Page 218 of Obsession

I was willing to listen to him, to understand what had determined him to do it, but the look on Harris’ face told me that he was not interested in explanations. He remained at the door without moving, in the same position in which I felt he was protecting me from all sides. His arm was around my waist while he gave Adam an impatient frown.

“Thank you!” he said to the nurse in a dismissive tone.

The young woman stopped speaking and looked at us, and I imagined Harris must have startled her, because she immediately averted her eyes and apologized, then sprinted from the room.

As she passed me, I glanced at Harris, at the anger on his face. Had I not known him, he probably would have scared me, too.

“Can we talk? Alone?” Adam asked me, then glanced at Harris.

He was struggling to sit upright, on his feet.

Harris was bursting with anger and biting his lower lip, almost as if he was about to do something horrible.

Before I had a chance to stop him or even touch him, he left my side and reached for Adam. He grabbed him by the arm and neck, and I only heard his gasp before Harris slammed his face into a wall. He crushed his jaw into it, and Adam shrieked in pain.

“Harris, please,” I said, stepping forward.

Adam tried to free himself, but he had no chance. He was too weak and wounded, and Harris was too angry.

“Speak!” he growled, pressing his face even harder against the wall as Adam gasped and looked at me.

“What happened after they beat you?” I asked.

His eyes had filled with tears from the pain, but he tried to speak.

“The next day, when I was in the hospital, they attacked my sister in the street and were about to rape her. They told me that Lucy wouldn’t be so lucky the second time if I did not do what they asked. I didn’t see the face of the others, just the one that had spoken to me the first time. I was scared to go to the police, and I was scared for my sister.”

Tears ran down my cheeks and I just nodded because I understood him and he didn’t need to explain further. I knew his sister, his stepsister, who was fifteen years old. His mother had her after she remarried, but Adam loved her more than anything.

“I thought it was some rich psychopath who saw you here and had the hots for you. He wanted nothing but those damn photos. I called you to stall them, to find a way to tell you and find out who he is before he gets to you. I have been freaking out the last few days, Kath, but every time I have backed out, something has happened. They broke into my mom’s car, theypoisoned our dog,” he gasped in pain again and his head fell back.

“Let him go, Harris,” I pleaded, and surprisingly, he listened.

He turned Adam to face him.

“You said you saw one of them?”

“Yes.”

“What did he look like?”

“I didn’t see him well enough to describe him; he was wearing sunglasses and a cap, but he had brown hair, was tall and slim, over forty-five…”

Harris face spoke before he did. He had figured out who it was. He pulled out his phone and showed Adam something.

“Him?”

Adam looked at the photo, frowned, then nodded.

“Yeah, pretty sure it was him.”

They looked at each other, both shocked, and I couldn’t stand the tension any longer. I went to Harris and snatched the phone out of his hand to see the photo.

He was a normal guy, nothing unusual about him. He was tied to a chair, his eyes looking fearfully ahead, and he seemed to have been beaten up quite a bit by the time the photo was taken.

He didn’t look like a criminal or a psychopath… but who did?

I’d never seen him before in my life.

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