Page 29 of Spiteful Heart

We waited there, on the street, for a while, watching the entrance to the movie theater, waiting for Harvey to show up with someone. Waiting to see a woman looking annoyed at her late date. Anything. But after an hour, with no movement and no updates, we decided to call it.

We went home.

Lola wasn’t very happy, and she locked herself in her room shortly after we got back. She said she wasn’t hungry for dinner, so whatever I did, not to make or get her anything.

My brother was up, and he stood at the base of the stairwell, watching Lola head up the stairs as she stormed away, sullen and broody. When those hazel eyes of his met my stare, he didn’t need to ask; he already knew we didn’t see anything.

I pulled out my phone, checking the tracker. It still showed a dot at the parking garage. I gestured for Mike to come with me to the kitchen, and he followed me without a word. I got us each something to drink, and I slid onto one of the bar stools near the island. My brother preferred to remain standing, leaning his backside on the counter, staring at me all the while.

“Something’s not adding up here,” I muttered, my fingers running over the smooth countertop. “He said he had a date tonight, but he never showed. Lola texted him good luck on your date, and all he said back was thank you.”

Mike harrumphed. “And what if she canceled on him and he didn’t want to tell anyone? He’s an awkward guy. Maybe this woman decided he wasn’t worth it.”

I guess my brother had a point there. It was possible that happened and he was too embarrassed to say anything. I spoke, “I don’t know. A part of me wonders if Giulia even exists.” I then told him all about my theory of Harvey and Newton working together, wanting to see his reaction, to hear his thoughts.

He was silent for a while. For a long while. As in, a damn minute passed before he said anything. “I don’t know. Newton’s shady, and I don’t know the first thing about Harvey besides him being weird, but…” He let out a loud breath. “I think I’m with the girl on this one, Vinny.”

Vinny. He only called me that when he was being totally, one hundred percent serious.

“You think there’s more to this that we’re not seeing?” I asked.

Mike nodded once, turning his head to check the archway, making sure Lola wasn’t standing there, probably. When he brought that stare back to me, his voice was low, a whisper, “Don’t quote me on nothing, but I think he’s someone we’re overlooking, somehow. He knows us, knows Lola. I think he wants us thinking it’s Newton or Harvey, or both. I bet you he’s counting on it, because while we’re zeroed in on them, he’s free to do whatever he wants. If something happens tonight while we’re not on Harvey’s tail, it won’t be because it’s Harvey making a move just because he can… it’ll be because he’s ready.”

“You think it’ll happen whether or not we’re watching Harvey?”

“I think we’re already down the path he wants us, so it’s only a matter of time before he gives us the jump scare, and then…” Mike quieted, because we both knew what happened in the movies after the jump scare.

Then the bad guy really did show up. He showed up and he started killing.

It was after eight when Lola came downstairs again. Her phone was in her hand, and she was busy frowning. I’d already checked the tracker; Harvey had left his place on time and was now on Newton, at the Gilded Rose, just as he was supposed to be.

I sat on a couch, watching something stupid on TV, while my brother was reading something on a tablet in the couch’s matching recliner. Both our eyes turned to Lola the moment she walked in.

“I asked Harvey how his date went,” she said. “And he told me it was good. So then I asked about the movie, not that I give a shit about it, and he said it was good.” When neither of us said anything, she went on, “That’s fishy as hell, isn’t it? What kind of superhero movie is good?”

I glanced at my brother, and he lowered his tablet, thinking. To my surprise, it was Mike who spoke first: “Deadpoolwas pretty good.”

“Oh, yeah,Deadpool,” I agreed. “That motherfucker was funny.”

Lola let out an annoyed groan. “Can you guys focus? I don’t really care about any stupid superhero movie—although, wait a second. Would you even consider that one a superhero movie? I mean, isn’t he more of an anti-hero or whatever? Ugh, listen to me, arguing the semantics about a stupid guy in a stupid costume—the point of this is, Harvey is lying to me.Obviously.”

I waited for Lola to say more, because yeah, at this point, we knew he was. The real question would be whether or not something would happen tonight, since he wasn’t being tailed. The fact that he was lying about his date was unsurprising.

“Well? What are we going to do?” Lola asked, and neither Mike nor I gave her an answer.

There was only one thing we could do at this point, and it was exactly what my brother had said earlier: we’d walk the bloodied path the killer had put out for us, the one he had led us down victim by victim. We’d wait. We’d wait until he popped out and tried to come after one of us, or until he made a mistake and revealed himself to us.

The jump scares were the bodies he’d left us. The next time he surfaced might just be the end of the line.

Chapter Seven – Maddox

We didn’t get on the road as early as my brother wanted, and it was true, it was mostly my fault. Hey, I didn’t say I’d go with him. I didn’t fucking volunteer myself for this little trip. Sylvester had told me I was going with him, and that was that, apparently. I couldn’t say no, even if I wanted to.

And fucking trust me, I wanted to.

So, yeah, I slept in a little. I also made us stop for breakfast and had about five cups of coffee at the diner, which meant we had to stop for piss breaks more often than Sylvester would’ve liked. It took us a lot longer than it should’ve to get there… mostly because I didn’twantto get there.

Hell, I didn’t even know where it was, not really. If my life depended on finding that miserable little town on a map, I’d be dead. Just dead, right there. Although, if someone was holding me at gunpoint to force me to tell them where my father was, I’d question their sanity before they killed me, because who the fuck wanted to find that old, washed-up has-been? Definitely not me.

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