Page 114 of The Guy Next Door

He reaches for my face again, and I pull away.

“You two are such a beautiful couple. What a beautiful way for two people to meet. Something poetic about it, really. It was an honor to listen to you enjoying each other’s bodies. I would have come much sooner if I didn’t get so much pleasure out of every fuck, every time I heard you call out his name. Speaking of your boyfriend, I don’t think it’s right to do this without him.” He pushes to his feet and grabs my cellphone from the bed.

“You motherfucker!” I call out.

“We’ll text him to come on over. How does that sound?”

“This is between you and me. You said it yourself. Leave him out of it!”

“Oh, no, no. You’re wrong. Itwasbetween you and me. But since I’ve started this, oh, I’ve fallen in love with both of you. So young. So beautiful. So special. But I only have room to play with one of you. So we’ll have a short time with him today.”

Room? So he keeps his victims somewhere.

My wrists strain in the zip tie. Feels like I’m gonna slice my skin off from the pressure.

“You fucking hurt Leif, and I’ll kill you.”

“That’s the spirit I want to see, Zane. Keep that up as long as you can. That’s what keeps you alive. It’s what makes you beautiful. When that fight dies, so do you.”

There’s no misunderstanding his twisted insinuation.

“Roth is already onto you. You think if you kill the one guy I warned her about already, she’s not gonna be looking at you again?”

He chuckles. “Oh, my precious. I told you: I’ve been listening in all this time, so I know she didn’t believe you. And that she was worried about the obsessed kid who started stalking, then dating Leif. And knowing about Leif’s mental-health challenges, I mean, it made it hard for me to decide how he should go. It’d be easy to kill a depressed man and make it look like a suicide. But the real challenge, wouldn’t that be to make it look like you killed him before disappearing?”

Just hearing him talk about killing Leif is enough to make rage flare in me.

“So I guess you can tell I made up my mind already. And don’t worry, it will be beautiful.” He sits on the edge of my bed, keying away on my phone.

“Leif! Leif!” I shout desperately, hoping my cry can reach him, if not physically, then in some wild-ass psychic way.

“I think you know nobody’s gonna hear you in here.” I continue calling out as he scrolls through my phone. “I should review some of your old messages before I send something. Want it to sound convincing.”

I finally stop screaming, knowing this is energy I need to conserve because when this fucker gives me a few moments alone, he’s a goner.

He heads to my dresser and opens the top drawer, retrieving a pair of boxers before pulling a roll of black tape from his pocket.

My mind’s racing through my options.

I have to fucking figure a way out of this.

I have to save Leif.

And tear this motherfucker apart.

31

LEIF

Ihaven’t neededmy key to Zane’s before this plan. He’d usually met me outside even on my short trek to his place, and it’s a surprise to be using it for the first time as I enter Zane’s place.

Could you come over real quick and help me with a few things?

I thought he was only bringing a bag tonight so we wouldn’t look like we were up to something, but maybe he forgot something he needed to put in the basement.

As I close the door, I notice the place is eerily quiet before I hear a sound coming from upstairs. It’s strained, muffled.

Something’s wrong. Get out. Call the cops.

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