Page 178 of Meet Me at the Metro

“What?”

“She wants me dead, and John wants you, so she recruited him to come after me.”

“But he shot Harvey.”

“He intended to shoot me.”

I felt like I couldn’t breathe. I felt like I was slowly losing my sanity. Why the hell would Kimberley want Theo dead?

Her stepson... Her own family...

A wave of nausea rolls over me so fiercely that I stagger as Theo hauls me up the stairs leading up to the stage. The sound of the doors swinging open in the lobby cuts through the air as we slip behind its high, crimson curtains. We scramble behind a half-completed set piece backstage, collapsing beneath the shadows it provides as the echo of footsteps enters the auditorium.

Theo draws my body tightly against his as we hide, our chests heaving for air.

Our time is running out; I can sense it dwindling with every frantic beat of my heart.

It’s why I find the urge to tell Theo, “It was her—the fraud on campus.” It’s an effort to get out the words between my overwroughtbreaths. I fetch the bank slips from my pocket and quickly draw them out for him to see beneath the tiny thread of light seeping backstage. “She’s been embezzling money.”

He shakes his head in disbelief. “What the fuck…”

“Come out, come out!”

Theo and I go as still as ice at Kimberley’s voice.

His arms tighten around me, scooting me further back into the shelter of the large stage prop. I hope we are well enough hidden, especially as the gentle sway of the stage curtains catches my eye. I hoped that John or her didn’t notice the subtle movements.

The steady click of heels grows closer, and I shakily whisper, “Call the cops, Theo.”

“My phone’s broken.”

I wished it was a joke, but Theo glances over at me, forehead wrinkled with distress, and I understand it’s not.

“I suggest you two start showing yourselves before I release John on a goose chase that winds up with the both of you dead.”

I can’t believe our luck, can’t believe that we've cornered ourselves without a visible way out or means to call for help. I have a sinking feeling that our refuge will only keep us hidden for so long.

“What do we do then?W-we’re trapped.”

Theo grabs my face between his palms, urging me to look at him. “I’m not letting you get hurt. You understand? I’m going to go and distract them, and you’re going to run. Alright?”

“You’re crazy if you think I’m leaving you.Actually fucking crazy, Theo.”

“We’re running out of options. I promised you I’d keep you safe.”

“I’m not leaving you. I won’t do it.”

“Eleanor, please!” John calls from the vacant audience beyond. “I don’t want to see you hurt. Please, just listen to her and come out.”

Theo goes to rise on his knees, but I grip his wrist and pull him back down.

“Nora,”he reprimands.

“We arenotsplitting up.”

Theo stares down at me for a long, sustained moment, an abundance of conflict written in his eyes and contorting his expression. I can tell how much he hates that I'm not listening, and I can see how much pain it causes him that I'm refusing to flee for help without him, but I don’t care.

I can’t care. Not when his life is at stake.

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