Okay, so he knows my name. A year ago, that wouldn’t have bothered me. Now, it’s terrifying.
“Tell me who you are and what you want.” For some reason, my voice sounds far braver than I feel.
A low chuckle sounds from the opposite side of the door. “I’m a friend of Drake’s and I’m not going to hurt you.”
Somehow, I doubt that.
“How do I know?”
Another laugh from the stranger. So glad he’s amused at my plight. “Ma’am, If I wanted to get inside your home, I’d already be there.”
For a second, I can’t breathe. Then a brittle sound rises from my chest, because I know the man is right. If he wanted access to my cabin, it wouldn’t be hard.
Not that the knowledge eases my mind in the slightest.
“I’m warning you, I have a knife.”
“Fair enough.”
I open the door a fraction, the security chain still in place. He’s a stranger to me. Mid-forties, maybe. Decent-sized guy. A little worn around the edges, like life’s taken a few swings at him. He looks like a drinker, though I don’t smell anything on him. “What do you want?”
He paces slowly across the length of my porch, as if he’s got nothing but time on his hands. “Just checking in, since the trial is coming up. You could be a really big help to all of us, and there are an awful lot of lives at stake here.”
All of them? How many monsters are there in Sparkwood? I shudder at the thought, but I refuse to let this man smell my fear. I can’t let these bastards win. Not this time.
I shake my head and sneer at him. “There were a lot of girls at stake, too. Remember them?”
He nods, unfazed by my false bravado. “There were and that’s unfortunate but you need to understand the truth. Drakegot caught in the crossfire of a terrible situation. You don’t think he should spend the rest of his life behind bars for something he didn’t do, do you?”
A cold sweat breaks across my skin. I know what he wants, but he won’t get it from me, even if he kills me right here on the spot.
I sniffle, running a hand under my nose, fully aware I might eat a bullet for my next words. “Actually, I think he should rot in prison. See, I knew Drake was guilty when he first asked me to lie for him and your visit tonight is further proof of that, because if he were innocent, he wouldn’t need people tracking me down to spin yarns on his behalf.”
The man checks his watch, his face devoid of emotion. “Drake figured you might say that. Disappointing turn of events. But… I suppose that’s your right.”
“I suppose it is. Now get off my porch.”
He tips his hat as a sneer crawls across his wizened face. Then he points up at the porch light. “You should have the wiring checked. I can tell it’s old. You wouldn’t want anything unfortunate happening here, because these cabins are tinder boxes, and there’s no way a truck would get here in time.”
I stand off to the side of the window, hidden behind the curtain, watching the man’s car back down the driveway.
A chill runs through me.
What if he didn’t come here just to talk? What if he planted something before knocking on the door? A camera? Hell, a bomb. Anything as a further incentive to bring me around to their way of thinking.
Maybe I should call the cops. Who am I kidding? That’s certainly not an option. It’s pretty fucking clear whose side they’re on, and I’m officially public enemy number one now.
My fingers tighten around my phone, flipping through my contacts before drifting to the one name I know I can’t touch.
Eddie.
God, I want him here. He’d know what to do, what to say, how to protect me.
Kiki, no. Absolutely not.
You don’t get to go near Eddie anymore. He’s not safe around you. And tonight is proof of that.
I pace from one end of my cabin to the other, my thoughts spiraling faster and faster. I’m exhausted and wired at the same time. My system doesn’t know whether to crash or run.
