When I turn around, Tyler has a knife to Teeny’s neck. “Don’t try anything. We’re just going a couple of blocks to another location.”
Ethan moves closer to Tyler. Tyler’s eyes get big and I tug on Ethan’s arm until he’s back by my side. I would bet everything I had that Tyler wouldn’t harm Teeny, but that’s still not enough to take the risk.
“Let her go,” Ethan growls. “Now.”
Teeny’s eyes are frantic as they dart between me and Ethan.
“It’s okay, Teeny. Just stand really still,” I say to her in a low voice.
“Mateo’s here. He’s outside,” Tyler says.
With my hand still on Ethan’s arm, I can feel how tense he is. “I don’t believe you.”
“He’s out there. Standing with the crowd looking at the building. Mateo is here.” It’s obvious Tyler is legit scared out of his mind right now.
I feel like my knees are going to give out.
Ethan asks, “What does he look like?”
Tyler pulls Teeny back into the hall. “We’re not opening that window again. You can see if he’s still there when we get outside. He’s in black pants and a jacket. Hands in his pocket. Black hat.” Tyler swallows deep and continues, “Cross tattoos in a line around his neck. That’s how I know it’s him. He gets a new tattoo after every hit.”
Thomas said Mateo burns a cross into his victims’ chests. A cross for both of them.
“We’ve got to go!” Tyler yells and begins dragging Teeny down the hall.
It only takes a few seconds to get to the end.
We race down the stairs, and I stumble most of the way down. I’m terrified to find out what’s waiting for us outside.
“What’s happening?” Ethan asks as he grabs my arm to steady me. He’s wincing with every step, yet still trying to hold me up.
“I don’t know! There was a crowd outside my window tonight, but I have no idea why.”
“Keep moving,” Tyler says and we follow him down the hall on the first floor. The entire bottom floor looks like any other museum. Statues of religious people and paintings and even jewelry with the tiny little plaque next to it describing the who, what, when, and where litter every possible space.
We pass through a second set of doors and find ourselves in the middle of a very small but ornate church.
Tyler seems to have forgotten that he’s supposed to be holding us captive. The knife is down by his side and he’s racing ahead of us, dragging Teeny, not even looking back to see if we are following. I wonder, not for the first time, how he got involved with Thomas. He is completely inept at this and Thomas seems like someone who doesn’t tolerate mistakes.
“This way,” he calls over his shoulder.
He pushes the side door open, slowly. After he’s satisfied Mateo isn’t lurking outside the door, we follow him through. We empty out into a deserted side street and run in the opposite direction of the crowd. After zigzagging through some side streets, we all stop to catch our breath.
Tyler remembers a moment too late that he’s dropped his guard.
“I don’t think you know how to use that knife,” Ethan says to Tyler. He pulls Teeny away from him, then pins Tyler against an old brick wall behind a Dumpster. “You better start talking or I will kill you.” And he is dead serious. In this moment, I think Ethan would do it.
And Tyler must think that too, because he wastes no time. He gives Ethan the quick and dirty version: he was set up to be my boyfriend in the hope I would confide in him what I knew.
“He pretended to be my friend, too,” Teeny says.
Ethan throws me a glance over his shoulder. I feel the accusation there. I had a chance to tell him about Tyler—what he was to me, what we were to each other—and I lied. And it was the one thing I swore I’d never do again, especially to Ethan.
“Who is Daniel Sanders? His prints were on her journal.”
Ethan has to loosen the grip on Tyler’s neck before he can answer. He looks at me when he says, “I’m Daniel Sanders. I sent the flowers.”
I gasp and even Ethan seems taken aback.
