“I have no clue. Maybe she was here, but she has been moved?”
The thought is terrifying. Did the stalker do something bad to her? “Fuck.” I cry out.
“Keep your cool, Nash.” Jodie’s tone is sympathetic. “If we want to help her, we need to find a way to get out of here.”
I know she’s right, but it’s the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do. What if it’s too late? What if Tim’s killer has already hurt her?
The metal door opens and my heart almost stops.
The good news is that Taryn isn’t dead, at least not yet. The bad news is that someone tall, in dark clothing and a black hoodie, is dragging an unconscious Taryn into the room.
“Taryn!” I yell, yanking on my constraints. My muscles tense up, sending pain to all my nerve endings as the metal cuffs around my wrists diginto my flesh.
The stalker dumps Taryn onto the concrete floor of the utility room to grab the chair under Jodie’s feet.
Jodie moans in pain as her weight is now dangling from her arms, just like me.
As our kidnapper secures Taryn to the chair with a length of rope, I grind my jaw so hard that I’m surprised my teeth don’t shatter.
Seeing her bound with her arms behind her back is terrifying. I’m more scared for her than for myself.
Whatever happens today, I’ll do my best to make sure that Taryn walks away from here in one piece. Even though I don’t know how I’m gonna help her since I can barely move.
“Let her go.” I bite out, struggling to hide the pain that radiates all over my body with every word.
The stalker turns around and tilts his head in my direction, as if he didn’t hear or understand what I said.
Under the hoodie, his face is covered by a black balaclava, so I can’t make out any features except for his dark eyes.
Now that I can take a closer look, I’m one hundred percent sure it’s a man.
A part of me is disappointed that it isn’t Gen. Deep down I’m convinced that if it were Gen, we could talk our way out of this room alive. But if this is really the person who killed Tim and hacked his head off, we’re in really huge trouble.
“Let her go.” I repeat. “Let Taryn go. Please.”
He chuckles.
Fuck. I know who Taryn’s mystery stalker is. I would know that obnoxious laugh anywhere.
“Andy?” I gasp.
My team captain and frat brother from Hemlock Beachlowers the hood covering his head and pulls the balaclava off his face. “Hey Nash.” He grins, but it doesn’t reach his eyes. “I’m surprised you figured it out so quickly.”
“Why is that? Your laugh is as pleasant as the fire alarm in our old science building at school.”
He laughs again. “Whatever. I’m surprised because it was super easy to lure you and Jodie here. You’re as smart as each other. You two idiots would be perfect for each other if your hours weren’t numbered. All it took to make you run here, right into my arms, was a deep fake of Taryn bound in this room. Easier than stealing candy from a baby. But I needed Jodie’s phone to text Taryn and lure her here too. You were an unexpected bonus, Nash.”
Jodie has been looking at her ex-boyfriend with shock written all over her face. “So you’re the asshole who’s been blackmailing me and stalking Taryn all this time? Why aren’t you in D.C.? Didn’t you have a job lined up straight after graduation?”
Andy moves with the same speed he had on the ice. He punches Jodie’s face.
She groans in pain, gurgling as blood trickles out of her mouth.
“Shut up, you stupid, useless bitch.” Andy snarls. “You had one job. You had to get Taryn to break up with those three assholes. But you can’t be trusted to do anything properly. My grandmother was right that if you want a job well done, you might as well do it yourself.”
Jodie spits out a mixture of blood and saliva. “I’m glad she didn’t break up with them. They’re ten times better boyfriends than you ever were for me.”
I brace myself for another burst of violence. But rather than hitting Jodie again, Andy turns around to look into a black rucksack tucked away in the closet, next to Taryn.
