Lily leaned forward with tears flowing down her face. “He wouldn’t just leave us there! That’s not how he is!”
Darek shook his head. “He did, though. He left you chained to the wall with two of his other toys, and he abandoned you.”
“No! My Master would never hurt me. He’s never even lifted a hand to me in anger. Don’t you see that something’s happened to him? The only way he’d have done this is if he were dead!” The girl collapsed on the table, and April wrapped her arms around her.
“She’s not kidding, sir. Victor would never leave his home, his business, and certainly not his submissives unattended like this. Something had to have happened. That’s why we came down here.”
Lizzy put her hand up and grabbed onto Darek’s arm. Then she spoke in a calm voice to the girls. “We’re going to file a report, and we’ll be in touch. I’m very sorry for what happened to you and your friends. Please, stay close. We’re going to find out what happened to him.”
Lizzy got to her feet and pulled Darek’s hand, leading him back to his office as the deputies helped April and Lily find their way out.
Once there, she paced the carpet in front of him. “Are you sick? Those poor girls have been through hell and back, and you’re flipping your fucking lid in there?”
“I’m pissed off!” he snapped. He needed to know how this sick, twisted fucker had ended up abandoning three people, one being a girl he’d molested for the past three years.
“Why do you think it was hard for them to come in here? Then, you go off like a hothead?”
“Do you think this guy left them on purpose? I mean, he could have killed the girl and then ran off without thinking, right? Or if he’s that fucking sadistic, maybe he didn’t care if they starved or if their dicks fell off.”
“No. He was most likely looking forward to getting back to his fun. Which means we need to consider the possibility that there was someone else in that hotel room.”
“You’re right. He’s probably been in the fucking river all this time, and we’re spinning our wheels looking for him.” He knew this was all going to lead right back into his fucking past. His life was falling apart. His nostrils flared, and he doubled his fists.
“Calm down.” She flattened her palm on his chest, and when he looked up at her, all he could think about was kissing her and how she’d rejected him.
“We need to get those guys in here and anyone else who knew him. Including those two girls. We question them separately, ask them if they’ve seen Victor with anyone else or knew of any other submissives in his life.” His eyes bored down into hers. “We’ll go over the security footage and see if there’s anyone going into that building, anyone suspicious on the street. We’ll show them the footage if we have to.” He was throwing out a whole lot of stuff that he knew Lizzy knew, but he needed to talk it out, or he was going to explode.
“Yes, and I’ve already got a call into that department in Virginia. They are supposed to send me everything they collected from that murder twelve years ago. If we’re onto something, this could be the same killer.”
Darek shook his head. “I still think we need to consider the fact that this killer left a message. ‘The beginning of your end’, remember? The other murder had no message. They are different, Lizzy. You’re spinning your wheels on that, chasing fucking breadcrumbs.”
“I know you think it’s a waste of time, but there are other people out there who need the truth. And if this is a serial killer, Darek, we need to stop the son of a bitch before it’s April or Lily, or some other little girl with another message carved in her back. Maybe you can live with that guilt, but I can’t. I won’t.”
She stormed out of the room and slammed the door behind her.
20
Darek
The next day, Lizzy had arranged for the guys to come in and speak about Victor’s little playroom. Not one of them had been a day over twenty-one, although all of them were legal. The shit they’d told was enough to make Darek’s skin crawl, and one had come in beaten and bruised from his infatuation with pain.
“I’ve been Victor’s lover for nearly four years now, and while I’ve known him to inflict pain, it’s always consensual.” The guy, whose name was Brok, with a “k” and not a “ck,” or so he’d specified, had gone on record that Lily had been his replacement when he turned eighteen. “He doesn’t like males past eighteen.”
“You don’t have a problem telling us that your lover broke the law?” Darek asked.
“Hell no. That bitch had Phillip caged in his fucking playroom for days. The man nearly lost a testicle for fuck’s sake, and he was one hell of a pitcher when he was in the mood. Don’t get me wrong, I care about the guy. I don’t want something terrible to have happened, but damn, don’t bite the dick, you know what I mean?”
Darek’s head hurt, and he got up to leave Lizzy to finish up with the guy as he stepped out into the hall. He’d heard enough about CBT, which he’d found out referred to “cock and ball torture,” to last a lifetime. He wasn’t sure he would be able to masturbate if he had to hear another disturbing story of how Victor liked to shove things in—he couldn’t even finish the thought.
Lizzy came out and exhaled a cleansing breath. “I can’t believe some of the things they’re so open with. Like it’s every day in there.” She must have been getting tired, too. “I guess you see now how I know things. Work one case on this subject matter, and you never forget what people like to do in their private lives.”
“And to think, all I want is a kiss. I’m such a fucking prude.” He turned to look her in the eyes.
She looked as tired as he felt, but the dark circles under her eyes and the heavily-creased brow did nothing to diminish her sexiness. If only he could convince her to go home with him later and take a nice long, hot shower, he’d give her a good work over and a full-body rub after.
“Don’t look at me like that. I’m not kissing you. I bet Brok with a ‘k’ would, though.” She laughed. “I could go stop him if you want. He wanted it bad. Couldn’t you tell?”
“Stop it. That’s why I had to leave. I wasn’t sure if he was checking me out or if it was in my head.”
“No, I think he was. But you are nice to look at.”
Darek smiled, feeling his cheeks warm. “Is that a fact? Do you like to look at me?”
“It’s not the worst part of my day, Detective, but again, I’m not kissing you!” She rolled her eyes and was so playful, he wondered if she’d ever cave.
“One day, you will, Special Agent. And when you do, you better hold onto your badge.” He gave her a wink, and she shook her head.
“We’ve got about two or three more people to interview, and Max is going to start looking over that security footage. At least one of the places sent theirs finally.” She walked back to the door as the deputy ushered Lily back into the room.