Page 15

Max

The first time I saw him, I thought nothing of it.

Just another man at the café, reading a book, no different from the businessmen buried in their laptops, or the students lingering over overpriced lattes - other than being quite attractive.

The second time, I paused.

Something about him was… familiar.

Not in a way that set off alarms, but a tickle in the back of my mind – a whisper telling me I’d seen him before.

And that book, it was one of my favourite books of all time.

By the third time, I knew he was watching me, whilst reading a book from a series I had just devoured and instantly added to my favourites pile.

Either fate worked in mysterious ways, hand delivering me the man of my dreams that read smutty fantasy books, or something else was going on.

Work was the last place I wanted to be, but it was the only place that could give me what I needed, targets.

The smell of stale coffee, the fluorescent lights, the sounds of ringing phones and clacking keyboards – it all kept me from drowning in my own thoughts.

I filed another case, the first dismissal to hit my desk in a while.

I ground my teeth, resisting the urge to rip the folder in half.

Instead, I placed it neatly in the drawer of my desk to properly read through later, to see if this was another monster who was about to be at my mercy, another kill to quieten the guilt.

Lara’s voice snapped me out of my thoughts.

“So, since you got laid on your birthday, you’re welcome by the way, I bet you’re dying to go out again and find another sexy man to pull you into your bed, now you’re officially out of your dry spell.”

I sighed, rubbing my fingers across my forehead, grabbing at the coffee she was wiggling in her hand at me.

“Jesus, Lara.”

She grinned, taking a sip of her own coffee, “That’s a yes.”

I didn’t answer, not because I was embarrassed, but because it didn’t fucking matter.

Casual sex was never a big thing to me, he was up and gone by the morning, and that was fine by me.

I needed need a man lingering around, especially with what I did after word.

Lara leaned against my desk, “You should go out with me again this weekend.”

I snorted, “I don’t think I can handle another hangover that bad.”

“Who said anything about drinking? What if we just, I don’t know, danced, flirted, and let some sexy strangers put their hands all over us?”

I rolled my eyes, Lara was persistent, and I was starting to think she had a sex addiction.

But before I could answer, I caught a hushed conversation coming from the break room.

“Jodie says her boyfriends on some top-secret case.

Apparently, there’s a serial killer in town.”

My heart stopped.

“Really? I thought it was just some rumours.”

“No, it’s serious they’ve got, like, a whole team on it.”

A chill crawled up my spine.

So, they were still looking for me.

They’d been looking for quite some time, but never big scale, just the occasional missing persons flier hanging around town, with a note to be vigilant about possible foul play.

I started shuffling papers around my desk to hide the tremble that was beginning to take over my hands, like I wasn’t listening to my own obituary being written.

Lara gave me a strange look, “You good?”

I painted a false smile across my face., “Yeah, just thinking about your relentless attempts to try and get me laid again.”

She huffed, rolling her eyes at me.

“I do it because I love you.

Anyway, got to go, just wanted to bring my favourite bitch some caffeine, love ya.”

I gave her a genuine smile, “Thank you, love you too slut.”

She forced a dramatic gasp, putting the back of her hand against her forehead, “Slut? How rude!”

She said as she blew me a kiss on her way out.

I forced a laugh, but deep within me, an unease began to coil in my gut.

People were looking for me now, and not just with causal interest.

I was starting to wonder if I’d already met one of them, the stranger at the café.

The one that felt familiar, but in a way I couldn’t describe.

The anxiety still clung to me as I stepped into Melinda’s Café after work, the file from earlier photocopied and stuffed into my bag.

The place was warm and familiar, a comfort I desperately needed after today.

I exhaled, moving to the counter, flashing Mel a tired smile.

“The usual?”

She asked.

I nodded. “Please.”

I rubbed at my temple, trying to shake off the weight of the day before turning and heading towards my usual seat.

And then, I saw him again.

I froze.

The same man, sitting in the corner, reading that same goddamn book.

The tickle in the back of my mind turned into a full-body alarm.

He was too familiar, too present, too intentional.

Was I being watched? I took my coffee and sat down, keeping my movements causal, I wasn’t going to panic, despite my heartbeat thundering in my ears, the way my palms started to slick with sweat.

But I was going to find out exactly who he was, because if someone was trying to hunt me? I’d hunt them first.

Nothing was going to get in the way of me continuing my father’s legacy.