The Butcher of the Bay Part II - J. Bree Page 0,60

Monstre by not giving this charade my all.

He squeezes my hand gently and warmth fills my chest at the silent praise.

We’re walked through the long hall, the medical examiner walking calming before us but there’s a twitch to his smile as he ushers us into a room. I keep my face full of sorrow, forcing myself not to look around for cameras though I know we’re being watched.

Mon Monstre waits until the door closes before speaking, “Disappear. You don’t need to be seeing what we’re after.”

The medical examiner cringes a little and glances up into the corner of the room. “I can just leave you here, there’s security—”

“Taken care of. We’ve got time to get it and get out so disappear, Fletcher.”

He glances up again and then turns to leave, his hands jittery. When the door is closed firmly behind him I murmur, “He doesn’t seem trustworthy.”

Mon Monstre moves over to the computer by the large desk, sitting down and getting out his phone. “He’s not… not unless you’ve got shit on him and I have a whole lot of shit on the freak. Let just say he and his family enjoy alternate sources of protein.”

Protein?

I’m not sure I want to know.

“Yeah, dipshit, I’m in. What do you need to get into the system or whatever… I don’t fucking know what you call it… I don’t speak perverted, virgin who lives in basements so you’ll have to fucking translate… if you start talking about your dick right now I’ll drive over there and filet your entire fucking body.”

I hide a smile behind my hand at his words, the phone propped up to his ear by his shoulder as he types away at the computer. There isn’t much else in the room to look over, no filing cabinets or even a wastepaper basket to rummage through.

Finally mon Monstre pulls the phone away from his ear and switches it to speaker phone. “Tell me when you find the shit.”

There’s a cackling laugh down the line and then a voice, younger than I imagined the hacker to be, and very sarcastically says, “You know, for the right price I’d have done this for you without the road trip. How much money is this little vengeance mission costing you, man?”

My stomach hollows out a little at the thought but mon Monstre doesn’t flinch. “Like I give a fuck about the cost, I’ll never run out of work in the Bay.”

I need to find a job.

Or something to help contribute. I’ve been feeling guilty at the extra costs of food and art supplies already but to know he’s having to pay for help to get through his list? No. No, I can’t just let that happen.

I will never be a burden to this man.

Mon Monstre glances up and frowns at the look on my face, snarling into the phone and cutting the hacker off, “Watch your fucking mouth, dickhead, or I really will come carve you up.”

I force a smile and wave a hand at him, murmuring softly, “It’s fine, mon Monstre. I’m happy to watch you work.”

There’s silence for a moment and then, “Holy shit, is that her there now? Fuck, the accent is hot as fuck. Maybe I need to find me a French girl if they all look and sound like her.”

I see the shift take place over mon Monstre’s face, from Illi to the Butcher of the Bay. A shiver runs up my spine. It’s like looking a feral beast in the face as it sizes you up, picking the best place to feast on first, but I don’t feel fear.

I feel worshiped.

“You will treat her with respect, Coyote.”

No threat.

No swearing or calling him names, just those seven words muttered down the line as the Butcher of the Bay stares at me like he wants to tear apart the entire room, pile everything up, and then start a fire so big and out of control the entire city burns with it.

There’s a pause and then a more subdued hacker says, “I’ve found your files. They’re… more fucked up than our usual brand of psycho.”

I smile and watch as mon Monstre comes back, a little more calm now his acquaintance has backed off. He’s definitely not a friend. The underlying violence in Illi’s reaction tells me that for sure.

“There’s a printer in the room, yeah? I’ll have it all printed there for you to take if you read me the codes for it.”

Illi frowns down at the phone and then glances around.