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“Far enough from Eugene. My parents begged me to stay in-state and go to U of O. I was ready to go my own way.”
Her gaze locked on Dr. Merino and did not falter. She took in the familiar empty, black eyes. The scar that cut precisely through the hollow of his left cheek. He was both handsome and frightening, and she likened the time she spent with him to exposure therapy.
“Why didn’t you kiss me in your car?”
He turned away and put his half-empty mug in the sink, shooting Kenna a darting glance over his shoulder that stung her chest. “It’s getting late. I should go.”
23
ALEX
Thursday morning, Kenna wandered into the kitchen and found Alex seated at the island smashing avocado into slices of sourdough toast. The bread flattened in the center beneath the force of the fork.
Smashed may have been an understatement.
Had she any caffeine flowing through her, she may have been more concerned with her roommate’s aggressive breakfast preparation. Kenna needed coffee stat or she’d be retreating back to her room and sleeping through her birthday.
She had stayed up until 3 a.m. sifting through search results relating to Dr. Merino.
Many of the pages rehashed the same basic information she had on him—the dull but vital facts of one’s existence that could be dug up on the web for any living person. It was infuriating that his internet presence blended in with the sea of everyday people.
How it wasn’t decorated with wanted posters or confessional style diary blogs from his who knew how many former lovers was hard to believe.
She wasn’t willing to take it at face value. Hours of fruitless searches whittled away Kenna’s sanity and led her to a seedy corner of the web, a site that offered what they advertised as ‘extensive’ background checks and thirty bucks seemed a negligible price for the intel it promised.
On March 19, 2007, in Los Angeles, Dayton E. Merino was arrested. For what, she was unsure, but the details wouldn’t have made a difference. Kenna could not have been any more sated.
She’d had an awful feeling about him from the start, and while the women’s accounts somewhat solidified that point of view, she now had concrete proof of his malefaction.
“Happy birthday.” Alex displayed a cold smile.
“Thanks,” she replied just as flatly. Kenna poured a mug of coffee, accidentally adding too much half and half in her bleary state. “When did you get in?”
Alex took a ridiculous-sized bite of the toast, speaking despite her full mouth. “Last night.”
“Did something happen while you were gone?”
Kenna was too exhausted for these kinds of theatrics.
She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and produced an ugly laugh. “What are you talking about?”
“Alex, we’ve lived together for almost three years. I know when something’s up with you. So, what is it?”
“Something came for you. It’s on the mat outside.”
When was the last time someone remembered her birthday? Flutters erupted in her stomach as she sprinted to the front door and a quiet gasp left her lips as she opened it.
She knelt to retrieve the massive pot of garnet roses positioned in the dead center of the doormat. Kenna didn’t need to look at the note. They couldn’t have been from anyone else. Still, she peeked at the tiny placard staked into the arrangement.Happy 22nd -Dr. M
The familiar illegible scrawl sent her into a tailspin that she was, for once, not desperate to escape. She did not view the flowers as a symbol of a line being crossed. Insatiable curiosity coupled with human fallibility had brought her here.
Dr. Merino’s dark pull held no more blame than her meddlesome brain. They had crossed the line together.
Heart thumping, Kenna carried the roses to her room. Though she admired the bouquet as she set it on her dresser, the knowledge of his arrest precluded her joy from reaching its maximum capacity. He was dangerous.
The beauty of the flowers did not negate that.
“Did you sleep with him?” Alex demanded the second Kenna swept into the common area.
