Page 128 of Cruel Delights
I sit down on the edge of Maloney’s second sofa. “Before I give you the information I have, I just need to know something.”
He prompts me with another lift of his brows.
“You’ve honed onto Kaden as your primary suspect, haven’t you?”
“Ms. Hendrix, I can’t provide unnecessary information in an official police investigation.” Maloney pauses long enough to scratch the German Shepherd. He’s wandered over to sit between his owner’s legs and glare at me like I’m a threat to his owner. Just as my face is falling, Maloney adds, “But what doyouthink?”
His expression says it all—yes.
I sigh and rest my hands on my knees. “You must have something on him. I’m guessing from his past?”
“Ms. Hendrix—”
“When I looked into him, I couldn’t find much. Except,” I say, pinning the detective with a bold stare, “there was an incident when he was younger. A very… gruesome one. It would’ve made headlines and been investigated by authorities, but his father’s money made the whole situation go away. He bought off everyone involved, including the courts and police.”
“How did you—”
“I have my sources. That’s where your suspicion began, isn’t it?”
Maloney scrubs a hand over his unshaven jaw. His other scratches his large, intimidating dog between the ears. He seems to think on whether he should be straight with me.
“I was a rookie at the time. I answered the call. One of the goriest crime scenes I’ve ever been on. That boy was standing in the middle of the room with the knife. He wasn’t right in the head then. He can’t be right in the head now…”
My stomach roils. “You’ve been waiting for a chance to land Kaden for years.”
“That’s right. He’s moved suspiciously for a long time. But nothing ever sticks. People disappear around him and nobody bats an eye. Maximillion Keys has been the first case in years where there’s a chance we might have something. An actual witness. Potential camera footage. If you have anything that could help, even better. What is it that you know about Fyodor Kreed? Don’t tell me Raskova has something to do with his disappearance.”
“I think I’d better show you rather than tell you. Can you make a field trip?”
* * *
It’s well past midnight by the time I make it home. I keep my hand inside my purse, my fingers wrapped around my pepper spray. Leaving Kaden handcuffed to my bed was obviously a risk. There’s a real chance he’s managed to escape.
But it wouldn’t matter. I was able to visit Maloney and accomplish what I needed to do.
I flick on the light in the living room and listen for noise in the rest of the apartment. My phone happens to ping with a new message alert. The sudden sound makes me jump, even though it comes from inside my purse. The text is from Detective Laurent.
I heard from Maloney about the situation. On my way.
I text back a quick thank you and head for the hallway. Each step feels like a potential step toward what could be my demise. Either he’s going to be restrained where I left him, or I’m going to have an immediate deadly threat on my hands.
Detective Laurent may not make it in time…
The door’s still closed like I left it. The light peeks out from the crevice underneath the door. I wrap my hand around the knob and inhale a final, steadying breath.
The bed is vacant. Kaden’s things are gone. The handcuffs dangle from the left side of the bent iron bars. He’s forced the bar from its frame and freed himself that way.
Something that must’ve taken extraneous strength, especially given how he was positioned.
How did he possibly manage to get free?
I tighten my hold on my pepper spray and walk deeper into the room.
“Kaden?”
No answer.
It’s possible he left. He might’ve fled the apartment and decided to regroup elsewhere. But I know Kaden too well even after only a few weeks of dating him. He doesn’t let things go. He’ll be back in some way.