never will. I searched for that little bitch and never found her, so what makes you think you can?”

I don’t answer. I can't give him the satisfaction of knowing he rattled me. No. I need to stay strong.

“Come on, Killer. Tell me I’m wrong. Tell me you’re not still obsessed with my baby girl. If you end up finding her, let her know Daddy’s missed her,” he laughs, and it takes everything in me not to slit his throat. If I do, then the last few years will have all been for nothing. I need to get out of here before I kill him.

I quickly make my way back through the maze to the stairs. His dry cackle follows me all the way, haunting each step I take until I’m out. I lock the door before climbing the steps back into my house.

I’ll kill Rayes tomorrow night. I can’t go back down there right now. I can’t listen to him, or I’ll fucking kill him.

James Parker's life isn’t mine to take.

It's always been hers.

CHAPTER 53

WILLOW