Page 101 of Beautiful Prey

But I wasn’t looking to run, just to hide. Some part of me was certain he wouldn’t go through with burning the house down without me. I didn’t know if it was true for sure, but I felt certain enough to test the theory. He would search for me day and night. His ghosts would demand it to be sure I hadn’t somehow escaped. And they wanted it to be on the anniversary, like some kind of ritual. A finality of that night six years ago.

A game of cat and mouse. Only this time, the mouse wasn’t so scared of the cat. Not anymore. And if he did catch her…

I closed my eyes.

No more fighting.

The garage door opened. Sucking in a breath, I looked around for a solid place to hide. One he wouldn’t readily search. Not right away. Because I knew he would turn over every single piece of wood to find me.

The door slammed shut and, out of instinct to get far away, I bolted for the stairs, trying to keep my footsteps as light as possible.

I thought about the attic. I started straight for the guestroom, then slowed to a halt.

No. He would definitely look there sooner than later and it was too open, too few places to sneak into.

I looked down the hall to my dad’s study. He had a crawl space in the closet, I could—

I heard a creak on the stairs. Panic forced me to move, turning into my room instead. I bolted inside and kneeled beside the bed.Stupid idea.As if he won’t look under the bed. But the closet would be way too easy.

I slid myself underneath, barely fitting. I waited, trying to stifle the gasps of breath from my racing heart.

The sound must have been my imagination because I saw no boots come into view of the door. Instead, I heard movement downstairs. I heard the basement door shut and knew he must have gone down into the basement. I imagined the barely controlled fury that would rise in him when he saw the mess and realized I was missing.

I carefully crawled out and got to my feet. Stepping quietly back into the hall, I made my way down to my dad’s study at the end. As I got to the door, I turned the knob and found it locked.

I spit out a curse. I went into the guest bedroom instead, glancing at the attic door. Maybe if I tried hard enough, I could fit into the hole I had hid the puzzle box in.

The basement door swung open and hit against the wall. Heavy footsteps walked fast down below.

“Eve?”

Fuck.

No time to make it up the attic without him hearing. I panicked again and went to the bed.

I slipped underneath, pressed tight just like under my bed. I heard him walking around, heard doors being shut and heavy things being moved. He knew I was somewhere else and he was taking the time to make sure I didn’t slip past him somehow and make it outside.

He called for me again, moving across the dining room and making for the stairs. I stiffened, covering my mouth with my hand. He went down the hall and through each room. Furniture moved, objects clattering as he searched.

He made it to the guest room, his boots standing beside the bed. His hand moved underneath the mattress, and I knew now he was about to tear it off the frame and fling it aside to see underneath and find me there.

I braced myself as he started to lift it—

THUD. BAM.

He froze. Something heavy fell from above us. Up in the attic.

He let go of the mattress and rushed for the attic door. He wrenched it open and up he went.

As he did, I took the chance to free myself from under the bed. I got off my knees and didn’t look back as I flew down the hallway and back down the stairs.

Breathless, I paused again to figure out where to go. I ran back over to the kitchen and saw the hallway to the garage door had been barred by several things including theoven.

How he dragged it over was something to marvel at another time. The only places now were the bathroom or kitchen cabinet. I thought about poor April hiding there at Lena’s. No, none would work. Hiding behind things like the couch would only last so long.

I turned back to the dining room and paused. I looked over at Dad’s old gin cabinet. Besides a long crack to one side, it was intact.

Another loud crash came from upstairs and flinched.

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