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81Anotherwriter? Seriously?

82Damn it, that’s a good title.

CHAPTER 24

How Many Stalkers Does It Take to Commit a Murder?

Crazy Cathy is framed in a flash of lightning and the flickering lights as the rain pelts the windows and the wind howls through the palm trees. The two together create a strobe light effect, where the room shifts between light and dark, and the people do, too.

FLASH!

Cathy raises her arm above her head. She’s holding what looks like a piece of wood but might be a baseball bat.

FLASH!

Someone gets behind her—a dark figure looming with their face obscured by shadows.

FLASH!

Cathy’s arm comes down and is stopped right above David’s head.

FLASH!

Connor and Oliver have Cathy by the arms and are pulling her back.

FLASH!

Emma screams that piercing scream of hers as anotherBOOMhits the ground so near our structure that it shakes like there’s been an earthquake.

FLASH!

Officer Anderson is standing in the doorway with her arms out straight, her gun leveled at the group. She’s outlined by the light from the hallway.

“Freeze!” she yells, and everyone does.

But that’s a mistake because Oliver and Connor loosen their grasp, and Cathy wrenches herself free and runs toward the far doorway that she must’ve come through.

FLASH!

Officer Anderson’s arms swing around and follow Cathy as she yells “Stop!”

But Cathy doesn’t stop, and the next flash we see is from the barrel of Officer Anderson’s gun.

BAM!

A chunk of wood splinters next to Cathy’s head but that doesn’t stop her from wrenching open the French door. And then she’s out into the night in a flash of yellow rain slicker.

Officer Anderson tears after her as the lights finally stop flickering, leaving us all in stunned silence.

Except for David.

He never seems to be at a loss for words.

“Whowasthat?”

“That was Crazy Cathy,” I say. “My stalker.”

“Yourstalker.”