Black Rose (18 page)

Agent Turner

I fight off a feeling I’m very unfamiliar with—panic. After Selena failed to make her appointment with Rene, supposedly to reveal information vital to our case, we immediately head to the hospital. The parking garage has now become a taped off crime scene and her boyfriend is as panicked as I am. I’m grateful for my ability to hide my emotions because the doctor is not able to exercise control over his right now. I feel for him because I know how I would feel if it was the woman I have come to know as my Mistress.

It is evident she has been abducted. The spilled contents of her purse and her car door being left open both indicate that she was forcibly taken against her will. We are presently viewing the surveillance tape on our phones but it is giving us no leads. This girl is going to get killed. She has no cell phone in her possession and, right now, she is at the mercy of a crazed necrophiliac with a vendetta against her boyfriend.

Our first lead comes when my cell phone rings with an unidentified number. I grab Rene and we make our way to the car, not knowing yet where we are headed. The tech I contacted will be able to track the phone and relay where the call originated. She does so in a matter of moments and I can only hope and pray that we make it in time to save this woman.

We arrive in the warehouse district in record time. The large, sliding door has been left open as if anticipating our arrival. Music blares from the speakers as we enter to view the subject of a killer’s obsession on a large metal table. I rush over to discover a faint pulse and immediately call for an ambulance. She is alive but drugged. I can’t remember a time I have ever been as relieved as I am right at this moment. I reach over to grab Rene and hug her. It’s odd, the things that go through your mind when a case affects you this deeply.

I look over in the corner and see the lifeless body of our serial killer. His eyes are open and he stares off into space. He has the look of a man who has breathed his last breath and entered the portals of hell. I’m sure a special place has been reserved just for his sick, demented soul.

My eye immediately catches the black rose and note neatly placed on the corpse.

Agent Turner—so we meet again. I keep telling you that I’m the good guy. One day, you will realize I am not the enemy. I believe I am not being egotistical in saying this is our first case that we’ve solved together. I look forward to working with you again…

Sincerely, Black Rose

Rene looks up at me surreptitiously and I know what question she is secretly asking me. I respond with an almost imperceptible nod of my head and she reaches down to grab the evidence of the rose and the note just as we hear the wail of an approaching siren in the distance. The secret of
Black Rose
will go with us to our graves… 

Reading order: # 1 The Hit Man, # 2 The Contract, # 3 Bound by Blood

This story unfolds over four volumes, approximately 25 - 30,000 words each.
By the time you look into my eyes, nine times out of ten, it's too late.
I have two rules that I live by: Never fuck a woman more than once, and never kill one. I'm getting ready to break both of those rules…