I opened them again, forcing myself to see. There were more pictures. He was getting braver now. Parker sleeping, her bare legs sticking out from under the blankets. Parker looking less annoyed and more scared.
And then a picture of her looking traumatized in her nightgown. Huge blue eyes in her pale and frightened face. Her hands clutching the top of her nightgown to hold it in place. He must have taken it when he came into her room. During.
She couldn’t have been older than fifteen.
I cursed, feeling bile rise in my throat. I had seen enough.
“Anything else? Other kiddie pics?”
If he had them, I wanted him to go to jail. Not for Parker. I wouldn’t put her through that. But it would be easy enough to make an anonymous tip. I knew Trace was more than ready to do it. Cain too.
“No! I swear! I’m not a monster. She was just so perfect. I didn’t mean to. I couldn’t help myself.”
I stared at him, my finger feeling mighty twitchy. I stood there for a long fucking time. The picture of Parker on the screen was the only thing that held me in check.
“Please . . .”
I holstered my gun, flicking on the safety. Then I pulled out the bottle of lighter fluid I had in my inside pocket. His eyes got wide.
“Do you have a fire extinguisher?”
He nodded.
“In the garage.”
“Okay, so when I leave, you are going to get the fire extinguisher and put this out. You are not going to call the police. I have your computer backed up remotely. I already knew you had the photos. I will be more than happy to send your punk ass to jail.”
“I won’t tell the police.”
“You like hurting little girls, is that it? You sick fuck?”
“No. I never wanted to hurt her. I love her.”
“That’s what you think love is?” I showed him my knife and pointed it at his dick. “If you ever touch a little girl again, or anyone who isn’t your wife, I will remove this. Along with your hands.”
He started crying then. Satisfied, I squirted lighter fluid all over his computer. Then I stood back and lit a match.
I grabbed his hand and held it on the desk while the computer burned. Acrid smoke filled the air.
“This is what you did to her. But you deserve a lot worse.”
I grabbed his index finger and yanked it back. He howled in agony.
“You’d better get your wife to pick you up a splint from the drugstore. The hospital would ask too many questions.”
I walked out, hearing the guy whimper behind me. That was good. he was still conscious. If he passed out, the fire would probably kill him.
And no matter how shitty her mother was, I knew Parker didn’t want me to burn her house down.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Killer
Three little piggies. Three pretty little piggies.
I was perched high above them, watching them from the roof over the neighbor’s garage. Yes, they had security. Yes, Mason was home and too big to tangle with. And yes, that sonofabitch Cain and his security detail were riding by once every few hours.
My blade still craved Cain’s woman. But these three piggies were tempting me even more.
Especially the ripe one with the curves. I liked curves on a woman. As a man, I liked them, and I liked them even more as an flesh artist. There was so much you could do with a curvy woman and a knife.
The possibilities were truly endless.
Shane was nowhere to be seen. Had he broken up with the curvy one? That would make it less satisfying to send him little bits and pieces of her wrapped up in a box with a big bow.
It wouldn’t stop me though. I just needed a place to work. To really be thorough, I was going to need privacy and quiet.
I prayed fervently that Shane came back. That he picked up his woman and showed me that he cared about her. It would make it so much sweeter to watch her bleed.
The knife strapped to my leg was glowing, burning red against my skin. It wanted to come out to play. I had a few other options that were far less protected.
I slithered off the roof and went to find another toy to destroy.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Parker
“Cheer up, sweetheart. It’s your birthday!”
Kelly waved the curling iron in the air, and I ducked, avoiding the hot metal. I was seated in Michelle and Mason’s kitchen while people buzzed around me. Female people.
Female people on a mission.
Michelle, Payton, Kelly, and Cass were all here. They’d all hired babysitters and were going out of their way to spoil me and make me feel like one of them.
Apparently, I was getting a birthday makeover.
I was insanely nervous about what they were doing, but they were being so sweet that I didn’t have the heart to turn them down.