Page 77 of By the Time You Read This

And then she’d died.

Delaney touched the hilt of the knife strapped to her thigh beneath her skirt as she watched Gabbi walk away.

I want to give you a redemption arc.

She got out of the car. Right now, with Gabbi on high alert, a car tailing her would surely send her into hiding. Delaney didn’t want that—she wanted to catch Gabbi in the act.

Or ... before the act would be ideal, really.

Gabbi looked back over her shoulder, but she wasn’t used to spotting a tail, that much was obvious. Delaney merely had to duck into the shadows to avoid detection.

Don’t do it,Delaney thought at her as she continued on her way toward campus.

But if Delaney had that kind of power, it would have worked on Isabel long ago.

Maybe Gabbi was just meeting someone after classes.

Maybe she had forgotten something on campus.

Maybe she had to turn in an assignment—professors were reverting to handwritten essays now that AI was becoming a popular cheating tool.

Maybe, maybe, maybe . . .

Delaney thought about the beach, the bonfire.

“We have to do something,” Delaney had said.

“You think I haven’t tried?” Gabbi blowing a ring of smoke.

Gabbi was different from Isabel. She wasn’t a psychopath, as far as Delaney could tell. She was just a girl who’d been hurt and whom the justice system had failed miserably. If she killed, it was because she genuinely thought she was ridding the world of villains.

Peter Stamkos had deserved to die, after all, for what he’d done to his daughter.

Lindsey had so clearly been a monster—it was at least a possibility that she’d killed her own father. Delaney wasn’t about to mourn her.

Emily . . .

Well, Delaney knew the girl was no prize, but she was probably a victim of Gabbi’s psychotic break rather than any kind of noble calling.

Raisa’s voice screamed in Delaney’s head:Call the police.

But Delaney couldn’t.

One, she could be wrong.

There was a distinct possibility that Gabbi was actually innocent and all Delaney’s evidence was simply confirmation bias. How manycollege girls talked just like Gabbi—wishing rapists dead wasn’t exactly a sign that someone was capable of killing one.

And two, even dead, Isabel could still make sure the rules of her game were enforced. Delaney had no doubt about that. If Delaney didn’t follow her rules, she’d go after Kilkenny and Raisa.

Some might think Delaney foolish for fearing a dead woman.

Those people should ask Kilkenny about how serious the threat was.

So as much as Delaney wanted to, she couldn’t just ignore the fact that Gabbi was now walking toward a tall, handsome man waiting on the steps of the main hall.

When Gabbi stopped in front of him, her entire demeanor shifted. Gone were the skittish nerves, and in their place was a confident coquette, her pose welcoming, her hand resting on his forearm.

It reminded Delaney of the times she donned the Lana Parker persona.

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