Freed (Bad Boy Hitman Romance) (50 page)

“But that won’t be today.” The little bitch gave me a wink, twirled on her heel and practically skipped from the bedroom. No, that’s inaccurate – she didn’t
practically
skip, she DID skip from the room as if she hadn’t a care in the world.

Giving my head a shake, I looked back down at the computer screen and booted up the laptop. Time to get down to business and find out all about Pastor Williams. The laptop hummed to life and the log-in screen appeared. Typing in my password, I waited for the internet to connect. Once it did, I began typing. I’d been giving it some thought as I laid in bed – fuck, that was all I was able to do – and decided to start searching big crimes first, murders and such, in all of the cities during the years Emily’s family lived there, and then narrow it down. It would be like a needle in a haystack and maybe a big motherfucking waste of time, but…

I swear, it was like the gods were looking down on me.

After six hours of digging, my eyes burning from staring at the computer screen for so long, I found a connection. Boston, Orlando, Seattle… All of the cities Emily had mentioned to me, during the years that she’d said they had lived there, had one thing in common.

The Proverbs 31 Killer.

The M.O. was the same for each murder. A hooker, between the ages of eighteen and twenty-one, all murdered roughly twenty months apart and spanning over twenty years. All were found on the steps of a church – none of which were his – naked, raped and with the numbers 31:10-31 across their chest, cut with what the FBI suspected was a scalpel. The FBI had no leads at this time and were not disclosing any information they had on him aside from the fact that the man was right-handed and suspected to be between the ages of forty and fifty-five.

“Well, fuck me.” I released a breath of air in a loud puff.

“Are you all right?”

I glanced over to see Emily standing in the doorway. Quickly, I X’d out of the screen I was in and gave her a smile. “Fine, baby. I’ll come out in a bit for supper.”

She leaned against the doorjamb and chewed at her lower lip, eyeing me. “I can bring it in, no need to play the hero.”

“Hardly the hero, love. Have you already forgotten I’m the villain?”

“But sometimes the villain can change.”

“Not usually. Usually they die a horrid death or find themselves behind bars.”

“Is it so bad that I want to believe in the fairy tale?”

“I suppose not.” Giving her a smile, my gaze locked with hers and I could see the flickers of affection in her gaze, and she wasn’t even attempting to hide it. Something had changed between us over the past few days of her nursing me back to health and I liked it. We’d been together for close to two months now and we’d just gotten to the point where I wanted us to be and I was going to be forced to fuck it all up when I put a bullet in the head of the Proverbs 31 Killer.

Chapter 24

Proverbs 31 Killer – One Week Ago

My eyes spotted the man sitting way too close to my daughter as I began wrapping up my sermon. I’d been allowing her to sit towards the back because she claimed she couldn’t handle being put on display due to her sister’s disappearance. I was hardly a fool, I knew it was bullshit, but for the sake of appearing like a sympathetic father to the parishioners, I allowed it.

Rebecca appeared very cosy with the stranger. I could tell even from this distance that he was a smooth player. Well I had news for him. If he thought he was going to score with my daughter he was sorely mistaken.

Ending the sermon, I stepped down from the stage and my wife rushed to my side. Together we made the perfect couple, the ideal Christian family. I had to present the image of being the perfect father, husband and pillar of the community in order to go about my hobbies unnoticed. No one ever suspects their pastor, the man they looked up to and from whom they seek guidance, to be a man with dark desires raging within.

 
While pasting a smile on my face and making small talk with the people who approached, I
 
kept an eye on the man she was next to. He looked familiar, not on a personal level, but the man’s face looked familiar. My eyes narrowed as I examined him from afar, searching my brain and attempting to connect the dots, and then it became clear – so goddamed clear it felt like I’d been struck by a tractor trailer.

I’d examined the surveillance footage from the bar with intense scrutiny and that man was in it. Now, that’s not to say it couldn’t be a coincidence. Perhaps the man happened to be there and happened to want to extend his prayers to my family. But I doubted it. A little buzzer was going off in the back of my head telling me something was up, and I was going to get to the bottom of it.

Excusing myself from my wife’s side, leaving her to humour the parishioners, I made my way down the aisle towards the man and Rebecca, forcing a smile onto my lips. They both stood as I approached and extended a hand to the stranger. “Hello, I’m Pastor William. I don’t believe I’ve seen you here before. Your first visit with us?”

The stranger returned my smile, giving a curt nod and accepting my outstretched hand. “It’s a pleasure to meet you. This is a beautiful church.”

“Thank you. Our family just took over here a few months ago. And you are?” If this man was who I suspected he may be, my daughter’s kidnapper, then the chances of getting his real name would be slim to none.

He didn’t blink, he didn’t even hesitate. He was good. “Lance Winters.”

My smile fading, I placed a look of disdain on my face. “I see. Unfortunately, our move here hasn’t been the kindest to us. Our oldest daughter has been missing for over a month now.”

The man mimicked my expression. “I’m so… I’m at a loss, to be honest. If there’s anything I can do. I’d heard and felt compelled to come here and offer myself in any way possible.”

“Just keep her in mind.” Reaching into my inner jacket pocket, I produced a wallet-sized picture of Emily. “This is Emily. If you have any information on her whereabouts, you’ll let me know.” Watching him closely as he accepted the picture, I saw a flick of recognition. It was fleeting, but it was there. Had it been anyone else, they would have missed it, but not me.

“Of course.”

 
I looked over at my daughter, the daughter who was so much like me it was both scary and exhilarating. Unlike her sister, who was disappointingly emotionally weak, much like her mother, Rebecca was a sweet, cunning, beautiful predator-in-training. “Sweetheart, could you fetch your mother for me?”

“Yes, Daddy.” She gave the stranger a flirtatious smile and left.

Leaning in to the man whom I was becoming more and more convinced was either responsible for or associated with the disappearance of my daughter, I put my hand on his shoulder, leaning in to him, my stare locking on to his. This man might be younger and have the upper hand in knowing where my daughter was, but I had years on him. I’d spent over two decades fulfilling every sick fantasy that popped into my mind while giving off the impression of the role-model citizen. The cocky son-of-a-bitch who dared come into my church had no idea who he was dealing with.

“You know, Mr. Winters, I have faith I’ll find her and I’ll find the man who took her. I may be a man of God, but
no one
takes from me. The man who took my daughter had better watch himself.” My hand tightened on his shoulder. “I
will
find him.”

Our gazes remained locked. He refused to back down; he was challenging me, taunting me. How dare that piece of shit challenge me?

“Hello, I don’t recall seeing you here before.” Upon hearing my wife’s voice coming up from behind me, I released him and straightened, pulling my wife to my side.

Mary extended her hand to Mr. Winters and he accepted it. “I’m new. I admit, I was drawn to the church because of your missing daughter. It’s a tragedy. You’ve been in my prayers since I heard. I pray for her safe return every night.”

She sniffed, pulling a tissue from her black leather handbag. “Thank you.” My wife had been taking Emily’s disappearance hard. I certainly didn’t envy how she so easily felt sorrow – although I did pity her for it.

“So you live nearby?” Rececca asked.

He gave Rebecca another flirty smile, no doubt to spite me. “Not far.”

I stepped in front of my daughter, partially blocking her from the man’s view. “Yes, Mr. Winters, I make it a point to spend time with every member of this parish, I’d love to drop by sometime.”

“I’m between places at the moment. Otherwise…” He stepped forward and extended his hand to me, giving me a smug smile, taunting me, like he knew everything. “It’s been good meeting you. I’ll be in touch.”

He was on to me just as I was on to him. How much did he know? Nothing, I decided. How could he? Every kill was perfect. My wife had no idea. Hell the FBI has been chasing me for over twenty years and had yet to catch me. I was giving the man before me more respect than he deserved thinking he may have discovered my little secret. I accepted his hand. “Please do that. This is a big parish, but we’re more like a family here. Please come back soon. I’d love to get to know you better.”

I watched his back as he walked away, until he was out of sight. I hadn’t even noticed my wife’s questioning gaze fixated on me until I turned. She opened her mouth to speak, but thought twice, snapping it closed again. She knew better than to question me when I was in a mood, and this intruder had certainly put me in a mood, which pissed me off more.

Nobody rattles me and he’d managed to. Some punk kidnapper. I had no desire to kill someone so soon after my last kill, but it might need to be done. And I can’t say I was repulsed by the idea. Normally I had a routine, and killing a man was rare for me, but I certainly wasn’t repulsed by the idea.

Giving my wife’s hand a pat where it was placed delicately on my forearm, I flashed her a smile, then leaned down and placed a tender kiss on the top of the head. “Would you please give my apologies to our parishioners? Something’s come up that I need to attend to.”

Not waiting for an answer, I parted from my wife and made my way to the back of the church and to my office. Once in my office, I closed the door and sat behind my desk, turning on the ancient computer. As soon as the internet connected I typed in the name he’d given me, not expecting a result.

To my shock, pages of hits popped up. It might be a coincidence. Just because pages popped up it didn’t mean I’d found my man. I began reading. Lance Winters did in fact exist, or had existed. Son of Senator Walter Winters, who’d died in an explosion. Lance had gone missing over six months ago, leaving a sizable inheritance in limbo. The police had no leads.

I found a picture of Lance Winters. It wasn’t the man who’d shown up earlier. I wasn’t surprised; I’d expected as much. But why give the name Lance Winters?

The beauty of the internet is that if you’re diligent you can find out literally anything – even the mystery of Lance Winters and his father. So I dug. After an hour, a light tap came on my office door.

Letting out a growl of frustration, I sat back in my chair and eyed the door. “Come in.”

“Honey.” Mary poked her head into the office and hesitated. When I motioned for her to enter she came in all the way. “Everyone is gone. Are you going to be much longer?”

I glanced down at the computer screen. Pages upon pages of information awaited me. I was tempted to leave it for the day so I could give the situation some thought, but no, I couldn’t. This had to be taken care of. If my hunch was correct, the identity of the man would lead me to Emily.

Pushing down my anger, I smiled up at my wife. “I’d love to, but I have a fair amount of work to do here. How about you and Rebecca go home and I’ll follow when I’m done?”

“Are you sure? If you’re going to be a while I can come back with lunch.”

“No, I’m fine.”

She smiled. “All right. I love you.”

“Love you too. Now go.” I kept the smile on my face, but God did I hate all that lovey-dovey shit. I’d endured it for twenty years. Oh well, small price to pay for the perfect cover. Besides, Mary was the perfect Christian woman – her world revolved around making me happy, she obeyed without question and she worshipped the ground I walked on. It was hard to find an obedient, self-sacrificing, pure woman like that nowadays.

That was why I did my part to rid the world of the whores. Not only did I get the relief from the kill, but also I was sending a message – my signature. The message couldn’t be more clear; if you indulge in the sins of the flesh before marriage, if you behave in a way unbecoming of a pure Christian woman, then there are consequences. I am that consequence.

Once she was gone and the door closed firmly behind her, I went back to my investigation. Hours went by, but the information I uncovered was mind-blowing. The Senator Walter Winters was allegedly at the head of an international human sex-trafficking organization. That drew me to the assumption that, considering his son’s disappearance, his son was also in on it.

So why would this kidnapper give me the name Lance Winters? My mind whirled with the possibilities. But it didn’t take a genius to know the answer. He knew him.

Had this stranger, the man who had taken what was mine, worked with him? For him? Or were they enemies?

But there was one thing even more grating to me than the fact that they might have my daughter and be planning on selling her into slavery. That bastard had taunted me with it. He’d come into MY CHURCH and taunted me as if I were some fool. As if I’d never clue in. He’d pay. I swear to God, I’d find the man who had the balls to insult me and take my time torturing him until his begging for mercy no longer amused me.