His to Take (Wicked Lovers #9)(4)
Author: Shayla Black

Hunter polished off his coffee, poured another, then looked at Joaquin and Logan. They both shoved their cups forward for refills. He tipped the pot. The dark liquid flowed. Joaquin had the feeling the elder Edgington was collecting his thoughts.

“Can you tell from the evidence who’s responsible? Any theories?”

“No. I could use your help. Nate’s dead client hadn’t known who’d been after her. Nate himself hadn’t figured it out, either. I overheard incriminating conversations conducted on that burner phone, but the two assholes never exchanged names. Nor did they state who or what they represented. One called the shots while the other did the dirty work. But to uncover their identities, I’d have to have approval to subpoena phone records, and with a disposable device, the odds of getting that information are long. I was hoping that if I figured out why someone killed them, that would lead me to who.”

Logan nodded. “If you’ve got nothing else—”

“I don’t.”

“Then that’s your best option. So no one you worked for gave a damn about these dead people and . . . ?”

“I’ve been suspended for a month. I’m pretty sure that when I go back I won’t have a job, but I’m not giving up. I will figure this out. Which is where you guys come in.”

“What do you need?” Hunter sipped at his brew again.

“Resources. Anything you can give me to help me find out who did this and why.” Joaquin shrugged. “I figured you two would have ways.”

Logan smiled smugly. Hunter’s expression was almost a mirror.

So that was a yes.

Joaquin continued with his story. “The woman being followed was twenty-one, obviously of some sort of Anglo-European descent, probably Eastern bloc, but born in the U.S., and adopted in December 1998, somewhere around the age of five. When I found Nate’s notes, he’d been working this furiously and found a string of mutilations over the last two weeks spread across the country. Four in total, but no one had connected the dots yet. All the women were the same age with the same ethnic background, adopted about the same time. The phone call I overheard between the two men indicated that they’d compiled a list of every female in the U.S. who met these criteria. They said they’d find Tatiana Aslanov if they had to kill a hundred women looking for her.”

Hunter and Logan shared another quick stare, but neither said anything right away.

“What do you know about her?” Hunter asked.

“Nothing. All the usual searches turned up empty, as if she never existed.”

“Some people would like to keep it that way,” Logan asserted.

“You know about this girl?”

“We do,” Hunter answered. “We’ll get into it as soon as you finish your story.”

Joaquin nodded, glad he’d followed his hunch to come here. “About fifteen hours ago, I overheard the two assholes talking about hunting the Aslanov girl. Then suddenly, they went silent, as if they knew someone listened in. Or maybe they just cycled out their phones. Whatever. But the conversation stopped abruptly. Another body fitting the description turned up in Atlanta this afternoon. Whoever’s looking for this woman is looking hard.”

“And obviously not finding who they’re looking for,” Hunter speculated. “If they were, they wouldn’t kill their victim and move on to the next.”

“Agreed.” Joaquin nodded. “From what I gather, they want information. It makes sense that if a woman isn’t who they’re seeking, they dispose of her. After all, they can’t let her blab.”

“Exactly,” Logan agreed.

“But why end her so brutally?” Hunter looked perplexed.

“My gut? Just because he can. This prick probably enjoys torture. I’ll bet he gets hard hearing a woman plead for her life.”

“Sick fuck.” Logan’s contempt couldn’t have been more obvious.

“This creep started around D.C. and swept down the Eastern Seaboard, struck as far south as Miami, then headed back west. Every single one of these bodies is . . .” Joaquin shuddered as the crime scene photos flashed through his head, each more shocking than the last. The terrible deaths these women had endured made him flat fucking sick.

Logan slapped him on the back. “’Nough said on that. How can we help?”

“These killers are two steps ahead of me. I need help compiling a list of women who fit the profile so I can warn each before they become victims.”

“We can help with that,” Hunter promised.

“And that’s everything I’ve got. Now tell me what you know about Tatiana Aslanov.”