Page 104 of Somno Slave

He shrugs as though pushing the heaviness of the topic away. “It’s nothing major; it just sticks in my mind. That’s all.”

“What does?”

He gestures toward the filing cabinet. “You know, the crime scene pictures. I can’t seem to forget how much blood there was.”

He points toward the cabinets on the far side of the wall.

I blink. “You’ve seen them?”

His face drops. “You haven’t?”

“No.” Cold moves through me so quickly it feels invasive. “When?”

“Monday.”

I swallow hard.

Monday. Three days ago. I’ve seen Peter plenty of times since then. Hell, I even had a whole shift alone with him. But...nothing.

Mike realises somethings wrong.

“Oh, Rheda, shit,” he snaps forward, “I’m sorry, I didn’t realise that you hadn’t seen them.”

His hand reaches out to touch my arm but I pull back sharply.

“It’s fine.” I say, but my tone deceives me.

“There’s probably a reason. Wasn’t that the day you overslept? Yeah. It could have been,” he speaks quickly. “Peter probably just forgot to show you. That’s all.”

I wish I could believe what he’s saying, but the dull, bitter part inside of me screams the betrayal.

He’s withholding information from me.

I stare at him. “What did the pictures show?”

He swallows hard.

“Blood.” He says quietly. “Lots of it. More than should’ve been possible. He made sure it was everywhere. Floor. Ceiling. Walls.”

I feel dizzy.

I smooth my expression as best as I can. “Where did it happen?”

His shoulders jump up in a shrug. “Some type of basement, I think. He must have built it for the purpose of killing.”

I wipe my palms against my trousers. My head moves slowly.

“Anything else I should know?”

His lips purse tightly.

“Tell me.” I press.

“It’s...grim.”

I lean forward. “I can handle it.”

His lips open, and then shut again, eyes falling closed for a beat too long as he turns over the decision in his mind. Just as I think he’s going to refuse, he looks at me again.