AllFreeNovel
Share Us
What if the professor was never dead? What if he just left? What if he’s after me?
Did Nataniele ever send in a cleanup team? If so, they’d have discovered the body, right? If it had been gone, wouldn’t he have told Mom and me? Unless he hadn’t wanted to because he knew that if we knew the professor wasn’t dead, and had left already, that we might consider returning to our old lives.
My mind is racing, and I don’t know what to do with this information.
Is Paxton still alive…?
This puts me leaving Verona Falls in a whole new light. A stupid light. A crazy, badly planned, and not very well thought out light.
I might have questioned my mother’s motives. It will take me a long time to forgive her for what she’s done. Now, though, I’m here alone in a motel room, knowing a monster might be out there. It makes me realize what she said was true all along. My mom has always been about protecting me. I might not ever be able to come to terms with what she did, but keeping me safe has been her entire life’s work.
It wasn’t made easy by dad either, because he was always getting us into financial trouble, which put my health care in jeopardy. I feel a tug on my heartstrings as I think about my mom and everything she has been through for me. How did I repay her? I’d berated her, and insulted her, and then I left. She must be worried sick right now.
A thought hits me.
Does she know?
Is my mother aware the professor is alive? Is that why she’s so determined to stay hiding out in that hellhole with that horrible man no matter what?
No, I tell myself. That can’t be the case. We wouldn’t be on the run from the police if he was alive. Although in effect, it makes no difference because we’d still be on the run, but this time we’d be running from Paxton. I’ve no doubt if he caught up with me, he would do terrible things to me.
How is he alive? I can’t quite grasp this.
I chew on my fingernail as I consider all this information. Why would he go back to the college?
Maybe that file was mine. He never picked me up from home, and as far as I can recall, I never gave him my address. It’s not as though I ever wanted him to come to my house in case my mom saw him. The college would have it, though. They’d also have information about my mom and extended family.
He could be on my trail right now.
Bright light illuminates the window, blinding me for a second, and I freeze. A car has just pulled into the parking lot.
“Listen, Lola,” I say urgently. “I’m sorry it’s taken me so long to get in touch. I promise I will again soon. Thing is that right now, I’ve got to go.”
I hang up before she can object and creep to the window, hiding from the glass as I peek out and try to figure out what I can see. A tall, broad figure strides across the parking lot. I can’t make out his features, as he’s wearing a hood and his head is down, toward the ground. It doesn’t look like the professor, but what if it is? Worse, what if he sent a hitman after me?
If someone had told me six months ago that such a thing was possible, I’d have laughed in their face, but my entire world has changed. The chance of this being a hitman feels very real.
The figure cuts across the asphalt and heads straight for my door. No. No. No. This cannot be happening. Where can I hide?
I run toward the bathroom and shut and lock the door behind me. Without any real plan as to what I’ll do next, I climb into the bath. I curl up in a ball and hug my knees to my chest. The tears flow now. This must be what it is like to face the end of everything. I know the man is here for me.
I’m sure he’s here to deal out death.
Chapter 8
Mackenzie
Bang. Bang. Bang.
Someone pounds on the door three times. I scream and clamp my hand over my mouth. I’m terrified, my entire body shaking. I’m scared I’m going to bite my tongue, my teeth are chattering so hard.
Some distant part of my brain tells me to remember my yoga breathing to try to keep myself calm, but I’m way past that.
“Kenzie, open the hell up.”
I jerk my head up and turn to look at the bathroom door. I recognize that voice.
Tino?
