Fatal Attraction (Love Kills Duet #2)

23. Twenty Three

Twenty Three

Charlotte

I heard his snarl.

I knew he was angry.

But he didn’t make a move.

Our show ended and he hadn’t dared show himself.

“What are we supposed to do now?” I asked Phoenix an hour later, worry nestling deep in my gut as he and Spike escorted me out to my car, Spike carefully scoping the parking lot. Carter wasn’t outside when we left, and as I stuck my head out, peering around, I didn’t see Blaire’s car out here either, so I just assumed after he’d seen my text that he decided to call it quits and went back to my house.

“Chief and Captain Burgess are still here,” Spike said, pointing their cars out across the parking lot. “We’ll track them and the other detectives down, and then get with Felix. Find out if they’ve seen or noticed anything suspicious.”

“Okay,” I agreed. “I’ll speak with Carter and then we can regroup at my place. Have either of you gotten any updates about Karl?”

They both pulled out their phones, checking the displays.

“I’ve got nothing,” said Phoenix.

“Yeah, same here.”

Shit.

“I’ll call Ben,” I said through a tired sigh. “He should know something by now. Call me when you’re on the way. ”

We kissed each other goodbye and as I got in my car, hooking up my Bluetooth, I dialed Ben, just to curse when the line rang and rang until it forwarded me to his voicemail. It was late, about half past midnight, so it would be wise to assume he was sleeping. Just in case though, I tried again as I was pulling out of the club, sighing at the same result.

Damnit.

There was only one other person I could call and as much as I didn’t want to do it, I rolled my eyes and then did it anyway, waiting.

Regretfully, Harley answered after the third ring.

“Charlotte? Is everything okay?”

“What’s the news on Karl?” I asked, getting straight to the point.

“What do you mean?”

I took a hand away from the wheel to rub my palm against my forehead, already feeling a headache emerging. “When is he being released?”

“Oh, I’m not sure, really. I haven’t heard from Ben.”

Great. Just fucking great.

“Alright, Harley. Thanks.”

“Wait,” she shouted before I could hang up. “What happened tonight? Did you get him?”

“No.”

“Fuck,” she groused.

“When was the last time you talked to Ben?”

“About an hour after Judge Carter gave the order. I mentioned putting Karl in WITSEC and Ben told me he’d mention it to him. Other than that, I frankly don’t know. I haven’t heard from Ben since then. As far as I know, Karl hasn’t been released yet.”

“Good.” I blew out a sigh of relief and leaned back in my seat. “That’s good.”

For now, at least.

“Charlotte, if I may— ”

“I’m really not in the mood for it, Harley. We can talk when I’m done being pissed off with you.”

I hung up, then tossed my phone in the passenger seat, ignoring her when her name popped up on my dash. She didn’t call again, so I just kept my eyes on the road and tried to remain positive as I drove home, whispering that everything would be okay and that we’d figure it out.

Blaire’s car was parked in the driveway when I pulled in. I cracked a smile, happy to know Carter was here and safe.

But as I got out of the car, glancing up at my cameras, I froze.

They weren’t on .

I could have sworn I’d activated them before I left.

Fetching my phone from my purse, I tapped on the security app, my brows furrowing once I saw I’d been signed out of my account. After typing in my username and password, I waited, just to blink dumbly when a notification popped up stating either my username or password was incorrect.

That couldn’t have been right.

My username was my email address, the same one I’d used for years, and my password was the same for all of my other accounts, so there was no way in hell I’d gotten it wrong. It was, however, possible I’d made a spelling error with how fast I was typing, so I took my time and carefully punched in the details again, confident I hadn’t made any mistakes.

“What the fuck?”

The notification popped up again.

I growled and inserted the information again, and again, swearing at the top of my goddamn lungs when the app locked me out. Good and pissed the fuck off now, I trudged for the front door, having no other choice but to call the security company. The door wasn’t locked like I expected and when I walked in, my phone fell from my hand, as did my purse.

Every fucking inch of my living room was destroyed.

Carter .

Oh, fuck.

I quickly fetched my phone off the floor and then called Phoenix, growling again when he didn’t answer. Spike wouldn’t answer either, so I blew out a breath and gripped the device tightly in my hand, fear coursing through me as I remembered Carter’s struggles with PTSD. He probably lost it after things fell south tonight.

“Carter?” I gently called out after grabbing my purse, closing the door behind me. “It’s Charlotte. Are you here?”

My TV was on the floor and there was a large hole in the center, the size matching what I could only guess matched a fist. My center table was smashed with all its splintering pieces beside the TV. My couch was flipped over, and all of my pictures that were hung up on the walls were now torn into pieces, the shards from their frames scattered along every inch of the floor.

“Carter,” I shouted again, tears filling my eyes as I cautiously stepped over the mess.

I entered the kitchen and placed my purse and phone on the island, my jaw trembling as my eyes swept over my open cabinets and all of the liquor bottles I kept stowed away broken, booze and sharp glass coating the floor. One of my utensil drawers was open, specifically the knife drawer, and tears poured down my cheeks when I noticed all the knives gathered in a pile on the floor, the largest and sharpest one missing.

Oh GOD!

“CARTER,” I screamed, dashing my way through the mess until I was running up the staircase, searching through room after room.

I cried out in horror when I found him in the middle of my bedroom floor, his hands and feet bound and a gag over his mouth. There was a large gash on the side of his head with blood trickling down his face.

I rushed over to him, and he quickly shook his head, crying something I couldn’t decipher thanks to the gag. Something told me to turn around and when I did, I was bashed hard in the head, falling to the floor beside him.

Carter bellowed out a menacing growl, his muffled voice screaming my name. I saw stars, groaning as I struggled to sit up and clear my vision.

I was struck again, hard enough to taste blood.

I spit it out onto the floor, coughing as I bravely risked looking up and found a man wearing a deer mask encrusted in gold.

I awoke with a lung-burning gasp, frantically gaping around a plain white room I didn’t recognize, my heart pounding as I struggled to remember what happened. My legs were operable, but when I tried to move my arms, I cried out once I noticed they were pinned, locked in place by chained clamps attached to the headboard of the bed I was lying in.

NO!

I let out a blood-curdling scream, weeping for help as I fought, desperate to break free. Tears slid down my cheeks the harder I thrashed, my hands too big to fit through the tiny clamps painfully wrapped around my wrists.

“SPIKE,” I wept louder, breaking down as my will to fight ceased. “PHOENIX! Someone help me!”

There were only two other doors in the room, one I assumed was a closet, and another which had to be the exit from this room. One of them opened, and my body steeled itself as I blinked a few times, trying to convince myself I wasn’t hallucinating when Perry, my coworker, walked in. He slammed the door behind him and then leaned against it, cocking his head as he surveyed me with a feral look in his eye that sent nausea burning up my throat.

There was a gun in his hand .

After taking another look, I realized it was my gun, the one I kept in my nightstand.

I came home.

My house was trashed.

I thought Carter had lost it and hurt himself.

I found him in my room, beaten and gagged.

It was a trap.

My head spun as I thought back to what happened before I’d blacked out. He’d beaten Carter, threatened to slit his throat if I didn’t agree to come with him.

I caved and agreed, and then the next thing I knew, he was putting a rag over my face.

It was Perry all along.

HE DID THIS!

“You sick FUCK,” I spat, my chest heaving as I thrashed more, desperate to break free and claw his fucking eyes out. “It was you all this time.”

“Guilty,” he admitted, not looking the least bit fazed over it, his grin spreading wider.

“WHY?” I screamed, unable to stop the puddle pouring down my cheeks. “Why did you do this?”

“Why?” he repeated, playing the innocent act as he slid down against the door until his knees were propped against his chest, his arms dangling over his knees with my gun still locked in his grasp, aimed at me. “Why do people do a lot of things, Charlotte? Why did Karl cheat on you? Why did Kate die that day instead of him? Why did you start going to the sanctum?”

“Wh-what?” I asked in confusion, blinking through more tears.

“It doesn’t matter,” he said simply, dismissing everything with a shrug. “I have what I want now.”

“Why did you do this, Perry?” I begged to know. “Just tell me.”

“Because you’re perfect, Charlotte,” he said, getting to his feet and approaching me, so much adoration in his eyes it made me want to puke. He reached his free hand up and slid his two index fingers across my damp cheek, gathering my tears and sucking them deep into his mouth, his eyes closing like he was savoring the taste. “You’re absolutely perfect.”

I puckered my lips and managed to spit in his face, just to cry out when his hand shot back and slapped me hard across mine, the blow knocking my head sideways.

“You ungrateful bitch ,” he hissed, his eyes black with rage. “Why did I do it? Well, it’s simple. Karl didn’t love you, didn’t appreciate you like I did. For so long I’ve watched you, studied you, at work and at home, learning everything there is to know so that I’d become the perfect man you’ve always dreamed of.”

He was sick.

Deliriously sick.

“But then you just had to go and find salvation in that goddamned sex club,” he growled, his eyes flashing. “Right inside Detective Hutch and Rhodes’ arms. Tell me, Charlotte, did you know who they were before you started whoring your pussy to them?”

“Fuck you,” my voice cracked. “I am not a whore.”

“Might as well be,” he murmured, his eyes rolling in heated disdain. “But that ends now, Charlotte. You no longer belong to them. You belong to me. I’ll whip you into shape soon enough, so you know who your rightful master is.”

“You’re fucking sick,” I spat again, my voice trembling. “You-you killed Blaire!”

“Ah, Blaire.” He grinned bigger, like he was proud of what he’d done. “She didn’t have to die, you know. She loved me, dearly. She told me she was going to leave her husband and devote herself solely to me.” He paused, picking at a piece of invisible lint on his sleeve. “She wasn’t what I wanted. I only used her to get closer to you.”

“She-she was fucking pregnant, you sick fuck! ”

Something dark flashed in his eyes. Then in a blink he was beside me again, pressing the gun against my head.

I didn’t dare move or speak again.

“What the fuck did you just say?”

More tears slid down my cheeks, but I kept my lips pressed shut.

“ANSWER ME,” he commanded.

“She-she was pregnant,” I muttered, my voice trembling. “Blaire was pregnant. 10 weeks. With your baby.”

“Bullshit,” he sneered.

“Have you not been watching the news? Why would I lie about that?”

He stepped back then, assessing my words as he rubbed the barrel against his temple. “Oh well,” he said after a moment, carelessly shrugging. “Like I said, she wasn’t who I wanted anyway.”

“You’re a fucking monster.”

“Am I?” he challenged. “Or am I just simply a man who knows what he wants and would stop at nothing to get it?”

“I am not yours,” I proclaimed, annunciating each word so he heard me clearly. “I belong to Spike and Phoenix.”

He bared his teeth before his fist curled and struck me across my jaw, knocking the wind out of me. The coppery taste of blood filled my mouth, and I spit it out, groaning.

“Shit,” Perry hissed, kneeling beside me as he dropped the gun, his hands firmly grasping my jaw as he checked me over. “Look what you made me do to you.”

He forced my mouth open and eyed around the inside like he was checking to see if he’d knocked any teeth out. “You’re fine,” he declared in a thankful matter, his sigh of relief making my anger burn hotter beneath my veins. “Why must you make me hurt you, my love? I don’t want to hurt you.”

“I. Am. Not. Yours. ”

He huffed out an enraged breath and then grabbed the gun before rising to his feet, leaving the room and slamming the door behind him.

After spitting out another mouthful of blood, I wept, squeezing my eyes closed and praying Spike and Phoenix would find me before it was too late.