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Or was he just a regular guy going about his evening?
I stole another look over my shoulder. My stomach exploded with butterflies. Not happy ones. Something about him was off.
For one, it was a nice night. Definitely T-shirt weather, but he was in a black hoodie and black jeans. That wasn’t exactly newsworthy, but the way he had his black ballcap pulled low over his eyes and kept his face down and hidden by his hood was right out of thehow to spot a murdererhandbook.
My chest tightened as my heart palpitated wildly.
Was this one of the guys who’d threatened Evan? Had they found me?
Was I about to die?
Gasping a breath, I pulled out my phone and quickened my steps.
Should I call the police? But what would I say? Was the possibility that I was being followed a good enough reason to call them? And what if this guy wasn’t a psycho killer and I got him shot by some trigger-happy cop because I didn’t like the way he dressed?
But what if hewasa psycho killer? What if not calling the cops on him got me unalived?
Shit shit shit shit.
With shaking hands I video-called Gray. He’d know what to do.
“Please be home. Please be home,” I muttered as it rang.
Gray’s face filled the screen as he answered. “What’s up?”
“Hey.” I peeked over my shoulder. Wait, what? He wasn’t behind me anymore. Had I been wrong? I looked at Gray. “Can you talk for a few minutes?”
“Yeah, you okay?”
“Fine. Some guy’s been following me for a few blocks. Probably just going the same way as me, but I’m getting sketchy vibes from him.”
“Where are you? Want me to come pick you up?”
“I’m probably just being paranoid.” I looked over my shoulder again. “Shit,” I hissed as the guy stepped out from behind a group of women pushing strollers.
“What? What’s going on?”
“Not sure. Let me cross the street to see…” I looked both ways and hurried across the street. “Fuck. He crossed the street too.”
“Where are you?”
“Like, five minutes from home.”
“Where’s the nearest commercial street? Is there a store or anything close?”
“There’s a gas station a few blocks away.” I peered over my shoulder again. “Wait. Is that…” I stopped walking. The guy stopped too. He pulled a phone out of his hoodie pocket and fiddled with it, keeping his head down and his face out of view.
Something about him was familiar. The set of his shoulders, his big hands, even the way he was bent over his phone. His black hoodie was generic and had no identifying details on it, but I’d seen it before. I glanced at his feet. I knew those boots.
Vlado? Why the hell was he following me around and freaking me the fuck out?
“What?” Gray asked.
Dropping the phone to my side, I stalked back toward where the man stood. He froze but didn’t look up.
“The fuck, dude?”Please be Vlado and not some crazy guy who’ll kill me in broad daylight while I’m talking to my bestie.
“Nick?” came Gray’s muffled voice.
