Sinister

I slipped into the hotel quietly and went to the front desk. When I asked for Detectives Malloy and Mason, no one stopped me or asked why I needed to see them. If they had, I would have said I was an old friend visiting. My mouth twitched at the lie, but I got on the elevator, a feeling of glee spreading through my chest.

Charlotte wouldn't be able to stop me when I drove a knife through her heart. Her partner would be furious, of course, and I would take him out too.

They couldn't stop me.

I'd killed so many people, they were just another set who thought they could find the good in me. I knew how it worked: they would talk me down, like I was one of those suicidal people, standing on the ledge of a home or office building, threatening to jump.

I found their room and knocked, my mind spinning with images of their lifeless bodies at my feet. When someone pulled open the door, however, a shot rang out. I'd moved out of the way in time and the bullet lodged itself into the wall.

Charlotte, fierce eyes and set jaw, glared at me.

Oh, how I would take my time with her.

"That was quite uncalled for," I announced, scanning the hall. "It seems the security in this place isn't up to par."

She lowered the gun slightly, and I saw my opening. I gripped her by the throat and pulled her into the hall. The gun fell from her hand as she tried to pry my fingers off. When I squeezed harder, she gasped, struggling to breathe.

"Take your hands off of her."

I smiled slightly, inclining my head in the direction of the voice behind Charlotte.

Detective Scott Malloy stood with his gun pointed directly at me. But I held his partner, so if he shot, she would get a bullet.

"I don't think you want to do that," I told him. "Don't want to hit and kill your girlfriend, do you?"

I'd challenged him. There were two options now: wound me, or shoot through Charlotte and hope to hell he struck me. But there was a third option, one that he didn't anticipate. One I could definitely get away with.

Then he'd come for me.

"I'm going to take her," I said, watching him. I gazed at Charlotte; her body had got slack, but she was still alive. I lifted her into my arms so that her head rested on my shoulder. I fished her cell phone out of her pocket and tossed it into the room. "Keep this, and I will call you to tell you where I've dumped her body."

Scott tensed. "Why her?"

"Oh, please, like you don't know," I scoffed. "You know how special she is. You, of all people, know what she can do."

His eyes widened. "I had a hunch that you knew, but how? She thought you were like her. She thought you could see things."

I smirked. "I can't. I just knew that there was no way either of you knew where I could have gone if you couldn't see beyond. There was no evidence left behind, so there was only one explanation." I backed away from the door. "I will call you in one hour and give you instructions. You will follow them to find her."

He didn't come after me as I carried her onto the elevator.