Page 71 of Guarded from Sabotage

Something snaps.

Theagony.

As I’m gasping for air, rocking against the pain, she yells, “You lied about him! Made up that horrible story about him! You ruined his life!”

What if I don’t make it until Dante gets here?

Tamara stops pacing and turns to glare at me. Her face is bright red and the veins in her neck are bulging. “Do you know what you did to him? Do you? After you reported him to the police and got your friend to go along with your bullshit story, he lost his scholarship. We didn’t have enough money, so he had to drop out of school. Because of you!”

She kneels down and puts her face close to mine. Spittle flies as she snaps, “He had a career ahead of him. A future. And you took it away. He came home, depressed, and he got into drugs to dull the pain. I tried to help him, but it wasn’t enough. And he just kept getting worse.”

Pausing, she takes a deep breath and blows it out slowly. In a more level tone, she asks, “Do you know what happened to him next?”

Terrified to speak, I just shake my head.

“He ODd,” she says. “Seven months ago. Now my brother is gone. Everything he could have had—a job, a house, a family—gone. So I thought, it’s only fair to do the same thing to you. Take away everything.” After a beat, she adds, “Well, I wouldn’t hurt your parents. I’m not a monster.”

My parents! Tears flow faster. What if I never see them again?

What if I never see Dante again? What if he finds me too late?

“So.” Tamara gets up and walks out of view, still talking. “I made my plan. Create a new identity, find out where you work, and get an in. That stupid Ivan was so desperate for a girlfriend, he never questioned anything. It was so easy to get into his computer, set him up as the patsy.”

There’s a soft rustling behind me, and a metallic swoosh of a zipper. “I thought it would be enough to ruin your life,” she says casually. “But then you got that man to help you. And his company. So I realized ruining your life wasn’t enough. I needed to kill you. But it’s been harder than I expected. I never would have thought your boyfriend could maneuver a runaway car. Really something, I have to say.”

She comes back in front of me, this time with a gun held loosely in her hand.

No.

I need more time.

“Someone will figure it out,” I say, already anticipating the pain about to come.

But it doesn’t. She just laughs. “No, they won’t. Because even if someone does figure out I’m not Julie, or idiot Ivan’s girlfriend, Gwen, they’ll never tie me to you. Want to know why?”

Heart in my throat, I whisper, “Why?”

“Because I’m going to make it look like your boyfriend did it.” Tamara cackles. “Do you really think I can’t trick everyoneinto thinking he had a psychotic break? His PTSD from the military caught up with him. He didn’t mean to kill you, it just happened.”

No. No. NO.

I won’t let her hurt Dante.

I need to stall her. Give Dante enough time to find me.

Mentally bracing myself for another brutal kick, I meet her gaze and ask, “How did you drug me?”

Instead of kicking me, she grins. “Oh, that was a neat trick. I read about it online. I’m actually glad you asked. I’ve been wanting to brag about it. There’s this anesthetic used on livestock, and it can be sprayed…”

As she drones on, I glance at the window, trying to figure out what time it is. The sun is still out, but it’s definitely getting closer to sunset. Maybe four-thirty? Five?

Late enough for Dante to realize I’m missing and get here?

“I had to do a lot of prep work at that office building,” Tamara continues. “Renting it, setting up the website so it looked like a real organization, making sure it seemed like the perfect job for a do-gooder like you…”

I’ve never been more scared in my life.

And I want Dante so badly it hurts.

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