Page 96 of Bad Enough

“Upstairs.”

She held her breath in the silence.

“I’ll be up in a minute.”

This is never going to end.

She had changed into her nightgown and turned on the gas fireplace. It was summer, but she needed the comfort, and it burned without giving off too much heat.

She had just sat down to check her email when she heard him start to come up the stairs. That had been a mistake. The words in front of her blurred. Email after email. All different email addresses. All sinister.

Did you get my present?

They cried.

They screamed.

They begged.

But they weren’t you.

This latest one is like you.

She’s not afraid.

She’ll be a fighter.

I can be patient a little longer.

And eventually, I’ll get the real thing.

I’m coming, Jolie.

More and more, all the same type of thing.

It was time to give up.

She wasn’t sure if it would help free Fleur, his latest victim, but she couldn’t bear it if another girl suffered because of her. Hopefully, if she gave herself up, it would end. But she needed something first. Something for herself.

TB stood in front of her desk, a concerned look on her face. “Flame?”

She turned her computer around to face him.

He looked over the emails, and she could see that each one made him angrier than the last. He tapped on his watch. “Call Midas.”

She heard the phone ring on the other end, and then a groggy voice came over the line. “I’m waiting on the DNA from their hair, TB; I can’t make it run any faster. I’ll call when something comes through.”

Sylvan gasped, her eyes going wide. “Their hair?”

Of course the hair. It was always the hair. Even though you knew it was the hair that called to him, you just couldn’t cut it. Now, it’s causing that pain to other girls. Your stupid pride!

“I’m not alone, Midas.”

“Shit. Sorry, TB. What do you need?”

“I need you to access Flame’s emails. He sent a bunch of them, all from different email addresses on Google. Can you trace them?”

“Yes, but if he’s bouncing them, which he probably is, it’s going to take a while. And even then, it’s not a guarantee. If he’s smart, he also set them to send at specific times, like a chain. I’m on it.”

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