Cellar Door (24 page)

Madonna

My stalker was in this very room only a little while ago. He probably sat in this chair. The thought prompts me to get up and stand with Liam. I don’t know anything about Lance except what Liam has told me, but it’s enough to make me shudder and appreciate more fully the protection that Liam gives me.

In most any situation, when someone draws the purse strings closed, the dynamic between all parties involved changes. According to the guard, Lance’s fanboy was not only paying his legal fees but was also paying for Lance to have private, unrecorded visitations too. If he was paying for that, he was probably paying for other things too, like commissary privileges. If his financial support has been cut off, I wonder what impact that will have on Lance’s view of the situation.

I keep my eyes rooted on the tile floor until his footsteps stop in front of the table, directly across from where I’m standing next to Liam as he leans against the wall. He refused to sit for some reason when we were shown into the room.

The guard fastens Lance’s restraints to the metal hooks in the floor, then leaves the room to assume his post just outside. I release the breath I hadn’t realized I was holding and raise my eyes to meet his gaze. The resemblance is truly stunning; his face so precisely mirrors Liam’s handsome features, except for the eyes. The shape and color are the same, yes, but that’s as far as it goes. Lance’s eyes would be emotionless if it weren’t for the contemptuous glare he’s shooting in our direction. I deliberately keep my expression neutral. Liam’s right; Lance will feed off of my fear.

“Well, well, it’s easy to see why you snatched this one, Liam--”

“I’m with him of my own free will,” I interrupt, suddenly feeling terribly protective of Liam.

“No, darlin’,” Lance drawls, leaning back in his chair and resting an ankle on the opposite knee. “You
think
you’re with him of your own free will. You’re not. Just try to leave him and see what happens. The beast that lives inside him will rear its ugly head and all hell will break loose. It’s in our genes; we take what we want. Isn’t that right, Liam?” Though his final remark is directed at Liam, his eyes never leave my face.

“She’s well aware of what she’s dealing with.”

Now they’re both looking at me. Great.
‘
What’ she’s dealing with? Why not ‘who’?

“She has no fucking idea
what
she’s dealing with. And she’ll continue to have no idea until she crosses you; then she’ll see the real you. All that pompous, professional bullshit the outside world sees?” he says as he shakes his head. “Not the real you. The dark, depraved beast you’re trying so hard to hide is the
real
you. One day soon, people will see you for who and
what
you really are.”

“Sounds like you’re trying to convince yourself more than me, Lance.”

“No,
brother
. I’m trying to look out for this sweet little tart of yours. You may have her believing you’re protecting her from the big bad wolf, but you’re the one she needs to be protected from.”

I ignore him. This isn’t why I’m here. Liam and I came here to talk to him about the man who tried to kill me. The authorities won’t do anything until you get hurt, or worse. I want a name so I know who and what we’re dealing with.

Liam crosses his arms over his chest. “Whether you like it or not, Lance, you have no one left but me.” He seems to take an educated guess and improvises, “It looks like your groupie isn’t enamored with you anymore. I hear he’s cut off all support for you. The gravy train has left the station, I guess. Do you know what’s really happened here, Lance? He’s gotten a taste of blood, he doesn’t
need
you anymore. Tell. Me. Who. He. Is.”

Lance’s sadistic cackle makes my skin crawl. “Now why in the world would I play my ace in the hole? I have something you want. To me, that’s fucking priceless.”

“Maybe telling the police who he is could shave some time off your sentence.”

“Nice try, brother. I’m a fucking serial killer; there won’t be any breaks for me.”

“No, but it could ensure you’re more comfortable. Perhaps with more privileges, even a few luxuries, seeing as how your, um, minion protégé has flown the coop and taken his largesse with him.”

Lance directs his attention back to me. “Listen to this fucking guy – ‘largesse’. I have never understood why he can’t talk like the rest of us. He goes out of his way to talk so educated. All it is, is a way to be a pompous asshole. He thinks he’s so much better than the rest of us who live in the real world.”

I take a chance that he’ll be more responsive to me. I step away from Liam and sit down on the metal bench across from Lance. His chains clang against the metal table as he straightens slightly, his eyes narrowing. Even more than their arguing, the metallic sound resonates within me and almost makes me feel sorry for him. I’ve been in chains – recently, actually -- so I know how helpless it can make you feel. I’ll never tell him that, of course. But for a man who prefers to kill as a way to get and maintain control over women, it must be agony.

“Ignore him, Lance. Talk to me.”

“Now, that I can do.” He leans in and slides his tongue over his lips, his gaze wandering over me. “You sure are easy on the eyes, girl.”

“Isn’t it only fair I know who my predator is?”

“Your predator is right over there, leaning against the wall.”

“I need to know if I’m correct that the man who visited you an hour ago is the man who tried to kill me. If he is, then I want his name and I want to know if he’s the man dumping bodies all over Louisville. Does this fan of yours really have it in him to do such horrible things?”

“If I was a betting man, young lady…I’d bet my life on it. You should be careful,” he says solemnly. “If he ever gets the chance to kill you, he
will
. He wants to one-up me and you’re the perfect way to do it. You know, we’re star-crossed, you and me. You’re the one that got away, and nothing would please him more than to get to you because I couldn’t.”

Even though Liam and I have always known the hooded man was the killer, for some reason hearing it from the man who’s the reason he ever started killing in the first place, is unnerving.

I’m leaving here with a steely resolve to do whatever it takes to rid my life of this madness. I look back at Liam, who gives me a nod that it’s time to go. When I stand, Lance says something that makes me stumble as I push away from the table.

“You know, rumor has it they might have locked up the wrong brother. My brother and I look so much alike, you see. Just think,” he says eagerly as he leans forward, rests his chin in his hand and bats his eyelashes at me. “You could be living with a serial killer. It’s not as farfetched as you may think. We look so much alike that I even had the pleasure of fucking a few of his women in the past. They never suspected a thing, other than wondering why the sex was suddenly so much more satisfying.” He looks me up and down insolently. I immediately want to take a shower to feel clean again when he purrs, “Mmmm… Oh, Madonna, how I would love to be a free man again…just for one night.” The bastard winks at me, like it’s our little secret.

“Enough, Lance!” Liam barks as he moves away from the wall and takes a step toward the table.

“Ooh, my, my, I do believe I’ve hit a nerve.” He leans back in his chair and returns his sultry, heavy-lidded gaze to me, murmuring, “Yes, you should be very careful, Madonna…very, very careful. My brother and I found each other late in life, but we do enjoy being twins and using it to our advantage. You could be nothing more than a pawn in our sick, fucked up games. As much as we despise each other, he and I are still very much twins. You, my dear, could very well be living with the evil one.”

At that, I just want to wipe him off the face of the earth. Liam’s goal may have been to show me evil up close and personal, but I don’t think it was to do what he’s unwittingly done—awaken the evil within me.

His Hidden Treasure

I take a long drag off my cigarette as they exit the hospital. I’m hiding behind the large trunk of a tree next to the parking lot, but knowing I was with Lance only moments before they arrived is thrilling.

Those two are up to something and I’m beginning to wonder if I’ve underestimated them. Maybe I’ve been spending too much time savoring my bloodlust to realize I have enemies trying to stop me from reaching my full potential. I simply can’t allow it.

My eyes rake over the beautiful brunette with him. Yeah, Madonna should be with me; caged, of course, and naked…right up until I kill her.

If he thinks I won’t try to go after her again just because he has her at the moment, he’s mistaken. Competition only makes the hunt more exciting. Outsmarting both brothers will be a dream come true.

I still can’t figure out why they haven’t told the authorities who I am. Maybe they aren’t completely convinced I’m the one doing it. That must be it; I need to work harder to prove myself worthy of being considered a true serial killer.

I step away from the tree with a new resolve. I’ll find another whore tonight. They’re so careless, it shouldn’t be too difficult. They’ll get into anyone’s car for the sake of the almighty dollar. How do they convince themselves it will be alright, that nothing bad will happen to them? I wonder how the whore who gets in my car tonight will lie to herself that she’ll make it home safe. One thing’s for sure: it will be the last lie she ever tells.

I get in my car and toss a half-empty water bottle onto the passenger seat, grinning from ear to ear. Now that gives me an idea…