Stalker - Clarissa Wild Page 0,12
head, thinking to myself that I’m imagining things. I must be losing my mind.
I get into the limo and let the bodyguards close the door for me. I’m still staring at the same spot where the man stood, even though he’s no longer there. An icky feeling follows me wherever I go, something that makes me want to wrap myself in a warm blanket and pretend I don’t exist.
But I can’t escape what’s coming. It’s only a matter of time before he’ll come for me.
The note that he sent me a while back is scorched into my mind. I can still see the words in front of me as if he wrote them yesterday. He knows what I’ve done, he wants revenge … and he won’t stop until he’s ripped my heart out of my chest.
I can only hope that when the day arrives that he’s let out of jail, I’ll be ready for him.
When I get back home, the first thing I do is check my surroundings. Every step I take, I fear someone might leap out of the bushes and attack me or something. It’s ridiculous, but I can’t help feeling the way I do.
I try to shake it off as I walk toward my door and put the key in the lock. From what I can hear, the television is on, so that must mean Arthur is already home. I hope he’s in a better mood.
I get inside and hang my coat while closing the door behind me. “Hey, honey,” I say.
“Hey,” he replies, but his voice seems distant, like he’s focusing on something else entirely. “Can you come here for a second?”
I frown, walking toward the living room. “What’s the matter?”
“I think you should take a look at this.”
Passing the wall, I look inside and see him sitting on the couch with the remote control in his hand, pointing at the screen. The moment I look at the news broadcast, my handbag drops from my hands onto the floor, the noise ringing in my ears. My breath falters in my throat, a sudden choking nausea taking over.
Phoenix Sullivan and a bunch of other criminals have escaped prison and are on the loose.
He’s coming for me, right now.
Maybe he’s already here, lurking, waiting to strike.
And I’m not prepared.
***
PHOENIX
Two days ago
Rain comes pouring down on our heads as we run across the courtyard in the dark of night. We hide behind the walls and bushes, trying to remain invisible to the guards in the towers and the ones patrolling the area. The one guard who’s on our side thanks to bribery had left the prison doors unlocked and left a key in our pillows so we could use it to escape. We’ve been tiptoeing around the halls ever since, knocking out guard after guard, even stealing their clothes to pull them on ourselves. We can use that as an excuse if someone spots us.
DeLuca keeps tabs on the back while I focus on the front as we rush to the hole in the ground. It’s not visible to the naked eye, but I know exactly where it’s at, and the first thing that I do when I get there is slide away the fresh patches of grass and push aside the wooden board.
“C’mon,” I say to DeLuca, as he keeps looking behind the wall to make sure nobody’s seen us. “Let’s go!”
I jump into the hole, which is at least one-third filled up with water. My clothes are soaking wet as I trudge through the narrow opening until the hole is no longer in sight. When I hear a splash, I look behind me and see DeLuca tailing me.
“Fuck, it’s completely drenched,” he mumbles.
“Fucking rain,” I mutter.
“Couldn’t have picked a better day, huh?” he says, laughing a bit.
“Too bad. We’ll just have to deal with it. There’s no going back now,” I say, pushing forward. The hole is narrow and barely has enough space to fit a whole body through but squeezing myself together seems to do the trick.
Suddenly, I hear another splash behind us and then DeLuca is gurgling. I turn around and see the same goddamn inmate I beat up a couple of days ago. He has DeLuca in a chokehold.
“You ain’t going nowhere without me,” he growls.
“Shh!” I whisper. “Keep it down before the guards hear you.”
“Like I care. I won’t let you two fuckers escape without me.”
I look at DeLuca who’s kicking and punching to get his attacker off him, but the man has