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I had two options here. Tell him about the beating I took earlier and every other time, or I could lie to him and tell him how perfect life was.
I pursed my lips, deciding to choose option two because why on earth would I tell a neighbor I barely knew about how badly my boyfriend was treating me? But before I could speak, Wilson’s face fell and his eyes filled with worry. “What happened?”
He was looking at my cheek, and I quickly covered it with my hand. “Nothing. I…” I laughed to play down my pain. “I tried to grab a bowl from the cupboard and it fell on my face.”
At least I learned one useful skill during these five years. I knew how to come up with lies in seconds. Not many could do that. It was my one special talent.
Wilson didn’t believe me but chose to go with it. “Sorry to hear. Does it hurt?”
“Oh, not much. I’ll be okay. I put ice on it so it wouldn’t swell.”
He nodded, his eyes narrowing before they met mine again. His smile was back, and I mimicked his expression. “How’s Ricky?”
“Good. Well, he has a cold because I left the window open all night but he’ll be okay.”
“Is he home then?”
I shook my head. “He’s having dinner with his business partners.”
“His cold isn’t so bad then.”
I shook my head again. “To be honest, I don’t think it’s an actual cold. He only has a runny nose.”
“Probably allergies. Are you busy?”
Never had a conversation gone this far between us. It was only small talk, but I had a feeling that I’d be standing here longer than usual. “No, I’m not busy. I was just about to make myself a sandwich.”
Wilson looked past me and into my apartment, and when his eyes were back on mine, he tilted his head to the side in the most handsome way possible. “Mind if I join?”
My heart suddenly pounded harder in my chest, and alarms went off inside my head. Not because of Wilson, but because of Ricky. If he’d find out about another man being in our apartment, he’d freak out.
“I…I don’t think that’s possible. I’m sorry.”
“Ah.” He waved a hand, then ran it over his short hair. “No, I’m sorry. That was a dumb question.”
“It wasn’t. I just…I don’t think Ricky would allow me to have a…stranger in the apartment.”
Wilson chuckled and nodded to agree with me. “You’re right. That was inappropriate. I’ll leave you to it.”
My smile tightened and I leaned against the door as he took a few steps back. “It was nice talking to you though.”
“Yeah, it really was. Goodnight, Hadley.”
“Night.”
I closed the door and headed to the kitchen to put the milk in the fridge, then I thought about where I went wrong in life to have met a man like Ricky instead of Wilson.
4
HADLEY
“We finally have an image of the killer. They call him The Beak and he was last seen near the victim’s house with a mask covering his face. These are scary images no one likes to see, especially this close to Halloween. Our town is being haunted and—”
I paused to take a better look at the man who had been traumatizing our community for weeks. The picture was unclear and grainy, but you could clearly see a man with black clothes and a mask, which had a long, curved beak. It almost looked like a Plague Doctor costume, but it wasn’t. Interesting choice, but the more I stared at that beak, the more curious I became.
The Beak.
Not as scary as other serial killer names. I wondered if the killer called himself that too or if the news and police came up with it because it was just an easy way to identify him. Either way…there was something intriguing about him. I didn’t know anything about him, yet he was right up there on the list of hottest serial killers.
