Page 37 of Haunted Prey

“He’s a real stubborn asshole, that’s what.” She gave me a sympathetic look. “He wants to see you.”

Anger burned my chest. “I told Jamie no.”

“I know,” Lena said. “But he swears he won’t tell anyone where you are.”

I glared at her. “He knows?”

She bit her lip. “I don’t know. I think he’s bluffing. He just assumes you’re with me.”

My body went cold, my muscles tensing, another headache beginning to throb in my skull. “If he does, is he going to turn me in?” I would bolt right now if I had to. I didn’t know where I’d go but I’d get as far away as I could.

Lena’s eyes shifted from Marcus and then back to me. “He isn’t looking to turn you in, though he says he can’t stop the police if they find you either.”

I rubbed at my temple. “I told them everything I know. What more do they want?”

“Apparently, this isn’t work related. He just wants to see how you are, make sure you’re okay.”

I was far from okay.

“And,” Lena continued, “he wants to give you your laptop back.”

I stiffened. “They told me they needed it for their investigation.”

“Guess they got whatever information they wanted from the hard drive.”

The interview I’d been forced to have with the FBI hadn’t gone as well as I’d hoped. I tried to tell them everything I knew—about my father’s company, the experiments, the kids—all of it.But they gave no indication that any of it mattered. Either they already knew, or they were taking my story with a grain of salt.

I had hoped the evidence on my laptop would make a difference, but I never heard back. And as for the external drive from my apartment? I had no idea if they even took it.

I honestly didn’t think they would give my laptop back. I thought it was lost for good. But now…if I could get it back, I could start revising my paper, I could do what I’d promised for Emery. Tell his story.

I just had to meet the person who had taken him from me.

I couldn’t hate him, even if I wanted to. Liam had done everything to save me. I wasn’t stupid enough to think otherwise. He hadn’t known what was between me and Emery. He had sworn to get me back and he had kept his promise, no matter that it had damaged me.

Still, I couldn’t stop the hurt or the anger. I didn’t know if I could even look him in the eye—stand there while he told me how sorry he was. The thought of seeing that mix of guilt and longing on his face made my stomach churn. I didn’t know if I ever wanted to talk to him again. But, like with the FBI, I’d force myself to do what I had to. To get the justice Emery and the other victims deserved.

I needed my laptop if I were to do that. If the FBI or the cops weren’t going to help me, then I’d do it myself.

I wrapped my good arm over the sling, still annoyed at what I was about to do. “I’ll see him,” I said, trying not to choke back the words. “But not here. Somewhere open. And if he doesn’t come alone, or I see one glance of another cop car, I’m out. I’m not going back to Severfalls. If he betrays me, I never want to hear from him again.”

“You got it, girlfriend,” Lena said as she opened her phone.

“Let Jamie know, too. He might want to be there.”

“Got it. There’s a park nearby. How about we meet there?”

“Yeah, let’s do it.”

Liam better not betray me. Otherwise, he and his team can chase my ass through the forest, and I’d learned a thing or two about hiding.

The rain had turned to a fine mist as Marcus parked the car, the clouds looking angry still with the threat of more rain. I hoped that meant we’d have to make this quick.

Not far down the lot, I saw Jamie waiting in his car. He got out, throwing the hood of his green jacket over his head.

I sat in the back seat, scanning the area. There were few cars. No suspicious vans or large vehicles with tinted glass from what I could see, so that was a start. Lena assured me the park was open with forest surrounding it.

She looked around, leaning forward to see. “Looks pretty clear,” she said as Jamie neared the car door.

---