Page 69 of A New Days Don

My heart skitters as I recall his beautiful brown eyes. Ones that make my core warm at the memory of how intensely he used to look at me. Then the image of how disconnected and cold he looked over his victim hits me like a freight train, and I slam the memories away.

I received the next address shortly after.

I regretted the moment I shared the information, but I am desperate, and it didn’t seem too invasive, just enough to see if I could get T to spill more in our little game.

The clock keeps ticking, and I am no closer to my answer on who is doing this. However, it delivered much more than a note and skull this time. With the note lay three heads and some wallets with drugs and identification in them. Clearly, I satisfied the depraved individual stringing me along.

Every piece of evidence left for me has been sent to forensics. I have kept clear and detailed documentation of everything, yet I am still eons behind.

My phone buzzes, and my heart races at the sound. Like Pavlov’s dogs, my body has become finely tuned to the sound of the vibration and the unknown voice that awaits me on the other side. I watch as my hand reaches out for it and my vision narrows. It’s as if this hand is not mine, yet at the same time, the response to grab it is almost autonomic by now.

I want to scream. I want to snap at the unknown voice that has slowly been driving me to the point of breaking with each new crumb of information, and I would have done so already if it weren’t for the fact that this unknown number, as ominous and vague as it is, is providing me with crucial pieces to my puzzle.

I know T expects me to provide more information about myself, but I can’t. After spilling what I know about James and the ring, I don’t have anything else to give him. Anything worth spilling for more confusing riddles and rhymes that make no sense.

I toss my phone to the end of my bed, refusing to answer the creep before pulling out my notebook. All five skulls were taken for dental records and analysis. Two of the five were identified.

Leanne Thomas and Phoebe Manning.

Both were barely twenty when they went missing, and based on the degradation of their bones, they were killed shortly after. My anonymous texter has been handing me the skulls of more victims.

When my phone vibrates again, I begrudgingly pick it up.

A scream of frustration works its way up my throat, and when I begin to text back, I feel my stomach churn and my world spin. I need to stop. Nothing good will come out of this, but I can’t. Not when Vicek and his team are covering something up. I can only trust myself and the details I uncover. Everything else in that case is tainted.

What I don’t say is how the nightmares have all but stopped since meeting Massimo. Even though we don’t talk anymore, if I ever see him again, I will have him arrested for what I saw. My mind still finds comfort in his scent and warmth. To the point that I fall asleep picturing his warmth holding me and keeping me safe. It has become a ritual to avoid the nightmares, and when I wake up, I swear I can smell his scent like a ghost in the air around me.

T sends me the new address almost instantly after I provide them with that little piece of me.

Chapter 29

Massimo

Mila tosses and turns on her bed. Restlessness keeps her body alert even while her brain tries to slip into unconsciousness. Just like every night since she drove away, I slip through the darkness to her bedside. Her brain registers my presence almost instantly as I kneel beside her and caress some stray hairs away from her face.

Each tense line relaxes, and a whimper slips from between her soft lips.

“I’ve got you, sweetheart,” I murmur softly, and her body slips towards me from between her sheets.

She may think she wants me gone and out of her life, but I see the way her body relaxes, her eyes under her lids stop their rapid, jerky movements, and her brain calms.

I tried to stay away from her, to give her space, but it didn’t last long. The first night, she woke up screaming in terror, a sound that still sends me to the edge of madness as I think about it. I sped to her home and snuck in to rest with her. I didn’t think she would calm the way she did, but her body sought out my warmth and all the tension built up relaxed.

I don’t know what I would say or do if she woke up and saw me. I probably would get on my knees and beg her forgiveness while she screamed and yelled at me. I don’t beg, but I would learn to grovel harder than a man begging for his next hit of cocaine.

Her body becomes heavy against the mattress, signalling she is deep in sleep. I strip my clothes down to my boxers before slowly crawling up the bed beside her, sliding myself against her soft warmth. Like every other night, Mila turns and presses her face into my chest and after a day of longing for her, I feel at peace.

My phone vibrates, making her shift.

“This had better be good,” I growl over the phone. Every minute away from watching Mila and ensuring her safety during these treasure hunt investigations, which she has been going on almost every night, feels like days without her.

Ren managed to get access to her phone and email logs. She is texting some unknown number that has been toying with her. Irritation burns deep in the pit of my stomach. The second I get my hands on the bastard who thinks they can play with Mila, they are going to beg for their death.

Ren has tried to track the number, but it’s a burner. It only turns on periodically and at random. When it does, it isn’t consistent with which cell towers it connects to, so by the time we have a location and arrive there, whoever is messing with her is long gone.

“Whoever is using the phone has it on and is staying put. North end of Vegas. I will send you the address and coordinates now.” My phone vibrates with a message from Ren, and I quickly input it into my GPS.

I speed down the street, swerving in and out of traffic as I head for the location. The opulent lights of Vegas whir by in a blur. Slowly, the casinos blend into hotels that blend into condominiums. Despite the drive being relatively smooth, my body is tense as I quickly analyze the possibilities of where I’m headed.