“It’s you,” I whisper as I turn to face him while gripping my keys in my hand so they form a makeshift set of brass knuckles.
“What’s me?” he asks, clearly amused.
“You’re the stalker,” I say matter-of-factly.
He laughs. “Stalker? I think you must’ve hit your head awfully hard in the accident to think I’m a stalker. I know I might come on a little strong sometimes, but Lennon would tell you I’m completely harmless.”
My heart pounds in my chest. What kind of game is he playing right now? My stalker told me to show up here, that he would be waiting on me with my race car. And voila…here he is.
I glance at the tire iron in his hands, and he follows my gaze.
“I had a friend who has a flat just outside of town and I needed to grab this on my way to help them. As I was about to leave, I heard something in here and turned back to see what itwas,” he tries to explain. But it sounds like a convenient lie to me. One meant to lure me in like a moth to a flame.
He starts to move closer when I don’t laugh.
I slide back, clearly surprising him. He holds up both hands almost like he’s surrendering to something, but it just makes him look like he’s coming at me with a tire iron, so I swing my fist and connect with his face, effectively knocking him out cold.
My chest heaves with my heavy breathing. I can’t believe it was Dillan, but a thought occurs to me…the stalker called me princess, and he did just now too. He has before tonight as well. But it certainly wasn’t how I expected it to go down. Seems way too easy, but maybe I got the jump on him before he could do the same to me. The problem now is I don’t know what to do.
Do I call the police? My dad? Vinny?
I start to pace trying to decide my next move and find myself beside the driver’s side of my race car. Something silver in the seat catches my eye, so I move closer to investigate and when I realize what it is…my blood runs cold. It’s London’s diamond necklace from Hendrix.
I’m reaching for it as the lights go out again, causing me to jerk upright. But I can’t see anything in the dark space. Anyone could be here and be hiding who knows where. I curse under my breath for being such a fool and letting my guard down.
It’s clear he was only pretending to be knocked out. He’s the master of these games after all. Shame on me. I’ve never been one step ahead. I’m figuring things out a few minutes too late. And this time may just be my final and fatal mistake.
I stand still but my gaze searches in the dark as I squint to see. The garage is silent. I take this moment to reach in and retrieve London’s necklace before shoving it in my jeans pocket. Which is when I feel it.
Someone’s presence behind me in the dark. I don’t dare move; I can’t even if I wanted to.
Suddenly a thin silver chain appears in front of my face, and I recognize it as my own necklace. The very same one that was stolen from me in the wreck along with London’s. Which means this is it. I’ll turn around and find Dillan standing there with a devilish smile and it might just be the last thing I ever see. He’s got me now…right where he wants me.
I close my eyes for a moment and call up my sister’s face, and my parents’. I think of Hendrix. And my heart physically hurts as I think of Dash and how much this will hurt him even if we’re done with each other. It was never due to a lack of love between us.
He fastens the necklace around my neck and brushes my hair to the side with one hand and kisses my neck. Chills erupt over my body.
“Welcome back, Lennon.”
His voice sounds through the garage and the breath stills in my lungs. There’s no way. It can’t be him. It just can’t. I trusted him. I feel the tears of betrayal run down my cheeks.
But as I turn and face him, my eyes confirm what my ears heard.
“Jackson.”
32
LENNON
Jackson smiles. “Are you surprised, princess?”
“What about Dillan?” I ask.
He throws his head back and laughs. “Oh, trust me, he’d love to get into your pants, but any guy who meets you would probably say the same. He’s as harmless as he said he was. He just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
I swallow hard and he clocks the movement.
“I can’t believe you thought it was him. I thought you were smarter than that.”
