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But no. With my glasses on in broad daylight, I’m able to make out a pale, lean face within the dark hoodie and beady eyes that are looking directly back at me. It’s definitely him, the man I was running from when I fell.
“Lyla?” Thane asks when I don’t respond. “Where are we headed?”
“I-I don’t know yet. And, okay, so maybe this makes me sound crazy, but there’s a guy behind us, and he looks like the same weirdo who was at Laurel’s wedding.”
“Okay. So?”
“So, he’s creepy! Who wears a hoodie to a wedding?”
“A hoodie? Why do you think someone wearing a hoodie is creepy? Doesn’t everyone wear one now and then?”
“I don’t know how to explain it. It’s not his attire. I guess it’s the vibe I’m getting from him. Please just stay close, okay?”
“You must be worried if you want me closer,” he says as he leans in so that our shoulders rub as we walk down the sidewalk.
“I said close, not closer,” I tell him as I shove him away. “And forget the power suit. Let’s just get the hell out of here.”
“Parking lot?” he asks.
“Yes. I’m ready to go home.”
I’m already on edge as we head for my car, so when I hear the loud, familiarpop-pop-popof gunfire erupt nearby, I nearly jump out of my skin, and I choke on a shriek that comes out as only a gasp. I reach over to grab Thane’s arm, but he’s no longer walking next to me!
Thane is kneeling on the ground just behind me, his hand gripping his right side, where blood is flowing out.
“Oh my god!” I shout as I drop to my knees in front of him.
When he looks up at me, his eyes are huge, unfocused. “Your father…is gonna kill me,” he whispers through clenched teeth, making it obvious he’s in pain.
“It’s okay. You’re gonna be okay,” I tell him. “We just – we need to keep pressure on it!”
Every bag I was holding is forgotten, dropped near me, along with my purse, which I now grab with a shaking hand. I turn it upside down to dump it out, knowing it’s the fastest way to find my phone. My new phone, which thankfully works. It takes me longer than it should to punch in three numbers.
I don’t even have time to hear it ringing before someone grabs my elbow from behind. Hard. They jerk me up to my feet so fast I drop the device on the pavement.
“What the…” I whip my head around to see who grabbed me. I can’t even say I’m surprised to come face-to-face with the man in the hoodie.
“Let go of me. Now!” I shout as I try and yank my arm out of his unforgiving grip. It doesn’t work, no matter how hard I pull.
My brain is going a hundred miles an hour trying to figure out what to do when he opens his mouth and says, “You need to come with me, Lyla.”
Goose bumps race down my spine, hearing my name from this unfamiliar person. A person who must have been the one who shot Thane.
Why does he know my name? All I know is that there is no way I’m going anywhere with him. I will bite, punch, kick, do whatever it takes to keep that from happening. I need to get my phone back, to tell the 9-1-1 operator to send an ambulance.
“Get your hands off me!” I shout again while jabbing my elbow into the man’s gut.
He grunts, and then his voice deepens to something even scarier. “Don’t be difficult, my beautiful Lyla. We belong together.”
What. The. Actual.Fuck.
“No, the fuck we don’t, you creep! Help! Someone help us!” I scream at the top of my lungs while trying to lurch away from him, but he just pulls me back against the front of his body.
“That’s only because you don’t know me yet. They won’t tell you the truth about me.”
“I’m gonna tell you a truth –” I start, but his palm covered in a leather glove slaps over my mouth.
I grab at his arm, trying to dig my fingernails in, but it’s useless, thanks to his thick hoodie covering his skin. When he curses, then pinches my nose with the thumb and finger near my mouth, I really start to panic.
