Page 42 of Kept By the Loan Shark

“No, I think I’m good today.” I gestured to my glasses. “Thanks for offering, though.”

“Anytime.” He smiled before heading off in a different direction.

Mindful of the sidewalk cracks, I enjoyed my unhurried walk to the lab where Taylor and Minnie were running their neuro research project. It was strange being on the other side of the research equation but also enjoyable to see the progress I was making with my memory recall.

When I reached the lab, the door was closed with the privacy sign turned out toward the hall. Knowing that was Minh’s way of keeping their participants protected, I took a seat in one of the chairs down the hall and waited for my turn. Remembering Kunal’s comment about the school paper, I retrieved my phone from the thigh pocket of my leggings and navigated to the site.

The entire front page was dedicated to the missing students. There were long stories on each one of them as well as timelines of their last days before disappearing and interviews with their families and friends. One detail stuck out to me. All of the students had used the on campus counseling center.

Even with my glasses, I had to take breaks from staring at the screen. I had just glanced back and started to scroll to the story about Anna, a freshman and international student from Russia, when my gaze fell on a sickeningly familiar piece of jewelry.

There on her wrist, clear and bright and easy to recognize, was a blue enamel bead bracelet. I pinched the screen and zoomed in to the bracelet, looking carefully at the beads to be sure. One of the beads had a small defect, a little nick near the center of a black dot. Just like the bracelet Kyle gifted me.

It wasn’t just a similar bracelet.

It was the bracelet.

My heart raced, and my stomach swirled. Was it possible? Was Kyle the person responsible for the disappearances of all these women? Had he met them at the counseling center where he volunteered? Had he picked them because they were struggling and desperate for friendship and help?

The details of the case, his odd behavior and the bracelet left no doubt. He was the monster who had done something terrible to these women. Was that what he had planned for me? To separate me from Hagen and make me weak and vulnerable so he could strike?

Thinking of Travis and Janine, the collateral damage in Kyle’s twisted plan, made me absolutely sick. Who else had he hurt? What would happen when the police started following the trail of clues? Would they find things even worse than kidnapping and murder?

Panicked, I shot up out of the chair and grabbed my backpack. For a second, I considered busting in on the research session for Taylor’s help, but I remembered that there was a campus police outpost not far from here. There was always a bike cop hanging around, ready to help if needed. I didn’t bother waiting for the elevator to take me down to the ground floor. I used the stairs instead, my mind racing as I moved as quickly but cautiously as possible.

When I stepped out of the building, I dialed Hagen’s number and cursed when it went to voicemail. “John, it’s me. Please call me back as soon as you can. Come back to campus. I need you. It’s about Kyle. He’s the one who took those girls. I can prove it. The bracelet he—”

I gasped as a hand gripped my backpack and dragged me backwards into a bit of overgrown trees and shrubs that hugged the edge of the building. A hand slapped over my mouth, quieting me and making it impossible for me to call for help.

“Sorry, sweetheart, but your loan shark isn’t going to save you this time,” Kyle whispered harshly against my ear. He tugged the phone out of my hand and carelessly threw it behind him. “Those nosy fucking amateurs at the Thrasher just had to run that story today. I knew you’d get spooked, knew I had to get to you as quickly as possible. It was supposed to be easier than this. Gentler,” he added before burying his face in my neck. He breathed in deeply, and I shuddered with disgust. “You’re my special girl. I was mad at you after the park. I wanted to hurt you, but I’ve changed my mind,” he explained magnanimously. “I’m going to take you to my special place and worship you.”

It was clear that his idea of worship meant something terrible. I struggled to get free, and he hissed, “Don’t fight me, Cassie.”

Like hell was I going to listen this psycho! I threw back my elbow but missed. His hand moved to my neck, his fingers cruelly biting into my skin as he started to squeeze. Unable to shove him away with my elbows, I used my feet instead, stomping on his toes as hard as I could. He grunted in pain and loosened up just enough for me to get one arm out of my backpack straps.

“You fucking psycho creep!” Screaming like a banshee, I swung my backpack and walloped him right upside the head. “Help! Help me!”

Kyle rushed toward me, his eyes wild and desperate, but I was done being a victim. I wasn’t going to let anyone else hurt me. Never fucking again.

I swung at him again, enjoying the thud of the backpack slamming into his ribcage. I screamed for help while battering him with the bag and kicking out at him. He managed to grab my ankle before I could connect with his calf and yanked hard enough to make me lose my balance.

As I tumbled back toward the ground, I could hear people yelling and coming closer. Kyle seemed to finally realize he had lost the element of surprise. He was out in the open now, and everyone would know his secrets.

He turned to run—and slammed right into Hagen’s powerful fist. Breathing hard, jaw tensed, his suit jacket missing, Hagen gripped the front of Kyle’s shirt and hauled him up off the ground. Kyle’s feet dangled as Hagen shook him like a ragdoll before backhanding him and throwing him down in a bloodied, dazed heap.

Stepping away from Kyle who cried pathetically, Hagen strode toward me. He crouched down and cupped my face, surveying me for injuries. His thumbs traced the apples of my cheeks. “Are you okay? Did that piece of shit hurt you?”

“I’m okay.” I grasped his thick wrists and held on tight. “How did you find me so fast?”

“Kostya called me. He told me he found something terrible and that I needed to get to you as fast as possible.” He glanced back and scowled at Kyle who was now surrounded and detained by my fellow students. “I knew you were supposed to be at the research lab with Taylor. I ran here as fast as I could.”

“John,” I exhaled his name with relief and closed my eyes.

He kissed my forehead. “Can you stand?”

“Help me?”

He gently guided me to my feet and wrapped his arm around my shoulders, drawing me in close to his side. The campus police had arrived on the scene and were hauling Kyle to his feet as the onlookers excitedly described what they had witnessed. Kyle’s face oozed blood, and as I stared at him, I tried to figure out how I had been so blind as to what a monster he was. The memory of Taylor comparing him to Ted Bundy filtered through, and I realized how right she was.

“Cass! What the hell happened?” Taylor rushed toward me and grabbed my hand. She looked at Kyle and then back at me. Triumphantly smug, she smirked. “What did I say? Fucking Ted Bundy, huh?”

I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. She seemed to know I was overwhelmed, and she hugged me tightly. “God, I was so worried! You weren’t in the hallway, and I panicked. Kunal is on his way, too. I sent him a message to see if you had been in class.”

Right as one of the police officers came forward to question me, Kunal appeared, panting and sweating from his mad dash across campus. With Hagen’s hand on my lower back and Taylor and Kunal at my side, I inhaled a steadying a breath and prepared to tell the police everything.

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