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The next thing I knew, the van came to a complete stop and the sound of the door opening was the last thing I remembered before everything went black.
Based on the throbbing pain in my skull, it was safe to assume this motherfucker knocked me out with something hard. Although I had a killer headache, I was just thankful they removed the blindfold, and I could at least see again, even though that wasn’t much help. I was tied to a chair in the middle of an empty room.
Alone.
Bile rose in the back of my throat as I tried to find my bearings. Then all of a sudden, the door to the room I was in opened. In a matter of seconds, the person I least expected walked in.
“Oh my God,” I muttered with wide eyes. “It is you.”
“No…” Hayley’s arms flew out in front of her in a surrendering gesture as she frantically shook her head while being pushed forward, stumbling to remain upright.
A man wearing a mask on the top half of his face stepped in behind her. He was pointing a gun at her back with another one aimed at my face.
My heart dropped to the floor.
Nothing could have prepared me for a moment like this. Not a nightmare, trauma, or anything was even remotely close to what I was experiencing.
Fight or flight.
I thought I could be brave, but as he just stood there, thriving off my fear, I felt like the weakest person in the world with my life playing out in front of me.
All I could see…
Were the memories of the man I lost.
From the first time that I met Adrian Drake to walking up in his arms that morning. It was a movie reel in vivid, colorful images.
The good times.
The bad.
And everything in between.
Whether I made it out of here dead or alive, he’d forever be my soulmate.
My stalker nodded for Hayley to sit down in the chair next to me. On wobbly legs, she did as he asked, looking at me the entire time. I took the opportunity to get a good look at her. She had a busted lip, and was obviously afraid, but all in all, she was okay.
Once we heard the door close, and the click of the lock, we were instantly relieved.
Hayley leaped off her chair, throwing her arms around me, holding me tight.
“I hate that you’re here.”
“Are you okay?” I asked, more concerned for her.
She pulled away. “I think so.”
“Okay.” I nodded. “Help me get out of these ties.”
She shook her head, sitting back on the balls of her feet. “Don’t make him mad, Paige. If you’re still tied and I’m not it’s for a reason. Whatever he does, there’s a motive behind it. I learned that the hard way.”
“Has he been stalking you too?”
“I’m not sure. He knew where I’d be. He was waiting for me in my hotel room. I’m only in Kentucky for a medical conference this week. Has he been stalking you?”
“Yes.”
“Holy shit,” she breathed out, trying to keep up with what I was sharing. “For how long?”
“Over a year.”
“Oh my God…” She peered around as if it held all the answers before asking, “Do the cops know about this?”
“Yeah.”
Without faltering, she added, “And Adrian?”
I nodded again, wanting to give her a quick response.
“Okay…” She paused. “What about Cade?”
“Yes, but only since yesterday morning.”
“And Adrian?”
“Over two months.”
Silence.
Both of us needed time to process.
We stayed quiet, lost in our own thoughts for a minute before she uttered, “Paige…”
“Yeah?” I replied, thinking of a plan.
Everything finally came to a head when she declared, “I think I know who it is.”
Adrian
“Adrian!” Cade shouted, dragging me back to the present. “Answer me! Why did you tell me you didn’t love her?”
“We don’t have time for this.”
“You’re right. We don’t. But don’t think for a damn minute we’re not having this discussion later.”
“Fair enough.”
For the rest of the morning, we tried finding the missing pieces to the puzzle, searching high and low for any sort of clue. We went straight to Paige’s apartment. We rummaged through drawers, cabinets, and shelves, only to come up empty.
I was on the verge of tearing her fucking place apart, trashing it just to see if I could find something, anything.
“Fuck!” I yelled, frustrated we weren’t finding what we needed.
I looked under her bed, dragging all the stuff she hid. It was shoe boxes filled with pictures of our past. Right there in my face. Mocking me.
Some of the images were aged and worn, almost like she held and stared at them for hours on end.
I was holding somany fucking photos in my hands.
I didn’t have to turn around to know Cade was behind me, looking at what I was, from afar.
“You’re in ninety-eight percent of these pictures,” I stated
“Yeah,” was all he responded.
Shaking my head, I felt the pain of our past deep in my chest.
