Page 45 of Ruthless Riches
“Honestly? Nothing,” I said, narrowing my eyes.
“That’s a lie. You might not know who I am, but you still knew enough about me to find me.”
“I don’t know what you mean.”
He slowly tapped the bars with one hand as he wrote a new message with the other. “You knew I was using these tunnels.”
“So?” I said, shaking my head. “I wasn’t the only one who figured that out.”
“You’re the only one who found my favorite entrance, though.”
My stomach fluttered with confusion. “I didn’t find anything.”
“Stop lying. I saw you.”
“I’m not lying!” I said, voice laced with exasperation. “I literally have no idea what you’re talking about.”
The Butcher let out a muffled sigh behind the mask and wrote another message. “While you were in the hospital recently, I sneaked into your room and installed a tracking app on your phone. It was hidden in a calculator app so you wouldn’t notice it,” he said. “It can track people down to the exact square foot they’re standing in. That’s how I know you found the park entrance.”
I rolled my eyes upward. “You’re full of shit. The police took my phone as evidence after I was stabbed.”
“They gave it back after two days. I sneaked in on the third day, while you were sleeping.”
I gritted my teeth as I considered his claim. If it was true, it explained how he’d been tracking me all over the city. He was right, too—the police returned my phone on the third day of my hospital stay.
I crossed my arms and spoke up again. “Look, even if you’re telling the truth about the tracking app, I still have no idea what you’re talking about,” I said. “It’s true that I searched in Central Park the day before yesterday. But I didn’t find the entrance to these tunnels.”
“You were standing right on top of the hatch.”
“I had no idea,” I said, heart thudding as I realized how close I’d come to finding Satan’s Penthouse. “Seriously. It was just a coincidence.”
The Butcher went silent for a long time.
“So that’s why you took me?” I said, wanting to fill the silence with something. “You thought I’d figured out where the entrance was?”
“Yes. It was only a matter of time before you went back or told someone else about it.”
I slowly shook my head. “You were wrong. I didn’t know where the hatch was buried. I just knew it was somewhere in that park,” I said. “Also, even if I did find it, don’t you think I would’ve told Nate immediately?”
He nodded and typed out his longest message yet. “Yes, I assumed you would tell him. I was actually very worried that my hiding spot was about to be revealed to the whole world because of it. I kept a close eye on both of you afterwards to see what would happen, and I assumed I’d have to drag the two of you down here, but neither of you went back to the park. So I thought you were keeping the exact location of the hatch to yourself for some reason. To take all the glory of finding me in the future, perhaps.” He paused for a moment to add even more to the message. “Also, after what I saw Nate doing in the park today, I can safely say he has no idea where the hatch is. You definitely didn’t tell him.”
“Only because I never knew where it was,” I replied. “I’m obviously not as smart as you think.”
The Butcher wrote out another long message. “It doesn’t matter now. No one will ever find the hatch in that garden again. Once I saw that you were right on top of it the other night, I scared you off with that text. Then I went to the park and dragged some big stone planter pots over to the spot. So even if Nate or the police start combing that park with metal detectors, they won’t find it. The pots are in the way now, and no one will guess that they haven’t always been in that exact spot.”
My brows dipped in a frown. “How are you getting in and out of the tunnels now? Are there other entrances?”
“Yes. Satan’s Penthouse has thirteen different entrances in Avalon City and four in Arcadia Bay.”
“Does anyone else know where they are?”
The Butcher shook his head. The robotic voice sounded again a few seconds later. “I spent weeks exploring this place after I found out about it, and I never saw another soul. No one ever caught me when I kept those people down here, either. I’m the only one who knows where it is.”
I sat back down on the velvet seat, slowly shaking my head. “I still don’t understand why you’ve been saying you won’t kill me,” I said in a low voice. “If you were so convinced I knew how to find you, why wouldn’t you want me dead? Isn’t that what all the warnings were about?”
“No. Like I said before… you aren’t my type.”
“So what is your type?” I asked, throwing my hands up. “Do you only kill people who share the same eye color? The same blood group?”
