“So I’m just gonna stay here?” she said.
“It’s the only way. You’ll be as safe here as you would be anywhere else, and this is going to end,” I said.
“What does that mean?” she asked, frowning.
“It means I can’t just sit back, let him set the terms of this game.”
“The game?” she asked.
“Yeah. I’m starting to think that’s what this is. Someone has an agenda, and I have been playing into it, letting him pull me along like a cat at the end of the string. No more, though,” I said.
“So you’re turning the tables?” she said.
“Exactly.”
She nodded but I could still see her worry. I stroked my hand down her cheek. “This will be over soon, Milan,” I said, uncertain of the outcome but knowing I would end this. “One way or another.”
“I’m going to ignore the second part of that sentence,” she said, leaning into my touch.
“Okay,” I said.
Then she kissed me, pulled back, her eyes dark with desire. “Wasn’t I supposed to show you another superpower?” she said.
Twenty-Seven
He used his binoculars to zoom in on his target, watched as his prey walked, confident, yet stupid, to the car he’d been given.
He could end this now, take the shot, but he’d resisted at the wedding, and he would see his plan to fruition.
It was difficult, though.
The hate that surged through him was blinding, threatened to choke him, to unravel the shreds of his control.
He pushed the impulse back, wouldn’t give in, not when he was so close.
He waited for over an hour after his prey had left.
The delay had a dual purpose: ensuring that his quarry was indeed gone and allowing his quarry’s companion enough time to get comfortable.
It was a shame that the poor woman, her unfortunate friend, had gotten caught up in this mess, but unavoidable.
Finally, after all these years, he’d found a weakness, one he would exploit.
Getting access to the hotel room was easy, and when he pushed the door open, he saw the woman look at him, saw the excitement in her eyes and then the fear and surprise as she realized who he wasn’t.
“Don’t scream, Ms. Meadows,” he said.
She stayed silent as he closed the door and then walked to stand in front of her. He could see her fear, but she kept it down.
“I have a single question for you. What’s your answer? Yes or no?”
Twenty-Eight
Priest
“I wondered how long it would take you to find me,” the man said.
“You expected me to come looking?” I replied, anger at having been so blind and so easily led threatening to throw me off balance. I wouldn’t let it, though. After having been in the dark for so long, I wouldn’t let anger or any other emotion take me off course.
He nodded. “I’m surprised it took you this long. You’ve always struck me as a man of action,” he said.
“And knowing all that, as you seem to know so much about me, you still decided to go down this path?” I asked. He’d shown cunning and ruthlessness thus far, so I hadn’t expected him to fear me. That he welcomed the confrontation with me, seemed to crave it, was still a surprise.
The man nodded again. “There was no other.”
“Care to explain?” Priest asked.
“I had…opportunities. Could have done this easily, quickly, but you don’t deserve quick and easy. You deserve to suffer, and you will,” he said, his voice rising with his and then lowering with his promise.
“So I’ve done something to earn your ire?” I asked as I began to circle the man slowly.
“Was that intentional understatement? An attempt to get under my skin?” he asked, his expression hardening.
“No. Simply a question,” I responded.
“In that case, you’ve earned so much more than my ire. You deserve my punishment, and that is what I will give you,” he said.
“Interesting,” I said, shrugging.
He lifted his head in unspoken question.
“You feel very strongly about me. Seem to know me well. I don’t remember you at all,” I said.
The man’s eyes bulged, but he quickly regained control. “Why would you? Why would you remember destroying my life any more than you remember the others you have done the same to? You’re an animal, a predator. You don’t remember your prey. But sometimes, your prey remembers you.”
I regarded the man as I circled ever closer.
Whoever this man was, I had done something to him, or at least he thought I had, and it had sent him over the edge. He seemed rational, contained, spoke clearly and reasonably, but when I looked into his eyes all I saw was the madness of vengeance coupled with unshakable purpose.