From the head of the table, Enzo lifts his chin at Alec. His expression is grim. “I agree.” With a glance towards me, he adds, “We thought keeping Hazel on the property would be enough. But?—”
“Clearly, it isn’t,” Alec interrupts. There’s a bite to his tone I haven’t heard before. But I shouldn’t be surprised. Ever since I got the messages last night,he’s been on edge—checking the security cameras on the perimeter fence dozens of times throughout the night, going out every hour to search around the cabin, and making call after call to all his techie friends, asking for their help.
Though I hate seeing Alec like this, especially given that it’s because of me, I’d be lying if I said I didn’t feel reassured by it, too. If I’d had to deal with the messages on my own, I’m not sure what I would have done. Panicked, for sure. Possibly given myself up, just as the person who sent it wanted me to do. Done anything to make sure my closest friend was safe.
Alec and I were playingTenebris Veiltogether last night when the first message came in. In the game, you can send messages to other players, and when a name I didn’t recognize popped up on my screen, my first thought was it was a lower level player asking for my help. Then the second message appeared, and that’s when I realized the person’s motive wasn’t as innocent as I thought.
Stop hiding, it said.Go home. Tell no one. Or we’ll go after your friend instead.
At first, I couldn’t believe what I was reading. It didn’t compute.
Then another message followed, more sinister and terrifying than the last.
We know where Jessica lives. And if you want her to stay safe, you’ll do what we say.
If it had just been me, I would have done it. I would have sacrificed myself to keep Jess safe. But Alec jumped right in and took over in his commanding, confident way. He called Jess’s husband first to coordinate protection, and they hustled Jess off to a safe location with the help of Blade and Arrow Security, a company located in the same town as Jess. Once that was done, Alec notified the team, then contacted anyone else he thought of who could help.
All through it, he kept reassuring me that everything would be okay. That Jess was perfectly safe. That he’d find those assholes and make them pay. That I didn’t have to be scared because he wouldn’t let anything happen to me.
I believed him. I still do. Which is why I put my hand on Alec’s arm and say gently, “I’m okay.”
Alec turns to me. His lips are pinched in a frown and lines of worry are etched across his forehead. “You’re notokay, Haze. Last night…” He shakes his head. “That wasn’t okay. The nightmares weren’t okay. Seeing you suffering… That’snotokay.”
It’s true; I’ve had better nights. Many of them, in fact. The nightmares were especially bad and came with relentless frequency until I finally gave up on sleep and stumbled to the living room to stare blankly at infomercials instead.
But even being awake didn’t stop the terrible images from filling my head. Marissa’s lifeless bodykept taking on different faces, not just of Wendy and Angel, like before, but Jess’s as well.
It’s horrifying to think about. And it still doesn’t make sense. How can my game be a part of this? Did the person—or people, considering the message saidwe—somehow hack into my computer and discover I played? How else would they know my character name? How else would they know I’m friends with Jess? How could they find her just based on her character’s name, which bears no resemblance to her actual identity?
“Jess is safe,” Enzo says. He glances at his phone, lying face-up on the table. “I just heard from Cole at Blade and Arrow. She and Kane are staying in the client apartment at HQ until this is all figured out. And no one can get to her there.”
Guilt spears through me. Jess went through her own trauma not long ago, and I hate to think of this triggering her. But how could it not? She was kidnapped and left to die by a serial killer. And now she’s a target again?
A tiny voice in the back of my head whispers,See. You should stay far away from people. When you get close to them, they only get hurt. Who’s next? Winter? Lark? Alec?
Tears prickle behind my eyes. A lump swells in my throat.
Alec’s hand covers mine beneath the table and gives it a little squeeze. “You okay?” he murmurs.
I swallow hard. “Yeah.”
He gives me an appraising look, and his frown grows deeper. “Haze. If this is too much?—”
“It’s not.” I lift my chin. “And anyway, I need to be here.”
“I know it’s hard,” Enzo tells me. Compassion softens his gaze. “We’ll try to make this as quick as possible.”
He reaches for a remote at the center of the table and taps a button. A moment later, the TV mounted on the wall blinks on, displaying a video conference ready to start. “So,” he continues, “we have some colleagues joining remotely. Given that we want to expedite the investigation, we want as many people in on this as we can.”
While we wait for everyone to join the meeting, Knox says, “Lark and I discussed the situation this morning. She’s going to be working from home for the time being. And I’m taking time off work to stay with her. Just in case this piece of garbage gets any ideas.”
Gage nods. “Same. I’m sticking close to the house. And we’re putting a hold on visitors to the shelter until everything is resolved.”
The lump in my throat grows bigger.
Now Lark and Rory are being affected by my mess. And those sweet dogs will have to wait even longer to be adopted because of me.
“I’m sorry,” I whisper. “I wouldn’t have come here if I’d known.”
