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  “Other than the corpse? Let’s hope so.” Jake brought the car to a stop, and Jo jumped out before he could put it in park.

  “Whoa,” he said, catching up to where Jo stood beside Sam. “What are we here to see?” He had no idea if this was the same setup as before since it certainly wasn’t the same kind of scene.

  “Another game of hangman,” Sam said. “I didn’t get close enough to see more than the victim is a man. I thought you might want to be the first in, and frankly, after the last surprise,” he gestured to his eyes, “I didn’t want too good a look.”

  “Yeah, hangings are messy business,” said Jo. “But did you know that this is one of two states left that allow hanging as an option for the death penalty?”

  Jake wasn’t surprised she knew that. She was most likely the nerdy girl in school, full of fun facts. But now, she was a beautiful woman, who had no clue how sexy she really was. “Do you want me to go in first so I can warn you?” he asked.

  “I’m good with this kind of stuff, Jake, but thanks. And I know what you and O’Connor talked about too.”

  Jake felt his heart speed up a bit. “You heard us?” He tried to think if he’d said anything to agree with the chief that she might have had an issue with.

  “Yeah. Those doors are not as thick as you think.” She continued down the hall behind Sam, but Jake reached out and pulled her by her arm to stop.

  “I didn’t agree with him, Jo. I know you’re capable of solving this case, but if you’re going in there blind to prove a point, you don’t have to.”

  “Jake, you can’t protect me forever. I heard you. You’re gone soon, and I’ll be ready. This is the first step.”

  Jake knew he was going to have to back off. “Okay. I just wanted to offer.”

  “And I appreciate it. I also appreciate you standing up for me. I know you didn’t have to. But don’t contradict it all now.”

  Jake gave a nod. She was right. With his offer, he was pretty much agreeing with O’Connor, contradicting everything he’d told him about her strength and ability. “I stand by what I said.”

  Jo met his eyes and crinkled her nose. “We better get moving. That body isn’t getting any fresher.”

  With that, they turned to Sam who was waiting just at the end of the hall, where a room was lit up. The dank place smelled like mildew, and Jo covered her mouth as she got closer. “I can taste the blood in the air.”

  “Me too,” said Jake as they stepped in front of the door.

  Jo reached over and gripped his arm, and he could tell that she was unsteady. “Dear God.”

  Sam had been right. It was much worse than before.

  Chapter 11

  Hayden

  “So, then I said, ‘More like Elliot Loses’ and you would have thought I spit on the dude. Thomas got all weird about it. The guy seriously can’t take a joke.”

  Hayden had listened to Officer Davey Lang rattle on about the murder investigation for days since he’d been assigned to ride along with him. And each time he told the story, the details changed. “Didn’t you mention something about the man shitting his pants?” he asked in a hard tone.

  “Still,” Lang said. “I was just trying to lighten the mood. I don’t think it’s necessary to take everything so goddamned seriously.”

  “Well, Detective Thomas is a strange guy and not like most. But even I don’t want to hear jokes when a man is dangling in front of me with one eye hanging down his cheek.”

  He’d heard all about the gory details a couple of times over, and he wanted to tell Lang that in order to form a much better circle and be accepted by his peers, he needed to stop ragging on the detective and shut up about the case. No one liked someone that they thought might go rattling on about them.

  “You know that what happens on the ride along, stays on the ride along, right?” Hayden asked.

  “Of course, man. That guy just got under my skin.” Lang clammed up a little.

  “Yeah, we have a code, and it’s all about knowing when to keep your mouth shut. I say, you keep quiet and learn by example. I mean, you do want to fit in around here, don’t you?”

  Lang gave a shrug. “Yeah. Of course.”

  Hayden gave him a devious smile, knowing the kid was never going to make it until someone took him under his wing. And probably not even then. But if he was going to be stuck with him for a while, he might as well get to know how things worked.

  He continued down the road, noticing his new partner was a lot quieter than he had been before. Hayden liked that he could at least take a hint, but now it was time to put him to the test. As he took them down into the depths of the poorest neighborhoods, he kept his eyes peeled for a kid he heard had recently gotten out of lockup.

  “Man, this neighborhood is shit,” said Lang.

  “I grew up here. It’s what made me want to be a cop.”

  “Really? Sorry, man. I’m sure it was better back then, cleaner?”

  Hayden grinned. “No, actually, this part of the city has always been like this. A shithole. But I can call it that, not you.”

  He spotted a known dealer hanging out with his buddy on the corner. Not only did it look like they were making a deal, but the little shit was smiling, which meant he must be having a good day.

  Hayden jerked the car over and stopped, flashing his lights.

  Lang jumped out of the car and approached them. “What’s going on here?”

  “You tell me, officer,” said Niko, the one who Hayden had met before. “I’m just enjoying this beautiful weather,”

  Hayden walked up to the men. “Niko, it’s good to see you so happy.”

  His back stiffened when he saw Hayden. “Is it a crime to be happy?”

  “No, but in your case, I think whatever is making you so fucking happy is a crime. So, why don’t you put your hands up, and I’ll check your pockets and make sure you’re not on your way back to juvie.”

  Niko narrowed his eyes. “Why would you do that? Because I’m standing here? I haven’t done anything wrong. Besides, I’d rather die than go back to that place. Trust me. I’m keeping my nose clean.”

  Hayden knew he was lying. Word in his old neighborhood was that the young pusher was back at it. “I saw you exchange something. Now, we can do this the hard way, or we can make it easy. Hand over whatever you have, and I might go easy on you.”

  Lang gave Hayden a sideward look.

  Hayden smiled when Niko put his hands on his head. “Back pocket. There’s some weed and pills.” Niko and his friend looked at one another, and Niko nodded as if telling him to cooperate.

  “I ain’t got nothing,” said the other young man.

  “Hands on your head, and I’ll see if you’re telling me the truth.” Hayden grabbed the kid’s arm and twisted it around behind him as he dug into his back pocket.

  “It ain’t mine,” said the boy as soon as Hayden reached for his stash.

  “This is nothing?” asked Hayden, waving the drugs in his face. “What’s your name, boy?”

  “Jackson,” said the kid. “Man, I ain’t never been in no trouble. My mama is going to kill me.”

  “I know what moms can be like,” said Hayden. His own was a hardworking single mom who could be rough on him at times, which was why he rarely called. “So, today is your lucky day. And it’s a day for valuable lessons all around. These drugs? They’re going to destroy you, Jackson. You mark my words.” The boy nodded to agree, shaking like a leaf. “But not today.”

  Lang’s head turned so fast, Hayden’s peripheral vision didn’t miss it. He glanced at the rookie who looked confused.

  Hayden kept main focus where it needed to be. “Do you have any idea what kind of time you could do for this amount?” he asked them. “Not to mention you’re obviously packaged for making deals. I just saved several years of your life.”

  “Thank you,” said Niko. “It won’t happen again.”

  “No sir, you won’t find me out here buying anything again.” Jackson see
med sincerer, and from his behavior and the fact that he was so scared he looked like he might piss his pants, Hayden didn’t think he would see him around. But he wasn’t interested in the kid or his fucking future.

  “You should get going, Jackson.” Hayden waited as the boy gave Niko an apologetic look and scurried away.

  “You too, Niko. But I’ll be in touch.”

  Niko gave a nod and slowly walked away, and Hayden turned around and went back to his car. Lang followed a moment later, still trying to process what had happened.

  “Um, why didn’t we take them in?” he asked, sliding into the seat beside Hayden.

  “My friend, if you’re going to make it around here, you need to learn when to keep your mouth shut and not ask too many questions. Besides, we can make a nice a little payday off this, selling it ourselves.”

  “No way you’re serious, man.” He looked like he didn’t know if Hayden was pulling his leg or not, and it gave Hayden great pleasure to see him shaken.

  “Oh, I’m serious. You can make quite a bit on the side doing this.”

  “You’re really serious?” His eyes narrowed. “This isn’t some kind of rookie initiation?”

  Hayden shook his head and started the car. “Come on. I thought with all of your humor over corpses and your continuous nagging about the other officers that you’d be down with your own agenda.”

  “My mind is blown, man. I don’t know what to believe.”

  “Believe it. I have my own runner, and he will turn this shit into cold, hard cash by the end of tomorrow. Then you’ll have a nice little cut of the money that no one but me and you have to know about.”

  Lang was quiet for the rest of their drive, and Hayden decided to wait a while on going to his runner. By the end of their ride, Lang had loosened up a bit and had even started to speculate what he could do with the money, but he still seemed a bit off.

  Hayden understood how he felt. He had been in his shoes once, which was why he trusted the guy to fall in line like he had. As he pulled up to Lang’s car at the station, he turned in his seat. “This stays with us, and I’ll have your cut by the end of the week.”

  Lang nodded but still looked down.

  “It’s kind of like learning that Santa isn’t real, right?” Hayden asked.

  “Yeah, it’s just like that, actually.” Lang opened his door, but Hayden grabbed his arm.

  “We’re good, right?”

  Lang nodded. “All good.” He got out of the car and shut the door behind him.

  After checking in at the station for a moment, Hayden went back to his own car to go home with a fresh cup of coffee and a much-needed pastry from the front desk.

  As he headed back across town, a call came in from the station. “Dannie, how’s it going?” He wasn’t surprised the hot brunette called. They’d been talking a lot lately.

  “I tried to catch you, but you left,” she said. “I had a call come in about a possible drug deal. It’s at the old youth center across town off Kennedy. I thought you might want to get there first.” She didn’t know about his side action, but he had asked her for a heads-up to make himself look better. She had agreed on a tit for tat basis.

  “Thanks for the heads-up. What are you doing later?”

  “Sam asked me out for dinner,” she said in an apologetic voice that quickly turned mischievous with laughter. “But I’m free after.”

  Hayden chuckled. “You’re a bad girl. And what if you end up back at Sam’s place after dinner?”

  “I’m sure that won’t happen. Especially if I know you’re going to call me.”

  “I can do you one better. I can come by if you want? And I can stay as late as you want. I’m off the next two days.” He had been trying to get Sam fucking Finch off of her ass, but the do-gooder just wouldn’t back down.

  “I’d love that.” She gave a giggle.

  “Thanks for the tip on the drug deal. I’ll call this one in myself once I check it out.”

  “Sure thing,” she said, hanging up.

  “Man, you drive me crazy, girl,” he said to his empty car as he turned around and headed toward Kennedy Street.

  When he got there, there didn’t seem to be anyone around. The place was run down, and he thought he’d heard a rumor about it getting torn down soon. A lot of the older buildings were being taken down to clean up the city.

  He pulled his car around back after not seeing anything going on in front. He’d have to park and get out to check. He was still dressed in his blues and armed, so when he took off on foot, he held his gun at the ready.

  Getting there first, he hoped to see what was going on with the call, but more importantly, he wanted to see if more drugs were inside that he could swipe for himself. He was always thinking about the possibility of earning more money. It was the only way to have the extra things in life that he had always wanted.

  This place is big enough to hold a nice little haul. Whoever was there had either left or were doing a damned good job of being quiet. He imagined opening the door and finding a big stash of drugs, but when he walked inside, he found nothing but silence and an empty room.

  “Fuck.”

  Something moved out of the corner of his eye. Before he could turn his gun, he was being held by the wrist, and something sharp stabbed his neck.

  Chapter 12

  Hayden

  Hayden woke up dazed in a dimly lit room, the groggy feeling reminding him of the time he’d nearly overdosed as a kid. Everything had smelled like a bag of pennies then too.

  The last thing he’d remembered was checking out the warehouse and finding it empty. Then something—someone—had come up behind him, striking him in the neck.

  Before that, he had given Niko the shakedown, but the kid couldn’t have retaliated that quickly, nor did he think Niko had the balls to go to such extremes.

  Hayden didn’t even realize he was sitting up at first, but seeing the wall in front of him, things started coming into perspective. The dingy white wall looked like someone had drawn bad graffiti on it, but his head throbbed too much to care what it was.

  A failed attempt to feel his neck told him he was tied up with no use of his hands, and the approaching sound of footsteps sent his panic into overdrive.

  What’s about to happen to me?

  “Where am I?” he asked, hoping the how and why would come with the answer. He looked down and realized his shirt was gone, along with his weapons, badge, and belt.

  “Get on your feet,” said a strong, raspy voice. A man stepped closer, coming into focus. He was big, all dressed in black, with a dark hood hiding his face in shadow. Hayden focused on the dark mesh that hid the stranger’s eyes, but that got him backhanded across the face. “On your feet!”

  Hayden’s lip stung from the strike. It split his lip, and the taste of blood made him spit. On wobbly knees, Hayden stood, and the large man put a noose around his neck and tightened the slack. He glanced down, seeing the blood on his chest. When had he been cut?

  He then looked to his feet, which were perched precariously on the edge of the chair. He moved back, taking a tiny step to the stable part.

  This couldn’t be how he checked out of the world. Forced to stand on a fucking chair, only to have it kicked out from under him.

  The wall behind his kidnapper came into focus, and he realized the hangman frame and the spaces for the letters had all been drawn in his blood. “What’s going on?” He hoped it was a prank. That someone had told the rookie to set him up with all the details of the scene he’d worked.

  But Hayden knew everything was real. He wasn’t being pranked. He was the next victim. “What do you want with me?”

  “We’re going to play a game, and you can find out.” The man pulled out a knife and examined the blade.

  Hayden watched the light reflect off the sharp steel tip as his pulse raced. “Who are you?” He tried hard to see if he knew the man; if he recognized his shape, his build, his voice. But nothing rang a bell.

&
nbsp; “You can call me Hangman,” he said. “My last victim did.”

  Hayden thought of everything Lang had told him about the Elliot murder, like his eye hanging out and the fact that he’d shit himself. Hayden didn’t want to go out like that, being found covered in blood and shit for the whole department to see. Becoming just another dead cop, another statistic.

  Lang had told him about the game and the blood. All of that fucking blood. The maniac had even killed Elliot’s dog.

  “You’re the one who killed Elliot Gaines,” Hayden said. “I didn’t know him. There has got to be some kind of mistake.”

  “Funny how you don’t see the relation. You’re just as dirty and crooked.”

  “I’m nothing like him.” Hayden wasn’t about to admit to anything, especially about the money he’d taken from drug dealers for his own gain. Or how he hadn’t brought them to justice when he should have.

  He’d even taken money for false testimony and been paid to keep his mouth shut on more than one occasion, but that was just the way it was in the city, and it had been that way long before he had come around. It would never change. Not even long after whatever was about to happen to him.

  The Hangman stood facing him. “I’m sure you know how this game is played. Give me a letter. Maybe before you die, you’ll get to see why you’re here.”

  Hayden was frozen in fear, knowing he was a goner. “That’s not a choice. I’ll be dead either way.”

  “You had your choices before, and you chose to do wrong. So, let’s start the game.”

  “E.” He gave him a hard look. He wasn’t going to show fear and give this asshole the satisfaction. He’d play along. If he were hanged, at least it would be quick and painless.

  The Hangman quickly lashed out, slicing Hayden’s chest. The mark intersected the one already there. As the thick red stream dripped down, the Hangman brought his gloved fingers through the fresh blood and then turned to mark an E in the first blank.