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I shake my head. I can’t be jumping so far off course. First, we need to deal with my dad and Troy Wolski before I can even think about living arrangements.
I wish Hawke or Ellie were here with me. It wouldn’t be right to put them in danger, however small the chance is that the bastard can get past the team of guards around the house. Stopping my racing thoughts for a second, I drop into a deck chair to stare up at the sky.
It’s dusk. The end of another day, and the sunset is breathtaking over the Pacific. Maybe seeing it every day has spoiled me, or maybe tonight’s slashes of orange and purple and gold are more vibrant than usual. I don’t know which it is, but for the next twenty minutes, I’m mesmerized by the swirls of color as they become muted and fade into the deep bluish-black of the night sky.
“Mr. Walker?” I look over my shoulder to see one of the guards leaning out the back door, holding up my cell phone. “Sorry to intrude, but this keeps—”
The loud cadence of Weezer blares from the device in the man’s beefy hand. His eyes pop and I burst out laughing. “Sorry, man. I loved them as a kid. Played it all the time to piss off my dad.”
He hands me the phone and disappears back into the house, leaving me alone (well, alone minus the Bigfoot who is standing guard on the deck with me) to answer the call. I don’t recognize the number.
“Hello?”
“Gavin? It’s Sasha.”
My heart flutters nervously. Why is Sasha calling and not Mitch? “What’s going on? Why isn’t Mitch calling?”
“There’s been another murder by our serial killer.” She drops the bomb on me without hesitation or compassion.
“What?” I bolt upright, leaping to my feet. “You mean Wolski?”
“If they turn out to be one and the same, then yes,” she confirms, her tone still professional and cold.
“What aren’t you telling me, Sasha?” My hand plunges into my pocket, desperate for the soothing feel of my talisman. “Fuck!” The curse spills out of my mouth when I remember that I handed it to Mitch as he left the house.
“Take this with you.” I press the stone into Mitch’s palm as he opens the front door.
He curls my fingers back around it, pushing my fist back towards me. “No, Gavin. You need it.”
“Please, take it. I… it sounds stupid but it will feel like part of me is with you if you have it,” I explain. “You can give it back to me later.”
Mitch’s eyes mist over. He nods almost imperceptibly. “Okay.” I hand it to him, letting my fingers trace over his palm as I release the charm. “Thank you.” Mitch kisses me sweetly, holding the stone against my cheek as he frames my face with his hands.
“Be safe, Utah,” I rasp, my voice wavering.
“Love you, Gav.” Mitch gives me one more small kiss before backing up and walking outside.
My vision blurs as I watch him leave, one of the guards getting into the passenger side of his car. As they pull out of the driveway, a dark cloud surrounds me, bringing menacing images of death and pain. Silently, I pray that this isn’t the last time I’ll ever see the man I love.
“Gavin, stay calm.” Sasha snaps me out of my memory.
“Calm? Tell me why the hell Mitch isn’t calling me himself?” My stomach cramps and I nearly pass out when every drop of blood in my body drains into my toes. “It’s not… he’s not… oh god, Sasha. Mitch isn’t the victim, is he?”
“Oh no, Gavin! No! I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to frighten you like that.” Sasha sounds genuinely concerned. Her FBI persona cracks for a second, letting me see the human side.
“Fuck. You just took a year off my life.” I run a hand through my hair and realize my forehead is slick with sweat.
“I’m sorry. No, that’s not why I’m calling.”
My poor heart thuds behind my ribcage, waiting for the axe to drop. “Then why?”
She sighs. “Mitch went to the crime scene.”
“What?” The ominous feeling from earlier today shrouds me, dropping down like a thick fog, suffocating, weighing down on my shoulders. I collapse to my knees, not caring that the hard wood slats of the deck bruise and splinter my flesh. It’s a preferable pain to the splintering of my heart.
“I told him not to, but he’s meeting Van Zandt and Halifax at the scene,” Sasha explains.
That selfish asshole! He gave no thought to how I would feel at his recklessness, that I would worry and lose my mind while he’s off getting cozy with a psycho.
