Page 230 of The Rules
This wasn’t a ghost anymore. This was a man who knew everything. Who'd seen it, maybe even helped bury it.
Julian tilted his head. "So. Shall we squeeze?"
Ben didn’t answer. He didn’t have to. His pulse had already picked up. His mind was already running two moves ahead.
Kath met his eyes, and this time her nod was sharper.
The gloves were off.
Chapter 50
Katherine
The phone buzzed once.
Katherine glanced down. Lisa.
A flicker of relief. Then—unease. Her sister never called during work hours. Not unless something was wrong.
She answered quickly. “Hey—”
But the voice that met her wasn’t calm. It wasn’t even whole.
"Kath—someone—someone followed me. He grabbed me. I—I ran, but he—"
Everything stopped.
The hum of Sinclair & Associates faded. The murmur of voices. The glow of glass and screens. All of it gone—ripped away, replaced by Lisa’s trembling voice, raw and panicked.
Her grip tightened around the phone. Her throat constricted. Her knees weakened, barely holding her weight. The fear hit like a physical force, hollowing her out from the inside. She couldn’t tell if she was breathing. Couldn't tell if the room was spinning or if she was.
“W-where are you? Are you hurt? Are you s-safe?” she stammered, each word crashing into the next, her voice high and thin, fraying at the edges. Cold sweat slid down her spine, chilling her even in the climate-controlled air.
On the other end, Lisa’s breath hitched. “I—I locked myself in a store. But he—he was right there, Kath. He almost—”
The rest broke off.
And so did she.
Her lungs locked. Her brain refused to process. The world narrowed to a tunnel, dark at the edges, Lisa’s voice the only thing anchoring her to consciousness. The desk in front of her blurred—legal briefs,notes, screens—all irrelevant now.
Her stomach twisted, nausea coiling like a snake in her gut.
Her fingers trembled. The phone slipped, slick with sweat. She caught it just before it fell. Tried to speak. Tried to be strong. But her tongue wouldn’t move, her lips barely parting. She tasted blood—she’d bitten the inside of her cheek without realizing.
“I—I don’t—Lisa, I—” The words crumbled mid-breath, collapsing in her mouth before they could form anything real. Her chest clenched, breaths sharp and shallow, each one cutting harder than the last.
Then— A hand. Steady. Warm. Real.
Ben.
He didn’t say a word. Just reached out and took the phone from her trembling fingers, brushing her palm with a featherlight touch that felt like it came from miles away. With his other hand, he eased her down into the nearest chair—gentle, firm. Grounding.
Kath didn’t even realize she was sitting until her knees gave way under her. She folded into the seat, hands gripping the edge like it might hold her together. Her legs wouldn’t stop shaking.
Ben raised the phone to his ear, his voice already cutting through the fog in sharp, commanding tones.
"Lisa. You need to breathe. Tell me where you are. Exact location."
