13. A Game of Trust

            Babysitting Elena Watson was like trying to contain a wild baby monkey. I had to be constantly vigilant in case she wandered off and somehow found a way to escape. At least the times she did someone was there to catch her. That’s how Heidi officially met Elena. Heidi wasn’t a kid person. In truth I wasn’t either, but I had to be in order to make Elena trust me. Trust was going to be the only thing that would keep her here that wouldn’t require brute force.

            The days following meeting Logan were a pain. Jim didn’t bother to keep me up-to-date, so I was stuck at the mansion with Logan, Heidi, and Elena. On occasion a few unfamiliar people came around. They were Logan’s guests, and as you probably guessed, they were women. I’d told him to take them elsewhere, but what Logan wanted he got. That was the only night I’d decided to leave the mansion and took Elena with me. Heidi had also tagged along that night. We were extremely careful about where we went in case Scotland Yard was searching for the girl.

            Since day one, Elena refused to sleep in the bed with me. She condemned herself to the floor. I tried to get her on the bed, but the times I tried, she woke and moved elsewhere. Boy, this girl was testing my patience. I had a bad feeling that something was going to happen to her if she didn’t start cooperating. I was trying to help her, and here she was, fighting me.

            On top of fighting me during the day, I couldn’t win with the kid at night. She couldn’t sleep, which resulted in me having restless nights too. When I tried to help her, again she refused. The times she actually slept I got peace.

            At this point, I should have known better than to think that Jim would live up to his word. He hadn’t come back after one week, or two. By the third week, I began to worry a little bit. Even though I knew a man like Jim Moriarty never needed help, I couldn’t help but think that something happened to him. I knew he was clever, but his arrogance shone through at times. What if, wherever he was, he pissed off the wrong person and got himself killed? If he was dead, what was I supposed to do with Elena?

            With time passing came the New Year. It was weird to say that it was 2019; we were a year away from 2020. We were in January, so the New Year just started. No matter what time of year, London always seemed to be bitterly cold and cloudy.

With the weeks going by, things looked to be changing for the Watson girl. She seemed to consider me a friend, or someone to trust at the very least. She constantly worried that Logan was around a corner, ready to attack her again. He’d been keeping his distance from her since day one. Elena wasn’t fond of Heidi, either, as Heidi didn’t have a good temper. I’d come back to the mansion one time to find Heidi had backhanded Elena. I’d gone for her throat after that while also kicking myself for trusting her—someone who didn’t like children—to watch over a little girl.

            Heidi and I hadn’t talked since then. To top it off, Elena became just as frightened by Heidi as she was by Logan. Literally, Elena trusted no one outside of me.

            My sleeping patterns were still off with Elena staying up at night, whimpering in her sleep. I was crashing more in the day now than I was during the night. I didn’t worry about her while I slept; she knew the safest place for her was in my bedroom when I couldn’t watch her. She’d learned that pretty quickly.

            It was a surprise to be shaken awake. I hadn’t realized I’d conked out during the day again. I really needed to get back onto my night schedule. I blinked to realize that Heidi was my wakeup call, not Elena. Elena was curled into my side, sleeping soundly. Whether this was her nap or she was actually out for the rest of the day, I wasn’t sure.

I got the goop out of my eyes only to stare blankly at Heidi.

            “We’re going out,” she said flatly.

            “Oh, you’re talking to me again?” I retorted, sitting up. I heard Elena shift, but I didn’t pay much attention to her.

            “I’ve been having a rough time lately; I needed some time to let some steam out.”

            “So you committed more burglaries?”

            A ghost of a smile appeared on her lips. “Of course.”

            “Is that what we’re doing, or am I going on a murder spree?”

            “We’re going to have a night out. Just walk around some. No killing people.”

            I scowled. “That’s taking the fun out of it.”

            Heidi laughed. “Every time you go out doesn’t mean you have to murder someone. Get dressed. I would say take the kid, but, we can’t take any risks with her. Her face is everywhere, ours aren’t.”

            I nodded as Heidi left me. I looked down at Elena, feeling obligated to stay behind with her. I knew Logan was hardly a pedophile—to my knowledge, at least—and he was barely at the mansion anyway. So really, Elena would be left alone if I went with Heidi. That wouldn’t be such a bad thing if she was going to be asleep the entire time.

            Just as my feet touched the ground, Elena stirred. My jaw locked. So close.

            “Where are you going?” she whispered.

            “Out with a friend.” I turned around to hover over her. She looked up at me with sleepy eyes. “I won’t be long. Lock the door after me, okay?”

            “When are Mummy and Daddy coming for me, Aunt Raine?”

            “Truthfully, honey, I don’t know. They’re still trying to work things out.” I stroked her silky blonde hair. “I’ll be back.”

            I didn’t bother to change, as my attire was very outdoor appropriate.

*      *      *

            To my disliking, Heidi insisted that I keep my pocketknife at the mansion. I’d snuck it by her, though. As if I was going to keep that apart from me. It hadn’t left my side before, it wasn’t going to tonight.

By the time we had left the mansion, dusk had fallen. While Heidi just wanted us to walk through the London night, my mind was stuck on murder. There were so many victims that wouldn’t be missed. Seriously, I counted a few drug addicts and drunks. Nobody would miss them. What hurt me even more was that they went down dark alleyways where nobody would see them be killed. They were practically taunting me with the opportunities!

            “Is it just me or have things been too calm since he hasn’t come back?” Heidi asked, breaking the silence.

            “Eh, things aren’t dull,” I admitted. “Things are different without him.”

            “Do you think he abandoned us?”

            “No. He couldn’t have.”

            “Raine, he’s not attached to anyone. You could be the only person if he is. If he has someone who no longer has any use to him, he lets them go, whether he leaves without a trace or has them killed.”

            “Do you think that’ll be us one day, abandoned or killed because of him?”

            “I don’t know, maybe. Like I’ve told you before, I don’t really work for him.”

“Then why do you hang around?”

“I’ve got nowhere else to go. That’s the only place I feel where I won’t be found by Scotland Yard easily. Still, there is the chance that because of him, I may die or lose everything. The same can be said for you and Logan too.”

            I hissed at the mention of his name. “What’s his deal, anyway? He’s not around much.”

            “That’s a good thing, isn’t it?”

            “Yeah, but…”

            “Is it because he’s not Andrew, or is it because you don’t trust him?”

            “I don’t trust him,” I spat. My nose picked up a nice scent. Food. “Jim told me he’s a torturer.”

            “Oh, I know that.”

            “Do you know anything else on him?”

            “A bit. Trust me, I did some research. He’s responsible for homicides worldwide. He only hangs around so long in a place before he migrates somewhere else—it helps keep suspicion off him and all. I guess he’s doing his work elsewhere right now, because I haven’t seen any bodies around.”

            “You’ve even checked the basement?”

            Heidi nodded. “I have. Those women that he brought over one time, I think he killed them both. There was one room that was locked, so I assume whatever he did to them he did in there. I would say he’s got a type of prey, but sometimes he’ll switch things up. He mostly goes for women, though. Charms them and then turns on them when they least expect him to. And he never kills the same way twice in a row. He’s gotten creative with some murders. Some he set up to look like suicides.”

            “And let me guess: there was no trace of him anywhere.”

            “Not one,” Heidi confirmed. “I don’t know about you, but I’m getting hungry.”

            “Oh, so it’s not just me? Good. Hmm. Well, I don’t eat out that much, so, let’s just pick a place and hope we like it.”

            We settled for a little charming restaurant. A bit of adrenaline raced through my veins. We were two criminals hidden in plain sight. How long would it take for someone to recognize us, if anyone did?

            During our late dinner, my pocketknife just yearned to be pulled out. It wanted to sink into flesh, to feel blood stick on its blade. My mind went from murder to food once our meals arrived. I hadn’t realized how starved I’d felt until I wolfed down the entire thing before Heidi even ate half of hers. She pushed the rest of her meal my way jokingly, but I’d seriously asked if she was going to finish eating. I ended up getting little crumbs of her dinner.

            As we headed back to the mansion, I begged Heidi repeatedly to let me at least cut someone, but she wasn’t going to have it. If I didn’t know any better, I would have said she was afraid of me to commit an act with her around. Was she squeamish around blood? Did she just not like to kill people? Was her only talent thieving?

            About halfway back, Heidi let me go on by myself. I didn’t question her motives for separating and left her to wander the London streets.

The mansion had a gloomy air over it no matter what time of day you saw it. Daytime: gloomy. Night: gloomy.

            The moment I got inside, I heard Elena’s frantic calls of “Aunt Raine!” echo. She came barreling down the stairs, almost falling down them. She launched herself at me, and I bent down fast enough to grab her. She was shaking, sobbing into my shoulder.

            “Easy, sweetie,” I crooned, smoothing her back. “What is it? What’s wrong?”

            “Somebody’s in your room.”

            My brows crinkled. “Is it Logan? I told him to stay away from you.”

            “Uh-uh. Somebody else. I don’t know who it is. When I saw him, I ran.”

            “Has he been here long?”

            “No.”

            “Okay, well, hang onto me. We’ll go see who’s intruding.”

            “I don’t want to, he scares me.”

            “I’ve got you, Elena. He won’t get to you.”

            With a terrified girl in my arms, I hiked up the stairs to find my room. I peeked in to see Jim had finally returned. He was in casual clothes, lying in bed with the laptop on him. His brown eyes looked tired staring at the screen. I didn’t blame Elena for running; she’d never seen Jim until tonight.

            “It’s fine, Elena,” I assured her. She shook her head, not bothering to look at Jim. “It’s only your Uncle Jim.”

            “Mummy’s never mentioned him, either.”

            “He’s a good friend of your family,” I lied. “They kind of fell out of touch once your parents got married and had you. He won’t hurt you; he’s as much your guardian as I am. You don’t need to be afraid of him, okay?”

            “Can he go somewhere else? I don’t like him in there.”

            “Hmm, I’ll tell you what: you go find something in the kitchen to eat, a snack or something, and I’ll talk to him. Sound fair?”

            “Uh-huh.”

            “Good.” I set Elena on her feet. She darted off down the hall, leaving me to slip into the bedroom, shutting the door gently behind me. Though I should have felt happy to see him back, I was a bit pissed with him. “You dropped off the face of the Earth for a bit.”

            “I had business to take care of.” He shrugged, not meeting my eyes. “But I’m back. She seems to trust you a lot now.”

            “When I’m the one who’s watching over her, I would think she would.” I leaned against the closed door. Sudden tightness in my guts crippled me. I supported myself with the door, gasping in pain. Jesus.

            “Darling, if you’re trying to get my attention, there are better ways.”

            “I’m actually in pain,” I choked. “God this hurts.”

            This got Jim’s attention. He set the laptop beside him and lurched off the bed.

            “Where were you tonight?” he asked.

            “Out.”

            “Did you eat anything?”

            “Yeah.”

            “You could be poisoned.”

            “Doubtful, I don’t think I’ve murdered anyone who’s related to a murderer. Christ.”

            “Okay, let’s just take it easy.” I flinched away when he started rubbing my stomach. At first, he was making the pain worse and just moving it around to different areas. After a few minutes, though, it was working. The heat from his hands was helping a lot, diffusing the cramping. “Better?”

            “A little,” I confessed.

            He smiled cheekily. “What can I say? I’ve got the magic touch.”

            I rolled my eyes. “Arrogant ass.”

            “That’s Mr. Arrogant Ass to you.” He took my mouth in his.

I’d almost forgotten how much of an effect he had on me when he did this. He held my waist, pressing me against the door. My body felt warm, whatever fatigue I’d thought I had was gone.

“What are we doing with Elena?”

“Raine, you’re doing it again.”

“As much as I’d love to keep this going, I don’t think I’m up for it.”

“We’ve spent a month apart. How are you not up for it?” I heard a hint of anger in his voice. “Truthfully I don’t know why I kept away from you for so long.”

“I’m just not in the mood.” I shrugged tiredly. “I’m not ready to go twenty-four seven like you always are.”

“I’m not like that every moment of the day,” he growled as he put another sultry kiss on my mouth.

“You seem it,” I countered cautiously.

“Are you afraid of a little pain, love?”

I winced. “No.”

 “You never question this. You’ve started to lately. I don’t understand why.” His hands slid around my neck. My arms were around him.

“It’s nothing to be upset about, alright? Besides, I’m not open to doing it while Elena’s in the room. I don’t want to scar her.”

“That’s why there are other rooms, Raine. We have plenty of house to explore.”

“Jim, we’re not doing it tonight.”

“I can’t even convince you?” I felt his fingers slip under my shirt. “I can’t try to?” They snaked up my back.

“Stop trying.”

“You think I’ll listen?” He nipped the crook of my neck. I bit back a noise. “You think you’ve got control over me, little viper?” I couldn’t fight off his strong attempts. He kissed me roughly, tugging on my lip. I had no energy to fight him, allowing him to practically shove his tongue down my throat.

Though I came off as though I was going to give up, I wasn’t. While distracting Jim, my hand slid towards my knife. This would definitely get my message across to him. I’d never had to use the knife for this kind of situation, but I really wasn’t up for a wild night tonight.

 I growled in frustration when Jim grabbed my wrist. He smiled against my mouth.

“You’re too predictable,” he purred. “That little trick won’t stop me. Nothing will.”

“This is unfair.” I frowned.

“Whoever said I played fair?” He smirked. “No matter what, I always win.”  

**Alrighty, since we're a little over halfway done this book, I want you all to answer some things for me. Just a poll. Well, actually, just one question really (for this chapter anyway).

~Favorite character in this book?**