Page 102

“The money from the fight will keep her going for a couple of years.” He looks around and picks something up from the tool bench. “Ah, yes. This is perfect.”

Uh oh.

“What do you get by killing me?” I ask slowly. “My life was ruined just like yours.”

“Yet you’re still out there, doing your thing while I’m reduced to running charity events, never knowing how I’m going to pay rent.” He turns slowly, eyes narrowed. Mean. Like a snake ready to strike.

Maybe this is it.

Dammit.

I didn’t plan to go out this way. Or any way. Not now, at least.

And I guess I’m never going to be a mom.

Or tell Elliott that I love him.

Or thank him for being the man of my dreams, even if we didn’t have nearly enough time together.

I press my back into the wall, like that’s somehow going to help me stay away from Garth as he approaches me, knife in hand. It’s old and rusty, which is gross in and of itself, but I guess it doesn’t matter if he’s going to kill me.

“This part will be quick,” he says, squatting in front of me. “The hard part will be later…when you’re too exhausted to fight them off and the rats are drawn to the smell of your blood.”

At this point, I’m too annoyed to be afraid—I’m sure that will come later too.

“You’re a dick,” I snap, scowling. “And I hope Elliott breaks you into tiny, irreparable pieces!”

He chuckles, and before I can react, slices that knife across the top of the toes of my right foot. I shriek, yanking my feet away but it’s too late.

“The rats will start at the top and slowly nibble on your toes. And you can watch them do it. Without food and water, you’ll only be able to fight them off another thirty-six hours. Maybe forty-eight since you’ve got some heft on you.”

For once, my overweight body might be good for something.

“Fuck you.” I glare at him because that’s all I have left.

He smiles. “You’ll be too gross to touch like that. No thanks. Besides, this has all been about watching you suffer. All the months of knocking and having someone hack your bank account…sending you presents…screwing with you like you screwed with me.” He reaches out and trails his fingers along the line of my jaw. “Were you scared, Shawna?”

I yank my head to the side, grimacing at both his touch and the use of my real name. “Fuck off.”

He just laughs.

Then he gets up and walks out of the room, closing and locking the door firmly behind him.

Chapter Forty

Rage

The night is long and frustrating. By morning, I’m almost crawling out of my skin. We’ve searched everywhere we can think of, but there’s no sign of Garth. By the time we went looking for him after the fight, he’d already left the auditorium and no one knew where he went.

Thanks to Jonas’s supreme cyber skills, we know where Candy is, and we’re headed there now.

“Where is he?” I demand, pushing my way inside when she opens her hotel room door.

She shrieks, holding a dress in front of her as we push inside. I’ve got Grim and Metal with me, and they block the exit.

“Where’s Neil?” I ask.

“He went out for coffee--what do you want?” There are clothes all over the room, and an open suitcase on the bed. She’s obviously planning to go somewhere, but the only place she’s going is to jail, if I have anything to say about it.