Page 25 of The Wicked

“You think he’ll give you a choice? He forced our car off the road, he shot my mom, and then he tried to kill me too.” I was breathing hard, sucking in lungfuls of air as if they might be my last. Thanks to Blue and her refusal to quit asking questions, I’d said far too much, but I couldn’t take the words back. Inside, the panic was welling up. “Leave. Please, just leave. If anyone asks you questions, don’t tell them a thing. Say I kept my mouth shut.”

I tried to push Blue toward the door, but she sidestepped and dropped onto the couch.

“Leave? No way. Not when this is getting interesting.”

“Have you lost your mind? There’s a literal assassin in town, and you think it’sinteresting?”

“Are you sure it’s him? Do you know his identity? If not, we could get Nico to pull the security footage and start from there.”

Was I sure? Last night, I’d been certain, but now in the cold light of day, I’d begun to wonder. Could I have been wrong? Or was I just clutching at straws because I wanted to be mistaken?

“I’m ninety percent sure, but it doesn’t matter. Sixteen years on, and he’s still checking up on me, so I can’t afford to say or do anything that might antagonise him, not unless I want a closed casket.”

“We’ll be careful.”

“You think? Because I bet my parents were careful, and they still died.”

“If itisthe same guy, you don’t even know that he was there because of you.”

“Why else would that monster have been at the Peninsula?”

“He could have been a guest at the party. Or staying at the hotel. Or maybe he just swung by for dinner? When you saw him, was he watching you?”

“I ran into him on the smoking terrace. Well, not him. The person standing next to him.”

“So he was there with a friend?”

“I don’t know! What sort of person would be friends with an assassin? Are we done yet? I need to finish packing my entire life into a suitcase and one piece of carry-on.”

“Don’t you think fleeing the country would be a bit drastic if it turns out he was just there for three courses plus wine?”

“How can I take the chance? And now the three of you all know too much, so what if…what if…?”

The words stuck in my throat, and I wiped my face with a sleeve as I sank into an armchair. Life had been so much easier when I didn’t have friends. Why couldn’t the monster have sunk his teeth into my father’s side of the family instead? I wasn’t saying that I wished them dead, but if it came down to a choice…

Hey, maybe I should tell Kayleigh my darkest secrets before I left Oregon? She’d never be able to keep her mouth shut, and then the monster would have the distraction of dealing with her plus her three hundred thousand Instagram followers. Meanwhile, I could change my name and start a new life running a turtle sanctuary in the Caribbean.

I’d never do that, of course—I knew nothing about turtles—but sometimes it was nice to daydream.

“You’re not the one taking the chance; we are. Give us a couple of days to speak with people from the hotel, and we might be able to get this cleared up.” Blue silenced me with a hand when I tried to protest. “You called him a monster, but he’s human. He isn’t monitoring you twenty-four-seven.”

Brooke squeezed my shoulder, offering comfort. “We don’t want to lose a friend. If you’re worried, why don’t you come stay with me and Luca while Blue does her thing? Our apartment has an alarm, and security cameras, and locks on every window.”

“I don’t want to put you in danger.”

“Luca has a gun, and so does Aaron.”

“But—”

“Ask yourself ‘why now?’ If you saw the man you think you did, why would he suddenly start following you now?”

I had to grudgingly admit that their points were valid. Last night, I’d been so sure about what I saw, but I’d only caught a fleeting glance, both yesterday and sixteen years ago. At the car crash, the monster had paused to say a few words to my mom, but the deed itself had been over in seconds. And in the hospital, he’d worn a surgical mask, so I’d only seen his eyes. I thought they were the same, but I’d been drinking champagne. Maybe my subconscious had been playing tricks in the worst possible way?

“I…I don’t know why now. Maybe he’s been here before and I just didn’t spot him?”

“Or maybe he likes spa treatments?” Addy suggested. “The Peninsula hired a new massage therapist, and she’s amazing.”

“At least let us speak with Nico.” Brooke sounded so freaking reasonable. “If there’s a psycho staying in his hotel, he’d definitely want to be aware of it.”

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