She tried shoving by him, but Michael stepped in front of her. “We need to talk.”
“I have nothing to say.”
“I do, starting with you need to quit this place.”
Her eyes widened as she finally looked at him. “What?”
“You made yourself a target tonight.”
“I didn’t do anything the others girls don’t.”
“I don’t care what they do,” he said. “I care that what you did was dangerous.”
“I can handle it.”
“I don’t think you understand.”
“I can’t quit.”
“Why not?” He pushed to get her to admit the truth. “Why can’t you go back to your real life?”
“This is my real life. For now.”
With that, she shoved by him. Michael didn’t try to stop her, merely followed her out the back door and watched her get into a familiar Jaguar before zooming away.
LILITH WAS HALFWAY home before suspecting she was being followed.
Her thoughts had been wrapped up in Michael. In Gabe’s warning to be careful around him. In that hot kiss in the dressing room, a prelude to having sex with him if not for the interruption. She’d been so turned on that she would have done anything with him. So turned on that she couldn’t stop thinking about Michael after driving off.
Thoughts that nearly caused an accident, not with another car, but with a bike that shot out of nowhere in the middle of the night. She’d thrown on the brakes but had come inches from creaming the rider, who had given her the finger before riding off.
Lilith had been so shaken that she’d pulled over to the curb to regroup.
And had glanced in her rearview mirror to see another set of vehicle lights stop. The other driver pulled over, as well.
Her fingers tightened on the steering wheel and, carefully watching the other car’s lights in the rearview mirror, she started off again.
The other vehicle slid away from the curb and stayed just far enough behind her that she couldn’t make out any details other than it was a dark-colored passenger car. Probably black.
She wanted to believe in coincidences. Wanted to think the other driver would turn off at the next light.
The other vehicle continued right behind her.
Her stomach knotted at the idea of someone following her. She had to be sure. She turned down a side street. And then another. And then a third. The lights stayed some distance back, but they were still there when she looped around to the arterial street.
Close to Hannah’s place now, she didn’t know what to do. If this was the killer, she would lead him straight to it. Then again, if this was the killer, he already knew the address.
If only she’d added Pucinski’s number to her cell, she could call him, but she couldn’t stop now to dig out the card and punch in the number.
At the intersection ahead, the light was about to change, and there were cars waiting to move on both sides of the cross street. She gunned the accelerator and made a run through the intersection. Brakes screeched and horns blared at her, but when she glanced up into the mirror, she was relieved that the other vehicle hadn’t been able to get through. She sped the rest of the way back to Hannah’s place. The Jaguar’s tires screamed as she rounded the corner.
A minute later, she left the car at the curb and ran for the front door. Faster than dealing with the garage. She got inside and engaged the dead bolt. Through windows cut into the wooden panel, she could see lights from another vehicle slowly approaching.
Her hands were shaking when she pulled out her cell phone and Pucinski’s card. She somehow managed to punch in the detective’s number. One ring… two… and then…
“Pucinski!” He growled. “It’s nearly 4 a.m. This better be good.”
“It’s Lilith Mitchell. I’m at Hannah’s place. Someone followed me from the club.”
“You’re sure?”
“I tried to lose him. He’s out there now.” She could still see the car idling in front of the building…
“Make sure the doors and windows are locked. I’ll call it in to get a squad out there, and I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
Lilith was already checking the locks before she turned off her cell. Checking out the windows. The lights sat out there, unmoving. Was the driver still inside the car? Or was he just outside looking for a way in to get her?
He was playing games with her, trying to break down her confidence and make her question her own capabilities. And he was doing a fine job on her. While she’d learned all the skills necessary to defend herself, she’d never had to use them. Now she wasn’t certain they would be enough.
The fear-filled seventeen-year-old girl who ran away to school and left behind her little sister was still inside her.
Lilith realized how truly afraid the killer had made her — a gut-deep, painful, churning, awful fear that made her chest tighten and put a lump in her throat.
What if her plan failed and Hannah died?
Waiting for Pucinski to show, Lilith faced some truths about herself.
She’d thought that by having a “normal” life, she could put her abuse behind her. That while she sympathized with the women in dangerous situations, she didn’t understand why they didn’t do whatever they must to get out. That she was angry with Hannah for putting herself in danger. And that she was angry with herself for doing what was easiest in the first place.
When her cell phone buzzed, she nearly dropped it. She checked the ID — Pucinski.
As she accepted the call, she saw flashing blue lights out the window. “Detective?” But the headlights that had followed her were nowhere to be seen. “The squad car is here but I think whoever followed me is gone.”
“I’ll be there in a few minutes. In the meantime, I’ll tell the officers in the squad
to take a slow drive around the area, to look for anything suspicious. Did you see what the car looked like?
“Dark. Full-sized, I think. That’s all I can tell you.”
True to his word, Pucinski arrived minutes later, his young partner and two uniformed officers directly behind him. Lilith forced herself to just breathe, to relieve the tension in her chest.
“Check the place out,” Pucinski told the officers. “Make sure no one tried to get in.” He glared at Lilith and shook his head. “Time for you to get out of here. Go back to your own life. Take care of yourself.”
A tempting idea. Go back to where it was safe. To where it was easiest.
Only she’d made a vow not to do that again.
“I’m not going anywhere. I’m seeing this through. For my sister.”
“Yeah, figured you’d say that. You’re gonna put yourself out there until we find her body, or until he takes you.”
“That won’t happen. I can take care of myself.
“Bet your sister thought she could, too.”
The other officers came back in the room, led by Pucinski’s young partner.
“Nothing,” DeSalvo said. “He didn’t try to get in.”
Pucinski shook his head again. “We can’t even be sure it was him.” He frowned. “Anything else going on you didn’t tell me?”
“Just a heavy breather.”
“How many calls?”
“Just one, and it was here, on Hannah’s house phone, not my cell.”
“When?”
“About two this afternoon.”
He pulled out his notebook. “Write down the phone number here. I’ll see if I can get a number.”
“It said ‘private caller.’”
“Maybe I should assign you protection—”
“I don’t want protection.” She didn’t want to scare the killer away. She wanted him to reveal himself.
“—but I don’t have cause,” he finished. “The call could have been for your sister, and there’s no way we can know if the guy who followed you home tonight is the man who has her. Be careful, Miss Mitchell. And as much as I hate being woken up in the middle of the night, don’t hesitate to call me if you’re in trouble.”