Page 28 of Prey

“Oh yeah, I remember.” It was a blur. After all, I was so distraught and guilt-ridden because I realized I made a drastic mistake and I couldn’t go back. The damage was done. “He seemed nice.”

“Anyway, Seargent Tindale will contact you in the next couple of days to touch base, so if there are any problems, you can let him know,” she sipped her Sprite as my mind circled with a hundred and one thoughts. “It’ll be okay, Annika.”

I forced a smile to assure her that I was fine, even when I sensed something baffling around me. Someone broke into my room, wrote TRAITOR on the door, and rubbed it off. That could be explained as a mistaken identity since I had just moved in. Then the stalker creep in the Scream mask could also be explained away as a student braindead student who had the urge to target a lone nerd for fun. This was nothing new. Everyone knew the kid in class who everyone picked on for no reason. It was a cruel world, particularly for those who were the runt of the litter or had a poor start to life.

It was on the tip of my tongue to inform her about the stalker and show her his messages, but his entire rhetoric was teasing and taunting, harmless fun to entertain the stupid. If he’d sentdeath threats, then that’d be a different story. And really, it looked as if Judith had enough on her plate than worry about some random dumbass jock.

So I stuffed down this secret, hoping it would go away on its own. Maybe he’d grow bored and find someone else to stalk and frighten, yet that thought also annoyed me. He was the only person on campus I was having conversations with since Shaun the dickhead turfed me out of his frat house. The stalker was the only person who knew I existed, or more accurately, knew Riley Laws existed, and part of me liked the attention.

He saw me, and instead of ignoring me like most people do, he did something about it. Okay, so it was dumb what he was doing, but hell, Scream Freak Stalker was filling a gaping hole of loneliness. Yep, I know. Only a deadbeat saddo like me would hunger for the attention of a stalker, who…could be a serial killer for all I knew.

“Are you okay with all this?” Judith asked, breaking my chain of stupid thoughts. “You seem distant.”

“Oh,” I waved my hand dismissively as our steak dinners were served. “I was just thinking about everything I had to organize for class next week.”

“That’ll keep you occupied then,” she insinuated that perhaps I worried too much. She was right.

“Yes,” I answered, picking up my fork and steak knife to cut a slice of juicy, garlicky meat.

“And tell me about your new job?” she asked. “Is it working in the local food store?”

I chewed the piece of meat, giving me time to invent a story. “Washing dishes in a café.”

“That’s a good start onto the career ladder,” she stated. “What’s the name of the café?”

Oh gosh, I had to think fast. Savile was the name of the club. Whatever you do, don’t tell her that name because she mightlook it up and realize that she must’ve used a fake ID to work there. I spotted a name on the steak menu and stole that to add to the lie.

“Porterhouse Café,” I replied, avoiding her eye.

“Porterhouse?” she questioned as her eyes flicked to the menu.

I knew Judith long enough to see that she didn’t believe me, but she didn’t push for the truth because even a girl like me was allowed to have secrets.

“Yes,” I covered my mouth as I chewed.

There were several seconds of intense silence before she raised her glass of Sprite. “Here’s to new beginnings.”

I raised my Coke to toast her Sprite. “Here’s to leaving the past behind forever.”

15

Convince me that you’re the best I can buy,” I challenged the Private Investigator sitting opposite me in my office, Danny Lam. Freddie recommended this guy who his cousin hired to find out if his wife was cheating. It turned out she was cheating with his best friend, and the rest was history.

But I didn’t want some amateur who photographed cheating spouses in the depth of night or followed hungry husbands to strip joints. I needed serious shit sorted, and I needed a serious attitude to go with it.

“I have an excellent portfolio,” he stated, “that I emailed you earlier, Mr. Kaiser.”

“Your portfolio consisted mostly of you chasing the tails of cheating husbands,” I asserted, unsure if this guy was the correct creed to nail my problem. But I hadn’t found anyone better yet who wasn’t heavily associated with Gothenburg police.

The last thing I needed was the police breathing down my back. So far, I hadn’t seen a single hair of a cop’s head since I was released from prison. However, I was aware that several members of the Savile Club were in the police and FBI.

“That’s what I’m mostly hired for,” he argued, lacing his hands together, looking a little intimidated by being here with me. Good. If I’m going to hire him, he needs to know that there’s a consequence if he fails. “But I have done other cases, such as missing relatives and loved ones, that police were unable to find.”

“Yeah, I read them,” I looked to Ronan for feedback, and he flicked me a look as if to say, ‘Why not? What have we got to lose?’ “You do have a good success rate, which was why Freddie suggested you, but we not wanting to hire you to find a loved one or some brainless broad who fucks over her husband.”

“But you want to hire me to find someone or something?” he questioned to clarify.

“Yeah, you can say that. Well…we need a murder mystery solved,” I explained. “Let’s just say it’s a Capone version of a whodunit.” He nodded but looked perplexed, so I elaborated. “That means what I say to you from this point onwards is strictly between you and me and my boy Ronan here. Got it?”

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