Abigail

My breath locked in my throat. Fear sat like a lump the size of Texas, leaving me unable to swallow, unable to breathe

Unable to move an inch.

Annette rushed out of the bedroom, her hair wet and dripping all over the carpet. She had a towel wrapped around her, her hand clamped over her mouth, water dripping down her body as she looked at me, fear deep in her eyes.

Yeah, I couldn’t believe it. The audacity of that pathetic prick!

"Come on, Lana,"

He called her Lana because that was the false name Annette had dropped and yet somehow he had been able to find her real address.

That piece of scum.

Annette’s eyes were round as saucers above her fingers, and I was sure I had the same expressions on my face.

She pointed at the door and mouthed, "How?"

No fucking idea. Dennis wouldn’t have let him in. He must have snuck in. How did he even know which unit was our apartment?

God, this was a mess. I couldn’t let Annette face him alone. I might as well put an end to it.

I moved toward the door but Annette rapidly closed the gap between us and grabbed my arm.

Her fingers dug in hard, shaking her head. She pulled me back toward the bedroom hallway and whispered harshly.

"If he sees you he’ll know. He’ll know we’re connected. If he knows that-"

"I’m not letting you answer that door. I don’t care, I’m the one who brought him into our lives, I’ll take him right out."

"Abby." Her grip tightened around my arm "If he figures out we’ve been working together it’s over. Everything, your parents, Cole’s death, All of it goes with us." Her eyes held mine. "He could kill us both and nobody would ever know what really happened."

"That’s exactly why you’re not answering that door!" I whisper-yelled. "He’s a psycho, Annette. I’m not letting him within ten feet radius of you."

"I can handle him." She bit out, "I talked to him before, didn’t I? It’s no biggie."

"That’s exactly how this happened. Annie please, please, I’ll answer the door and you call the police."

"Get in the bedroom, Abby," She grunted, snatching a hoodie off the couch in the living room and yanking it over her towel.

She didn’t give me a chance to protest and immediately headed for the door. I ran to the bedroom, grabbing a baseball bat souvenir that we had bought at a game some months ago, tightening my grip around it as I tiptoed to the hallway, peeking from the corner.

My heartbeat was so loud in my ears I thought it would shake the whole building.

"Oh my god." Annette gushed at the door. "I wasn’t expecting you, Gavin,"

"I know." The bastard had the guts to sound smug as stalking a woman was perfectly normal. I couldn’t see his face, but Annette so much as whimpered, I was going to storm out there and bash his face with every ounce of strength in my body. "I kept thinking about you. Can I come in?"

My hands tightened on the bat.

"Ugh, I would say yes but my roommate is home." Annette groaned as if she was tired of the world.

"She’s so weird about strangers in the apartment. Like genuinely weird, I cannot explain it to you, she has this whole thing about people being in her space. Last time I had someone over, she didn’t speak to me for a week."

"Damn that’s tough,"

"I know, I know." She laughed nervously. "Look, why don’t we set something up properly instead? Somewhere we can actually talk. There’s that wine bar on Mercer, I’ve been meaning to go-"

"I’d rather we go somewhere quieter." His voice dropped so cold that the hairs on my arms stood up in fear.

Like hell you will.

"Even better," Annette piped in smoothly. "I know just the place. Give me your number and I’ll text you."

For a while, there was a very tense silence. I had almost dared it all and rushed out when he finally said.

"Alright." He called out his number while Annette promised to text him when she was free.

"I’ll look forward to it." He said gruffly. "Don’t keep me waiting too long."

"I won’t. Byeeeee."

I stepped out of the corner once the door was locked, my entire body shaking.

Annette stood with her back against the door, both palms flat on it, her chest rising and falling. Our eyes held for a minute, then her knees buckled slightly. I crossed too quickly and hugged her.

"I’m so sorry,"

"I need a drink," she rasped, licking her lips.

"You need to leave this apartment for a while. Stay at Sasha’s, or Jade’s, somewhere he doesn’t know."

She rolled her eyes. "Stalkers always find a way, Abby,"

"Just for a few days, Annie. Come on, it’ll be like a sleepover."

It took a while to convince her to go but I had to. I couldn’t take this anymore. Annette did not deserve to suffer such torture. What kind of a bestfriend sets a stalker on her bestfriend?

Sasha’s place was forty minutes away. Annette spent most of the drive with her feet on the dashboard, her head tipped back, eyes closed as she finally slept. I know she hadn’t slept all night.

"I’m going to get snacks," I said when I had pulled into Sasha’s street. "You go up, I’ll meet you soon."

"Okay," She mumbled groggily, climbing the stairs to Sasha’s place. I watched her get in, satisfied that she was safe, then pulled up the current location of Cole’s phone.

It wasn’t with Gavin anymore. Had he given it to someone who could access the device? I zoomed in on the location. It was a place in the middle of town. The Tiny Shack.

That sounded like a very dreadful place. I swallowed, turning on the ignition.

The sooner I got the content on that device, the sooner I could have irrevocable proof that my parents were killed and the sooner Gavin and whoever the fuck he worked for could be dealt with.