Page 123 of Wicked Little Secret
I order a rideshare home and slide into the backseat firing off a text to Theron.
Hey, just left the party.Are you home?
Part of me wants to give the driver his address and show up by surprise, though I decide against it and let him drive me home.
We pull up twenty minutes later with my feet aching to take off my heels and rain pouring from the sky. I ride the elevator up to the fourth floor, grateful that I’ll at least spend the rest of the night cuddling with Peaches. I approach my front door as I always do, fiddling for my keys.
A premonition I can’t explain washes over me the closer I make it. I stop and stare for a second, looking up and down the otherwise silent hallway.
No one’s around. My neighbors are silent.
It’s minutes after nine o’ clock.
The creeping feeling goes nowhere as I step forward and unlock my door.
Right away, Peaches meows and darts toward me. I kneel to meet her. “What is it, my sweet girl? What’s wrong?”
My spooked ginger cat doesn’t need to meow or quake any more in order to point me to what’s off about the moment.
I discover it for myself when my gaze lifts and I spot what’s splattered on the floor.
A single droplet of blood…
At that exact moment, my phone pings with a text message from an unknown number.
If you want the truth, find out for yourself.
21.8975° N, 52.0465° W
24
THERON
WHERE IS MY MIND? - SAFARI RIOT AND GRAYSON SANDERS
“You just might be perfect,”Josalyn giggled. She peered up at me as she lay in the tall grass, the spring sunshine warm on our skin.
I was sitting up, a book propped open in my lap. We were in the clearing deep into the campus’s pine forest, enjoying what we could of the rest of our afternoon.
It was one of the rare chances we’d had in recent months to spend time together. Soon I’d be graduating and taking the bar exam. Josalyn had been preoccupied with her own personal matters…
I grinned down at her, some locks of hair falling into my face. “If I were so perfect, you’d be with me, Jos.”
“You know that’s not possible. You’re better off without me.”
“Says who?”
“The world,” she answered. “Everyone.”
“Not me. Not you. Sonoteveryone.”
“Close enough.” She sat up and brushed the loose lock of hair from my brow. “You need a haircut, Theron.”
I caught her hand in mine. “You need to stop avoiding the situation.”
“Not this again.”
“I’m worried about you. If you get caught…”