Chloe Wallace needs a new start. When she lands in Washington, D.C. she hopes for the best. Finding a new job, meeting new people, and living a normal life away from her abusive ex-husband.
She moves into the Capital Plaza Apartments, right across t...
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CW: descriptions of domestic violence.
chloe.
His apartment is cozy and perfectly him. Soft lights, lots and lots of books— some on subjects I've never even heard of. But I spot a few books I recognize. The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Sherlock Holmes, and Arthurian Legends.
He seems to read anything and everything.
It smells good in here, too. Kind of like a library.
I hear the distinct pop of the cork from the kitchen as I wander around, taking everything in.
On his desk, there are more books: Forensic psychology, criminal behavior, philosophy books, and a book on astronomy that's opened with one page underlined and annotated with the words: possible motive?
It's written next to a math equation.
"Did you have to catch a math genius serial killer or something?" I ask.
"A couple of them," Spencer replies, coming up next to me and handing me a glass of wine.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to snoop," I whisper, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear.
He gives me a shrug.
"The book was open, it's not snooping." He takes a sip of wine, pointing at the parts his highlighted. "We worked this case in Omaha where an unsub—"
"Unsub?"
"Unknown Subject," Spencer adds. "Uh, he was carving specific constellations onto his victims as part of a post-mortem ritual. They called him the Starlight Strangler."
"You caught him?"
He nods.
"Took about five and a half days, but we caught him."
I nod, my eyes scanning the page as I take a breath. After everything I've been through, there's a deep bitterness in me when it comes to cops. The amount of times I was looked at like I was hysterical, paranoid... the bruises I showed them that they never took seriously. My jaw quivers and I bite down hard, swallowing the memories.
"Are you okay?" Spencer asks.
"Yeah." My eyes bounce back to him as I smile. "Why?"
"You just... look upset." He frowns, his brows pinched together. "I tried to clean everything up before you got here—"
I shake my head, forcing a smile.
"It's really— I'm really okay, Spencer. I promise. It's just been... a lot to deal with over the past couple weeks. I don't know why looking at this made me cry." I brush my fingers over the highlighted portion of the book and shrug.
