Chapter 12
TWELVE
LANA
A s much as I hate to admit it, I know Cole was right. Killing that asshole in broad daylight when anyone could have come across us was not a good idea, but it’s not like I can pick and choose when someone decides to come after me.
And thanks to that piece in the school’s newspaper, I’m now easily trackable.
I had the picture taken down straight away, but who else other than the guy who found me in the coffee shop saw it remains a mystery.
Now I just need to find him and end him before he can do the same to me.
Luckily, when I grabbed him in the alleyway before Cole appeared, I attached a tracker to the material of his jacket for this exact situation.
The trackers I use are barely visible to the naked eye, so there’s close to no chance of him finding it. I just have to find him sooner rather than later to make sure he doesn’t get rid of the jacket.
When I was back in my room gearing up, I watched from my laptop as he finally stopped moving.
He settled in a house not too far from the college, and after a quick search I found that the house he’s staying in is an Airbnb that he’s probably renting for the next couple of days while he plans to take care of me.
Too bad for him he’ll be dead before the sun sets.
It’s almost too easy to break into the two-story home, and I stalk through the house expecting him to be at least a little prepared for me to come after him, only to find him sitting in the living room, watching TV from the sofa without a care in the world.
After I did some digging on this guy, it’s clear he’s new to our line of business, because there’s no way in hell he knows what he’s doing. He didn’t cover his tracks, using his real name to rent this place.
Fucking amateur.
I sneak up behind him, and he doesn’t notice my presence until I’m almost breathing down his neck.
He lets out a grunt of surprise before jumping from his seat, but he’s not fast enough to grab one of the weapons that are resting on the coffee table, because I already have him backing up against the wall, my blade to his throat.
Once he can’t step backwards anymore, my knife digs into his skin and I tilt my head.
“Is it just me, or do you feel like we’ve been here already?”
He glares at me, but he can’t hide the fear lingering there.
“This time, you’ve got no one to interrupt us. No one to save you,” I murmur and make a tsking sound. “You’re going to tell me everything. Who you are, where you came from, how you found out about me and if someone sent you. I want to know everything.”
He nods his head vigorously, not even trying to fight back, further proving how much of a newbie he is.
“I-I don’t even know who you are. I was just given a name to come after.
They threatened my f-family, and said if I didn’t kill you they’d…
” He pauses to swallow. “They said they’d kill my family.
I’m sorry. I didn’t know you were so young or so…
” He looks me up and down, noting the weapons that are barely concealed and strapped to my body before his eyes flick down to the knife I’m holding to his throat.
“Who are they?”
“I have no idea. They contacted me online and then sent the threats. They gave me your name and the name of the town but no other information. They said they’d been looking for you for years and there’s someone really powerful who wants you dead.”
I nod my head, believing that last part. The only issue is…
“So, they threatened your family?”
“Y-yes. They threatened my wife and son.”
“Really? Because I was under the impression that you, John Baker , are just a small-time criminal who usually operates out of Detroit, and you don’t have a wife or a son,” I mutter, and his eyes widen in shock, obviously not expecting me to catch him out on his lie.
He may be new at this, but I’m certainly not.
I remove the knife from his throat, and he breathes a sigh of relief. A sigh that soon turns into a gasp as I plunge the knife into his gut.
I pull back before I stab him again.
And again.
And again.
I revel in his gasps, his shouts, his cries, and the blood that pours from him.
I don’t stop until he’s lying in a pool of crimson on the floor .
I’m not usually so messy, but I’ve had a really shitty couple of days.
Who needs therapy when you can just brutally kill someone instead?
Normally, I’d clean this shit up myself, but I’m really not in the mood.
So, I call the only contact I have from my old world that lives in this town and leave him the fuck behind.