Page 71 of From Hell

Laine is no longer the blushing eco-warrior I met at medical school. She’s fierce, reckless, and everything about her makes my blood boil.

It’s making me careless. I put Christian in hospital, murdered Henry, and covered up her involvement. Ending her is the only way out of this mess. I should have put her out of her misery the first moment I laid eyes on her. I shouldn’t be here tonight, peeping on her like an obsessed teenager, but I can’t keep away. I need to taste her again, devour her, destroy her…and eventually make her mine.

Fuck everything else.

Fuck Abe and his expectations.

Even if the world were burning around me, I’d let it.

Without considering my actions, I text the hospital and cancel my shift.

Leaving the car where it is, I slip into her garden and move silently until I’m at her back door. The lock is flimsy. I should fix it so she’s not exposed and vulnerable. If I can open it, so canhe. Though I quite like that I can access her whenever I want, that part of me isn’t going to let her go.

It won’t stop now I’ve found her.

Not even for my little fox.

26

LAINE

My cottage is full of noise at night, but I’ve gotten used to them all. Noises are fine. It’s the shadows that creep me out—the ones outside that seem to wax and wane with the moonlight. I was so busy with Dad and game night that I forgot to close the curtains. Anyone could have been watching, and that freaks me more than anything.

I climb the rickety stairs once I’m happy everything is locked up, with a glass of water in one hand and a book in the other. The gun Nola gave to me put to good use, tucked into my waistband. Tigger pads after me, making no sound, and Charlie, my dad’s German Shepherd, scrabbles loudly over the wood. They both follow me into the bedroom.

Cash offered me to stay at his again, but staying away, running again, is out of the question. I came back to Whitechapel for a reason—to catch the bastard. Nola is right, I need to make a move. I can’t keep playing his games. At least I’m not entirely alone tonight, dad brought Charlie for a sleepover. He’ll protect me while I sleep.

If I manage to sleep…

I was so angry after Jaxon caught me off guard at Henry’s that I haven’t slept much since. I’m hoping that tonight, physical exhaustion will win over after spending most of the day at the gym getting pummelled by Rae, my dad’s ex-partner when he was in the crime investigation department. She once offered to take me through my self-defense paces as a favor to my dad and has done so ever since.

I like Rae. She’s no-nonsense, and even though she was crushing hard on my dad at one point, she’s pretty easy to train with. She didn’t ask about the bruises around my neck, just like she has never asked about the scar. She slammed me into the mat enough times that sense was knocked into me along with determination.

Though she did make a passing comment as I left. “You were off your game tonight, El. I got the better of you more than a dozen times.” Rae has always called me El because my dad has always called me my full name, Elaine.

“I went to see Max Lamberton,” I admitted while toweling down. If I told her the truth, at least about the stalker, she’d have to tell Ken, my dad, and then I’d be facing more than a twice-a-week check-up. Games night and waffle morning aside, my dad would probably demand I move back home. But I can tell her things he already knows.

Rae looked at me as if I was insane. “The Ripper?”

“Some things he said just didn’t make sense.”

“Like what?”

“Like, the killer is meant to have intimate knowledge of West London but Max didn’t seem to know where anything was when I asked him to explain the distances between the crime scenes, he didn’t mention or seem to know about the positioning of the bodies after he killed them, and when I asked him why some of the wounds were controlled, and some disorganized, he couldn’t tell me why.” Max looked dumbfounded when I asked him about the letters, too. It makes me wonder if the police even asked him or just took his word for it.

“How do you know all this?”

“I may have pestered Dad a few times,” I lie. I actually read his files one night after he passed out on the couch from sheer exhaustion.

Rae cocked her head, thinking before she said, “It was a long time ago. He could have forgotten the details.”

I didn’t press her after that.

“Doing anything nice tonight?” she asked me as I was leaving.

“Games night with Dad,” I answered.

Rae looked wistful enough that I invited her too, which turned out to be a good thing as Dad and Rae left super early, giving me more time to get ready. Tonight, I’m going to catch my stalker. I want my house back. I want my freedom.