Haunt [Aidan Hunter series book 2] [RE-WRITING]

Chapter 8

Henry took a few steps forward, staring at the building in disbelief.

"Whoa," Vincent said, in between chewing. "That's spectacular! Another suicide on your list, detective."

I'd said I wanted a challenge, and he made me regret it instantly. I sensed a darkness, something deranged, emanating from him that disturbed me. In comparison, Frost didn't seem much of a psycho anymore. That guy sought revenge for losing someone. His anger and grief drove him.

But Vincent was pure evil. His cold eyes reflected that.

"You put out a fake and drove him to kill himself," I said in a low tone.

"He was an easy target." Vincent shrugged. "He's one of your own, actually. Uh... Nathan, I think his name was. A dirty cop. I'm surprised nobody in your HQ found out the number of bribes he took. The number of people he wronged. It was easy to threaten him, manipulate him into doing what I want. What you saw was a gas explosion."

"Go check if anyone's alive in there," I said to Henry. I wanted to find out as much as possible about Vincent and his motives. Henry glanced between us before he dashed towards the building. "Some kind of twisted Good Samaritan, are you?" I asked, glaring at Vincent. "Making criminals kill themselves. Doing our work for us?"

"I can definitely do your jobs a lot better than you," he replied. "If I didn't hate you guys so much, I would've considered becoming a cop as well."

"Crafty of you to lead Amelia to her suicide and then have Frank kill himself. Your dirty work was done for you and no loose ends were left behind."

"That woman tried to put her past behind her after she fell in love and got married to a cop. Can you believe that? I mean, it's so... weird. How long do you expect to hide the truth about yourself?"

"I'm gonna go on a hunch and assume she either saw something on that TV that drove her to suicide or the hotel has lousy facilities."

He grinned and bumped his fist into my arm. "You are smart! I love it when my enemies are smart. Alright, just because I like you, I'll spill the beans. Not like you can do anything to me anyway. All I did was show her a live stream of her children at school hanging out with some friends of mine. Well, not hanging out, exactly. They were in the background. I told her—I mean, Frank told her he would kill them if she didn't kill herself. Her husband had no idea about this. Once she did the deed, I called my men back. It's pointless questioning the kids since they have no clue what happened."

"And the music? Like to serenade your victims before they die?"

His eyes lit up in enthusiasm. "Oh, you noticed? That was an added effect. Playing music that reflects the situation. That was just a one-time thing. I wanted to be... creative."

I glanced at the burning apartment. "The decoy in there was one of our own. Amelia was married to a cop. Frank had a brother who was also a cop. What, did the justice system do you wrong?"

"I don't quite like you guys. Nothing personal, but I'm here to finish what Frost started—killing you starting with your loved ones. I'd love to see the lot of you burn."

He stepped closer, and my grip around my gun tightened as I inched away from him. His grin disappeared and that, paired with his lazy left eye, gave him a sadistic air.

Seconds later, the grin reappeared, and he resumed his chewing. "Frost wasted too much time on hostages and whatnot. I tried talking sense to him, but I guess he was blinded by revenge. Thankfully, I'm not driven by petty sentiments. You'll watch your friends die in front of you very soon."

It wasn't the first time someone threatened me and my friends. By now, I should've been used to it, but something about him got into my head. Maybe it was his cold, dead eyes, or maybe it was the utterly businesslike way he'd killed my men, but his threats bothered me.