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“Wait,” someone called from behind her. She turned around to see Claire rushing to catch up to her. “Danica. I want to talk to you a minute.”
Of course, Claire was wearing a beautiful dress and heels. It looked like an evening gown. Maybe she was headed out for the night. Dani felt like melting into the sidewalk with her polyester uniform on. She curled a hair behind her ear and forced a grin. “Hi, Claire.”
“Oh, you look hot. Want something to drink? I just bought this. It’s still cold.” Claire handed her a water bottle. It was, indeed, cold.
“Thanks.” Dani unscrewed the cap and took a long drink. It actually helped her feel better.
Claire shifted her weight, like she was nervous about something. “Can we talk for a minute?”
Dani had no idea what Claire wanted to say, but she was pretty much going to ignore all of it, seeing as how their last conversation had turned out. She squinted at her, wary for some reason. “Why?”
“There’s something going on. I wanted to talk with you about it.”
“What’s going on?”
Claire looked around before holding up her hand like she was going to tell Dani a secret. “I saw someone hanging around your room last night.”
“Wait, you saw someone?” Dani’s heart hammered. This was great news. Claire could help them catch the person leaving threats. She gripped her water bottle. “Can you describe them to the police?”
“Come here. I need to talk to you about it.” Claire grabbed Dani’s arm and started walking. Dani had no choice but to follow her if she didn’t want to jerk away. She was curious what Claire had to say. If she’d seen the culprit, then maybe they could catch the guy and stop this madness. She would be very relieved if they could catch the stalker.
After following Claire through the courtyard and down the other side of the resort, she slowed her steps. “Where are we going? Shouldn’t we go talk to Austin about all this?”
“I think I know who was hanging around your place.”
“And you’re taking me to them?” Dani stopped. She didn’t want to face the stalker. She wanted to turn it over to the police. Her head began to swim.
Claire studied her. “You don’t look so good. You’d better drink some more of that water.”
She did feel a little overheated. Dani took another swig. “I don’t want you to show me the stalker.”
“No. I’m not. Just come here. I want to talk to you about it.” Claire grabbed Dani’s arm and her nails dug into her skin.
“Ouch.” Dani jerked her arm away. Something was wrong. Claire was acting weird. She wasn’t about to go one step farther without knowing what was going on.
Claire turned to Dani, a wild expression on her face. “You must come.” She gripped Dani’s arm with surprising force and dragged her behind the resort wall.
“What are you doing?” Dani’s throat closed and she had trouble taking in air. Claire had gone mad. There was no other explanation for it. She was completely off her rocker.
Claire pushed Dani up against the wall. A row of trees blocked them from the ocean. They were thick enough that no one could see them, Dani was sure of it. Claire’s nostrils flared. “Why did you have to appear and mess everything up? Huh? I’d worked so hard to find Austin. I was about to succeed, and you showed up.”
Dani grew lightheaded and her knees became wobbly. “What are you talking about?”
“I tried to warn him away from you, but he wouldn’t listen.”
The threatening notes. That had been Claire? Dani swallowed. “It was you?”
Claire ignored Dani’s question, her grip on her arm tightening. “Austin and I are perfect for each other. Why can’t he see that?”
Dani’s heart pounded and she couldn’t breathe. This was how it was going to end, wasn’t it? Claire was going to stab her, or something, and she was going to die, right here behind the resort. She could see the headlines now.Danica Jordan dies at the hand of a stalker in an eerily similar way to her mother.
A part of Dani was terrified, but another part simply wanted to talk Claire down from the ledge. “You’re all dressed up. Do you have plans?”
“Of course,” Claire said, smiling. “I’m going out with Austin.”
“Perfect. Let’s go get him.”
Claire grit her teeth and pushed her arm up against Dani’s throat. “You’re not going anywhere.” Her breath smelled like vodka.
