Page 110 of Make Me Scream

“Lane’s going to figure out what you’ve done and where you’ve taken me,” I say. “Everyone’s going to know what you really are.”

Mundell smiles and takes out his phone. I cringe, waiting to hear Chloe scream, but she doesn’t. The collar around my neck pops open, and Mundell sets it aside.

“Speaking without permission is not allowed,” he says, walking back to my jail entrance where I’d piled my clothes. He sorts through them and picks out my white panties. “I wanted that beautiful face of yours in my first portrait, but that’s all right. This is just the first of many.”

He comes back, holding my panties out so I can see. Mundell slips them over my forehead like a veil. I shudder, closing my eyes and groaning.

“Oh, and by the way,” he whispers in my ear. “Lane’s not going to be of much help to you. When something bad happens to a woman, you know who the police always suspect first.”

I try not to cry. Yes, I do know.

The boyfriend.

Chapter 26

Three swift kicks to the head make me roll over on the floor. It’s like I’m back in college, waking up to a hangover worse than a lobotomy. Making it to my studio but not the bed, back aching from the cold, hard floor. Three more blows, loud as cannons.

“Professor Porter, are you there?”

The shout comes from outside, followed by another knock on the door.

“Hey, open up! Right now, before I call the police!”

What the fuck?

I get up, but regret it immediately. Acid bubbles rush to my throat, making me retch. Whatever I did to myself, I’m never doing it again.

“Hold on,” I say, though it sounds like screaming.

My stomach gnaws as if I haven’t eaten in days. A headache leaves a dull throb between my ears. A sweaty denim shirt clings to my skin. How long have I been wearing this? And why?

Through the peephole I see two men: Joel and a man I think I saw at the Gallery Madrigal.

That’s where I was… then I went…

Gwen.

Was it worth it, Lane?

Oh fuck.

Joel and his partner glare at me when I open the door. Their bodies are tense, defensive.

“Where is Gwen?” Joel asks.

“I… I don’t know.”

We were at the gallery, then I left. I went somewhere else… alone.

Joel balls his fists, pressing forward. He holds out his hand like he’s never taken a swing at someone in his life, but he’s ready now.

“Bullshit! She’s gone, she’s not answering the phone! You have to know something!”

“Joel, I think someone drugged me. All I remember is leaving the gallery without her. What do you mean she’s gone? What happened?”

“We went out yesterday. She was supposed to join us, but she didn’t because she was so pissed at you. She wasn’t home when we got back, we thought maybe she was working things out with you,” Joel explains. “We didn’t want to freak out in case it was nothing, but she hasn’t called back and she didn’t come home.”

Yeah, I could see how that would be concerning.

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