Page 70

But then I sighed, looking away from her as I prepared myself to break the rest of the news.

“That’s not all, Charlotte.”

“Wh-what do you mean?” she asked, swallowing hard when I reached for her hands and grasped them tight, worry painted on her face.

“I’m going to ask you a serious question, and I need you to answer it honestly.”

“Wh-what is it?”

“Are you without a doubt, 100% sure it was Karl who sent you those texts and packages?”

Charlotte nodded without a speckle of hesitation. “Yes, it’s him. I-I mean, if not him, then who else?”

“Okay.” I heaved in a breath, trying to think of the best way to explain this to her without pissing her off. “Karl knows you’re a member of The Flirty Sanctum.”

Charlotte said nothing at first—just stared at me long and hard like she hadn’t fully heard me, until finally, little by little, her face fell.

“Wh-what?”

“When I found that dead cat on your porch last night, my first thought was the motherfucker was beyond sick. But then I’d come to understand it was a message. That the cat itself was symbolic, representing the cat mask you wear at the club.”

“Oh my God.” Charlotte’s lips parted, tears filling her eyes. She got to her feet and began to pace with her hands on her head, shaking it vigorously. “Oh my fucking God!”

“I wasn’t going to look into it at first. I held off because, well, I didn’t want to go behind your back and have you furious with me. But, when Phoenix and I got back and found out Karl’s DNA was a match to one of the follicles, I took it upon myself to investigate. Aside from Phoenix, nobody else knows about this but you. However, given what I’ve found and with Karl being a cop, I don’t have a choice, Charlotte. I have to report what I found to Captain Burgess.”

“And what exactly did you find, Spike?” she asked nervously.

As much as I hated seeing her this way and knowing that it would only get worse from here, I let out a sigh and got to my feet, reaching for her hand.

“Come on. I think it’s better if you see it for yourself.”

twenty-eight

Charlotte

“WHERE THE FUCK IS MY LAWYER!?” Karl hollered, growing aggravated the more he struggled moving his hands, courtesy of them being handcuffed to the table.

He’d been hostile ever since Phoenix and Chief escorted him in, demanding for his lawyer before they could ever get Karl inside an interrogation room. Ben still hadn’t arrived yet and until he was actually here and with Karl, neither detectives could begin the interrogation.

A tear slipped out of my eye, and I quickly swiped it away, torn and utterly broken by all of this. I just couldn’t believe it, but it was hard denying the truth when it had been embarrassingly staring me right in the damn face not even ten minutes ago. It was bad enough Karl’s DNA matched in Amber’s case, but to make matters worse, the GPS in Karl’s police cruiser put him inside a parking lot across the street from the sanctum on the night Delilah was attacked. Spike did mention that he couldn’t exactly recall each time I went to the sanctum—and unfortunately, neither could I—but he’d also shown me that there had been multiple occasions dated three months back where Karl was camped out in that exact spot for long periods of time.

Spike was right.

Karl knew all along and I never had the slightest fucking clue.

“CHARLOTTE!” he screamed, and I shrieked, jumping back from the window with my hands against my mouth as he glared through the glass like he had X-ray vision. “I know you’re there! Come in here and tell me what the fuck is going on!”

The door behind me opened, and I abruptly twisted around, expelling a relieved breath when Phoenix and Spike walked in with Ben, who nodded briefly at me before he departed inside the interrogation room to be with his client.

“It’s about fucking time,” Karl hissed, and Spike scoffed, turning off the speaker box.

“Are you okay?” Phoenix asked me.

I shook my head, another tear helplessly sliding down my cheek. “I’m not.”

“You don’t have to stay here for this. Chief called Harley.”

I groaned at the mention of Harley, my heart sinking. “She’s going to take me off these cases.”