Hey, Daddy (Semyonov Bratva Book 2)

Haunted by my TBR.

—Nastya’s secret thoughts

NASTYA

My brows rose as I turned to look at Auden.

“That means you, bro. Sorry,” I teased.

I knew he wasn’t leaving.

Maven would never leave after everything that had just gone down.

My heart was still palpitating.

I kept seeing my brother go flying straight into a trash can that was luckily plastic and full of bagged leaves.

The good thing was the leaves had broken his fall. The bad thing was he’d already been hurt, and we were pretty sure he’d rebroken the ribs that were already broken and healing.

Auden grunted and said, “I’m not going anywhere.”

“Then you’re gonna have to turn the cop off,” Maven said. “Because I get the feeling we’re about to hear something juicy.”

“You don’t just turn the cop off,” Auden grumbled.

“This time, you will, or I won’t talk to you,” Haze said, surprising us all with his forcefulness.

My gaze focused on Haze as I said, “He’ll be good.”

“It has nothing to do with being good or bad and everything to do with not having to denounce your morals and question whether or not you should go to the police with what you just learned,” Haze said. “Especially if you learn something about another police officer that you feel might be a threat.”

Auden and Haze studied each other for a long moment before Shasha broke in and said, “Everyone but Haze, Nastya, and me out.”

“What about me?” Dima asked. “I feel like maybe I should be here since I just rebroke three ribs.”

Shasha studied him before saying, “If I feel like it won’t get you in trouble, then I’ll tell you later.”

Dima sighed and said, “Can we still go to Jack’s, though? I was really looking forward to their pretzel and beer cheese sauce.”

“Y’all ride together. I’ll ride with Haze and Nastya,” Shasha suggested.

Auden sighed and said, “I really hate playing and following the rules.”noveldrama

We waited until we were all piled into Haze’s cruiser—which luckily did not have a set of steel bars separating the front seat from the back—to start talking.

Shasha showed his impatience by pushing sideways into his seat, his leg hitching up to rest against the middle console and giving Haze his full attention.

Haze waited until he was out of the parking lot before saying, “How much do you know about my relationship with your sister?”

“I know that you ‘slept’ with her in a Whataburger, and you’ve been following her around for weeks,” he responded.

“Part of the job—following her around. As for the other thing, I won’t apologize for that. I’m really interested in your sister.” Haze stunned me.

No one ever stood up to Shasha.

It was refreshing to find someone that would.

“And I know that y’all stayed with each other last night,” he continued.

“How do you know that?” I wondered.

Shasha glanced back at me and snorted. “You’re delusional if you think that I’m just going to let some cop wiretap your phone, follow you around twenty-four-seven, and more, and think that I’m not going to protect you by having my own sources out there watching his every move.”

I sighed, my gaze snapping to Haze to find him completely unsurprised, as if he expected nothing less.

“Wonderful,” I said. “Continue, Haze. I’m dying over here.”

“This morning, I left her alone at her apartment,” Haze said.

“Which I’m not fuckin’ leaving you at by yourself anymore after this.” Shasha leveled me with a glare.

I opened my mouth to immediately deny that when Haze startled me by saying, “I agree.”

He could not have stunned me more.

My gasp of outrage was drowned out by Shasha snorting.

“Let me explain, please,” Haze urged, reading that I was two seconds away from blowing up.

My eyes met his in the rearview mirror.

I crossed my arms over my chest and glared at him where he was begging me with pleading eyes to wait for him to explain.

“I went in to work because my partner called and explained that the FBI found links from this case to a case that they’re working on with serial killers,” Haze explained. “I went in because John felt like I was going to want to hear everything from them myself. I got there, and the FBI agent you know as Jefferson Evador gave me the entire explanation on four—now five—separate cases.”

“Okay, so spill,” Shasha grumbled, clearly just as impatient as I was.

I punched him in the shoulder, causing him to glare at me.

“I’m getting there.” Haze pulled onto I-75. “Agent Evador explained that there are five stages to each subsequent ‘case.’ The first case, they didn’t make as many connections as they did in the last case.”

“Hurry up, goddamn,” Shasha grumbled.

I punched him in the shoulder again.

“It’s relevant to the story, Semyonov.” Haze didn’t get upset with Shasha’s impatience.

Shasha remained silent, and Haze continued.

“Three years ago in Kentucky, what they labeled as the Amazon Review Killer made his appearance,” Haze started, making my heart leap inside my chest. I’d heard about that one! “A woman from Lewisville was picking up her packages from an Amazon Locker much like the one that Nastya went to. Only, she couldn’t get the box in the car like Nastya managed. She had to ask for help from a nearby delivery driver, and the two of them got this box into the car, but only after the box completely broke. A dead body hacked into pieces dropped to their feet.”

I remembered hearing about it because it’d been a huge deal in the Amazon review community.

All of the message boards had exploded with guesses as to who’d done it.

“And then the lady died, right? The one that got the package?” I confirmed.

“Yes. But only after about six months of them suspecting her for the murder,” Haze agreed. “For the second one, much the same thing happened, only the man that picked up his package made it all the way home before he found out the contents. He died a little over five months later.”

“Three and four, we finally made the connection that there was a serial killer running around killing people that made it their living to review products and post those reviews online.”

“Like Nastya,” Shasha murmured.

“Like Nastya,” Haze confirmed as he exited the interstate. “But with the fourth woman that died after receiving a dead body that was sent to her in a package, things went off script a little bit to the point where they thought that there might be a copycat killer. The first three deaths had a timeline. They received the first package, then a second. A third. A fourth, and then a fifth. After the fifth package was opened, they were killed. But only after the package was opened.”

“How did they know it was opened?” I wondered.

“There’s a transmitter in each box,” Haze explained. “The moment the package is open, an alert is sent via a satellite phone to a burner phone. Once it’s known that they have opened it, they die within twenty-four hours. The copycat killer, which they’ve now deemed a serial killer due to three other cases that are similar, doesn’t have the same patience.”

“So are y’all thinking this particular case involving Nastya is a copycat killer or the original?” Shasha asked.

He’d echoed my thoughts, and I was eager to hear Haze’s thoughts.

“They’re thinking it’s the original since it fits a timeline.” Haze expounded, “He kills once every three months. Doesn’t move on until all five packages are delivered and opened. Once the last package is opened, there’s a twenty-four-hour window after the package is opened that the murder then takes place. And it’s always at the person’s house.”

Shasha didn’t need to say a word for me to know where he was at. He wasn’t going to take no for an answer this time.

I’d be moving back home whether I wanted to or not.

Dammit.

“And the copycat?” Shasha asked.

“We think that he wants to help. But the original killer is too disciplined. The copycat is impatient and volatile, and we think that today’s bombing was a good indication that the copycat isn’t happy that the Amazon Review Killer isn’t letting him join the team. He tried to take you out before the original killer could finish his routine.”

“But seriously. How are you differentiating? How are you sure that this is the copycat that blew Nastya—or in reality my wife’s—car up?” Shasha asked.

“Because it fits his MO,” Haze said. “After examining the back of the Jeep, and the projectiles used for the bomb, we’ve determined that it’s him.”

“Why?” I pushed.

“Because the man uses human teeth in the bombs. Teeth of his kills.” Haze looked sick.

“That’s what y’all pulled out of Dima’s side?” Shasha hesitated. “A tooth?”

“A tooth,” Haze confirmed.

“So what does that mean for me?” I asked. “Do y’all know anything about this guy? Either guy?”

“Very little.” Haze pulled into a parking spot in front of Jack’s and parked. He didn’t get out, though. “That’s why I agree with Shasha. You can’t stay at that apartment anymore. It’s too dangerous.”

I waited, trying to digest that news.

“And the lead detective in each case was also murdered as well.” Haze dropped that bomb on me.

“What?” I gasped.

“This case is different, because both John and I are lead on this case. There’s never been two detectives on a case. There’s also never been this long between the first package arriving and the second. Also, the fifth package is the detective’s body delivered on the intended victim’s doorstep.”

I was seriously feeling sick to my stomach.

“How do we know that I didn’t get the second package already?” I asked. “I get a crap ton of them. No joke, seriously.”

“We’re going to have to cross reference all the packages you got with the case files to see if you’ve received any unknown packages that don’t make sense to you, but make sense to the FBI.” He hesitated. “There’s one other thing…I need your help, Shasha. This is why I’m not letting your brother-in-law in on this part.” Haze clenched and unclenched his hands on the steering wheel before saying, “Shasha, I want to help find this bastard. I don’t care what I have to do to make that happen. You want to use my in at the station, I’ll do it. You want to have me rough up some guys, I’ll do it. You want me to arrest someone, I’ll do it. I don’t care what I have to do to make it so that this guy doesn’t kill your sister or me. As long as it helps keep us safe, I’ll fuckin’ rejoice in it. My daughter needs me, because I’m all she has left.”

“You will go to jail,” Shasha said. “If you’re caught. I’m not swinging my neck out there for you.”

“I never expected you to.” Haze turned his angry gaze to meet Shasha’s. “If it keeps my child safe, and the woman that I’m beginning to fall for out of the clutches of a madman, then I’m all for it.”

That was sweet, but also devastating. I couldn’t ask that of him…

“There are probably alternate ways to go about this without having you to jeopardize the oath that you gave…” I started, but Haze stopped me by holding up his hand.

“I’m fairly sure that the man behind all of this is someone with connections. Either a judge or an officer, someone either knows exactly what’s going on and is going out of his way to allow a murderer on the loose, or they’re turning a blind eye. I don’t fucking know. But this is the last goddamn corrupt politician and cop that I deal with. I’m done.” He pulled the keys out of the ignition before declaring, “I’ll stay as long as you want me to stay. Get whatever information you want. I’ll be your detective bitch as long as my kid sleeps peacefully at night, and Nastya doesn’t have to deal with finding me in a box on her doorstep.”