Fatal Attraction (Love Kills Duet #2)

36. Thirty Six

Thirty Six

Phoenix

T he tears I’d been fighting broke open like a dam when I made it to my car, weeping for not only Charlotte, but Felix.

He might’ve been a huge pain in my ass, but he was such a damn good person. Our relationship had always been strictly professional, but in all the months I’ve known him, I’d honestly considered him a friend. He didn’t deserve to die that way.

Fuck, he didn’t deserve to die at all!

And to make matters worse, the love of my life had been shot and was currently about to go through surgery, feasibly on the brink of joining Felix and Blaire in death.

This…

This was a fucking nightmare .

I shouldn’t be doing this bullshit. As far as Crow was concerned, he could go choke on his own dick for all I cared. I should be in that room with Charlotte and Spike, knowing good and damn well our faces were the first things she’d expect to see when she woke up— assuming she’d survive the surgery . Still though, I’d gotten myself buried too deep under Crow’s claws after what went down that night with Leo. Spike promised me he’d protect Charlotte and Carter, though. I trusted him with my life and knew he’d stand true to his word, so I hopped inside my car, taking another minute to sort through all the other conflictive thoughts running amok inside my head, starting with Peter and Percious Welch .

Chief promised he’d get the APB out on Percious Welch, and the last I’d heard from Captain Burgess was when Spike had called demanding an ambulance for Felix. At the time, the team was still conducting the investigation at Felix’s apartment, so Captain Burgess had Kendall drop me off at the precinct so I could get my car and rush straight to the hospital. Not much time had passed since then, not even a full hour. As far as I knew, Cap and Kendall were still at Felix’s apartment. Just in case though, I fetched my phone and dialed Captain Burgess.

“Phoenix,” he greeted me after the fourth ring. “I just got off the phone with Chief. I’m so sorry about Felix. How-how is Charlotte doing?”

I sighed, swiping under my puffy eyes. He’d just answered all of the questions I was trying to muster up the strength to ask, plus the answers I couldn’t stomach explaining.

“I-I don’t know. They just took her in for surgery a few minutes ago.”

“I can’t imagine what you’re going through or how you must be feeling. Chief filled me in on everything, and we have multiple officers heading out to Percious Welch’s place as we speak. Harley is at the office and gave us the address. I want you and Spike to take the rest of the day to be with Charlotte. Focus on her and we’ll take care of the rest.”

It’d taken me a minute, but I finally managed to get my head back in the game, having to breathe painfully through my grief.

“What about his cousin, Peter?”

“What about him?” Cap questioned, sounding a bit confused.

“He was just at the precinct this morning filing a report on Felix,” I reminded him. “Shouldn’t he be notified? Shouldn’t he be brought in so he can tell us where we can find Percious if he isn’t at home?”

“Peter doesn’t need to know anything. Not yet.”

“What?” My brows furrowed. “Why not?”

“Think about it, Phoenix. You saw how he looked this morning. We all know he’s been going around town posting fliers of Charlotte, and the poor guy looked like he hasn’t eaten or slept in days. If he discovers his cousin is behind this, then—”

“Say no more, Cap. I understand.”

“We’ll confide in Peter if and only IF we can’t get Percious ourselves. If we fail, then yes, we’ll bring Peter in. For now, we have to keep this quiet, at least until we’re certain Charlotte made it through surgery.”

“Understood, Cap.”

He hung up then, and I let out a deep, sordid sigh, banging the back of my head against the headrest. Unfortunately, and as much as I didn’t like it, Cap’s notion did make equitable sense. If Peter discovered it was his cousin who’d kidnapped Charlotte, then he may try to take matters into his own hands, therefore putting himself in grave danger. It fucking sucked, but Blaire was gone and now, so was Felix, plus Officer Stewart and Brown. That was four deaths committed by Percious Welch’s hand, and we didn’t need a fifth or worse, a sixth.

“It’s going to be okay,” I whispered to myself as I fired up the ignition, my chest tightening as I took what I’d hoped wasn’t a final look at the building, blowing out a breath.

“Everything is going to be okay.”

It had to be.

It just fucking had to.

Because if I lost Charlotte too, nothing and nobody would stop me from tearing that motherfucker apart limb by limb.

Fucking nobody.