“I can’t.”
“Let me do this for you. Honestly, I know I messed up. I was too intense, jealous, and controlling. The whole nine yards. I’ll leave you alone soon. Forever. I promise. But I know you didn’t kill this woman.”
“How do you know that?”
“I knowyou.” He bangs his hand on the top of the Mazda. “You wouldn’t hurt a fly.”
Is that true? According to Grace, everyone is capable of murder. She says it’s one of the most basic traits of humanity.
“I’ll keep Sinclair,” I say. “But I need you to stay away from me.”
“Fine.” He steps away from the car, his hands raised. “But I’ll get you off this charge. I have contacts who can help. Call it penance.”
“How can they help?”
“Bradley isn’t the criminal mastermind you seem to think he is. The police might buy his story, but I don’t. He slipped up somewhere. I know he did.”
I’m still astonished by how much he knows about my case, though I suppose someone in his position has ways of finding out information.
“Don’t hide in my car again. And stop following me.”
“I’m not exactly the KGB.”
“I’m not kidding. And once this is done, you need to leave me alone. For real. I don’t ever want to see you again.”
“I won’t pretend that doesn’t hurt,” he says, stepping away from the car. “But fine. I’ll leave you alone. But first, let me keep you out of prison.”
CHAPTER FIFTY-TWO
I can hardly believe it, but after he says this, he walks back to his car and leaves.
Five minutes ago, I thought he was going to kidnap me. Has he really moved on? The girl in the car seemed to think he had. But I’m not going to let him back into my life. Not ever.
I retrieve the key from the ground and get back into the Mazda. I’m still shaking. In one day, I’ve lost my boyfriend, been interrogated for murder, and discovered my ex has been stalking me.
How am I still here? How much can a person take in one day, and still have her sanity?
I drive aimlessly until I realize I’m heading in the direction of Pine Ridge. Damn—I can’t go back there. I’m homeless again. At the next lights, I search my phone for motels. I’m on the outskirts of the city, an area of strip malls and big box stores, but there’s a place nearby next to a gas station.
I grab the cheapest room. It’s small, and the A/C is barely working, but at least it’s affordable. I need to make my money last. There’s a TV, a toilet, and not much else.
I lie in the dark, listening to the traffic outside. I can afford to stay here for a few days. But then what? Accept more of Neil’s help? Let myself get pulled more and more into his life?
No, I’ll have to find another job, even if it’s just waiting tables.
I try to sleep, but it takes me hours to shut down the voices in my head. And as soon as I manage to relax, my stomach begins to cramp. Damn it—I haven’t eaten since breakfast, and now it’s after midnight. I get dressed again and stumble out to the motel reception to try the vending machines, but it’s locked, and there’s no one around.
That leaves the gas station next door. The streetlights are out, and the sidewalk is lit only by trucks blaring past. I feel like I’m a character in a video game, walking through a simulation. This is a strange, unreal world, I think, as I enter the gas station. A boy of about eighteen stands at the counter, watching videos on his phone. I pay for a sandwich and a protein bar, and then make my way back across the empty forecourt.
I’m about a hundred yards from the motel when I see him. A man in a hood is coming towards me from the other direction. He’s briefly lit by the headlights of a passing truck, then disappears again.
Shit.
I walk faster, but when the next truck passes, I see that he’s closer to the motel than I am. He’s speeding up, too. I start to sprint just as the light from the truck fades away. I can feel him closing in as I reach my room.
I drop my food as I fumble for my keycard. Footsteps behind me.
Too late.
