worthy. They are abominations, forsaking God’s natural plan for them.
Can’t they see it? Can’t they understand why they must die? Why God has chosen me to end their sinful lives? I am a hunter for God. He has chosen me and tonight he has chosen her for the sacrifice.
I can see her step falter. Perhaps she has finally realized that she is being stalked. I can see her speed up. My dear, you must know running is futile. I will catch you. You will be mine. My stride lengthens, and the gap between us narrows. The wolf is hungry tonight, silently stalking its prey. A low, guttural growl escapes from my lips and is carried off on the wind.
It is time. I can see ahead that she realizes what I am. I am death, and it is her time. She opens her mouth to scream and only air escapes. She is paralyzed with fear, and I feel my heart smile. She has seen my knife and knows that she cannot run, she cannot hide. I grab her around her bulging waist, and my hand feels the life within in her. A life brought about by her sin. She opens her mouth to scream, and I wrap my hand around her mouth to silence her.
She is fighting me. Her will to live has kicked in, and her will to protect her unborn child is strong. She wrenches away from me and starts to run, and I realize that tonight will not be easy. I spring at her with unearthly speed and let out a low howl. She tries to knee me in the groin, and I punish her with a backhand that sends her staggering to the cold ground below.
It is late, and the streets are deserted or certainly some unlucky passerby would hear us struggling. That last time this happened, he was punished for it. I cannot be deterred in my quest for retribution. I am kneeling over her, and the smell of her fear has made me hard. I can see her eyes that she knows what is about to happen to her.
“Do not be afraid. You are very special. You will get to atone for your sins.” My hand is clamped over her mouth, and she shakes her head from side-to-side with the fury of a trapped animal who knows it is about to die.
I brandish my knife over her and the low lights from the alley glint off of it. She sees the sharp edge, and her eyes widen, knowledge that these are her final moments dawning on her. She wraps her hands around her stomach, and I can feel her lips moving against my hand, begging for mercy. I am not the one whom she should ask for mercy.
I move my hand, and the edge of the knife slices along her neck, the first drops of blood steaming against her cold skin. I sniff the metallic scent and it lights through me like wildfire. I lean in closer and meet her scared eyes with my own dark gaze. A hint of recognition passes over her face. “Yes, you do know me. You must know now why you have to die.”
My weight on top of her and the life seeping out of her has made her tired, and she has stopped moving beneath me. Her eyes blink heavily, so I slap her with a gloved hand. “Oh, no, no. Don’t go to sleep. You won’t want to miss this. This is the best part. This is the reason you must die.”
I reach for the button on my jeans and pull it open hastily. The sound of the snap releasing echoes through the alley and hardens my erection. She has not made this easy. The bitch is wearing pants, so I am forced to my knees to slice them away from her body. She summons all her strength, and her fist flies and connects with the corner of my face. I punch her in response. My eye is pounding from the blow. “Do you know at all why I chose you?”
She shakes her head again. The fear is gone from her eyes. She has resigned herself to her fate. I rub her stomach, and I can see the hatred well in her eyes now. The life that she was given, her miracle and I have the gall to touch her. I reach in and pull my erection out and poise it outside her body. “You fucked up. Your baby, she is not a gift from God. You think that you can turn your back on God and get pregnant without a man? You are wrong, and you must give your life as retribution.”
I can see realization dawn on her. I drive my cock deep inside her with a low growl and pound inside her angrily. This is her sacrifice, her means to forgiveness. God is using me to exact punishment for her sins and with every furious stroke, her last precious breaths ebb away, and as I pull out, her eyes roll back in her head, and she pays her debt.
I stare down at her lifeless body, and for the first time today, the voice is quiet. I cannot afford to linger any longer. I know the danger of getting caught. I slice across her belly and reach into her still warm body. I can barely watch this part. It doesn’t get better. Blindly, I fill a plastic bag and bury it in my coat. I wipe the knife against her leg, her blood smearing on what is left of her cashmere pants. I cast one more glance over my shoulder and leave the alley, an angry sneer curling my lip.
Her scent still lingers, and I wave my hand in front of my face before realizing it’s on me. I try to breathe through my mouth, but the cold hurts my teeth, and I shut it just as quickly. The street isn’t clear anymore. The cold is making my eyes water, and everything is blurry. I brush my hand over my eyes and wince at the tenderness around my eye. I touch it gingerly, feeling the first sign of swelling beneath my finger.
“Shit.” A black eye will be hard to explain, and suddenly, I’m angry again. But my fury is not directed at her. It is directed at my wife. My ex-wife.
“Hey, buddy, watch out!”
I wake up and realize I have walked to the Loop. I see a man shove his way around me, as I have stopped in the middle of the stairs and am standing like a statue, watching his car drive away again.
Chapter 8
Jordan checked the display on her phone and grimaced. Detective Foxx was obviously still pissed about her little display at the bar, and she was about to get an earful. She sighed and pushed the Receive button. “Special Agent Gray.”
“We have another murder.” Rebecca’s voice trembled, and Jordan could tell how angry she was. Not at her as she had suspected, but at the killer she hadn’t managed to make any headway on.
“Where are you?” Jordan heard the concern in her voice, and she realized that somewhere between trying to flirt with Detective Foxx for information and almost kissing her, she had started caring about her feelings. “Shit.”
Rebecca answered without hesitation, and Jordan breathed a sigh of relief. Obviously, her cursing was for her feelings surrounding the case and not Jordan's behavior. Jordan scribbled the address down. “I’ll be there in ten.”
She hung up and called Matty. He answered drowsily, and Jordan gave him a quick recap. She could hear him moving around and knew he was trying to find something to wear. “See you in ten.”
It was a given now, Jordan and Matt would be called to the crime scene. Rebecca no longer worried about their presence there. To the casual observer, they looked like a couple of detectives. It would only be if someone started digging and put two and two together that anyone would catch on to the fact that the FBI was showing up at cases that weren’t their jurisdiction.
When Jordan skidded to a stop in front of the crime scene, the place was already crawling with Chicago’s finest. This part of the city was eerily familiar to her. Her gym was right around the corner, and she shuddered involuntarily. She didn’t wait for Matty, instead locating Detectives Foxx and Jones just inside the yellow crime
