Page 13 of Death Kiss

FIVE

KAT

I’m pretty sure I’m going to throw up my guts right here in a bush. Which would be a monumentally stupid thing to do when you’re about to kill a man and would really rather avoid being thrown in prison.

My new mask is sticky against my face where my rapid breath coats the hard plastic in condensation.

It’s late evening, and Bill takes a walk through these woods every night, clearly having the confidence of a man who doesn’t believe there’s anyone to fear. Being a predator will fool you into such beliefs. False beliefs.

While Bill hurt Liam and Sam and others like him, he likely felt like a god. Bigger. Stronger. Unstoppable.

And he was. For so many years. With so many boys. But his luck was about to run out.

If he hurried the hell up.

‘God, my thighs are freezing,’ I whisper.

‘Not long now,’ Liam says.

‘You said that five minutes ago.’ Easing the strain in my calves, I adjust my position.

‘Patience is a virtue.’

‘Not one I possess.’ Liam puts his hand on my arm, his masked face turning toward me as he puts a finger over where his lips would be.

A light drizzle begins to fall, adding a soft din to the woods. I feel like a creature from Bambi, skulking around in the wet bushes as drops fall on my head.

None of them had big ass knives, though.

I do.

And they tremble in my fingers.

A woman passes, and the tension falls from my shoulders.

Liam looks at my shaky hands.

‘I can deal with him alone, baby.’

‘No, you bloody well can’t. You’re not leaving me in the bushes while you do the fun bit.’

‘It’s not going to be fun.’

‘You know what I mean. We’re both in this. So no one can get in between and pit us against each other.’ I fear that more than getting caught. The police worming their way into my ear to make Liam take the blame. Or more likely, my parents’ lawyers doing so with a heavy dose of greased palms.

‘No one’s ever going to come between us, Kat. Whether you kill with me or not.’

A twig snaps to our left, and I hold my breath. My stomach drops as I spot Bill through the leaves.

Bill’s in a waxed jacket and brown walking boots, his hands clasped behind his back. Rain drips from his tweed flat cap, darkening his coat.

He looks so… ordinary. Not that I expected him to have two heads and devil horns or anything, but he looks like a retired geography teacher. Safe. Kind.

Fuck.

They really do hide in sheep’s clothing. Walking among us. Knowing that under the pleasant outside hides a true monster. A man so morally bankrupt that he deserves to die. Far more painfully than we have time for today.

Liam stands first, tipping his masked face. ‘Evening, Bill.’