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I stop at the window long enough to retrieve the knife. Hopefully my contact at the PD will have better luck with it than he's had with anything else I've given him. And then I circle back to the front door.
I freeze halfway there, my blood running cold.
The door is standing open. I know I closed it.
"Kenna!" I roar, racing forward with my heart in my throat. I don't take a breath. I'm too goddamn afraid to breathe. Jesus Christ. I left her in there alone. If he touched her. If he hurt her… "Kenna!"
I pound on the bathroom door, praying to God she locked herself inside. Praying she's safe. Please God, let her be safe.
"G-Gideon?" she says.
My knees go weak. I damn near sink to the floor as relief surges through me.
She fumbles with the lock, trying to open it.
"Don't open it yet, Sparrow. Someone was in the apartment."
"What?" she cries.
"Just stay in there and let me check the apartment, okay?"
"Okay."
I drag myself away from the door, quickly moving to the bedroom. I check the closest and then silence the window alarm before moving back into the living room. I'm halfway across the damn room when I see the fucking box sitting on the couch.
I stride toward it, pissed all over again. I use the edge of a blanket to knock the top of it off.
Cold rage rips through me.
There's a dead sparrow lying at the bottom, surrounded by photos of the two of us.
There's also a note.
Amidst the triumph of the sparrow's flight,
Its voice now still, ended in the dead of night.
There's a date typed beneath the note. Two days from now…the day of the charity event.
Jesus Christ.
This motherfucker is threatening to kill her in front of thousands of people.
Five minutes later, I've wrapped the fucked-up box in a blanket and hid it in the back of my truck so she doesn't see it. Some things, she doesn't ever need to know. Some things, I'll never let her see. This is one of those things.
I check the rest of the apartment to make sure there are no other nasty surprises and then rap on the bathroom door again.
"Open the door, Sparrow. It's me."
She fumbles with the lock before throwing the door open.
I charge straight through, dragging her into my arms. She burrows into me, shaking like a little leaf.
"Gideon. I was so worried."
"I know, Sparrow," I murmur. "I know." I press my lips to her forehead. "I need you to get your shit together. Whatever you need until we can get you all packed up. You're not staying here any longer. It's not safe."
"Are you…" She blinks owlish, suspicious eyes at me. "Are you asking me to move in with you, Gideon?"
