Page 58 of Reaper and Ruin

If he’d killed those women, there’d be signs.

Four claw marks, ripped into their skin.

I’d seen him draw that mark over and over, etching it into the walls of our cell, drawing it on anything that belonged to him. Everyone in the prison knew if there were four claw marks on something, then it was the property of Lynx.

If he’d killed those women, I would have bet my life he wouldn’t have been able to help himself and that his mark would be on them too.

X groaned. “Get it together, Ace! It’s left, left, ball change, slap your ass! It’s not that hard!” He flung his forearm over his eyes like he couldn’t bear watching Ace’s fumbling another minute. “Remind me never to go to a honky-tonk with him. How embarrassing.”

Whip questioned if there were any honky-tonks in Saint View, but Violet’s phone ringing drowned them out.

She made a face at the screen then answered pleasantly, “Hi, Francine. What’s up?”

I started to turn away, not interested in Violet’s conversation with her boss, but the frown that morphed between her eyes stopped me. I watched her while she listened to the older woman on the phone, her frown deepening with every second that passed.

“No, I haven’t heard from her.”

“What’s wrong?” I whispered.

Violet held a finger up to me, telling me to wait, then answered Francine. “I’m sure she’s sick and was maybe just too unwell to call. I can check on her.”

She opened her mouth again but then quickly closed it, pressing it into a firm line. She held the phone out from her head just a bit, so even I could hear Francine’s ranting down the line.

Violet put it back to her ear. “Like I said, I’ll check on her. Can I do that before you fire her, please? She might be really unwell. I can pick up her missed shift so there’s no harm done.”

Relief spread across Violet’s face. “Thank you. Yes. I’ll check her roster and make sure the houses she’s missed get taken care of.”

Whip and X had both fallen quiet, listening to her end of the conversation as well.

She finished the call and cringed. “Nyah didn’t show up for her shift today, and she didn’t call either. I’m going to make them up tomorrow, and I know we want to go out to where you found the bodies, but can we check on Nyah first?”

Whip put the car into drive. “Of course. Where to?”

“Call her first,” I suggested.

Violet nodded, stabbing her phone. “She’s probably just avoiding Francine’s calls. Can’t blame her, she’s the last person I would want to talk to if I was unwell.”

“Or if you were loved-up and in bed with Dax?” X suggested.

Violet grimaced. “That is also a likely possibility. She’s not answering her phone.”

I picked up mine and called Dax. He didn’t answer either.

Violet’s teeth sank into her bottom lip. “Can we go to her house? Hopefully we find the two of them in bed—”

“Oh, you kinky minx! You hoping for a peep show?” X asked.

Violet shot him a look. “Just hoping they’re both there and everything is okay.”

I squeezed her leg. “They’ll be fine, but we can go check.” I was suddenly in no hurry to get back out to that pile of bodies. I knew we should go before darkness fell, otherwise I’d have the same problem I’d had when we’d found the bodies, without enough light to properly examine them. But I just didn’t want my fears to be confirmed with Lynx’s mark I was already half convinced I was going to find.

If I was wrong, that was almost as bad. That would just prove what a shitty friend I was, assuming because the guy had a history, he couldn’t turn over a new leaf. Hadn’t that been exactly the problem I’d had when I’d first gotten out? That nobody would give me a chance because of who I’d once been? And now here I was, assuming the same of Lynx.

Running around town searching for Nyah was a whole lot more appealing.

Whip pulled the car out onto the road, and X gave Ace a wave as we passed his house, not that Ace would have seen it. He was too busy concentrating on getting his footwork right to notice Whip’s car lurking outside.

It wasn’t far to Nyah’s little house in the shitty backstreets of Saint View. Whip stopped the car in front, and we all piled out, probably unnecessarily, but Violet’s worry had permeated the car, and now I was concerned too.