Iwitness.
Nerves claw at my insides. And I make a decision.
I stay.
Four
I should leave.Close the door. Go back down the stairs. Pretend I never heard.
But I can’tmove.
Through the crack in the door, I can see a sliver of light from Dom’s office down the hall. Hear every word.
“Calm down.” Dom’s voice. I hear the clink of glasses. “Drink this and tell me everything.”
I shouldn’t be hearing this.
But I can’t stop myself.
There’s a pause. A glass hitting a surface. A heavy breath.
“I don’t know what happened, Dom. I swear to God, I don’t know.” The client—whoever he is—is spiraling. His voice cracks. “One second I was in control and then?—”
I try to memorize the voice. The timbre. The way panic makes it spike.
But my brain won’t work. That sensation from before—the ice-heat at my spine—it hasn’t stopped. If anything, it’s gotten worse. Spreading. My whole back feels like it’s been plunged in ice water. Goosebumps ripple across my skin in waves.
The ringing in my ears is louder now. High-pitched and constant. I have to focus to hear him over it.
“Take it from the top.” Dom’s reply comes easy. Too easy.
He’s done this before.
“We were at this club.” The squeak of a chair tells me he must have sat down. “Fuck, there was this girl, and oh my God, I wanted nothing more than to?—”
“Focus.” Dom cuts him off.
My heart stops.
Alex. Alex is at a club right now. This very moment. Seventeen texts about her night. Bob & Barbara’s. Franky Bradley’s. Woody’s.
“Blond hair, blue eyes, this tight little body.” The man carries on despite Dom’s warning.
Oh God.
Alex.
He’s describing Alex.
I grip the door harder, trying to steady my trembling hands.
“Anyway, I lost her in the crowd.”
Oh thank God.
He lost her. Alex is safe. Alex is alive.
She was his target. He was hunting her.
