Page 8 of Cut Deeper

Oh, I’d spent hours in her home. Well kept and organised, except for the studio. Beneath the frozen peas and sweetcorn, I’d found some very interesting cuts of meat. In her garage, her tools.

What a sick little puppy she was. So damn nasty.

I stared at the woman crouched behind the bars. Tears spilled down her cheeks as she mumbled behind her gag. The man in the cage beside her had rage burning in his eyes.

Tonight, I needed to take the edge off. I reached for the keys, savouring the fear filling the woman’s eyes.

Mother had been right. I was evil.

Chapter 5

Anne

Every time I went into my studio, it felt as if I was being watched. It was the strangest sensation, and I considered whether this was simply paranoia, but I couldn’t shake the feeling no matter how I tried to justify it mentally.

Perhaps it was daddy dearest and Owen’s ghosts.

I cackled at the thought and sighed in happiness. I remembered being covered in warm blood. It was my baptism into a new life. And all the depravity that came after was a cross between unmitigated rage and cold calm.

The doorbell pulled me back to the present.

When I opened the door, I knew they weren’t canvassing the area. They had an air of righteousness and authority.

Pigs.

“Anne Selbourne?” the older one asked.

He was a drinker. The lines around his mouth and eyes made him look older. Possibly violent. I wondered what he got up to behind closed doors—at home, and at work.

“Who wants to know?” I asked, crossing my arms and leaning against the doorframe.

One of them pulled out a warrant card.

Official pigs.

Did I slip up?

“Were you with Gareth Richmond last Friday?”

I frowned at them. This was about Gareth.

“What if I was?”

“When did you last see him?”

“Why are you asking me about a hookup?”

“Why can’t you give a straight answer?” the older one snapped.

Dark circles under his eyes. I glanced lower. No wedding ring.

“Why are you taking your failed marriage out on me?”

His eyes widened, and he took a step forward, but his colleague pulled him back.

“Is that why she left?” I sneered.“Enjoy being a wife beater?”

His colleague stepped between us.