“Because you have to be the smartest person in the room if you want to stay ahead of the game," I say.
I tap out a command to activate Oliver’s Ghost Veil and discreetly turn on location services.
I glance at the location coordinates and match them up with Oliver’s location, confirming they are a match.
“I know where Oliver is," I say. “But I need you to keep the police busy for at least twenty minutes.”
“Twenty minutes?” Chickadee spits. “Sloane, you are not going by yourself on some… some fucking true crime spree!”
I laugh, shaking my head.
“I’m dropping you the coordinates. Wipe the hard drive. Wait twenty minutes.”
“Sloane…” she says, and I hear the sadness in her voice. “Don’t let them hurt him…”
“Over my dead fucking body, Chickadee.”
And then I hang up the phone and head to the back of the lab. I press my fingerprint to the scanner on the large steel-vaulted door behind the metal shelves.
When it opens, I take a deep breath and ready myself. I grab my gun and some extra ammo, a signal blocker, and move as fast as I can to the garage and grab the keys to my SUV—the one I had made specifically for this kind of emergency situation. I turn the car on, activating Ghost Veil Glitch Protocol and drive as fast as I can, praying I am not too late.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Oliver
I awaken with a pounding headache and dry mouth. My vision blurs, and I struggle to make sense of where I am, but one thing is for certain, I’m not at Sloane’s.
“So the little bitch is awake.” Robbie’s voice emanates from the shadows.
And then it all comes rushing back.
Robbie’s texts, Sloane’s house—the sex—and the storm. The darkness and Robbie’s hand, and the knife and—
“Let me go,” I bite.
“See, if you’d have just listened to me…” Robbie nips. “You wouldn’t even be in this damn position right now, baby.”
“No.” I shake my head. “You are insane.”
Robbie laughs maniacally. Like a damn villain from a movie.
“Oh, Oliver, sweetheart, you are just figuring that out? Shit, I thought you were smarter than that. Maybe all that dick is rotting your fucking brain.”
“Let… me go!” I yell.
“See, if you just followed the plan, I would have got everything I needed from you and no one would have gotten hurt. But you had to go and get your fucking briefs in a twist and forget who you belong to.”
“What are you going to do?” I wriggle in my ropes, trying desperately to untie them. It’s no use, though, I can’t bend my fingers that way. “Kill me?”
Robbie rolls his eyes. “That’s up to Daddy Sloane.” He laughs. “But I wouldn’t get your hopes up. He’s a selfish prick. He’s not going to sacrifice his precious Veil foryou.” He scoffs.
Panic laces through me, and Robbie smiles, the sight unsettling like a clown in a haunted house.
Headlights shine through the windows, and my heart stops.
“Ah.. there he is. Just on time. Gotta hand it to him, man’s punctual as shit. Predictable, too.”
“Sloane!” I scream. “Jabberwocky!” I scream at the top of my lungs.
