Page 107 of Abundance of Obsession

“Zoe? What’s going on?”

“Eli…” Her voice is hard to hear. Heavy breathing in the background. “I need—your help.”

I’m already on my way to the car, but hearing her pleading whisper, I run.

My palms sweat, my mind is racing with frantic scenarios, every shadow a potential danger, every sound a harbinger of doom.

“Hang in there, I’m on my way. Where are you?” Before I even realize it, I’m jumping into the car. My foot slams the gas pedal to the floor.

“Wait, I’ll send you my location.”

Sure enough, the message arrives almost immediately. The location appears on the navigation screen the moment I click the icon.

The phone switches to hands-free mode.

“Sweetheart? Are you there?”

“I’m here,” she whispers. “Eli…” Silence. “I’m sorry.”

There’s something in her words that makes my already racing heart beat even faster. I don’t know where it comes from or why, but something tells me she’s in deep fucking trouble.

“Hang in there a little longer. Are you okay, sweetheart? What happened, Zoe?”

Her voice trembles even more. “I killed him.” For a second, the world stops existing. “Oh God, Eli. I killed him. I didn’t mean to, but—”

A knot of dread tightens in my chest as I picture her all alone.

“Shhh… don’t worry. I’ll take care of everything. Just hang in there a little longer. Who did you kill?”

A strange sound escapes her throat, followed by a quiet sob.

Fuck.

“Owen. I killed him. Everything went wrong. He—”

I don’t want her to hear my frustration. But it’s not just that. My feelings are all mixed up. Concern mixed with relief, fear mixed with anger.

She didn’t tell me anything.

She didn’t tell me!

“I’m already here. Are you alone?”

“Yes.”

On my phone, I select a contact and send a message asking for a cleaning crew. Also, I send my location.

In fifteen minutes, twenty at most, someone will be here.

“Jesus, I’m going to jail,” Zoe murmurs into the phone.

“You’re not going anywhere,” I assure her. “You did nothing, okay? You had nothing to do with this, you hear me?”

“I did.”

“No, you didn’t. Say it again, and you’ll keep saying it forever.”

“Eli…”