Fatal Jealousy (Black Widow Book 1) Read Online Free Page A

face.
    Audrey was excited, half jumping on her chair, “You met a girl didn’t you?”
    “We met at a bar I was trying out for the first time...”
    Kevin laughed, “What, you were running away from all your old girlfriends?”
    “Very funny. We spent the weekend together.” When his friends got the look on their faces like they’d heard that story before, he was glad to shock them, “In public. We haven’t slept together yet.”
    “You should take her to that salsa bar,” Audrey suggested.
    Carson smiled at the memory of that night, “I did, on Saturday.”
    “And you are telling us you didn’t sleep with her?” Gwen asked.
    “Nope.”
    Audrey’s face dropped even more, “So how long is this game going to last?” She knew it was only a matter of time before he’d grow bored chasing her.
    “I’ll let you know once she tells me.” For the first time ever, he wasn’t taking the lead. He liked that, probably because it was Ellie.
    Gwen tapped him on his forearm, “Does this have the potential of being serious?” She asked more for her sake than his.
    “Yes, no, maybe, I don’t know. But the status quo hasn’t changed,” he said more to her, than the rest of the group.
    “I hope it does,” then she turned on the screen. The second she did, all their good moods were destroyed. “Three girls, all seventeen years old, of Orange County were abducted from their homes in the middle of the night while they were asleep. They were found a week later still clothed in their pajamas, but all presented signs of sexual assault, with deep lacerations over their bodies and facial disfigurement.”
    “Were the killings all done in the same way?” Carson looked carefully at each picture, his demeanour hard and cold. It was like holding his breath under water as he struggled to distance himself emotionally from the victims.
    He hated it when the victims were just kids.
    “Yes,” Audrey answered drily, keeping her gaze away from the screen. She found reading the case details more bearable than looking at the pictures.
    “They all seem to be from different racial backgrounds,” Doran added.
    “Preppy schools, applications and admissions to some of the top, not to mention, expensive universities,” Paloma offered.
    “Any of them have scholarships?” Kevin asked.
    “No, all funded by their parents.”
    “Look at the way the unknown subject disfigured their faces. He or she knew these girls. There was nothing random about this.” Richard added.
    “They all use to go to the same high school before two of them transferred in the senior year,” There was an audible crack in Audrey’s voice. Seven years on the job and she still couldn’t get use to it.
    Carson put his hand tenderly on her shoulder, “Right after he dumps the body, he picks up a new victim. The last victim was found yesterday, has someone been reported missing?”
    “This morning, Nicole Joseph’s mother went to wake her up and she wasn’t in bed.”
    “It’s amazing parents aren’t sitting at their daughters’ windows with shotguns, I would,” Doran said, disappearing in the moment for a second, “Have they started processing the last victim’s room?”
    “No. They are waiting for us.”
    “Let’s go,” Richard got up, “Audrey tell the Orange County police we’ll be there in an hour.”
    She nodded, turning off the screen with slight relief. She turned to Carson before he disappeared out the door, “Does your new girl know about your job, the kind of people you chase down on a daily basis?”
    “We’ve talked about her mostly, nothing much about me.”
    “If you like her, don’t,” Audrey swallowed the bitter lump in her throat, “tell her you are a plumber or an insurance agent.”
    “Why?”
    “You seem to really like her and I want this to work out for you, but I don’t think she’ll want to hold her breath every time you leave to find psychopaths who do this,” she held the case file up.
    “Richard’s wife