Love Me Dead (Lilah Love 3)

“Murphy doesn’t think you communicate well?” Kane asks. “I can’t imagine why.”

I glance over at him. “I communicate just fine, and fuck you, Kane.”

“Exactly my point. You get right to the point.”

I shoot him the finger and take matters into my own hands. I dial the one person I know will push the limits. My cousin answers on the first ring. “Lilah, my love.”

“Whatever, Lucas. I need to know everything you can tell me about a certain FBI agent. The kind of stuff I’m not supposed to be able to find out.”

“What are you going to give me if I do?” he asks, flirting as always.

“What do you want Lucas?” I ask and glance at Kane.

“You,” Kane says. “He wants you.”

“Oh fuck,” Lucas growls. “You couldn’t warn me you were with Kane? I’ll do the damn search. I’ll call you back.” He hangs up, and I laugh. “You cut right past all his bullshit. I take my ‘fuck you’ back momentarily. He’s doing it now.”

“I’ll bet he is.”

“He’s my cousin, Kane.”

“Your father was his father’s stepbrother. He’s not your damn cousin, Lilah.”

“Okay, well, putting aside all your dirty thoughts—”

“His dirty thoughts.”

“Fuck, Kane. Listen to me.” I inhale and breathe out. “His father was with my mother when she died. Lucas and I both thought they were having an affair, but Murphy has painted a different picture that involves him. Murphy was in love with her. This entire task force and his hate for the Society are about my mother to him.”

“Is it?” he asks, pulling in front of the morgue.

I unhook my belt and turn to face him. “What do you know?”

“There’s a window of time where Murphy didn’t exist.”

“What the hell does that even mean? He didn’t exist?”

“I mean he didn’t exist, Lilah. Director Murphy isn’t who he says he is.”

“He works for the agency. Of course, he’s who he says he is.”

“Or someone with the skills Lucas possesses made him who he is.”

“In other words, Murphy changed his identity. Holy fuck.” I shake my head. “Holy fuck. Who the hell is he?”

“I’ll let you know once I find out.”

“Should I have Lucas—”

“No. Don’t leave a trail that leads back to you. Let me handle this.”

I frown, my mind starting to profile Murphy. Who is he? What is he? That’s the thing about Kane; he might be a killer, but he’s the killer I know. There’s a lot to be said about knowing someone in all their bloody fucked up true colors. There’s also something to be said about being with someone who knows all your own bloody fucked up true colors, and still feeling safe.

“You going to kiss me goodbye?”

“Not a chance in hell,” I say, but even as I do, I lean over the seat and into Kane. He catches my head and kisses the hell out of me.

“What just happened Lilah?”

“You just fucking happened, and you keep fucking happening. Asshole.” And with that, I get out of the car.

The minute I’m outside in the open, I know I’m being watched by some little prick who is either Junior or Umbrella Man or one in the same. I bet this asshole does have a little prick, and he’s trying to feel big and important by stalking and hurting women. I want him to come at me. I’ll yank his balls right out of his damn pants. I walk in the door of the morgue, eager to get facts and then hole up and start putting all this together. The sooner I get to yank town, the better.

A big Hispanic woman in a security uniform gives me a grimace, which may or may not be because I left a lasting impression. Still on the topic of balls, I asked the kid who was screaming because he thought I was dead last night if he had any to which he proceeded to cry. I asked for an ambulance. I sincerely thought he was having a breakdown. The kid, who is actually twenty-three, needs a new career. He was also the guard in questions sister. I didn’t know. It’s not like I have to try to be an insensitive bitch, I get that, but in this case, I really wasn’t being an insensitive bitch.

I make my way to the exam room where Beth and an intern I met last night are already working; both are bundled up in so much plastic that I’m concerned there might be a plague. “Should I be wearing something a bit more formal?” I ask when I enter the room with just my plain clothes on.

Beth pulls down her mask. “I’m cautious with toxins, and you’re fine as long as you don’t touch anything.”

“Like myself or someone else?”

“Oh Jesus, Lilah,” Beth says as her intern laughs. I don’t know her name, but since she gets my humor when no one else does, I might have to learn it. “The blood from the crime scene,” Beth says.

She has my full attention now. “What about it?”

“It was pig’s blood.”

In other words, we only have two of the three victims the killer claimed when he talked to Murphy. I’m going to assume that number three is either Beth or me.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Most people know that I’m not the most sensitive person in the world, but Beth isn’t me. She’s emotional. She feels shit. I don’t know how she stands over dead bodies every day and deals with that kind of baggage, but it’s also not my business. I walk to the edge of the exam table. “Let’s talk about the toxin that has you all bundled up like it’s winter outside.”

“You aren’t going to s

ay anything about the pig’s blood?”

“Don’t kill a pig and not make bacon,” I say. “The animal gave its life to make that bacon and that’s not one of my jokes. An animal’s life matters, too, and this time, we don’t have to wonder if it’s a gateway drug to murder. We already know what he’ll do. So, I repeat, what kind of toxin are we dealing with?”

She just stares at me.

“Beth?” I push.

“We don’t know,” the intern says. “It’s none of the known toxins we look for.”

“Did we check the pig’s blood for toxins?”

“The pig’s blood?” Beth asks.

“Yeah. If Umbrella Man had the toxin handy, why not use it on the pig? I mean unless he really did make bacon, but somehow I doubt that.”

Beth blinks and then looks at her intern. “Please go ensure that happens.”

The intern nods and heads out a side door. Beth motions toward her office. Great. Here we go. Damn it, she’s trying to make me a coddler. Kane wouldn’t have this problem. She enters her office, and I follow, shutting the door. “I’m being sent to Paris to consult on a case.”

Relief washes over me. “That’s an experience to embrace.”

“Lilah, I know this case. I want this jerk caught.”

“I’ll catch him.”

“I’m not going.”

“Yes, Beth. You are. Because if you don’t, Kane will have you kidnapped and put in a dark room until this is over.”

She pales, and I hate that I just used Kane, but damn it, I need her to listen, and while I’m not someone who leans on Kane, I also prefer to keep people alive. Well, unless I want them dead, but that’s another whole part of me for another time and another person.

“Don’t do this to me,” she says. “Those women were poisoned. I can’t figure out how. This is a medical puzzle. I need to solve it the way you need to solve cases, and I would, even if I wasn’t convinced I’m a target. I mean, Lilah, we may need special equipment.”