Page 9 of He Had It Coming

“Why do you think that’s me?”

No question about it. She was not well. “Yeah, I wonder.”

She still stood out of reach with most of her body blocked by the wall separating the bedroom from the small hallway sitting area just upstairs. “If I’d written the posts, I’d sign my name.”

“Sure you would.” She might be unhinged but her brain worked just fine. I’d seen enough of her true crime interviews and read her articles on trauma and loss to know she could maneuver and parry when needed. “If you did then all of this—the kidnapping, the assault, the game—would trace back to you without my having to say a word.”

A blank stare. That’s all I got from her. She possessed a remarkable ability to school her reactions. Hide the thoughts dancing in her head.

That was new. Until this meeting, Sabrina had always operated on fury and emotion. Striking out verbally and, that one time, physically. She’d developed some skills or taken a class or gotten therapy or something.

This version of Sabrina Forde controlled every moment. Threw out what she likely believed were zingers. If she wasn’t a deluded mess and actually worked on her appearance a bit, she might be hot. Not to me but other men would be fooled.

“You’ve threatened me online. You’re in California right now. Do you even live here?” That was her one mistake. She’d laid out a trail. One that would be easy to trace and follow. One that would screw her in the end.

She frowned. “You know where I live.”

Pennsylvania, the same state where she grew up, went to college, and would likely die . . . if she made it off this boat alive. I kept tabs on her because she was too unpredictable to let run wild. Clearly, I’d missed something because I hadn’t seen this new nightmare coming.

“I’m enjoying the weather here. Good tacos.” Her voice dripped with sarcasm.

Time for some hard truths. “Your face is going to be all over the marina’s security cameras. There is no way out of this except to let me go now and just accept a restraining order or whatever the court gives you.”

I tugged on that rope around my ankles. Slowly pulled it taut then let go. The nylon dug into my sock, rubbing and tearing the raw skin underneath.

I talked, keeping her focus on my face and off the steady work I was doing to twist my way to freedom. “Hell, you can probably convince some lame judge that you’re still too traumatized from your sister’s death to function and then end up with a really light sentence.”

“I am traumatized. That never goes away. Unfortunately for you, I’m also energized. Determined to get justice.”

More pontificating. She excelled at that.

I was sick of the talking and her. “Spare me.”

Her smile hinted at pain to come. “Probably not, but that depends on how persuasive you are.”

Chapter Ten

The Truth About Jerek Hayes

Ruby, tired from her full-time class load and part-time waitress job, left the bar. The establishment’s security video showed her walking out. Alone. It was 12:18 a.m.

She told her friends the music was too loud. That she’d agreed to work the early breakfast shift for a friend the next morning and had to go. That she wasn’t “feeling it” and wasn’t in the mood to be pawed by strangers.

Jerek followed her.

Less than an hour later she was dead.

It’s time to talk about what really happened.

It’s time for Jerek Hayes to get what he deserves.

—Anonymous

Chapter Eleven

Sabrina slid out from behind the wall. Stopped hiding half in the other room. She walked down the three steps separating us.

The blade in her hand caught the overhead light. The shiny steel winked at me. Not a small weapon. More like the carving knife my family used at the holidays. The kind Dad wielded as he launched into some blowhard spiel about how hard work paid off as he went around the table, requiring us to tout our accomplishments.