They took too much.
Left too little.
I had nothing to lose... until her.
TW: The following content includes themes of sex, sexual abuse, trauma, etc. Reader discretion is advised. If you are not comfortable with these topics, please consider skippin...
"False face must hide what the false heart doth know."—William Shakespeare ***
MIKHA
"What do we know?" I ask Gwen, peeling the glove off.
"You mean besides the fact the sheriff is trying to get us the hell out of here? Not much."
Gelo Rivera eyes me from across the room, pure hatred in his glare. I ignore him.
He knows I'm close to digging up hard evidence against him. It's just a matter of time.
"I think that message was meant for you," Gwen whispers as my eyes lift from the gory remains of Deputy Cruz.
My eyes flit up to the message she's pointing out.
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(They stole. They lied. They brokered peace with the devil in exchange for the souls of an innocent family. Yet you call me the monster. Fuck you. <3)
The little heart on the end is definitely a signature Aiah used to leave for me. Apparently, she's going to personalize these kills now, even address them to me without using my name.
"I silenced her, so now she's getting her words in," I say quietly.
Gwen looks around, making sure no one is close enough to overhear.
"This is quite literally a 'fuck you' message. It's not rage or even a threat to us. She's just basically sounding like a true ex. People might do the math."
"No one here knows Aiah and I broke up. I told the others she went back home because I convinced her it wasn't safe."
"What happens when people see her in town?"
I lean back, surveying the damage to the neck of Judge Lee. I doubt it's a coincidence his son came back to town today, and Aiah decided to kill the father tonight.
"She won't be seen," I say absently. "Mark Lee was there that night, and he seemed certain he'd been spared when he talked to us earlier. I think she paid him a visit when he arrived in town today."
"Why?"
"To see why he was here."
She looks confused, but I don't want to talk in front of everyone.
"I shouldn't be involving you in this and forcing you to—"
"You're not forcing me to do anything," Gwen says on a sigh. "Like I said, I get why she's doing it. This town has been killing and torturing people for years, and no one even cared about it until her."
I start to say something else, but Justin walks up, silencing our private conversation.
"So our unsub goes from quoting Voltaire to leaving a crude 'fuck you' message with a heart? Maybe you were right about it being a female, but why bother with the men's boot prints if you're going to leave a heart signature?"
