Slice (The Elledge Family #1) (16 page)

“Hello Terry, I see. I’m so sorry to hear that.” He paused. “Don’t worry about her. I’m here for her. Yes, ma’am, I’ll have her call you when she is well.” I could hear his footsteps as he made his way down the steps. “Cypress...”

“Someone killed my ex.”

“I know,” Lucas pushed his hands through his hair. “Your mom just told me about it. Did they say what happened?”

“No,” I wiped my face and I could hear my phone ringing again and again. “I have to go home.”

“I can drive you. You are not in any condition to be driving love.”

“I mean to my parents’ house. I was close to his parents and I know his mother is in shambles about this. Plus, he had the baby on the way. And I bet they are...”

“I understand your concern. I honestly do darling. But he has a girlfriend for that. And even if you were going you couldn’t go tonight.” He sighed as his eyes wandered over to me. “I know you are hurt. I get it. But just not tonight, okay. There is nothing that you can do tonight. Just climb in bed and I'll be there for you and tomorrow morning when you have a clear mind and heart you can go ahead and leave. I won't stop you, but I’ll worry all night if you leave now.”

“Okay,” the tears continued to race down my face.

“Come on back to bed.”

“I didn't hate him.”

“It's okay, it wasn't about you.” Lucas comforted me. “I would go down there with you, but we have midterms coming up and all of that. I can tell your teachers for you and get your work.”

“Okay.”

“Get some shut eye and in the morning head out.”

Lucas

I had not cared if she mourned or not. I guess that made me a bad person. I held her in my arms and listened to her cries. She was truly saddened by the loss of her ex-boyfriend. And she believed I cared. I went ahead and was there for her. She left an hour ago and there were some things that I wanted to get done. Number one, digging more dirt up on Asher. I had to see what the hell he was really here for; things had not linked up with him just yet. It had not eluded me that he was still here at this college when he had a resume that could impress any elite college. But there was brunch and then there was Mark. He wanted me to go over plans for the event again with him.

I got dressed. I tossed on some blue jeans and white T-shirt. I turned my hat to the back and waited for Mark to make his way up so we could go to brunch. He had insisted to ride with me.

“Hurry your ass.” Mark said as he waited in the club. He leaned against the wall.

“I'm coming.”

“Where's Cypress?”

“She left early, her ex died.” I heard the laughter it emerged in my voice.

Mark's eye grew wide. “Shit, tell me you didn't.”

“No,” I scoffed. We made our way out to the truck and hopped in. I liked driving, but today I had decided to just let Mark lead the way.

“You fucking did man. Slippery slope.”

“Oh fuck off.”

“Yeah, fuck off,” Mark nodded his head. “What did it feel like?”

“I can't explain it.”

“So what about Cypress? I am sure she is hurt.”

“I’m sure she will live.” The words tumbled out. “She is fine.”

“Are you sure?”

“He was fucking scum,” The answer was simple.

Chapter Eight

Lucas

No one had ever asked me why I killed. It had always stayed below the surface, a void my mother called it. Luna said that my father had it too. This void, so to speak always danced in my eyes whenever there was nothing new. I knew that my father was a cold blooded killer and that there was no coincidence that a string of deaths related to him were scattered across England and Ireland. But no one ever touched him. His ties to the English elite and the Irish IRA had almost made him untouchable. Plus, his brothers and sister kept him close. They looked at him as the special one. It was most definitely how I was looked at by a few family members. My father taught me early that I should always have an alibi. It was the one thing that he specialized in. He always had an airtight alibi. The only person in the world besides my cousin Callum
that knew of my void was my foster brother, Mark.  He could give less than a fuck about what I did. He was the only person in this whole damned world that might have an inkling of what I went through and it was because I was more than sure that he had the same void. He always was my alibi. He knew when to lie and how to make sure everything he said was backed by proof.  This time I would not have an alibi. This particular prey had haunted me for weeks and his name was Luther Ingram.

Luther had more than a few priors on his rap sheet. He had finally been set free from the state prison and I was in heaven. This man was a fucking ass. He raped his own fucking daughter, killed his wife and then failed at offing himself. That was a blessing for me. I needed this kill more than I needed air to breathe. Cypress here lately had been distant and I was not about to force her to make the right choice. Mark said she was grieving. Grieving was bullshit. Her ex was a parasitic ass. He was no good for her.

I clicked through my computer. Hacking the state system had not been as hard as it seemed. I could find any person that I wanted to in a matter of a few clicks. Fucking Luther was housed a Halfway Center about four to five hours away, actually it was closer to where Cypress were headed. It could serve as a problem to me. But my stealth mode just had to be perfect. He was being watched closely by more than me. The police had messed up with his arrest, most of the case was circumstantial and there was nothing that tied him down to the crime. I might should ask some questions to him before I killed the bastard. He had a kickass lawyer that had a degree is the art of creating doubt, she was next on the list. The fact that she had gotten him off was a sheer act of genius. Too bad she wasted her talent on that piece of shit.

Luther was tall and frail. He barely weighed a solid 150. His hair black and curly made him look like a predator and he was not even strong. Then he had no reason to kill. To kill without a reason irritated me. Declare a reason and make it count. If death is his art, he should have perfected it. He repulsed me. How could he get caught and be stupid? The key to commit crimes was not to get caught, it was basically the only rule I had laid out for myself. Luther did not deserve to be called a killer. But I could solve that. I scrolled back through the pages, glancing at the crimes, yes, mine was more morbid. Mine were of a greater reason. I killed to purify. This man raped and there was nothing good that came out of rape.

“Baby!” Cypress called from the shower.

Her voice had become a little annoying to me in the last few months. Maybe because I had not had any room to breathe and she was suffocating, but the Christmas Holidays were here. God Save the Queen, I was fucking saved. Her small town pleaded for her to return, and I was happy to send her there. “Yes, Cy.”

“Are you sure that you have to go to Ireland?”

“Positive,” I answered. Ireland had waited on me for a while. My cousin had some things that he had planned and honestly, I missed the lush green lands of one hometowns. I relished in the thought of the peace and the fact that I would be able to see my grandmother Nadine and my mum’s mother whom I called Nan.

“My mom really wants you there for Christmas.”

This discussion had happened more than ten times in the past few days. I know that her mom wanted me there for Christmas. I was madly in love with Cypress. She was perfect in every way. I wanted to be with her because she made me think. But I wanted this peace if only for a few weeks.  “I understand that and
I've told you I would try to get back in time for the latter part of the holidays.”

“It's your birthday Lucas. I am going to miss our first birthday event together.”

I knew my birthday was New Year’s Eve. I liked the fact that I could literally start a new year of life each year. I didn't celebrate it anymore though. Why celebrate life when I was an expert at taking it? This bottomless pit I'd been dwelling in for the past twenty-five years was not a thing to celebrate. Luther's death would be a celebration as a matter of fact, I had every intention to celebrate the shit out of Luther’s death. “Cypress, let’s talk about it later.”

“I would like to talk about it now.” She stood naked in the hallway. The water dripping down her body slowly. She glistened in the light. “Please be home for your birthday and Christmas...” Cypress had become the master seductress and I was confused, seduction and charm had been my game, but now it was hers and she won every time she played it with me. She satisfied one part of me that no woman had been able to in years... my sex drive.

“Don't try to seduce me, woman.” I closed my eyes in an effort to say no to her tempting body.

“I'm not.” She lied as she twirled a strand of her curls on her finger.

“Get dressed,” I tried not to look up at her again. I was more than certain that if she stepped one step closer or I looked one second longer I would end up fucking her on the floor of my loft. “Chivy along.” My eyes clenched shut in frustration, I could feel her as she moved closer to me. She hovered over me and I could smell whatever floral scent she had doused herself in and it didn’t help the fight.

She touched my chin and my eyes peered up at her. “One more time.”

“Woman, what have I done to you?” I whispered.

“What have you not?”

I snatched her down to me and playfully thrown her to the couch. “I can name some things.” She was slick with anticipation for me, but a part of me wanted her to wait till later. I couldn't get fucking Luther' face out of my head and she had less than ten minutes to hit the road before his journey would be completely in the dark. I kissed her cheek. “Go.”

“Wow, your gonna leave hanging?”

“I have a flight Cypress. You can live a few weeks without me. As a matter of fact, use it as a challenge. I would love to see how turned on you could get for me.”

“I don’t want to think about it.” She pouted and made her way upstairs to the bedroom. “Your acting weird Lucas Elledge.”

“I'm sorry love I don’t seem to think that I am.”

“Yeah,” she mumbled.

I continued to look at the Halfway House and the notes I had taken about their place. The layout and everything was posted here online. I could fuck him up. There were two men working the doors. They wanted to see ID and a signature every time someone left and the police were called immediately when people were late. It would have to be another daylight kill. I was not fond of the daylight. Too many risks in killing people in daylight.

“Lucas, what are you looking up?”

“Things,” I replied simply.

“Who is Luther?”

Shit, she was nosy. “Why are you asking so many questions Cypress? Can I not have one moment of privacy babe?”

“I'm just wondering; you’ve been writing his name on sheets of paper for the past three days...”

“Well, you wonder can stop now. He’s not important.”

She scoffed. Her curls fell down her back. She hadn't tried to make them neat, I had not ever seen her try to tame them. “Okay, whatever,” she pecked my cheek and walked towards the elevator. Her bag was tossed over her shoulder and she wore my shirt which once again drove me insane. “I'll see you next year Luke.”

“I love you Cypress and stop saying that.”

“I love you too.” She slid her sunglasses on. “Happy Christmas.” I sensed she rolled her eyes as she nodded her head at me. “Call me?”

I rolled my eyes at her dramatics. “Happy Christmas Love! And I’ll call you I swear it.”

She was finally gone. I had packed everything that I needed. My Nan still had clothes at her home in England and I was sure that Callum and my grandmother there had clothes for me. I hated to pack heavy to go overseas. That was all sorted out. The only thing I had to figure out was how to get the damn knife to England. This was the knife my father used on every one of his kills, or so I guessed. I was told he liked to get creative with his kills every now and then. The blade of the knife that my father had given me was short but it was sharp. Most importantly it got the job done. Declan had his name engraved on it. His father George had given it to him and he had passed it to me. I was proud of the knife even though my dad or my grandfather had never been my favorite person. The knife had become an essential part of the ritual for me.

Asher

Mark and I had met right after the death of the Phillip guy. He interrogated me like I was Lucas and there was nothing that I could tell him. I had not known that he would do a kill. He did not follow his ritual of stealth and researching like he had done for a few of the others, like his new fascination Luther. I was more than certain that Lucas was about to kill again, but I couldn't be there for it and to be honest I doubted I could bear it. He was a messy killer. His mesmerized stare at the blood from Summer's death had rested permanently behind my eyelids at night and every ounce of my body wanted to turn him in. But there was still something that told me to let it go. I did. I was happy he had found someone else to fixate on. I was out of the spotlight and it made me feel less on edge.