This month I’m taking part in the A-Z Challenge! Which means I’ll be writing 26 posts (on set days through the month) each one corresponding to a letter of the alphabet. Today is day 18, which means letter R.
My theme for the month is: Secret Diary Of A Serial Killer. Each post will be a new chapter in the story – I’m really excited to finally get this novel idea out of my head and into words. I hope you enjoy it! 🙂
Previous Chapter: Quiet Start from A: Anna
Reveal
We waited for the waitress to refill our coffee cups, and I ordered a slice of apple pie. She brought it over fairly quickly, and didn’t even scowl at me this time.
Johnny took a sip of his coffee then leaned back in his chair, waiting for me to begin.
I didn’t know what he was expecting. My mind was racing – could he really know that I’d killed people? I doubted even his skills could figure that out.
“There’s a serial killer,” I said, testing the water.
He nodded. “Yeah, I saw on the news.”
“Capinski and I are working the case.”
“That was Capinski earlier?” He said,
“Yeah,” I said, taking a bite of pie. “He-”
Johnny cut me off. “Wait a minute,” he said, and leaned forward, arms on the table. “Your partner, Capinski, is working a serial killer case with you. Presumably the same case you had the tip line call about.”
I nodded.
“He called in a tip for his own case?” Johnny frowned. “That doesn’t make sense.”
“It does if he’s the serial killer,” I said. I watched Johnny’s face carefully, trying to see what kind of reaction he would have.
All I got from him was a raised eyebrow.
Eventually he said, “You think your partner is killing women?”
I nodded. “They all look exactly like his ex-girlfriend. It was a rough breakup for him.”
That got a 2 raised eyebrow reaction. “Wow,” he said. “That’s… wow.”
I let him think about things for a moment while I finished my pie. It was the first thing I’d eaten in a while, and I saw Johnny smirk at me wolfing it down.
“Why would he call in a tip about someone he killed,” he asked.
“We’re working on that right now,” I said, hoping the lie was simple enough that he wouldn’t questions it. “Well, I mean I’m working on it. I guess he already knows why he did it.”
Shut up, I thought to myself.
“Anyway, the thought around the station is that she escaped or did something he didn’t like,” I said, and shrugged wishing I had more pie to stop myself talking.
“So you’re pretending to be into him so you can get close and catch him?” Johnny said, slowly.
“Yeah, not the greatest plan I know,” I said, and stood up. “And I really should be going so I can prepare to meet him in the morning.” Opening up about a case to Johnny was making me feel weird, I needed to get out of there before I said something I couldn’t talk my way out of.
“Be careful,” he said, frowning at me.
“I will,” I said over my shoulder as I headed to the door.
It was only when I stood outside that I remembered I’d come in a cab. I cursed to myself then heard footsteps behind me. Johnny picked up the tracking device from the plant pot, walked over and carefully pushed it into my pocket.
“Don’t forget about this,” he said. His fingers lingered on my pocket edge a little longer than necessary.
Was he flirting with me? My brain didn’t know what to do. But I took too long to figure it out and the moment past.
Johnny took a step back, his thumbs hooked in his jean pockets. “I’ll have your phone ready tomorrow,” he said.