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“You got what you deserved.”
“Your self-righteousness might help you sleep at night, but don’t forget that you were the one who carried out my orders. Turning your back on me and ruining my life was the biggest mistake you’ve ever made. That, and leaving your darling Eden home tonight.”
My breath catches in my throat. Rage floods my system. How I manage to keep my voice level, I’ll never know. “Leave her out of this. If you lay even a finger on her, I will strangle you with my bare hands.”
“Oh,I’mnot going to lay a finger on her, don’t you worry.”
“The fuck is that supposed to mean?”
“It means I’m going to hurt you, Stride. And I’m going to hurt you in all the places it counts. I thought I could destroy your career by having Renee release those pictures of you and the little slut to TMZ, but it seems I underestimated how quickly the public forgets the follies of men in this town.”
All I can do is blink. My mind momentarily freezes. “Renee?” I echo. “Renee took… I don’t understand.”
“You’re really fucking dense, you know that?” Walton chuckles. “She was so desperate for your attention, but did you notice her even once? No, of course not. She spent years working at your side, eager to please you. I couldsmellhow pathetic she was. When I offered her my help, she all but jumped at the chance.”
My stomach flips, the pieces slowly falling into place. Renee was my stalker. I don’t know why I didn’t see it before, but now it’s glaringly obvious. She slipped those anonymous love letters into her financial reports on purpose and claimed she had no idea how they got there. Renee was always hovering around my office even though the financial department was in a different section of the studio. She could easily get a hold of my itinerary, find out where I was going and who I was talking to.
I shake my head, still confused. “But how did she manage to bypass my security cameras? My alarms?”
Walton huffs. “I may have been locked away for a decade, boy, but I still have plenty of connections. I happen to be good friends with the man who owns the security company in charge of your account. He happens to owe me a handful of favors, one such being to give Renee access whenever she pleased.”
My jaw clenches so hard I’m pretty sure I hear something pop in my skull. That explains it. If Renee was able to bypass my security, it would explain how she managed to go undetected for so long. It explains how she was able to get up close, observe us, even recreate my damn home and the people inside it with those creepy dolls of hers. It explains how she managed to get close enough to take those pictures of Eden and me in the pool.
“Son of a bitch,” I spit. “You’re not going to get away with this.”
“I think you’ll find I already have. You should probably give yoursweethearta call. I have a feeling it might be the last time you hear from her now that Renee’s on the way.”
I don’t even wait for the call to end before I’m turning on my heels and sprinting back the way I came. Even though Walton’s full of shit, I don’t think he’s bluffing. Where Eden’s concerned, I’m not going to take any risks. That man is unhinged, and Renee more so.
“Stride!” Charlie shouts after me. “Where are you going? Stride!”
I ignore the calls, the murmurs, the bewildered wide eyes. My heart drums loudly in my chest, my fingers and toes numb as adrenaline courses through my veins. Fuck the premiere. Fuck the glitz and the glam and the glory. I suddenly don’t give a damn about the movie, about its success, about my career. People can say whatever the hell they want in tomorrow’s gossip mags. They can speculate out their asses.
All I care about is getting to Eden.
I only hope that it isn’t too late.
Chapter 47
Tip #47: I don’t like playing hide and seek.
EDEN
Taylor lets out a chilling shriek as Samantha’s body slumps to the floor, hitting the tiles with such force that I’m fairly certain I hear the crack of her skull. I’ve never felt fear like this before. I can’t tell if what I’m feeling is fear at all. All I know is that the moment I see Renee step into the house with a gun in her hand, my body reacts all on its own.
I don’t think, I just do.
I grab Taylor and Mei-Lee by their hands and drag them down the hall with me. Renee is hot on our tails, firing another two shots in our direction. One of the bullets misses us and shatters one of the windows while the other whizzes right past my ear. I feel terrible for leaving Samantha behind, but there’s no way we can get back to her right now without running straight into Renee’s path.
“Come back here, you slut!” Renee screams, and I know for a fact that she’s referring to me. “You took him away from me! Hunter was supposed to be mine!”
I’m not listening to her. I need to concentrate on surviving. My friends’ and my baby’s lives hang in the balance.
She fires another two shots; neither of them hit their mark. We continue to run down the hall, then make a sharp right into the garage.
“Help me barricade the door!” I shout.
“Holy fuck!” Taylor wails, tears streaming down her face as the three of us try to push a large toolbox in front of the door.
