is it with me? Do I just attract crazy people? Why the hell would Silas stalk me? Why do crazy people do the things they do? Sometimes there is no reason. I know that more than most.
“No one will even notice you're gone. After I take out Silas.”
I stare at her not sure how I’m going to get out of this. Is she going to beat me to death with a bat?
“Any last words?” She smirks.
“I don’t do that.”
“What?” She cocks her head to the side.
“That either.”
“What?” She shakes her head a little and gets a more me-like look on her face. “Like this?”
“Yeah.” I nod and take a slow step back. “I don’t scrunch my nose or do that thing where you sort of half-smiled but in a mean way.”
“Thanks.” She nods and raises the bat. “Noted. Now shut the fuck up and die.”
I open my mouth, and a scream comes out when the back door flies open and hits Lindsay, knocking her to the ground.
My eyes lock with Silas. There’s something dark there I’ve never seen before. An understanding passes between us. How did he find me here?
Lindsay tries to get off the floor. Silas walks over and grabs her by the hair. She lets out a scream as he yanks her to her feet, the bat long gone and hidden under some of the kitchen equipment. I turn and run toward the front of the shop.
“Jamie.” I hear Silas call after me.
I grab a chair as I run by it and throw it at the window. It doesn't break, just bounces back and almost hits me. I should have known that wouldn’t really work in real life. I push on the door but it won’t budge.
Silas calls my name again. The only thing I can think of is getting away. I see the lock and flip it. The door opens, and I run out the front, not stopping until I get into my car. My heart races, and my mind can’t even comprehend everything that just happened.
I fumble with the keys and drop them like a total buffoon. This really is a horror movie. I finally put the key in the ignition and throw my car into drive before I take off. I look in the rearview mirror but don’t see Silas or Lindsay. I floor it. I should probably go to the cops, but I only have one place in mind.
Silas’s. I’m going to see what else he’s hiding in that house of his.
23
Silas
“Why Jamie?” I sit on the stainless steel counter and stare down at Lindsay, her eyes full of fury as she looks back at me.
“Why are you obsessed with her?” she fires back.
I shrug. “How could I not be? She’s everything I’ve ever wanted. My dreamgirl. The one.”
“That’s what you think. But she isn’t.” She blows a frizzy curl from her face. The shade is close to Jamie’s, but it’s not quite right. Just like everything about Lindsay. “I could be a better Jamie. I already am.” She puffs her chest out. “See? I paid good money for these and the rest of me. Everything here is upgraded.”
I keep my gaze on hers. “You’ll never be Jamie.”
She deflates. “You’ll never be with Jamie, so I guess we’re even.”
“What makes you say that?”
“She knows about Trevor. I told her and showed her.”
I didn’t bother worrying about whether my intruder saw his body, mainly because who would they tell? The police? Not a chance. “You found him in the basement. Took some pics I suppose?”
She nods. “A video.”
“He hit her.” It’s the only explanation anyone should need.
“She probably had it coming. That’s the difference between us. I would’ve kept a toad like Trevor and used up all his funds before getting rid of him. I’m smarter than Jamie, see?” She smirks in a decidedly un-Jamie way, then quickly schools her features. “Shit.”
“Hmm?”
“Nothing,” she grumbles.
“Why did you kill your father?”
“Stepfather,” she corrects me quickly.
“Was he on to you?”
“He saw me after the surgeries. Just on accident, when we were both at the Quick Shop. But he recognized me, of course, and then I could tell. He knew. He knew that I was going to be a better Jamie. I figured he’d probably seen her at the gas station enough to recognize my new look. So yeah, I killed him. He begged me to let him live and tried to remind me of how he always gave me whatever I wanted, paid for my school, bought me