Page 9 of His

Why? Why did I keep following?

I don’t know, not really. I wanted to see what was hidden in those eyes. I wanted to know what the important code was. I wanted to ask him why he wouldn’t date. Or if it was just that he wouldn’t date me. There was something mysterious about chasing after a guy I didn’t know, and my heart beat faster as I drove, excitement pumping through my veins.

I pulled out my phone and dialed Jules. At least I could let her know where I was, in case this guydidturn out to be a secret agent. But the little bars on my screen were gone: no reception out here in the mountains. Frowning, I tossed my phone down on the passenger seat. I would just have to tell her about my adventure later.

His car led me to the outside of town and into the nearby mountains. I slowed even more. The sun was dipping down below the tops of the mountains and I could see his red taillights clearly as he took the curves around the mountain bends.

What on earth was I doing? I was wasting so much gas driving out here. For a split second I considered turning around, but then his car turned into a long driveway. I drove up to the driveway just as his car went around the curve inside. I parked on the dirt pullout and hopped out.

Maybe I should just leave the slip of paper in his mailbox. The metal gate that barred the driveway was swinging shut slowly. I really shouldn’t go running off after him. What would he think of me showing up on his doorstep, with nothing but a stupid scrap of paper with some numbers on it?

But it saidIMPORTANT.

Just as the gate was about to shut, I darted inside. The metal clanged as the gate locked behind me.

“Seriously, Kat,” I said to myself. “What thehellare you doing?”

I felt utterly stupid. I had driven all the way out here, and for what? Nothing. I considered my options:

1. Climb back over the fence, go home, and feel like an idiot.

2. Ring the doorbell and... feel like an idiot.

“ARGH!” I pressed my forehead against the metal gate, looking at my car through the bars. This was ridiculous.

“Yes, this is ridiculous, Kat,” I told myself. “You wanted to play Nancy Drew, well, here’s your goddamn chance. Stop being a boring idiot. Okay? Okay.”

With that settled, I turned around and looked up the curving driveway in the middle of the forest. Every step I took put one more butterfly in my stomach

I couldn’t even see his house from the road. Huge pine trees cut off the view after about fifty feet of road. I swallowed. If he was a secret agent, wouldn’t he have some kind of security system? What if I got shot or caught in a trap before I reached the house?

“Shut up and walk, Nancy Drew. He’s not a secret agent, and you’re not going to get shot.”

I walked boldly down the driveway, and when I turned the last curve I couldn’t help but gasp.

The house was a gorgeous two-story log cabin, with a giant stone chimney stretching out over the tops of the pines. It was incredible that I hadn’t been able to see it from the road, but it was tucked away into the side of the mountain.

“Wow,” I said.

It seemed stupid, but I felt like a total badass. I’d followed Fabio all the way up here without getting seenandI’d slipped through the gate. No matter what, I could go back to Jules with an interesting story.

I went to the front door, but there was no doorbell. As I raised my hand to knock, I heard something from the back, somebody yelling. Then it stopped.

“Hello?” I said. Nobody answered.

“Okay, Nancy Drew, you know what to do now.”

Actually, I knew exactly what NOT to do. Normal, boring Kat would have put the slip of paper on the doormat and ran away. But I was curious, and today I was determined not to let myself get in the way of... myself.

With newfound courage, I crept along the side of the house. There was a light on in a room near the back corner, and I made my way through the side yard landscaping, dodging the rose bushes that were planted under the windows. I reached the lit window and, standing on tiptoe, peeked up over the edge of the windowsill.

What did I expect to see when I peeked into the window? I don’t know. Fabio sitting in an armchair, reading a book he’d checked out from the library, maybe. I imagined that he would see me and laugh, invite me in for a drink, put on some music and tell me that he was kidding, that actually he wouldloveto date me. We would dance and talk and make love all night.

Instead, what I saw made me scream.

Not scream, exactly. More like a terrified mix between a gasp and a yelp that I tried to stop as soon as it came out of my stupid, stupid mouth. Because when I looked into the window, I saw a room with a single metal table and a man strapped down,coveredin blood. Standing over him was the handsome man from the library.

My Fabio.

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