“I’m not taking any chances. Whether he’s someone worth fearing or just a random asshole, I don’t know. And until I know, I need you here.”
Hollie seems to be debating with herself, judging by how her mouth twists to the side, but thankfully, she nods. “Okay. I’ll call her and postpone.”
“Thank you.”
“Will you be gone long?”
Kissing her hipbone over the bruise that’s darkened over the course of the night, I climb from the bed and pull the covers over her as I stand. “I don’t know, but I’ll leave Toto here and I’ll have my phone on me. Call me if you need anything.”
“Is this really the place?”Biting, icy wind whips around me, pulling at my coat and lifting my pant legs as if it’s desperate to find any way beneath my warm layers. A thick coating of snow lies all around us, disturbed only by my car and Stu’s footsteps. If anyone else had been here, their presence would have been erased in the snowstorm that hit a little after four in the morning.
“Yup,” Stu confirms, his hands in his coat as he stares up at the building. “How did they clean everything so fast?”
When I dropped Hollie off here yesterday, this building was full of life. Christmas wreaths hung from every window, the stone pillars at the entranceway were swirled with lights, and there were several glittering wire reindeer all over the front lawn. In the cold light of day, not a single detail remains and the building looks so different, it’s like we’re in the wrong place.
Rex, kneeling at the front door with a lock pick in hand, grunts in surprise and stands. “Boss… It’s not even locked.”
The door swings open, revealing an empty foyer, and Stu’s face flits between confusion and surprise. “What the hell?”
Inside, there’s nothing.
Bare wooden floors stretch in every direction, open doors lead to empty rooms void of furniture, and crooked curtains hang off windows. There’s not a single hint that anyone was ever here, or has been here in the last month.
“What the hell?” Stu leads the way toward the room where he found Hollie’s shawl and purse. “How could they have cleaned up so fast? There were lights and decorations, Christmas trees and paintings on the wall. The entire manor looked lived in and now it looks…” He trails off and opens the door to the small room, but there’s no furniture in here either.
Everything is gone.
“Find the office,” I say as an uncomfortable itch crawls over my skin. “I want every room searched from top to bottom.”
This is looking more and more like a setup to lure in Hollie, and the only valid reason makes my blood run cold. Hollie is my wifeand she saw the tattoo, the same tattoo Zoe remembered during her triggered episode. Rex finally confirmed last night that the man I killed didn’t have the tattoo which means this man, if he’s the same as the fake Mr. Havershire, is my second target.
Not only does he know who I am, but he knows Hollie. And he almost had her.
It doesn’t take long to find the empty office, identifiable only by a smearing of glitter on the floor and a single glass shard retrieved from between the floorboards. This is where he attacked her and she fought free with the paperweight that seems now more like a snow globe.
“Boss?” Rex joins me shortly after we clean up the glass and glitter, hoping someone can help us identify the snow globe.
“Find anything?”
“Just this in one of the upper rooms wedged behind a dresser.” He hands me a crumpled flyer and grimaces. “This entire thing was a show.”
“A show?” Unfurling the flyer, neon text glares up at me advertising a flash mob party.
“Basically, a group chooses an abandoned building, sets up an event, and then hosts a party to whoever turns up and then they clean it all up afterward. All within one night,” Rex explains. “I remember them being viral a few years ago. My daughter was obsessed.”
My brow twitches. “But the engagement?”
Rex shrugs. “Could be that he found a guest to play along with him. The whole thing is an act. No one is who they say they are. It’s a night of pretend.”
“Find this group.” I shove the flyer back into his hands. “Hollie got this gig a few weeks ago, which means that fucker knew this was happening and chose this because there would be a crowd of strangers here to make it look real. Chances are, he knows one of them.”
Rex nods quickly. “Stu’s on it, Boss.”
“What the fuck is this…” Gazing around the room, tension pulls across my chest as the rest of my team scurries out. “Why the fuck would he go to all this effort?”
“He’s cocky. Arrogant. We reasoned that the entire reason the attack happened was that these small pricks couldn’t comprehend not being important. But now you’re looking into this personally… I bet he feels like he’s got a fucking spotlight on him.”
“So Hollie’s attack was my fault?” I fix Rex with a stern gaze. “Is that what you’re saying?”
