Four Weeks Later
The rain hit the city like a punishment.
Detective Elias Ward stood at the base of the courthouse steps, coffee in hand, collar turned up. The murder count had reached five. Five blonde women. Five red-laced nightmares. And not a single damn lead that stuck.
The only surviving witness?
Ivy Lennox.
He'd read the reports. Twenty-one. Studied law. No criminal history. Nothing shady in her record. But trauma had a funny way of making people unpredictable-and Elias didn't like loose ends. Especially not beautiful, haunted ones.
She walked in late, soaked to the bone, wrapped in a trench coat that swallowed her frame. Her eyes found his immediately, wide and sharp, like she already knew he didn't trust her.
"Miss Lennox," he said, offering no smile. "You're late."
"I was followed," she said calmly, though her voice cracked like frost.
He raised a brow. "Did you see who it was?"
"No. Just a black car. Same one I've seen the past three nights."
She wasn't lying. He was good at spotting lies.
And yet... something about her didn't add up.
They walked into the interrogation room in silence. Elias closed the blinds.
"I'm not crazy," Ivy said, arms crossed.
"No one said you were."
"You think I'm wasting your time?"
"I think you walked into a murder scene with a witness statement that barely holds up, saw a man in a suit you couldn't describe, and now suddenly think someone's following you."
Her eyes darkened. "He wore a gold ring. Thick. On his right hand."
Elias froze.
He hadn't mentioned the ring to anyone. Not even his partner.
"How do you know that?" he asked, stepping closer.
Ivy's voice dropped to a whisper. "Because he wasn't just there, Detective. He looked at me. Like he knew who I was. And I think he's been waiting to finish what he started."
Outside, thunder growled.
Inside, Elias Ward realized this wasn't just another murder case.
This was a storm-and Ivy Lennox was right in the eye of it.