Chapter 19
T: Meet me in the parking lot, baby. I have a surprise.
My thumb hovers over the screen as I stare at Travis’s message.
It has been sent from his work phone, which is odd, as he usually doesn’t message me from that.
Perhaps his personal phone has gone dead.
Shrugging it off, I finish up what I’m doing: wrapping up the last of my reports, cleaning up scattered papers on my desk, and wondering what he is up to now.
I set my phone on the worn wooden bench, grab my bag, and head toward the elevator.
I tap the button for G, watching the floor numbers tick downward in the dim reflection of the metal doors.
When they slide open, I step out into the deserted lobby, the air smelling faintly of stale coffee and floor polish.
The reception desk sits empty. I really am the last one here. Usually, Janice is here later than me.
She loves to ensure Travis knows she is a “loyal and dedicated” worker.
I snort as I push through the doors.
Outside, the night air is cool against my skin.
The parking lot is half-lit by streetlamps, casting long shadows between the cars.
I scan the perimeter, but I can’t see him.
I reach my car, glance around again, and with a frown, I pull out my phone to message him, but before I can, a rough hand clamps over my mouth.
A scratchy cloth presses against my face, and the scent of turpentine and sweat chokes me.
I struggle for breath, but the world dissolves into black.
When I come to, I’m lying on a cold, somewhat damp concrete floor.
My skull throbs, and the bulb overhead flickers, casting the small room in harsh, ugly light.
The walls are caked with grime; a single metal table stands to one side, its surface scratched and rusty.
I groan and lift my head. A voice—cool, unnerving—cuts through my fog.
“You’re finally awake.”
I know that voice.
I would know it anywhere.
Janice.
My chest tightens. I blink until she comes into focus. She is standing by the door, arms crossed, head tipped to the side with nothing but bitterness in her glare. Panic surges through me like ice water.
“What the hell?” I croak, my voice rough. “Where are we? What are you doing?”
“That doesn’t matter,” she says, her lips curling into a thin smile. “All that matters is that you’re here, and no one knows it.”
“Why did you bring me here?”
I am trying to keep my voice steady, but this woman is unhinged. I have known it from the second I laid eyes on her, and now, because Travis refused to see it too, I am stuck in her grimy basement with no idea what she plans on doing next.
She looks at me like I’m stupid, like the answer to my questions should be obvious. “You know exactly why. Didn’t my warnings get through that thick skull of yours?”
I knew it. I knew it was her. The person tormenting me. “I knew it was you,” I spit, glaring at her.
“Yes, but your wonderful boyfriend didn’t. Here I was thinking you two trusted each other. Not enough for him to listen to your warnings.”
I grit my teeth, fighting for calm.
I have to keep it together, for me and my baby.
“What do you want from me, Janice?”
She steps forward, voice low. “You read the notes. You know what I asked for, and you didn’t give it to me. You have given me no choice.”
I stare at her, mostly in disgust. “In what world was your little plan going to work? Travis wouldn’t want you, even if I did walk away.”
“He did want me!” she shrieks. “We were getting close, building something, until you came and ruined it all. All you do is come and take. He was mine, and then you had to ruin that. I gave you so many chances to just leave. I could have picked up the pieces. But you refused, so now I have no choice but to ensure you’re gone. ”
I fight to keep my voice steady. “You don’t want to do that.”
“Don’t I?” Her laugh is brittle. “One way or another, I will get what I want. And what I want, Violet, is Travis.”
“You’re sick!” I hiss, baring my teeth.
I don’t ever want this woman to think I’m afraid of her.
“No, I’m in love.” Her eyes harden. “I had everything, but you were always in my way.”
“Travis loves me. If he wanted you, Janice, he would have stayed with you. How much is it going to take for you to get that through your thick skull?”
She lunges forward and strikes me across the cheek. Pain blossoms, hot and wet, as I taste blood. The edge of consciousness flickers.
“The only mistake,” she whispers, “is that I didn’t end you sooner.”
Travis
She’s never late.
Violet occasionally works longer, but not this long.
She always comes home.
After she didn’t answer any of my calls, I came to the office to track her down. When I arrive, nobody is there. I call Janice, no answer, so I call Haylee.
“Hi Travis,” she answers, her voice light.
“Sorry to bother you, Haylee. But I’m looking for Violet. She hasn’t come home.”
“She was at the office when I left. She said she had a lot of work to do. Have you called Janice?”
“Yeah, no answer. I’ll try again.”
I hang up and dial Janice once more, and this time, she answers. “Travis, is everything okay?”
“Yeah, but I can’t find Violet. Was she at the office when you left?”
“She was. She said she was working late. I told her to lock up, but I haven’t seen her.”
“Fuck,” I mutter, more to myself than her.
“Have you called her?”
I want to snap, of course I have, but I don’t. “Yeah, no answer. Not with her parents. Not with Reagan. I don’t know where she is.”
“Oh,” her voice sounds concerned. “Do you want me to come and help you look?”
That will go down well.
Not.
“Nah, it’s fine. I’ll keep you updated.”
I go up to Violet’s office and see that it is all locked up.
She definitely isn’t here. I head back to my desk to get my work phone, because I left it here earlier.
I pick it up and am about to put it in my pocket when I notice a message from Violet on the screen.
She never messages this phone. Frowning, I open it and see she is responding to a message sent from my phone a couple of hours ago telling her I have a surprise and to meet me downstairs. I never sent that message.
Everything inside me goes still.
Someone sent that to her, to lure her out.
I get the hell out of the building, throw myself into my car, and speed toward the Chief’s house. When I arrive, the Chief and Bill stand on the lawn, hands on hips. They’re deep in conversation about something, but when Chief notices my face, his immediately becomes concerned.
“What is it?” he asks, the second my feet hit the grass.
“I can’t find Violet.”
The air around us thickens.
Chief and Bill both lock eyes on me, and the heat of their stares burns through me. A second passes, two, before Chief’s voice cracks like gunfire. “What do you mean, you can’t find her?”
My pulse is in my throat. “She was at work. I went by when I couldn’t get hold of her. She isn’t there. Can’t find her anywhere.”
Bill frowns, brows stitched so close they nearly meet in the center. “Have you called—”
“Everyone.” I pull my phone from my pocket, wave it uselessly. “Someone texted Violet from my work phone. Told her to meet in the parking lot for a surprise.”
Bill glances at Chief. “You didn’t send that?”
I shake my head. “Never touched the damn phone. Left it at my desk until an hour ago. Only saw the message when I went up there to check.”
A silence settles, the kind that feels like all the air has been sucked out of the night. Chief’s breathing is deep and ragged. “Who the hell would want to hurt her?”
My mind flips through possibilities. “I don’t—” The word dies on my lips. But I do know. Something cold trickles down my back.
Chief glares at me when my voice trails off. “Who has access to your office? Your phone?”
“Janice,” I force out. “It’s Janice.”
She is the only person outside of Violet who has the key to that office.
The only one who wants me.
The only one who couldn’t stand Violet coming back.
“Fuck,” I roar.
Violet was right, all along.
I didn’t listen to her.
I pull out my phone, trying to call Janice again.
She doesn’t answer.
Over and over, I call.
She ignores it.
“Get in the truck,” Chief orders.
I don’t argue.
I get in.
Chief’s fingers drum on the steering wheel as he speeds down the road, no doubt having no idea quite where he is going. “She’s been obsessed since you broke it off, am I right?”
I stare ahead, the road a silver thread unwinding into darkness. “She’s smarter than I gave her credit for,” I say, quiet. “I should have listened to Violet.”
Chief grunts, but he doesn’t make me feel any worse than I already do. “Where would she take her?”
I run through every memory, every conversation about family, about the city, about her sad, empty little life.
I shake my head. “She’s a control freak.
She wouldn’t risk public places, wouldn’t risk anyone seeing.
She’s always worked late, stayed behind when no one else does.
There’s a storage basement at the company’s warehouse. It’s the only place I can think of.”
Chief grunts approval. “Let’s go.”
As we cut along the empty side street toward the storage building, I force myself to breathe. Think. Focus. If Janice is there, if she has Violet, she won’t expect company. She’ll think she’s in control.
But this time, I’m taking it back.