The Two-Faced Killer

The Two-Faced Killer Harborside Secrets - Book 3 Katy Pierce Copyright © 2022 by Katy PierceAll rights reserved.No portion of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher or author, except as permitted by U.S. copyright law. DescriptionFor private investigator Carlee Knight, staying alive is a deadly tightrope walk. She truly believes her quest for justice will lead to her beloved twin brother’s elusive killer—unless the killer catches her first. Carlee’s dramatic homecoming to her once-sleepy hometown makes the harsh reality that much clearer. It’s not merely memories haunting Harborside anymore. For the first time since a mysterious serial killer butchered her eighth-grade class over a decade ago, a shadowy threat is hounding the town. Hounding Carlee, specifically, stalking her every move and creeping closer every night.Its message is clear: back off or die.As she races to identify her stalker before they strike again, Carlee’s attention is pulled to a string of grisly murders in inner-city Chicago. Students of an elite beauty school are being found in deserted alleys, dressed in hideous clothes and posed for glamor shots—each with her throat slit. The seedy trail of smeared lipstick and pooling blood drags Carlee into a dazzling subculture of runway divas, drugs, and posh queen-pins. A world in which every action is a statement and every look conceals a hidden truth.Every second brings Carlee closer to answering her greatest fear: is the Eighth-Grade Killer really coming for her, or is this all the work of a copycat?The Two-Faced Killer is the third book of Katy Pierce’s unputdownable psychological thriller series, Harborside Secrets, where every choice carries secret consequences, and no character is safe from the villain’s knife. I’d like to dedicate this book to anyone who’s afraid to walk away. If you’re in a bad place, just get up and walk away. There’s no need for you to explain yourself. It’s your life and it’s the only one you’ll ever get. Do what makes you happy. Contents 1. Chapter One 2. Chapter Two 3. Chapter Three 4. Chapter Four 5. Chapter Five 6. Chapter Six 7. Chapter Seven 8. Chapter Eight 9. Chapter Nine 10. Chapter Ten 11. Chapter Eleven 12. Chapter Twelve 13. Chapter Thirteen 14. Chapter Fourteen 15. Chapter Fifteen 16. Chapter Sixteen 17. Chapter Seventeen 18. Chapter Eighteen 19. Chapter Nineteen 20. Chapter Twenty 21. Chapter Twenty-One 22. Chapter Twenty-Two 23. Chapter Twenty-Three 24. Chapter Twenty-Four 25. Chapter Twenty-Five 26. Chapter Twenty-Six 27. Chapter Twenty-Seven 28. Chapter Twenty-Eight 29. Chapter Twenty-Nine 30. Chapter Thirty What's Next A Note From The Author Harborside Secrets Series Acknowledgments About the Author Chapter OneMiranda’s heels clicked against the sidewalk, her sore muscles working themselves out in the warmth of summer. She rolled her shoulders, counting the knots, each a physical reminder of stress and frustration. She loved balmy downtown Chicago nights like these, so what was it that was driving her nuts? Oh, right.“Can you believe that shit? A smokey eye… for a wedding?” Miranda asked, feeling a pang in her stiff neck as she glanced at the girl walking beside her. “I think she’s going senile.”Giselle wasn’t Miranda’s best friend—not yet—but she was hands down her most tolerable classmate in the Advanced Bridal Makeup Workshop course. Maybe in the entire beauty school.“I know, right?” Crossing her arms, Giselle blew out a long breath and laughed. It was a bitter sound, out of place in the pleasant evening. “It’s like nobody at Aphrodite realizes how much we pay for these classes.”“Or gives a damn, more like,” Miranda replied.Dressed down for class, Miranda knew she and Giselle looked like what they were: a pair of stressed-out beauty students, not models, heading home after school to pout and complain. At least their makeup was impeccable—mostly, anyway. Hours of class under those harsh lights would put even the best foundation to the test.Her eyeliner wings still needed a little help, but Miranda was confident she could make a name for herself the second she blew out of the Aphrodite Beauty Institute’s front doors with her completed certifications. Then she needed bigger, better doors to open for her, which this program was supposed to arrange.“I can’t stand it,” Miranda groaned. “I paid five hundred dollars for that ‘cutting-edge, avant-garde’ eye shadow. And did you see the look on that old bat’s face? She thought she was blowing our minds.”“You bet I did. It’s like she forgot we weren’t the old retirement-home crones she teaches on the side.”“But that’s just a rumor, right? I mean…” Miranda’s immaculately sculpted brows arched behind her bangs. “She doesn’t really do that, does she?”Giselle snickered, rolling her eyes. “Oh, trust me, that’s not a rumor. I saw a nursing home ID badge in her purse when I walked in.”“I swear, I’m going to lose my mind.” Miranda rubbed at her temples. “I mean, I’m not a bad person, but half of these teachers are simply ancient, right? I’m not imagining that? I’m not just being a total asshole?”“You’re not. It’s just the cold, hard truth of the industry, babe,” Giselle said, shaking her head as she looked up at the night sky. “Some of them used to be hot shit, I’m sure, but now they’re trying to teach us stuff we learned on the internet when we were eight. Hell, they just recently booted the dusty hag who used to teach the Runway Look class.”“Well, the clown they replaced her with isn’t much better.” Miranda gripped her sock bun at the base and pulled it looser, trying to ease her encroaching headache, exasperation oozing out of her. “Why are we paying for these classes if they’re going to get geriatrics to teach us?”“Girl, you aren’t telling me anything I haven’t already yelled at our faculty adviser,” Giselle said, glowering at her water bottle as she unscrewed the cap. “Sometimes I wonder if the recruiter straight-up lied to us.”Miranda barely heard her, engrossed in her own thoughts. The staccato clacks of her heels built to a