Page 19 of The Sins That Bleed

Bleeding Hearts

RAI

I ’m on my fifth coffee of the day. I know I should slow down if I want to get any sleep tonight but after the weird dream I had about Valeska visiting me, I’m on edge.

Nico and I have been putting things in place for our plan to get answers out of our lead guy, Jai Coltrane, researching everything we can get on him. There’s always something to find if you dig deep enough.

If I had more time, I’d be digging deeper into Valeska’s life too.

I excuse myself from Nico while I go take a leak, all the coffee running through me like a fountain. It’s late in the afternoon and the office has started emptying as people head home to their families. I say goodnight to a few of my colleagues on my way through.

The doors to the men’s room come into view and I step through, heading straight for a cubicle. Sometimes coming in here and sitting inside the stall is the only way for me to think, to step back from all the information we have and see it like a collage.

The sound of my belt buckle coming undone is the only sound that fills the drab bathroom. There’s nobody else in here with me, the three other cubicles are empty this late in the day. I sit on the seat and let my mind drift.

All the details of the case and everything I know about this organised crime empire flash through my mind. I shut my eyes, closing out the real world in front of me as I connect the dots.

I now have it confirmed from Valeska that Alaric Vonbarro is the king of this orchestration, with one of the lower leaders in a holding cell. The latest group of trafficked humans totalled thirteen; that’s three more people than the last lot that went missing, the ones I let slip through my hands.

I failed them.

A low macabre hum has me snapping my eyes open, I hadn’t heard anyone come in, the slight squeak of the door opening would have given them away. The humming stops as quickly as it started, and I chalk it up to the air conditioning.

I must be crashing from the caffeine.

I’m about to close my eyes to return to my thoughts but the creaking hinges of a stall door opening hits my ears, it’s as if someone is taking their time to swing it open.

They move to the next one, but I don’t hear the clink of footsteps and my heart kicks into another gear, adrenaline racing through my body.

I watch the shadow of the door next to mine as it moves under the divide. Fear has me in a chokehold and I freeze, not daring to even breathe. My palms prickle with sweat and my body hair stands on end.

My cubicle is next; the seconds slow to a crawl as I wait for movement, for whoever is on the other side to burst in here. I wait to see shoes appearing from the gap under the door but they don’t, no feet underneath that I can see from this angle.

Impossible.

Blood rushes through my ears, and the urge to drag in oxygen is painful—my lungs are burning from holding my breath as pain lances through them. I fight it, hoping that whoever it is leaves me alone before I pass out, a tremor rolling through me as I await their next move.

Nothing happens.

Fight finally kicks in and I’m up, tucking myself away in record time as I rip the stall door open, ready to go down swinging. I brace myself for the confrontation, but it never comes. There’s nobody on the other side of the door.

I’m breathing heavily as I step out of the cubicle and sweep the room. Everything is as it was with the stall doors all shut like they had been when I first came in. Fear mutates into confusion; I could have sworn someone was in here with me.

That the same démon I’d seen before Valeska slithered into my life had come back for me.

“Who’s there?” My words echo off the white subway tiles with no response.

I’m alone.

I shudder, freaked out and confused as fuck. Did that happen or did I imagine it? Neither of the possibilities brings me any comfort. I dip back into the stall and hit the flusher, coming back out to wash my hands.

I see a figure in the mirror, “Fuck off!” I shout as I jump out of my skin.

“Woah, princess, it’s only me! Why you telling me to fuck off for?” Nico looks both confused and hurt at my outburst.

I grip the edge of the counter and dip my head, trying to calm my racing heart. Maybe all that caffeine wasn’t such a good idea. I’m one more scare away from a heart attack. I don’t respond until I can trust my voice not to tremble, he’d never let me live it down.

“Holy shit man, you scared the living daylights out of me. Why are you lurking in the corner, Nico?”

“I’m not lurking! I came in here to see what was taking you so long, even if you were having a shit, you don’t normally disappear for nearly an hour.” He crosses his arms over his chest and frowns at me.

I’ve been gone for an hour, what the fuck?

“I was doing some thinking is all; you know how I like to use this time to connect the dots when we’re working a case.” I omit the part about hearing and seeing things.

“Well, did you come up with any answers?” He moves closer to me, intrigued about what I might have discovered.

I sigh and start washing my hands. “No, nothing.”

He slaps me on the shoulder in comfort, knowing it’s pissed me off to not come up with anything else we can use. I’m starting to accept that I’ll need Valeska more than I’d like. Nico hands me some paper towels to dry my hands.

“That sucks, but I’m sure something will come up soon. No asshole like that can hide all of the dirt on them.” He sounds so confident, but I’m struggling to muster the same energy.

“Yeah, it has to.” I don’t like lying, but there’s no point bringing him down with me.

“Let’s take another look at his family tree. I don’t think we investigated one of his cousins past their occupation. If we don’t find anything on him, then we’ll call it a night.”

“Okay, yeah let’s see what we can dig up.” I’ve got nothing to lose.

I throw my used paper towels in the empty bin and follow him out of the men’s room. I don’t look behind me for fear that whatever was in there with me before Nico came in is still lurking somewhere watching me.

Waiting.

It’s nearly midnight by the time we head out, the last of the team had left hours before. Food had turned up at the office, the message with it showing it was from Valeska. I’d questioned how she’d known; my bet was Nico told her, but he denied it when I asked.

We hadn’t stopped with the cousin; we both agreed we should look into who they were dating, hoping that might open another avenue for us to explore.

It was looking promising when we stumbled upon an ex-girlfriend who had racked up a large tab at a bar we thought might be owned by Alaric, until we realised it was actually owned by Valeska under her pseudonym Lilith and the debt promptly settled.

She’s got webs of businesses all over this city.

We ruminate over possibilities and theories on the drive back to our apartment block, but nothing sticks. We say goodnight and I continue up in the elevator to my floor.

I unlock my apartment and do my usual sweep—everything neat and tidy. I head straight for the sink, pulling a glass down from the cabinet overhead and filling it with water, downing the cold liquid as if I’ve been stuck in a desert.

My mouth feels dry from the taste of stale coffee coating my tongue and the aftertaste of Thai food. I bring a fresh glass to have on my bedside table with me, placing it down and heading straight into the bathroom to clean my teeth.

I immediately feel better once they’re clean.

I contemplate taking a shower but I’d already had one this morning after my workout.

I wipe the worktop down with the hand towel, removing any drops of water that splashed down.

I shut the cabinet housing my toothbrush, the mirror reflecting the room as it rushes by from the movement.

There’s someone behind me.

I’m not alone in my apartment.

I whirl, ready to take them down, but I don’t need to. They slide down the shower wall and a dark red streak trails in their wake. My mind registers that this is no stranger.

Valeska is in my shower.

She’s bleeding .

I’m on my knees in front of her before I even make the decision to move, reaching for her slumped body against the wall. I gently lift her chin to get a better look at her face, brushing the loose strands of her braids out of the way.

She looks up at me with unfocused eyes. “I ha-had nowhere else to go.”

Her whispered confession clears my mind of any other thoughts except helping her.

She should be in a hospital, not sitting bleeding in my shower.

I sit back on my heels as I try to assess where she’s been hurt.

It’s hard to see with the black material covering her skin but my eyes snag on a tear in the fabric.

There is a large slice over her left breast. My eyes flick to the blood on the wall and alarm bells go off so I tip her forward gently to confirm my fear. She’s been stabbed clean through the chest; I have no idea how she even got here with this injury, let alone how she’s still breathing.

Why did she come here, to me?

“I need to get you to the hospital, Valeska, you need medical attention. Fuck.” I go to get my phone out of my pocket but her cold hand stops my movement, sharp nails digging into my flesh.

“No hospitals, Rai. Please .”

The agonising way she says please stops me from calling the emergency services. I grip her cold hand in mine.

“Okay, no hospitals, I promise. Tell me what to do, how do I help you?”

I’ll do anything she asks; I can’t let her die. We have a deal and whatever hex she has placed on me is screaming at me to not lose her. There’s still so much about her I need to discover, to prove that she is the villain I’m painting her out to be.

“Towels, warm water.” Her head rolls and I steady it with my hands, not wanting her to pass out. “My bag, window. Has things.”