Chapter 9
GREER
I’m in a panic as the man leaves out of my window. Reeling, to put it mildly.
Forgetting everything he said, I run out the front door, rushing for the police car. Clouds of heat billow from the tailpipe into the cold night. They’re like the beam of safety twirling around a lighthouse.
Tears roll down my face, and I feel like I’m going to hyperventilate as I meet Shaw, who gets out of the cruiser and meets me at the back of the car.
“He was in the house. He…”
Shaw takes off at a run, pulling his gun and rushing into the front door I left ajar in my haste.
The other officer gets out, pulling his gun.
His dark eyes take me in, but he says nothing. As he walks past me, his eyes are trained on the front of the house.
“Please, don’t leave me here alone,” I plead.
His face shows disgust at my weakness, but he stops walking. Every few minutes, he looks toward my house, where the other officer flicks lights on as he moves from room to room.
Shaw exits, stowing his gun. Pulling a flashlight, he calls for the dickhead standing stoic and quiet to my right. “Fortescue! Come here, will you?”
He gives me a look, huffing as he pulls out his own Mag Lite.
While I watch him go, I wonder if he’s watching me. I’m disobeying.
I said I’d get the cops off his trail, not send them looking for him the first chance I got.
The things he said… The things he did…
My ass stings still, my center throbbing along in time with each burst of warmth.
Biting my cheek, the thoughts spin in my head. How could he be the man I killed? Did he actually say he was? Because he was not dead. Or did he say he knew who I killed?
Either way, he knew things he shouldn’t. But he also said something about making me come, which means he’s been in my home, touching me while I sleep….
My racing heart batters my ribs, and I can’t keep myself composed as I bend over to catch my breath.
“Ms. Allen, are you alright?” Shaw asks, urging me to straighten.
“He was in there. He came through my window.”
“That’s impossible. Your window faces the street. We haven’t gone anywhere. We’ve been here all night.”
His partner looks annoyed with my antics.
Their scrutiny, however, has me questioning my sanity.
“He…” I trail off, not knowing what to tell them. I can’t tell them what he said because I’d incriminate myself.
“Did he touch you?” Shaw asks, looking over his shoulder at his counterpart, who leans against my fence, unaffected by my meltdown.
“He spanked me,” I admit. There have to be marks. He’d hit me so hard.
Now, the detective on the fence is intrigued as he scoffs. “This is what we missed game night for? Come on, Shaw. She’s clearly got a fucking screw loose. Let’s 72-hour hold her ass and get going.”
Shaw gives his partner a look that could kill. “Can we see where he hit you? Can we take pictures and document them?” Shaw asks, and it makes me uncomfortable.
I don’t know if I should show them without Allison present, but by the time she gets here, the marks might be gone.
“Can we do it inside?” I ask, looking around. Somehow, I know he’s lurking.
Detective Fortescue grumbles, walking to the car. He opens the door, leans in, and grabs a clipboard I know all too well. They’re going to report my injuries and add them to my growing file. Which is going to anger the fuck out of the man who just escaped from my window.
Looking toward my house, however, I find the window closed. When I left my room, it was open.
Fuck, am I losing my mind?
How could he have gotten in and out with them sitting right here?
Even if they weren’t paying attention, his hulking form had to create shadows or movements against the house that should’ve drawn their eyes.
Thinking about what he did this time for my telling the cops anything has me hesitant.
Will the next punishment be worse?
“Look,” Detective Shaw steps closer. “We can do this here or at the station, but by then, the evidence will be gone.”
I swallow. “We can do it here.”
Tugging up my nightgown, I bare my ass. The frigid, temperate breeze skates over where the Nightstalker had staked his claim and spanked my ass raw.
I hiss.
“Turn around,” Shaw orders, clicking on his Mag-Lite and beaming it in my direction.
With a shaky breath, I do so. My eyes lock onto the unlit bar of lights on the top of the cruiser, trying to ignore the way the two detectives are scrutinizing my backside.
“Get photos of this,” Shaw says, clearing his throat.
In rapid succession, I hear Detective Fortescue snap photos of my ass, which means the marks have to be visible. Which is good. They won’t think I’m fucking insane. I couldn’t have done it to myself.
“Do you have somewhere we can take you tonight?” Shaw asks, stepping forward and tugging my nightgown back down.
“I—” My glare flicks toward the small house that’s always been my solace, my heart tugging at the unfortunate turn in my life. I feel like I’m being held upside down and can’t free myself.
“I do. To my lawyer’s house. Allison Cheney.”
“I’ll take her to pack a bag. Get a report drawn up, and then we’ll drive her to Cheney’s house.” Shaw doesn’t get pushback this time, not since Frotescue witnessed the evidence my stalker left behind.
“Did the man say anything to you while he was in the room? Did he speak? Do you have any indicators of who he was? It was a man, right? Those handprints are too large to be female.” Shaw’s rambling only has my heart racing faster.
I’m itching to tell them what he said to me, but I would implicate myself if I were to do that.
Part of me wonders if I’d be more secure inside a prison. They’d hide me from him, and he’d have no way to get to me.
But my life would be over.
“It was a man. And no, he didn’t say anything.”
Shaw leads me inside, watches while I get Bear and me ready, and then helps me load everything into the cruiser’s trunk, including evidence collection kits and roadside assistance equipment.
“We’ll get you safely to Ms. Cheney’s house and then send another unit over to watch you. We’re taking your case in shifts.” Shaw’s eyes meet mine in the rearview, and I give him a solemn nod.
When we pull away from the house, my gaze travels out the window to watch the passing tree line.
I gasp and press my forehead to the glass when I think I see a distinct male shadow lurking in the murk. It’s a split-second, and then he’s gone.
It could be my mind playing tricks on me, or the man who has me in his sights is a fucking ghost that they’re never going to find.
“God, are you alright?” Allison pulls me into a tight hug after closing the door on Detective Shaw.
He was still talking, but she didn’t care.
“I’m…” I can’t get it out. I can’t fake it with her. Sobs make my body convulse with emotion, and I lean into her embrace, letting it bathe me in warmth.
“He said he’s been touching me in my sleep. Drugging me,” I admit to her.
“Oh my fucking God.” I watch genuine fear shoot through my best friend’s eyes for the first time in ten years.
“Did he touch you tonight?”
I bite my lower lip to stop it from trembling. Turning, I lift my nightgown. “Is it bad?”
“Greer!” she screeches, her cold hands dusting over the throbbing heat of my ass. “He did this to you? Why?”
“He said it was a punishment and a threat. He told me to call the police off, or you were next on his list.”
She eyes me as I turn back to face her. “I can’t let him have you. We’ve already been through so much and survived this long. And for what? I’ve been tormenting myself for years, and it’s all for no fucking reason!”
Allison’s brows knit. “What do you mean, for nothing?”
“He said that he’s the man from that night. He said he’s the one we hit.”
Allison’s face pales. It seems she was alright with what happened when the man was dead, but now that he’s alive, seeking retribution, she’s alarmed.
With good right, too.
He’s killed so many innocent people.
“He’s alive,” she whispers. “Holy shit.”
I nod. “I would celebrate or something, but my ass hurts.”
She fights a grin. “Come, let’s get something on it. I have some salves that should help calm your skin down.”
“I’m sorry I came here. I don’t want him to come after you, but I don’t have anyone else. I lost everything that night, even a part of me.”
“Hey!” she scolds, turning on me, her forest-green silk nightgown floating behind her like a specter. “Don’t you dare self-deprecate. You know that, whatever happens to you, happens to me. We’re a team.”
I fight another wave of tears as I give her another nod.
An hour later, my chapped ass is feeling slightly better, and I’m finally calming—under the firm hand of red wine and Xanax, but still.
I settle down into the duvet, the plushy bed welcoming me home.
“Are you sure you don’t want to sleep with me? You’re welcome to, you and Bear.”
It’s a nice offer, but I don’t want to have her hovering, nor do I want to invade her space more than I’m already doing.
“No. Thank you, though.”
A question is burning on the tip of my tongue, and I can’t keep it from spilling out as Allison turns and heads for the door.
“Ali,” I call out softly.
She spins on her heels, looking me over like a glass that’s hit the tile floor, inspecting me for cracks.
“Did you feel his pulse? Did you know he was alive?”
She swallows, and I wonder if it’s to hide something or to choke down emotion. “No. I didn’t. He didn’t have one. Maybe someone came along and helped him?” My eyes flick down to where she’s twirling her necklace.
It was a gift from me for her fifteenth birthday. I saved every penny for months before purchasing it.
“Yeah. Maybe.”
“Goodnight.” She makes her quick escape, leaving me with a pounding heart and fury in my stomach lining, burning like acid.
She twists her necklace when she’s lying.
My eyes flick open, my sleep-filled stare connecting with the clock.
4 a.m.
I allow my eyes to close heavily again, feeling exhaustion pull me back beneath its weighty compression.
That’s when a hand skims over the side of my face. My eyes shoot open, and I’m frozen, stock-still, and now commanded by fear lacing my veins.
My breathing picks up, and my heart beats so furiously that it’s all I can hear.
Another touch brushes my ear. “Didn’t I tell you to call them off? Didn’t I tell you that you belonged to me and that you were to listen? I thought we had an agreement, pretty poison.”
I know Allison armed the alarm system, but this man has been watching me for years, taunting me for the same length.
He’s most likely found ways into every aspect of my life.
He grips my hair, tightening it into a fist.
A whimper gets caught in my throat. “You did.”
“Then why is it that I watched you run for them? Watched you show them what belongs to me? Are you trying to make me kill you sooner?”
Sooner.
It clatters through my brain like the tail of a rattlesnake.
“Do you want me to kill her and make you watch?” he asks me.
Allison. He means Allison.
I’d gone to bed so fucking angry with her lying to my face, but I could never want anyone dead.
That’s not who I am.
I didn’t even want him dead.
I still don’t. Even though that sounds fucking delusional.
“No. Please, don’t. I’ll be good.”
“Poisonous words from a poisonous girl. I don’t trust you. I think you’re lying.”
“I’m not. I swear it.”
“Prove it to me.”
“O-okay.”
His lips drop to my ear. “Be a good girl and get your things. You’re coming with me.”
I knew this day would come, and I’m prepared for it. I left fail-safes for Allison to access all my accounts; everything is in my will and left to her.
Ever since his first note showed up in my mailbox, I knew one day he was coming.
So, I don’t fight.
I get up and do as I’m told.
When I dare to gaze over, he’s on the bed, one arm behind his head. The ski mask with the skull is on his face, and he’s in all black, tactical boots on his feet as he crosses one leg over the other.
The only thing left bare is his arms beneath his short-sleeved shirt. They’re covered in dark tattoos, gripping his muscles tightly.
I swallow, looking at Bear, snoozing by the man’s feet like a traitor.
“Bring Bear. He won’t misbehave for me quite as much as you will. It’ll be nice to have one obedient creature in the house.”
Tears track down my cheeks as I grab all my things.
He leads me out the back of Allison’s house and loads Bear and me into a beat-up pickup truck. I look at Allison’s house as the life I knew fades away, blending into the shadows as we drive further.
I hold Bear tightly in my lap as the man shifts gears, picking up speed as we head out of town.
The sandalwood scent of my stalker, my once-victim, washes over me and keeps my heart racing as life as I know it changes forever.