Page 48 of Scandal

Maybe because she’d been correct in that up to now, I’d been the exact same way. A fucking carbon copy, only I had no aspirations of running for office. Or did I?

Sighing, I opened my door, the light flooding in making me wince. I jumped out, racing to the other side to grab the two bags of groceries, the rain pelting against my skin. Juggling the paper bags and my briefcase proved to be significantly difficult. By the time I reached my door, I was soaked, my hand shaking as I tried to insert the key into the lock, cursing that I’d stayed late and had forgotten to turn the outside light on.

The sound of an engine caught my attention before I could accomplish the task. When I looked over my shoulder, the hair stood up on the back of my neck. There was no doubt it was the same vehicle. I slunk against the door, holding my breath asthe driver slowed to almost a full stop. Shit. What the hell was I supposed to do?

Get inside.

Yet the last thing I wanted to do was to call attention to the fact I was standing outside watching whoever it was casing my house. Things like this didn’t end well. Could it be that Jonny had found me? That wasn’t possible. My address was unlisted on purpose, only my boss… Fuck.

I held my breath as a truck rolled by, where I was standing lit by the single streetlight on the entire block. This was getting ridiculous. When it finally drove by a few seconds later, I didn’t waste any time, still fumbling but finally getting the key into the small slot. When I threw open the door, I still expected someone would jump from the shadows, but the warmth of my cozy home, including the light over the stove I had left on allowed me to feel a little better.

Still, I closed and locked the door, almost dropping the wet bags. I hurried into the kitchen, barely able to get them onto the counter before one of the bags split. Thank God, I caught the bottle of wine before it smashed to the floor.

At least I had my priorities straight. The thought brought another wave of laughter into my system, yet I was sick to my stomach. I had no one that could help me unless I got Jenny involved. And I just didn’t want to do that to her.

Oh, God. I gripped the edge of the counter, realizing I was dripping all over the surface. Plus, I was freezing. I headed for the small laundry room, grabbing a clean towel from the basket. The moment I returned, I was horrified to see the truck was lingering outside. I was able to see it through the open blinds.What the hell was going on? Should I contact the police? And tell them what? That a truck was temporarily idling on a public road? Yeah, on top of everything I’d be labeled a kook.

Instead, I moved toward the window, closing the blinds. Then I backed against the counter, hugging the towel to my face for a few seconds before glancing toward the laundry room once again. After a few seconds, I returned to the small room, grabbing a box from one of the shelves. Nestled inside was the specialty knife. I ran my fingers down the wooden handle before wrapping my fingers around the smooth wood. It felt better just having it in my hands.

I returned to the kitchen, trying to imagine actually using the ancient piece. The blade was sharp, capable of doing damage. Now I was a killer? Right. Fortunately, I could laugh at myself even though this was far from being a laughing matter.

As I finally managed to take a deep breath, I realized I noticed a light coming from the hallway. Wait a minute. Had I been in such a hurry that I’d actually left the light on in the bathroom? It was possible. I kept the knife in my hand, moving down the hallway while constantly looking over my shoulder. When I reached the edge of the doorway, I hesitated. I took a deep breath, leading with the sharp point several feet away from my body. There was no one inside, no indication that anyone had been.

I usually wasn’t this careless, but I had been flustered and in a hurry. Backing away, I flicked off the switch. At that moment I heard a loud thump coming from the back of the house. A scream threatened to give me away. I slapped my other hand over the back of my mouth, realizing the sound had come from directly behind my bedroom window.

Every step tentative, I headed toward my bedroom, making a decision that I’d never open the blinds again. Fuck the sunlight. As I crept closer, I found myself crouching down in the darkness, even if what little was left of my rational mind reminded me no one could see inside given the protection being in the dark held.

The bloody, gruesome pictures from the crime scenes four years before meshed with the ones from the O’Connors’ murder investigation and those I’d finally located regarding the two other murders with similar MOs. I couldn’t distinguish one from the other except for the fact Damien’s victims had all been female. I’d studied serial killers over the years, honing my skills as a prosecutor, determining their minds were entirely different than process killers, those doing it for revenge or taking out an enemy.

It was likely that if there was any truth to Jonny being a murderer, the people he’d killed had wronged him in some manner. It wasn’t about a new flavor of the week sparking his twisted mind.

“Stop it. You can’t keep doing this.” The shadows and whistling wind were making everything worse. Soon, I’d turn on every light in the house.

I made it to the window, standing by the corner, darting a peek through the window. Just as a limb from my favorite tree smacked hard against the glass. I yelped once then groaned. I was turning into some crazy woman. The goddamn storm. The driver outside was probably searching for an address and given the torrential rain needed to pull over.

Fuck.

I was such an idiot. Still. It couldn’t hurt to check the locks on the windows and doors just in case. That should make me feel better. I turned on the light, checking both windows and closing the blinds. I did so in the other rooms, finally moving into the living room, holding my breath as I took one last look into the darkness surrounding the house. There was no idling truck, no evidence of any disturbance.

Breathing a sigh of relief, I closed the blinds then went to double check the lock on the front door. Hair stood up on the back of my neck again as several simultaneous things happened. There was another loud thump coming from somewhere in the back of the house, and a rumble of thunder occurred that was so loud I gasped for air.

And someone was outside my front door, jiggling the knob. Oh, no, no.

The combination was too much, and I let out a scream that could wake the dead. Oh, God. Oh…

There was another pound on the door, and I was uncertain what the hell to do.

“Open the door, Sedona.”

What? It was Jonny. Oh, God. I had no clue what to do at this point.

I opened my mouth to retort, to try to get him to leave but nothing came out. Suddenly, the handle was turned, and I was forced to slap my hand across my mouth once again.

“Open this door or I will kick it in.”

“Just go away.” Great. My voice was shaking. The last thing I wanted was to have him in my house. This had to stop.

“I mean it, Sedona. Open. This. Door. Now.”

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