Me:It’s not looking good. Should call the cops.
“What is disappointing? That I’m an easy prey?” My voice didn’t shake, but within me was an earthquake.
“Prey?”
“Never heard of the word?”
Another step. If he took two more steps, I’d be able to see him. Vin hadn’t texted back.
“Sorry, I didn’t graduate high school,” he replied.
“That’s too bad for you, man.”
He chuckled now, and Lord, I wanted to run. “Isn’t it?”
Having enough, and with Vin not texting back, I turned to the door, deciding to pick my life over money. Took me long enough.
“For someone who’s wanted to drown herself to death five times, aren’t you too scared?” he drawled, his voice low.
I almost tripped with how suddenly I halted, not because he knew I’d attempted to drown myself, but because of the accuracy of the number. Five.
I swirled, backing the door, my fear heightened. “Who are you?”
He wasn’t just a serial killer. He was much more. Or maybe I was looking into it too much. He must have guessed the number. And about the drowning, if he saw life from my point of view, he’d want to drown himself to death as well. It was not something hard to figure out. He might just be highly perceptive. He was. He had to be.
Solidifying the thought, I turned and twisted the knob. I froze. Then I tried it again. The door wouldn’t open. I jerked and pushed, hammering my fist on it as if it was enough to break the door open.
“Open this door! I’m going to call the police!”
“There are over a hundred billion neurons in the human brain.”Tap. Tap.Two steps closer. I looked back. “But judging by your decisions most of the time, I’m starting to think you’re a few short of that number.”
His arms were the first thing my gaze swept to, and seeing the ink running up one of them twisted my chest.
I looked up.
Blood drained from me.
“Finally, we meet, Ainsley.”
Oh fuck.
Is that...is that—
Theon Ryder is...alive?
5
THEON
She didn’t even remember what I sounded like. At first, I thought it might’ve been the phone distorting my voice, that she’d recognise me the second she heard it in person. But no, she was actually dumber than I’d given her credit for.
Her eyes met mine for the first time in six years, and the shock that widened them sent a rush of adrenaline through me. My lips curled as I closed the gap slowly, deliberately, enjoying the way her back pressed harder against the door, like she could disappear into it if she tried hard enough.
Panicking, she fumbled for her phone, and in the process, knocked the knives out of her jacket pocket. She crouched to pick one up, her knuckles white as she clenched it by her side, the phone shaking in her other hand. Her eyes were locked on mine, but her thumb hovered over her screen, blindly searching for the contact button she thought could save her.
She had no idea. Intercepting calls, blocking messages, hijacking someone’s network—spoofing—was something I’d mastered recently. It was a skill that would come in handy now, considering Ainsley and I were going to be crossing paths more often.
Seeing her standing there, helpless, brought a strange mix of emotions surging to the surface. Anger. Satisfaction. The thrill of watching her struggle to piece things together.
