Page 8 of Only in the Dark
Olivia surprised me by heading down into the office and returning with a key. I wondered how she hustled that out of the front desk clerk, but he was probably easily convinced by her beauty and sweet talk. I would be.
Olivia’s calmness frightened me. Momma taught me to fear a silent woman, not an angry one.If she wasn’t angry, she didn’t care. The fact that she kept calm while walking in on her boyfriend with a young girl told me everything I needed to know about their relationship.
“Christ, Matthew. What the fuck? This girl can’t be older than sixteen!” What. The.Fuck. Olivia had a better look at her than I did. I had no idea my brother was worse than I thought he was. Not only did he commit one inexcusable crime against women, but now he was adding more counts on. I killed men like him.
A half-naked brother of mine appeared on the sidewalk, with the girl in view behind him.
“Baby, wait, please. It’s not what it looks like,” he argued, his head shifting between the girl and Olivia, but he couldn’t explain it away and remained silent.
“You, young girl, come with me. I’m taking you home and away from him. How old are you?”
The girl stepped forward. I saw now that she was holding herself as if she were scared, her shirt off and her shorts unbuttoned. There was no lying about what happened in that room. Her hair was disheveled, and she looked confused.
“I—I’m sixteen. What’s happening?” she questioned, frantically looking around. Her eyes widened, and her breath quickened, cheeks flushing as her hands trembled, betraying the panic that had seized her.
“Don’t worry about it. I’m taking you home. Get in the backseat of my car right behind us, okay?” she sent the girl off, and Matthew took a step closer.
“What the fuck did you give her? And don’t lie to me, Matthew, or I’ll ruin you,”she threatened.
“Just…just a little something to calm down. A few Xanax, okay? She’s fine,” Matthew argued.
It was bad enough he was cheating on her, and with a minor, but drugging said minor was worse. I couldn’t protect him anymore. I couldn’t wait longer to make my move. Everything would have to come together this weekend.
“She’s a kid, Matthew! You’re an adult! I swear to God, if you ever contact me or go near a minor again, I’ll kill you myself,” she promised, just before my little fighter punched him in his right cheek, sending blood flying. I was proud.
He clutched his face and reared back. “You fucking bitch. You’ll regret this if you leave me, Olivia.” I doubted she’d regret it at all.
I watched as Olivia angrily stormed off in the car, thrown off guard by the events that transpired. I meant for her to catch him cheating, but I had no idea a minor was in that room with him. I was a cop. I should’ve arrested him on the spot, but I had more sinister plans for my dear brother.
After he had kicked the door, grabbed his stuff, and sped away from the motel, I opened my email to find the email sent from Detective Woodson.
And nothing could’ve prepared me for the shock of my life.
Olivia Mercer
Unknown
Things are different now, Little Serpent. I know about your past. I know what you’ve done.
The first text I woke up to had activated every cell in my body, urging me to pack and run. Mother taught me not to get caught, but here I was, ready for the police to show up at any moment. My stalker knew too much about me, but I didn’t know how. I didn’t talk about my past, nor did I kill anyone recently.
Unknown
Don’t flee. I’m not interested in turning you in unless you run from me. I’ll hunt you down, because you can’t hide from me. All I want is for you to show up tomorrow. I promise it’ll be worth it in more ways than one.
The message felt akin to blackmail. I wasn’t naïve—I knew what showing up at a sex club to meet my stalker meant, and I knew how dangerous it was. Now he knew how dangerous I was, and he was still choosing to meet me. But was he someone who wanted revenge on me? Would he tie me up and hurt me to satisfy a sick game? Had I hurt someone he loved? Or did the stalker I caught the attention of not care about the past he allegedly knew about? Of course, it wasn’t far off to think that a stalker might be capable of murder, too. Maybe he was equally dangerous.
I hadn’t told Sarah about the new discovery, nor did I plan to. She’d be pleased I decided to show up. I told her I’d meet her for lunch soon, where I’d tell her my decision. I hoped she’d accept my answer and choose not to hassle me about why I changed my mind. I was adamant earlier this week that I had no intention of going to meet a masked stalker. He intrigued me when he came into my room, but I froze instead of trying to unmask him, and then he was gone. He admitted to watching me for weeks, and truthfully, I was going to go even before the threatening message.
When he sent me the address, I didn’t respond. I did my best to ignore his messages until this moment.
Me
I have a boyfriend. I think you’ll be disappointed tomorrow.
My response wasn’t entirely false. Matthew didn’t understand that we weren’t together anymore. He tried texting me a few times, begging for another chance, but I ignored him. He refused to acknowledge the girl’s age, stating he wouldn’t cheat again, as ifthathad been the main issue. I dropped her off, and she told me they had met online. She told him to stop, and he didn’t. It sounded too familiar. Listening to her story made me see things in a different light. I was stupid to stay with him as if he were the only stable guy in the city. I’d find someone right for me one day, but it wasn’t a blackmailing stalker or a pedophile.
I could walk to the financial district, point in any direction, and find another Matthew. Same dusty brown hair, boring job, and rich prick attitude. I wouldn’t be missing anything, but he seemed to be.
