Page 23 of Merciless King

“Um, sure.”

“I’m about to head over. See you soon.” His voice seemed somehow even deeper when he said that.

“Yep, yes, you certainly will.” God, why did I turn into a complete idiot when I spoke to this man?

Van muttered something and made a funny sound.

Was he laughing?

He disconnected before I could ask.

I glanced up and Detective Daniels was watching me closely. “Van said to say hi.”

This seemed to amuse the detective, but he didn’t comment. “Shall we talk in your office?”

I led him to the back room, and he motioned for me to sit. He asked a few basic follow-up questions then said, “You made a call and made a report the day of your attack.” He opened a file he was holding. “The young guy from Pizza Heaven, you thought you might’ve been the last to talk to him?”

I nodded. “I had a pizza delivered that night. I thought it might be him.”

He took something from the folder. “I wondered if you could take a look at a picture of the deceased and see if you recognize him from that night.”

I swallowed, feeling suddenly ill. “What does this…why would I…”

“I just want to rule something out. I know this is frightening, but it’s just his face. You can’t see the rest of him.”

In other words, the rest of him was not—good. I bit my lip but finally nodded.

He placed it in my hand, and I stared down at it.

“Is this the man who came to your door?”

I shook my head. “No. It’s not him. The guy that delivered my pizza had blond hair. His face was thinner. I remember what he looked like because he asked about my dog.” The young man in the picture had black hair and darker eyes.

“He asked about your dog?”

I nodded.

“What did he say?”

“He said he was sorry to hear about him. When I asked how he knew that he’d died, he said my neighbor mentioned it.”

He jotted something down. “And did you confirm this with your neighbor?”

“No, I…” I froze. “Was it…him?”

“Now, London, we don’t know that for sure. I need to talk to your neighbor, and we’re waiting on some CCTV footage—”

“It was him, wasn’t it?” I started to shake.

“London—”

“He killed Heathcliff.” I wrapped my arms around myself. “He wanted me to know he could get to me anytime, and he…he killed my dog.” My head shot up, my eyes meeting his concerned gaze. “Oh God, he killed that poor boy just so he could prove that he could get to me. He wanted me to know. He wanted me to know…”

Detective Daniels stood suddenly and his arms came around me, pulling me out of my seat.

“Deep breaths, London. Can you do that? I need you to breathe nice and slow.”

“D-Detective D-Daniels…I, I can’t…”