Filed to story: The Mindf*ck Series Read Online Free
The string has been glued into place now, no longer threatening to be the unravelling of this entire thing.
“Then SSA Miller Johnson shows up today, as if more of a sign was needed.”
Just his name has my back stiffening, and she notices it.
“He covered this up, didn’t he?” she asks, ciphering my reaction too well.
“He did more than cover it up.”
“What else did you not tell me?”
“I told you everything that happened before. I didn’t tell you anything that happened after. You’ll need to learn it with the rest of your team.”
“Why? Why not just tell the story to them in a note or something?”
I lean forward. “The mind is a fragile and delicate thing,” I repeat. “Hearing it from a letter or from a killer has less of an impact than hearing it from someone who has been dying on the inside from holding in the secret. Several people know the story, Hadley. Find one to tell it. Not to mention, I need that town to feel haunted. The longer it takes for the story to be told, the more questions you and your team will ask. And the more people will start to tremble in fear.”
“You want that fear,” she states, studying me.
“I can’t kill them all,” I say with a shrug. “But terrorizing them will remind them to never hold their silence again when the innocent are screaming for help.”
She nods once, trying not to show how uneasy that thought makes her. She’ll change her mind when they finally get to Delaney Grove.
“I convinced Logan to ask you to come to Delaney Grove with us,” she says, shocking me.
“What?”
“You can’t just walk around a town and not be noticed by our team. Your face was all over the news after the brush with the Boogeyman. People will know you, and it’ll be suspicious if you’re in town and you’re not with him.”
I had thought of that, but was just going to show up and surprise Logan.
“He’ll be out a lot, working on the case. We’re apparently staying in cabins the sheriff rents out.”
My stomach twists. “Those cabins are at the edge of the town, right against the woods. If he thinks you’re getting too close to uncovering all they did, he’ll come after one of you and try to pin it on me. Well, on the other me,” I tell her.
“We’re smarter than that. We’ll know if it’s the Scarlett Slayer. And no one from our team will die. I’ll make sure of it somehow, even if I have to hack all the feeds from the town cameras and watch continuously, living on coffee to stay awake.”
“There aren’t any cameras.”
She shakes her head. “There has to be some.”
“You’re right. There are some. They all face parking lots and the insides of stores. There are no cameras anywhere else. The streets have zero visibility from those few camera angles. Trust me. I’ve studied this town since I decided what I had to do.”
She slinks back.
“Why no cameras?”
“Because the mind is a fragile thing,” I say once again. “It’s easier to pretend the words you hear are just rumors or lies. It’s not so easy to ignore something you can see. And the sheriff has plenty he doesn’t want anyone to see.”
She releases a shaky breath.
“Was the sheriff the man who killed those women? The ones your father was framed for?” she asks me, and my stomach clenches.
Before I can answer, Logan steps in, pausing when he sees us. “You already told her?” he asks, narrowing his eyes at Hadley.
Unlike the last time we were in this situation, Hadley doesn’t turn into a babbling fool. She flashes him a taunting grin. “Maybe.”
Logan rolls his eyes, then he faces me, and a look softens his gaze.
“I’m on my way to deal with a few things, but you’re okay with going? You’d have to stay in at night. You’ll feel more like a prisoner, but I’ll be able to come see you more.”
Why does he look like he’s so worried about me?
I flash a look to Hadley, but she blinks innocently at me. My gaze returns to Logan.
“I’d rather be with you than be here without you. You could be gone a while, or so Hadley says.”
He nods grimly, and I stand as he starts walking toward me. As soon as he reaches me, he wraps his arms around me, holding me as though he feels I need comfort. I hug him back, glancing past his bicep to see Hadley smirking at me.
What’s going on?
“You should have told me you didn’t like being alone right now. You’re still going to be alone there too, though. I don’t really know what to do,” he says, sounding truly guilt-ridden and exhausted.
I glare at Hadley, who merely beams at me.
“I’ll be okay,” I assure him, hugging him tighter, plotting the ways I’m going to hurt Hadley. “Promise.”
He pulls back, lifting my chin so he can see into my eyes. I feel like I’m playing him, and I hate that.
“Get packed. We’re leaving tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow?” Hadley asks as my eyes widen. “I thought we had a few days.”
“SSA Johnson decided we should leave sooner after he got off the phone with the sheriff. Maybe we’ll get some answers when we get there,” Logan tells her. “Go pack. Give us a minute.”
Hadley climbs off the bed, and I try not to curse the day she played this part. How am I going to slip away and kill two more people before returning to town?
They still haven’t found Kevin or Anthony.
I guess I’ll have to pick one and save the other for another day. Morgan was worse than Jason. Jason will die when the time comes. Just not in the order I planned.
“If we’re leaving tomorrow, I should go get some things from my house that I need. I also need to speak with my partner and get some business things in order. I should be back tonight,” I say, letting him hold me closer.
“You really should have told me you were struggling. And I should have noticed. I’m a profiler, for fuck’s sake. It’s my job to see things like that.”
I’m killing Hadley. No, not literally. Well, maybe a little.
I hug him closer, kissing his chest through his shirt. He smells so damn good.
His blond hair is always tousled these days, mostly from the way he’ll run his hand through it when he’s frustrated. It’s a tell I’ve noticed about him.
“Logan, I’m fine. I really am,” I say, soothing his guilt. Regardless of her intentions, Hadley had no right to make him feel guilty, and it really pisses me off.
He runs his lips over my forehead, and I lean against him, soaking in that warmth he seems to radiate. It always feels like he’s sharing his soul with mine, helping it be restored, whenever he holds me like this.
He did what no one else has been able to do in ten years-he made me start healing.
I’ll die before I let anything happen to him, and I won’t leave him alone in that town, unguarded against dangers he doesn’t know exist. He hasn’t yet seen the depravity, and won’t believe it. Not yet. Not until he’s reached the point of being desperate for answers.
That’s when it’ll register the most. That’s when it’ll hit home with a knockout swing instead of a simple jab to the stomach.
“I really do have to get back, but get packed. I’ll probably be back late, but call me if you need me, and I’ll be here as fast as I can,” he says softly.
I kiss him to shut him up, letting him feel how good he makes me feel. I kiss him for so many reasons, all of them tangled around one simple, innocuous little four-letter-word that holds more power than I ever imagined.
I now know why my father could never move on after my mother’s death.
He was a romantic.
And a true romantic would never recover from losing his love.
Logan’s hands slide down to my ass, but before we can get things going, his phone rings. Groaning, he looks down at the screen and rolls his eyes.
“One more reason to hate this son of a bitch,” he says, confusing me before he brings his phone up and answers. “SSA Johnson, miss me already?”
I force my body not to tense upon hearing that name. I force myself to keep my face hidden to hide any micro-expressions that might give me away. I continue to kiss his chest, and his free hand strokes my back affectionately, a gesture absent of thought and packed full of feeling.
It’s become natural to him to touch me and hold me, to comfort me even when I don’t need it. I never thought I’d have that easiness with anyone. I never thought anyone like him even existed.