Page 90 of Jon's Helter Skelter Cold Case

True, Skylar went to a magnet school. “And you’re a shoo-in into the school with you two bonded, so no worries getting in.”

“Yup. We filled out the paperwork already, so we’re just waiting for the official okay.”

“Also means we can spend after-school hours training with you,” Skylar reminded me. “Which was the other reason why we chose to do it this way.”

“Makes sense to me. I think it’s smart, really, and the only long-term solution. When does this living arrangement start?”

“Start of school year. We’re just going day by day at the moment.” Skylar shrugged. “Not like we’re on a set schedule right now.”

“Also true.”

Skylar leaned in, wicked mirth on her face. “Did Uncle Donovan really go into a haunted building to find Tylesia?”

“He really did. I might have to put the man in therapy at this rate. He’s truly terrified of ghosts. I think, once we found Chad, he was so angry at the guy, he forgot the place was haunted for a few minutes. Did you hear that Tylesia punched Chad?”

“What! No, Dwayne didn’t tell me that part.” Skylar nodded in approval. “Good for her. I would have punched him too. Did you learn why he did all this? Was he in love with her or something?”

I shook my head. “Obsession. No gold in the man’s lines. He was convinced he needed Tye as his anchor more than Dwayne did. He was also convinced that if he just gave it more time, she’d forgive him. Even being punched didn’t deter his obsession.”

“Wooooow. Piece of work.” Skylar made a face. “If anyone ever does that with me, I’ll punch ’em first. Abs, you hear that? You spot any creeps, tell me. We’ll knock ’em out flat before they can get obsessed.”

Abby saluted with her right hand. “Roger that. Oh, Jon. Did you hear how much Dwayne got in the settlement?”

“Uh…no, I didn’t think it was right to ask.”

“A cool four million. He told me.”

I whistled long and low. Damn. I wasn’t saying it was a good idea to spend a year in prison for a payout, but for that kind of money? Tempting. Very tempting.

“He’s already been house shopping, since he lost his. He’s going for something withverytight security after all thathappened. Said he’s going to pay for it outright, along with new vehicles for both him and Tylesia.”

“Awesome. I hope it’s a good fresh start for both of them.”

“I think it will be. They’re really excited about it all. Oh, and did you hear? Court date against Solomon has been set.”

An evil smile slipped out before I could stop it. “Nooo, I did not hear that. Wow, that’s quick. When is it set for?”

“Middle of this month. I think it’s August 18th?” Abby did a little booty dance. “About time someone takes him down a peg. I’m still really mad about what he did to Dwayne.”

“We’re all mad at him for different reasons, trust me.”

“I literally cannot wait—” Abby abruptly stopped, her lines blaring with fear and alarm as she stared right past me.

I whipped around, a knee-jerk reaction to see what had scared her so badly.

And came face-to-face with Solomon.

The man looked wild. His black hair was oily and slick, body odor horrible like he hadn’t bathed in days. His brown eyes were normally cold, but right now they looked bloodshot. Crazy. His lines flexed like a mad tapeworm on drugs, all fuchsia with loathing, scarlet with rage, but where his moral compass line should be, it sparked grey, as if it was no longer functioning. All those things were scary enough and would make me run for the hills. But to make it all worse, he had a gun up and trained on me.

“You fucking cunt.” His breathing was more of a pant, indicating how hot his rage ran. “You ruin my life and you’re in here laughing it up?”

I had to get the girls out. That was my only thought. I had to get the girls out before he turned on them, too. Rushing him wouldn’t do a lot of good in this sense, and the risk of him hitting someone else was too high. Shit, Donovan wouldn’t be back foranother fifteen minutes at least. I had to get the girls out, give them a chance to run; otherwise, we were all dead.

Fear beat in me like a heartbeat, but I stayed calm on the outside.

“Send the girls out,” I told him. “They had no part in this.”

“I send them out, they’ll call the police. I’m going to take my fucking time with you. Make you feel every bit of pain that you’ve put me through.”

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