Page 123 of Dead Pretty

God, I totally zoned out then. This is what I get for watching pointless television while Jack is in the shower and I’m waiting for our dinner to be delivered.

I give Eleven’s fur a ruffle before I get up from the sofa and go to answer the door.

I pause before opening it. It might not be my apartment, but there is always that wariness inside of me.

Especially with Mike’s and Sarah’s recent murders and the murders of those other women and no suspect in sight, according to the press.

Does my mind go to Tobias when I think about these recent killings?

Yes.

Am I still worrying about a copycat?

Yes-ish.

Tobias never killed a man when he went on his rampage.

But then maybe that’s because he was never interrupted by one, like Sarah’s killer was.

Or maybe Tobias has killed a man before, and people just don’t know it.

Scrapping those thoughts before I get lost in them, I lift onto my tiptoes and peer through the peephole.

It’s a young, dark-haired guy with a pizza box in hand.

I open the door, smiling at him.

“Hey, that’ll be fifteen dollars.”

He hands me the pizza. Smells yummy. Jack and I went for one of those half-and-half pizzas. He likes olives on his. Gross.

“Just let me get my purse,” I tell the delivery guy.

I leave the door ajar. Putting the pizza on the coffee table, I grab my bag from the side of the sofa. I get my wallet out and open it up.

Huh. There’s no money in it.

I’m sure there was a twenty in here this morning. Like, ninety percent sure.

That is so weird.

Well, no time to think about it now. I put my purse back in my bag and call out Jack’s name.

I hear the water turn off, and then his deep voice says, “Yeah?”

“Pizza’s here, and I have no cash.”

“My wallet is on the kitchen counter. Should be some money in there.”

Thank God. Otherwise, one of us would have been making a quick dash to the nearest ATM.

I find Jack’s wallet where he said it would be. Flip it open and see a couple of tens in there.

Perfect.

I pull the cash out. Something drops out from in between them.

It flutters to the floor.