Page 130 of Bake the Town Red

Don’t let them win.

Catch him if you can. Or I’ll catch them first.

Until later,

CTCyfrin.

The first comment pops up in less than five minutes.ImEverywhere, of course. Obsessive stalker.

As I move the mouse on the screen to click on the notification, I make a mental note to talk to Dahlia about this person. I can’t afford to have her unprepared for an attack.

Especially given his following message.

Catch me? You? A nerd? A sleuth? A nobody? What a joke. A joke I’m about to put an end to. I’m coming for you. The rest of New York is safe. You. Are. Not.

Enjoy your last days of breathing fresh air. The clock is ticking.

Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock.

My molars gnash.

Any threat to me is a potential threat to Dahlia. I come alive at the challenge. Alive and murderous.

Dahlia and I could join forces. Some couples go out on dinner dates. Some have picnics on a sunny weekend in Central Park. Others stroll around in bookstores.

Dahlia and I are a different breed. Forged by tragedy, we’ve evolved into something better. Stronger. More feral.

First, though, I have to talk to her about the FyndUsHere Killer’s existence. Later, we’ll discuss how I’m more than okay with her killing other people for the rest of her life. Just to be sure she knows.

Then we’ll plan how to catch the fucker.

Together.

But before I do any of that, I have a show to attend. A private show.

After four years, I can’t fucking wait.

Even the video game I helped design inspired by Dahlia seems bland in comparison to what I’ll see today.

And that game is as gory and twisted as they come.

Fuck the game. Fuck everything other than my girl and her hands sucking the life out of a person.

I.

Can’t.

Wait.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

Tyler

It’s eight-thirty in the evening. I’m at the back of Sweet DeNights, standing near the hole I made in the wall. Waiting.

Have been waiting for the past thirty minutes.

Since she wanted it to be a surprise, I walked up here from a back alley. I have no idea who her target is, or if they came in. I’m here, looking through the peephole with the hood of my black hoodie pulled over my head.

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