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She wanted anything and anyone who wasn’t this. Anything that wasn’t strapped to a table under bright lights with something round and hard between her teeth, something where she couldn’t feel her own blood oozing out of her body, or the jagged pain of bones broken and rubbing viciously together if she moved even an inch to try to find comfort.

There was no comfort.

“It’s something different, and daring,” the woman was saying. “We don’t want to get bored, right, honey?”

“Are you bored, Ella-Loo?”

“Not with you, baby. Never! You’re my hero. But just think how exciting. If we did two, at one time. If we kept them going longer. Oh, it makes me wet just thinking of it.”

“I like you wet.”

He stuck his hand between the woman’s legs. Jayla closed her eyes.

“I’d be wetter, hotter with two. You can pick this time. Oh, yes! Get down there, baby, and get to work.”

She yelped, she laughed, she groaned. “Fuck me hard, baby, hard! Then let’s go get another one. Let’s get a man. Maybe we can make them fuck each other. Let’s make him rape her while we watch. Oh, oh, Darryl!”

“Anything you want. Anything. I love you, Ella-Loo.”

“Make me scream, Darryl. Make me scream. Then let’s go get another.”

And she smiled, feral and fierce, turning her head to look at Jayla as Darryl drove and drove and drove into her until sweat dripped off his face.

She smiled her monster smile as she came.

In the office, Roarke listened as the room of cops worked theories, ran searches. He listened while Eve spoke to Morris on the ’link, while she consulted with Mira.

His mind worked back to the first – the one they believed was the first.

A businessman killed on the side of the road. No vehicles left behind. Battered – fought back – smashed skull.

Nothing like the others, he thought. No torture, no sense of time taken. But he trusted his wife’s instincts.

The first, perhaps an accident, or a matter of impulse. The spark, possible, for all that came after.

“Someone towed it off.”

Distracted, a little annoyed, Eve glanced around. “What?”

“You’ve two options on your first – on this Jansen. They had a second vehicle, and drove off separately, or they left a vehicle behind.”

“No vehicle was recovered or reported on scene.”

“And you’ve never heard of auto theft I’m supposing. Driving off in two, it’s not impossible, of course, but then they’d have to dispose of one, and they’d not be together after the kill – when the blood would be high.”

“Wait.” She held up her hand to ward off comments, narrowed her eyes. “When the blood would be high,” she repeated. “If this is the first, if this started the ball rolling for them, it would be that high after the kill. Driving off separately? Cooldown period. So, less likely. But no vehicle reported or recovered.”

“Darling Eve,” he said, and had Banner glancing at her sideways, “it’s a very remote and rural area, yes?”

“So?”

“And I’ll wager more than a pint there’d be a towing service or two, and beyond that – a farming sort of area? Those with tow bars handy enough. And it’s: Look there, mate, at that car/truck/van on the side of the road. Out you get to have a look. It may be it’s broken down —”

“Which would be a reason to boost another car, okay.”

“Some mechanical problem, that may be. Or it’s been previously boosted, and time to switch out. But either way, an enterprising soul might tow it off, strip it down or alter the van and resell it. Surely even in that area, they’d have a chop shop handy enough, or someone who’d pay to have another vehicle on their land.”

When she frowned, he smiled.


Tags: J.D. Robb In Death Mystery