Two for Joy - Louise Collins Page 0,9
didn’t want to be, and he tried his absolute best to stop squishing bugs.
But the monster, although only a pup, or a cub, or whatever it was at that point, would not be ignored.
“Romeo?”
He tore his gaze from the beetle. “huh?”
Fred was at the bars, looking concerned. “What is it?”
“A beetle.”
Paul smirked. “You never seen a beetle before?”
“Not for a long time.” Romeo said.
The beetle with its jet-black body. It’s perfectly symmetrical shape, not a blemish or a distinguishing feature that separated it from all the other beetles of its kind.
Romeo stepped on it.
“Why the hell did you do that?” Fred asked.
“I don’t know. I guess I had to.”
“You could’ve let it go free.”
Romeo shook his head. “No, I couldn’t have…”
The monster growled, a warning growl that said that wasn’t enough, nowhere near enough to keep him quiet. It would continue to gnaw at his mind until he did something about it.
Until he worked out how to escape.
****
Three days after Chad’s visit, there was still no murder being reported on the news. Romeo kept the TV on until he was threatened with its removal if he didn’t turn it off at night. Instead of smirking in Paul’s face, he listened, and switched it off. He couldn’t risk losing his TV privilege, especially when he knew something would eventually come up that would explain Chad’s mood.
“It’s 2:00.”
Romeo thought about not going to see Holly, but the alternative was staring into the corner of his cell and willing each slow second to pass. At least with Holly, the time went quickly.
The buttons of her shirt were open again, and the bra she wore held her breasts higher, making them bounce when she moved. Paul was transfixed each time she leaned to pick something off the floor. Romeo glanced back and caught him watching.
“Hello.” Holly said.
“Another meeting.”
“You said yes. I think you need to see me as much as I need to see you.”
“You need to see me?”
“Yeah.”
“For the article?”
Holly splayed her papers over her table. “Of course, the article.”
“I like the bra, looks expensive.”
She made an aborted attempt to cover herself. “You shouldn’t be looking.”
“I’m only human … well, part human.” He winked, and she averted her gaze, cheeks as red as ripe apples.
Paul muttered something under his breath, but Romeo didn’t quite catch it.
“What did you want to ask me today?” He said. “More about my neglectful parents, my tragic school life, or my over worked job history.”
“Relationships.”
“What a surprise.” Romeo mumbled. “As I’ve told you before, I’ve not been in a relationship.”
“Do your interests lie in men or women?”
“Neither. My interest lies in murder.”
“I bet you’ve had a lot of interest over the years.”
Romeo lifted his eyebrow. “I get a lot of looks. I bet you do, too.”
He could feel Paul’s gaze on the back of his head.
Holly blushed, then a plotting smile lit up her face.
“I get my fair share of interest, always used it to my advantage. Always get what I want in the end.”
Romeo tilted his head, studying her. “You use your good looks to get what you want.”
“As my ex says, I have an easy face to fall in love with, and a hard one to forget.”
“Poor bloke.”
Holly shrugged. “I didn’t love him the same way he loved me. It happens.”
“I wouldn’t know.”
“Anyway, let’s get back on topic … about you and the reasons you snapped.”
Romeo sighed.
In some ways she was right. There was a moment he’d snapped completely, and that had been when he killed the magpie without meaning to. Whatever he’d been holding onto to keep him good, human, had completely fallen away. If the monster was chained up in his mind, that moment did the equivalent of letting it loose in the cage.
“What about you? Have you almost snapped?”
Holly snorted. “When I got given this article to write I almost did. I was happy, it felt like a triumph—
“A triumph?”
Holly twisted a strand of her hair. “I wanted to write it, and I made sure I was the only option, but I’m under a lot of pressure. I didn’t know for sure if I could handle it.”
“So you killed some people?”
“No.” Holly laughed, then grimaced. “I leaned on the people around me. I have that luxury, you didn’t. And when I started writing the article, and met you … well, you put me at ease, and I knew it was going to be okay. We work well together.”
“We do, we’re a good partnership.”
Holly beamed, seemed to remember herself, then looked down at her