Page 116 of Aftermath
“What do you mean?”
“I killed those two women for you to show you, to help you understand.”
“No,” I said. “That wasn’t for me. I never wanted that.”
Something seemed to snap inside of Mallory, and her entire face shifted, her scowl growing. I swallowed hard.
“Ungrateful,” she spat into my face. “I did all of this for you. I sent you that gift, and you’re going to sit here and pretend not to understand.”
“I don’t understand!” I shouted back.
I knew it was a mistake the second I said it. I was only adding fuel to the fire.
“You’re only saying that because of him,” Mallory accused. She paced back-and-forth in front of me. “He ruined it. He lied to you, made you hate me.”
“What are you talking about?” I asked.
While she was distracted, I tried again to pull at the restraints holding my arms. There was no use; they were tied tight. I would have to break my thumbs to wiggle my way out of them, and I wasn’t convinced I could do it without drawing her attention.
“That agent,” she said. “The second he came to town, everything was ruined.”
“Stone?” I asked.
“He took you from me. I warned you what men would do. I told you they all leave, that there’s no point, that you don’t want to end up like you did with Jake, but you didn’t listen.”
Her eyes burned with hatred. The drugs were wearing off, my head starting to feel a little less cloudy.
“I’m the one who invited him here,” I said. “If you want to hate someone, hate me.”
That was the final straw. She pulled out a knife and my entire body tensed, preparing for the pain it was so familiar with. The same knife that had taken all those lives pointed at me.
“He’ll come back for you,” she said quietly.
Before I could react, the knife was to my throat.
She forced me to stand, my arms sliding up and above the chair, still bound together.
The knife remained at my throat.
29
STONE
I parkednear Mallory‘s car in the warehouse lot. Mags had called me on the drive over to confirm Grey and the rest of the team were on their way with the sheriff, and I’d asked for information on Mallory‘s vehicle, almost hoping I was wrong and wouldn’t see it.
My heart dropped when I spotted the red car with the matching license plate sitting in front of me.
I pulled out my gun and made my way toward where I knew the High Tide Pub’s warehouse space was.
There wasn’t time to wait. I wouldn’t risk Len’s life waiting for the deputies to arrive as back up.
The last time I didn’t wait, my partner ended up dead, but this wasn’t that.
The decision was all mine this time. I was alone, and there was no one else at risk. Len was the victim, the one taken, and if I waited, and it was too late when we found her, I would never forgive myself. I would rather die than sit by and wait while she was in harm’s away.
I slowly made my way across the lot, hoping I wouldn’t encounter anyone. I didn’t want more roadblocks in the way of rescuing Len. My heart pounded each step I took.
My gun remained raised all the way until I made it to the building I had searched not long ago. There was only one door in and out; I knew that from the last time I was there to search for the Coastal Killer.
