“I’ve been hunting you for ten years.”
“Just to say you are right, do you really think I’ve been murdering people since I was eighteen years old?”
He stomps up to me, grabs my upper arm, and shoves me back on the animal path.
“Walk!” he hisses.
I roll my eyes but keep walking. “Who am I to argue with your glorious plan.”
Hours later, I’m seriously wondering if Kendall is even going to make it to somewhere where I can take care of him.
He sees the river and growls. “Why are we back here again?” he shouts.
I look at the river. “Well, you wanted to stay on the animal track. I told you it was a bad idea.”
He growls at me.
It’s a very pitiful growl, and I have to fight back a sharp laugh.
“Get in.”
I blink at him. “Pardon?”
“Get in the river. We’re swimming.”
“Are you going to undo my hands?” I lift them to him.
“No. If you survive the swim, you can call it divine intervention.”
I shrug. It’s not like I haven’t played this game with Dad. I wade into the river and then kick off, but if I thought I would lose Kendall, I’m sadly mistaken.
The beta, who is thin and tall and barely looks like he could handle a kick from someone half my size, seizes my shirt and uses me as a buoy to keep him up out of the water.
I snarl as my head goes under and kick harder, working doubly hard to support both our weights. The icy water stabs into my limbs, and it’s hard to breathe at first, but I get used to it and just keep moving.
The current seizes us. I keep swimming, rapidly losing strength and getting colder and colder, until he yanks my head and aims me at the shore.
“Out,” he shouts.
I crawl up onto the bank and flop onto the ground, breathing hard. My limbs ache, and I promise myself if I get a chance, I’m going to absolutely make his last moments the most painful that I possibly can.
He sits down and glares at me.
“Are you trying to kill me?” I burst into tears and start to sob. Seriously, I should get a medal for my acting. It is top-notch.
He doesn’t even care.
He really thinks I’m the killer he’s been after all this time.
“Why are you after this killer? What is it about them that drives you nuts?”
He stands up, comes over to me, and yanks. I just sit there. Oh, fine. When he pulls again, I jump up, pretending he’s strong enough to pull me up.
“Your very existence offends me!” he snarls.
“How? I haven’t done anything.” I let a whine into my voice, trying to sound as pathetic as possible.
“You came into my turf, got my notoriety, brought in Detective Roseland, who is getting so close to figuring out who I am.”
