Page 163 of Perfect
There’s a photo of a Pilates class on the website, and I’m clearly visible in the photo.
I start to panic. Who took this? When did they take it? How did I not notice? I won’t even let Theo take pictures of me with his phone, which was the whole point of the polaroids he has hung up all over the fridge. How long has it been up? When did they redo the website?
Fuck,this is bad.
I take a few deep breaths and email the rec center, asking them to take it down immediately. It’s fine. I’ll go down there right now and talk to the administrator, and it’ll be fine. You can’t even see all my face, justmostof it, but my hair is different, and I’ve gained weight since I left Boston, so I don’t look like Alice Murphy at all.
Everything is going to be fine.
I change out of my boots into the pair of running shoes I keep under my desk and run down to the rec center. It’s only a fifteen-minute walk, but I need to deal with thisright now. I wonder if Theo could take the photo down if they won’t. He’s good enough with computers that he might be able to hack their website.
I reach for my phone and realize I left everything at the office in my hurry to get out the door.
I get to the rec center two minutes later and ask to speak to the office administrator, but she’s out sick for the day. I ask to speak to anyone who can edit the website, but most of the employees are retirees and they contracted it out. I ask them how long ago they updated the website, and my blood runs cold when they tell me it’s been up for a week.
Oh, fuck.
That’s long enough that Danny’s probably seen it, which means he’s either here or he will be soon. We were out of town this weekend, so if he’s already here, he hasn’t found me yet. That’s good, because if he finds out about Theo, he’ll go off the deep end. He’s always been so fucking jealous, even worse than Theo. I open my mouth to ask to use the rec center phone before realizing I don’t know Theo’s phone number, so I turn and jog back toward my office.
I’m trying to think if I’ve noticed anything off in the last week when I stop dead in the middle of the sidewalk.
The floodlight camera.
What if that wasn’t a deer?
No, no, no.
I take off for my office in a dead sprint. I don’t notice the people as I shove past them, I don’t notice the car that stops short and honks at me as I run in front of it, I don’t notice that it starts raining, I don’t notice anything around me – the only important thing right now is me getting back to the office.
I need to get to my phone and tell Theo what’s happening. He’s going to freak the fuck out, but he’ll get home in a few hours, and then I’ll be safe. Everyone is at the office today, so I’ll let them know what’s happening, and they’ll keep me safe until Theo gets back from Salem.
They won’t let anything bad happen to me, and Theo sure as hell won’t let anything bad happen to me. He loves me, he’s protective, he has enough money that I’m sure he can dosomethingto keep Danny the fuck away from me, and if worse comes to worst, he can be pretty fucking violent.
Danny won’t be able to get to me if Theo’s around.
I’m two blocks away from the office when someone steps right out in front of me, and I’m sprinting so fast that I can’t stop myself from slamming right into him. He stumbles back from the impact, and I lose my balance and start to fall, my feet slipping on the wet concrete, but he wraps his arms around me tightly and sets me back on my feet.
“Sorry, sorry, sorry!” I don’t look at him as I start to push away from him, but I freeze when his arms tighten around me, and I go cold when I smell cigarette smoke and Old Spice.
Oh, no.
“Where are you running to, Alice?” Panic rushes through me as I look up into Danny’s concerned, angry face. I start shaking my head quickly. There’s no fucking way this is happening to me.
I was so close.
“You’ve gotten yourself into a bad situation, but I’m here now, babe. It’s time for you to come home.” I can tell he’s trying to be calm and sweet, using that patronizing voice he uses when he thinks he can talk me into doing something without yelling first.
Usually, that voice makes me acquiesce immediately, but not this time.
“No.”He looks surprised as I start struggling against him, trying to kick and hit him. “Get the fuck off me!” I’m screaming loudly, hoping someone can hear me. Danny claps a hand over my mouth and starts pulling me up a driveway towards a car, growling into my ear furiously.
“Jesus Christ, Alice, what the fuck is wrong with you?” I start screaming behind his hand, shaking my head and trying to bite him. He swears and releases my body for just a second before he pushes a gun against the back of my head, and I freeze.
“Hands behind your back. Don’t make a sound.” I don’t know what to do, but I hear him cock the gun, so I put my arms back. He releases my mouth and ratchets handcuffs around my wrists so tightly they bite into my skin.
“I hate that you’re making me do this. We both know I’m not this guy,” he says as he grabs a fistful of my hair roughly and yanks me towards the car. He opens the back door and shoves me in like I’m being arrested, hitting my head against the car on the way down.
Fucking bastard.
