Erik! She needed to call Erik. Dropping her hands, she reached for her pocket only to remember that she’d shut her phone off before the meeting and tossed it in her bag – a bag she’d dropped in the hallway when she’d heard the shot fired.
Another flood of tears spilled over, and a broken sob left her. She didn’t know what to do. She searched as much of the room as she could see from her hiding spot, hoping to find a phone hanging on the wall or sitting on a table, but she knew it was pointless. Cell phones had made landlines obsolete. She didn’t even see anything she could use as a weapon; all the tools and supplies were locked away in cabinets.
Jayla was a highly trained operator, she reminded herself. Any minute now, she’d shout the all-clear. Chloe just needed to breathe. Slowly, she began to count in her head. She’d only reached twenty-nine when she heard a door slam. A partial scream escaped her, and she quickly clamped her hands back over her mouth.
She squeezed her eyes shut as she heard the distant, yet unmistakable sound of Jackson’s voice. “Come out, come out, wherever you are…”
Another door banged, and her shoulders jerked.Please go away. Please go away.
The sound of two more doors being thrown open, and Jackson called out in a sing-song voice, “Chlooooeee. Where are you, Chloe baby? I know you’re in here.”
The next door he opened was the door to the sets department. He was in the room with her, and Chloe tightened the grip over her mouth.
“Come on out, baby.” He let out a sigh. “Always making me chase you. You like the chase, don’t you, Chloe?”
She could hear him moving around, searching for her among the set pieces.
“I bet you missed me, didn’t you, baby? Especially with the pickings around here.” He let out a sound of derision. “I mean, that scarred mother fucker at least looks like he could go a round or two, unlike that weak-ass pretty boy you were screwing, but come on. Talk about scraping the bottom of the barrel.”
His voice was too close, and Chloe cringed.
“Your friend gave me a pretty good workout. Bitch broke my damn nose. Had to choke her out.”
Had he killed Jayla?A sob broke free.
“Gotcha!”
A hard hand clamped her arm and hauled her to her feet as Chloe screamed for all she was worth.
“Hey! Hey! It’s just me,” Jackson said. “See?” He pulled the shaggy gray wig off his head with his free hand, then peeled away the gray beard, the adhesive pulling at his skin. “It’s a disguise,” he told her. “One of the things I learned on the force was that no one ever looks too closely at the bums. It’s like the eleventh commandment: Don’t make eye contact.” He was looking at her with an expectant smile, like he was waiting for her to praise him for his ingenuity or something.
Chloe gawked at him for a moment in stunned disbelief before a burst of anger exploded inside of her, momentarily overriding her fear. This was her life, and he was treating it like some sortof game. With a shriek of rage, she threw herself at him, her fists pummeling his chest, his shoulders, his face – anywhere she could reach – but aside from a brief step back to brace his weight, her strikes barely fazed him. He swept his arms around her and pulled her in tight, pinning her arms between them and pushing her face into his chest. Chloe nearly gagged from the stench clinging to him, and she struggled to get away, but the arms around her only tightened.
Jackson rocked her from side to side and breathed against her hair, “I’ve missed you so much, Chloe. I know why you ran away, and I forgive you.”
Heforgaveher?
“What we have together is just so powerful. I know it can be scary and overwhelming, but once we’re home, I’m going to help you through it.”
The man was absolutely insane.
Keeping an arm around her shoulders, he began leading her out. “Let’s go see your friend. We wouldn’t want her to wake up alone and leave. She’d miss the performance.”
Relief hit Chloe so hard, she stumbled, and Jackson steadied her, keeping her tight to his side as they walked. She didn’t know what performance he was talking about, but Jayla was alive. That was all that mattered.
Jackson led her onto the stage, and Chloe immediately spotted Jayla. When she struggled against his hold, he let her go, and sheran to the other woman’s side and dropped to her knees. Jayla was lying on her stomach, unconscious, and her hands were secured behind her back with what looked like a wide plastic zip tie. The skin on her neck was dark red and visibly swollen, and her face was spattered with blood. Chloe glared at Jackson. “What did you do to her?”
“I told you. I had to choke her out. The blood’s mine, not hers, so throw a little of that sympathy my way.”
Chloe gently patted Jayla’s cheek and called her name, trying to wake her, but Jackson grew impatient. His hand clamped on her arm, and he pulled her to her feet. “Come on, now. She’ll wake up in a little bit. In the meantime, you’re going to give me a private performance until your new boyfriend shows up.”
She raised her chin. “What makes you think he’ll come?”
Jackson looked smug. “Oh, he will. Not long now, he’ll start wondering what’s keeping you. First, he’ll call, and when you don’t answer, he’ll come looking.”
Chloe sneered. “He’s not like you.”
Jackson moved into her personal space, crowding her until she was forced to take a step back. “Deep down, they’realllike me. And this time, when I make an example of him, you’re going to watch so it finally sinks into that pretty little head of yours. There is no you and them, only us. Now sing for me.”
