Page 78 of Prey

And every cell in my body knew it.

My shadow.

My Crushing Winter.

36

Forty minutes later, after being locked in my room, shaking hands, trying to pack my bag while repetitive thoughts thundered in my mind of how close I came to being dragged in front of Mikael Kaiser and...it was too awful to consider what he would do to me. But they must already be suspicious of Riley Laws if Gunner chose to pursue me romantically behind a mask.

The Sergeant called, and I picked up straight away. “There is an unmarked police vehicle outside your dorm,” he told me. “Theywill bring you directly to the Gothenburg Police Station, where arrangements will be made for your transfer out of there.”

“Yes, sir,” I obeyed, searching for the unmarked police vehicle through my window as anxiety burned my stomach. It was the same type of vehicle that I had seen on occasion hovering nearby. It was the same type of vehicle that pursued me that night. Rourke, no, Gunner fucked me in the park.

Gunner Kaiser fucked me. Jeez, my head was too messed up to digest that thought. Regardless, my heart was aching for me to run into his arms, but I had to succumb to the fact that his plans for me didn’t include me being his nerdy, stupid girlfriend.

I ran downstairs along the hallway, avoiding the looks of everyone I passed. Not that they noticed me much anyway, but I kept my head low until I got out of the building.

Wrestling with the apprehension stirring in my gut and questioning whether I was doing the right thing, I had to heed the sergeant’s warning, even though something didn’t sit right with me. It wasn’t the sergeant I had a problem with, but the betrayal from Judith and the unmarked police vehicle I was walking toward.

After everything that had happened, I struggled with identifying the good guys versus the bad, reality versus Delusion, and right versus Wrong.

Swallowing back the screaming voice telling me to run, a plain-clothed man climbed out of the car and smiled warmly as I approached the vehicle. “Riley Laws?”

I nodded, still hesitant to allow myself to be guided by strangers, even though these strangers were police.

“Everything is going to be fine,” he said, taking my bags from my shoulders before opening the back door.

I slid into the coolness of the seat and turned back to watch him load the trunk with my bags. My nerves were causing havoc,and no amount of deep breathing was helping. I was close to vomiting.

“Hi, Annika,” a woman’s voice chirped, and I swung around to find Judith in the front passenger seat.

“Judith,” I gasped, then noticed her pregnant stomach had gone. She wasn’t due for weeks. Did she have the baby early and come back to work this soon? Maybe she lost the baby. “What the hell is going on?”

She remained silent until the other officer returned behind the wheel and started the engine.

“How’s work?” she forced a friendly tone.

“Fine,” I answered as the unmarked vehicle started moving. I tried the door handle, only to find it was locked.

“Remind me again where you work?” she pressed in a cooler tone.

“Um, at a café,” I lied.

“That’s not entirely true, is it, Annika,” she spat, annoyed. But before I could rebuke her claims, she added, “Listen, this is what will happen from now on. We know that you work at Savile Gentlemen’s Club, probably got the job on a fake ID…”

I remained quiet, testing the direction of the conversation because I didn’t want to get into trouble. If working at Savile was this big a deal, I’d quit to make everyone happy.

“Are you aware that the Kaisers own Savile Gentleman’s Club?” Her words fell from her mouth like jagged razorblades.

I groaned, unaware that I was right under their nose. “No, I didn’t.”

The big boss that the staff were so frightened of was Mikael Kaiser, and they had every right to be wary of him. The sergeant mentioned the Irish surname Bryne, who had to be Ronan. It was almost laughable. Not only had they been under my nose the entire time, but I slept with two of my enemies, and weirdly that felt damn good.

“This is proof that your disguise has worked well,” she exclaimed, glancing back at me. Again, my eyes drifted to her flat stomach.

“For how much longer, though?” I sighed as we pulled out of the main entrance of Gotland and into the traffic.

“For however long it takes,” she retorted, confusing me with her tense. “There’s been a change of plans, Annika.”

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