By
USA Today Bestselling Author
Heather Long
&
Blake Blessing

Open Case File
Memo
Honor my father.
There are four types of serial killers.
Hedonistic.
Power/control.
Mission-oriented.
Visionary.
Not all serial killers are caught.
At any given point,
there could be as many as fifty serial killers
active at a time.
Fifty.
I’m looking for one.

He’s male, likely in his forties or fifties now. He’s been killing successfully for more than three decades. I suspect even longer, though our timeline is based only on the earliest victim we’ve identified with his signature mark.

Seventy-nine kills that we are certain of.

A year ago, the unsub’s methods changed. It was a subtle shift. Instead of one or two bodies a year, five have been dropped. Forensic evidence remains inconclusive, but in my gut, I know something’s changed.

Either the unsub has a partner or he’s about to become a spree killer.

It’s only a matter of time before someone puts the coin into the right slot and the kill song begins.

Finding the unsub is my obsession. It was my father’s. He died without solving the mystery.

I won’t.

NOTE:
KILL SONG is a full length dark adult romance and psychological thriller with suspenseful themes. Any trigger warnings will be included in the foreword. Some situations may be uncomfortable for readers. This is a reverse harem novel, meaning the main character has more than one love interest. This is book one in the series.

In the prologue of this book we meet Vienna as a child. She believes her father kills the monsters of the world.

As we begin the story we first meet Merrick, he’s being released from inpatient treatment. As he approaches the only open bar in the area he glances in the alley to see a woman in a compromising position with the man’s hand around her throat. His protective instincts kick in and he goes to her rescue. The ensuing battle leaves the man dead, but the woman isn’t upset at all and takes control of the situation. Not by calling the police though.

Vienna isn’t quite sure what to do about Merrick, he refuses to let her walk alone to her car even though she takes a very round-about way to get there. Realizing he really has no where to go she ends up taking him home with her.

This is a favorite scene.

The sweatpants were comfy and when I emerged from my room, Merrick stood at the end of the hall near the top of the stairs. He was still wearing the clothes he’d changed into in the alley, though his hair looked slicked back and his face clean.

I deliberately made a noise so he would hear my approach and he turned to give me an even wider smile. “You look great,” he murmured, with an almost insulting amount of awe in his voice. Either he caught it or my raised eyebrows warned him of the possible verbal misstep. “Not that you didn’t look fabulous before, but this looks just more— you.”

Daddy, he followed me home. I may have to keep him.

“Nice save,” I told him, then bopped his nose with a single finger before heading down the stairs. “I’ll give you a full tour tomorrow. I expect you’re tired, but if you write down your sizes, I’ll make sure to get you resupplied.”

If all he had left was that duffel bag, then he was going to need more.

And I was already planning everything he’d need, right down to the IDs. If he passed every test like he had these few…

Dammit, I was keeping him. Sorry, Daddy.

“Sure, a tour tomorrow is great. And it is getting late. I’d much rather keep you company in the kitchen anyway.” He opened an arm, inviting me to lead the way downstairs.

Such a gentleman, I almost smiled as I passed him.

“So, what do you do for work?” His voice echoed around the narrow staircase, and if I hadn’t been used to tamping down my responses, I might have stiffened. It was definitely a novelty, having someone asking such personal questions in my own space. Enough so that it set every instinct in my body off kilter.

“I do some odd jobs here and there. Enough to get by. I’m going to make some eggs and toast. You sure you don’t want anything?” I entered the kitchen and quietly started pulling the few ingredients from the fridge.

He leaned a hip against the counter, crossing his arms and seemingly content to just watch me beat the eggs.

“That’s great, so you won’t have to leave early in the morning or anything. I can help, you know. I’m a jack of all trades, master of none, kind of guy. No matter what kind of work you have lined up, I can help out.”

I paused my movements. That’s why he asked about my work, not to pry into my business but to make sure I wouldn’t leave him. He did say he formed attachments much too easy. I should really be concerned I wouldn’t be able to get rid of him if I needed to, but there seemed little doubt this man would find himself in trouble without me.

When I glanced up at him, I paused for an entirely different reason. Under the bright lights of the kitchen, with him barely a few feet away, I got a look of just how gorgeous Merrick really was. With sooty lashes framing ice blue eyes, and a few days stubble across his jaw, he was every inch the bad boy.

Which was hilarious, because he had more decency in his thumb than most of the human population… Even if he was a little strange.

Forcing my attention back to my severely whipped eggs, I set them down to put butter in the skillet. The buttery aroma quickly filled the air, while I came up with a response. It was quick, and it wasn’t smoothly evasive.

Note to self, make sure Merrick stays at least five feet away at all times, preferably in the shadows. I had never had an issue reacting to men, and I didn’t want to start now. The solution to that was knowing my boundaries, and Merrick just might be a hard line in the sand.

Damn it.

“Yeah. Okay…” I poured the eggs in the skillet and popped the bread in the toaster. It was slightly unnerving having someone so openly observing me. “I’m sure we can figure something out for you.”

“What’s on the agenda for tomorrow?” Another perky question to incite an unhealthy amount of teeth grinding.

What was on the agenda? Now that my target was taken care of, I needed to get started surveilling the next man on the list. Among other things…

“Probably some phone calls and administrative things. We can just take tomorrow easy.” Within minutes, I had the eggs dished up with the toast buttered lightly. I usually ate at the island or in my office, but with Merrick here, it seemed more polite to take him to the dining room.

No, I’d take him to the living room. At least there I could turn on the TV to distract him from the questions I wasn’t ready to answer.

I poured two glasses of water, handing one to him, before grabbing my plate and moving to the living room. His quick footsteps, falling softly to the same beat as mine, made me realize my mistake. I should have given him the tour, that way he wouldn’t feel inclined to follow me everywhere.

Snorting, I dropped into the oversized leather chair and clicked on the lamp. He would have stuck to my side regardless.

“Here, pick something for us to watch,” I said as I tossed him the remote. Daddy had always hated the internet, threatening to get rid of it from time to time, but how else were we supposed to do our work and keep a pulse on the news?

At least a few years ago, I was able to call in a favor with the network to set us up with a VPN, among other things to hide our presence.

“Oh man, this is a lot of pressure. I promise, no porn or true crime. I think we’ve had enough of both for the evening.” There went that damn smile again. At least I couldn’t see the startling hue of his eyes under the dim lamp light.

I was quickly beginning to think I was a sucker for blue eyes.
Heather Long; Blake Blessing. Kill Song: Cardinal Sins Book 1 (Kindle Locations 544-588).

That’s just the beginning. As the investigation begins we meet the FBI’s Cash Morgan, he’s also following in his father’s footsteps, in continuing the search for this serial killer. He’s determined not to fail. The two detectives on scene aren’t happy him being there, but he does get a clue they didn’t have before.

In order for Vienna to ‘keep’ Merrick he’d need a new identity. This leads to discovering a couple of things, first her computer guy is a leak and second a new computer guy, Fletcher. She’s probably going to keep him too.

We get to listen in on a phone conversation with her Uncle David who is also part of the Network she is now trying to get around. That’s an interesting relationship as well.

This book has the bodies piling up and left me with more questions than answers, but that’s okay I know I’ll get them eventually.

I truly hope we don’t have to wait long for the next book, I really need to see where this goes.

5 Contented Purrs for Heather and Blake!

Heather Long

USA Today bestselling author, Heather Long, likes long walks in the park, science fiction, superheroes, Marines, and men who aren’t douche bags. Her books are filled with heroes and heroines tangled in romance as hot as Texas in the summertime.

From paranormal historical westerns to contemporary military romance, Heather might switch genres, but one thing is true in all of her stories–her characters drive the books.

When she’s not wrangling her menagerie of animals, she devotes her time to family and friends she considers family. She believes if you like your heroes so real you could lick the grit off their chest, and your heroines so likable, you’re sure you’ve been friends with women just like them, you’ll enjoy her worlds as much as she does.

Blake Blessing is no longer new on the Indie scene, but she’s still ecstatic about this chapter in life. She is a mom, wife, art enthusiast, and author.

She attended ten different schools growing up, so books became her constant friend. Escaping into books of all different genres made life fun and exciting. Blake was also raised on music and still blasts it through the house and car at every opportunity.

She has a weird sense of humor and a penchant for chocolate milk. It only makes sense she would one day go on to write her own stories.