Page 113 of One Spicy Summer

My fight response kicks in immediately. No way I’m running. I kick the door open, fumbling for the light. The room is trashed. The bed overturned. Vanity shattered. Clothes everywhere.

No Presley.

Heart pounding, I charge into the bathroom.

There’s blood on the edge of the tub.

Panic tightens around my throat. I turn, and there it is, a note taped to the mirror:

Thank you for taking care of my little doll, but it’s time for her to come home now. Try to find us, and I’ll start mailing you pieces of her.Keif

Ripping my phone from my pocket, I call Rafe. "He’s got her! He found us!"

"Pull yourself together," he snaps. "This is what we planned for. We’ll find him. I’ll grab Kemper. Once he cracks, we’ll end this."

"I like the way you think. Meet me here once you’ve got him. I’m grabbing the artillery."

"Bet."

I end the call and head down to the cellar.

Tonight, I’m not Rygaard Garrison.

I’m death.

And Keifer is my loyal subject.

Chapter Forty-Five

Presley

A deep, throaty sigh escapes my lips as the warm water cocoons me, lulling every tight, frayed nerve into submission.

“Ahhh… this is exactly what the doctor ordered,” I purr, sinking deeper into the tub, letting the water lick every inch of my aching skin.

When I told Rafe I was going to take a few hours to relax, I meant it.

With a lazy reach, I hit the button beside me.

The water jets roar to life, massaging me in relentless, rhythmic bursts.

Tilting my head back onto the towel I propped against the tub, I close my eyes and finallybreathe.

Today, something had gnawed at me, a creeping sensation, the feeling of invisible eyes burrowing into my skin.

Ever since my walk around the block earlier, that unease had clung to me like a second skin.

I hadn’t told Rygaard I’d been sneaking out in the mornings. If he knew, he’d lose his mind. He'd claim Keifer could have easily spotted me, and deep down, I knew he was right.

It’s not like this house is off-grid.

It’s too exposed.

But still... What are the odds Keifer would find mehere?

Yes, there is, dummy.

The vicious whisper in my brain has me sitting upright, sloshing water over the edge. Heart hammering, I scan the room.

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