Page 79 of Property of Anchor

“Tick… tock… Anchor.Four… gone.One… safe.”

Me.

I felt Anchor tense beside me.His hand slid around my waist, pulling me closer.

“Did you miss me?”the voice rasped.“This game’s just getting good.Let’s see what you do with a deadline.Four more.”

The audio cut off.

“Fucker,” Anchor growled.Skull was already clicking on the next file, the video.

It was just a timer.

A black screen with red digital numbers flashing across the middle.

48:00:00

Then the numbers started ticking down.

47:59:59

47:59:58

47:59:57…

“Two days,” Skull muttered.“Until what?”

No one answered.Anchor’s jaw flexed.I stayed silent, and my other hand now gripped the edge of the bar.

“Open the photos,” Anchor ordered.

Skull clicked into the folder.

Four images appeared, but they were too small to see who they were.

Skull started making them bigger.

One was a woman with short curly hair and glasses.Another had bright red hair and looked like she worked at a grocery store, still wearing a name tag that read “Shay.”The third was blurry, as if taken from a distance through a window of a curvy naked woman.The fourth...

I leaned in, and the hairs on the back of my neck stood straight up.

“Oh my god,” I whispered.“That’s Bernice.”

The photo wasn’t violent.It wasn’t dramatic.

It was her.Just… walking.

Mid-stride down the dirt path between the haunted house and the cabins.Her arms swung at her sides like she always did when she was complaining about her back.Same bandana.Same puffy vest she wore when it was chilly in the morning.Same no-nonsense look on her face.

The picture was taken from the woods.Far back.At an angle no one should’ve been at unless they were hiding.Watching.Stalking.

Anchor leaned forward with his fists clenched.“Timestamp says this was yesterday.”

I swallowed hard.“I saw her take that exact path.She waved me off when I offered to walk with her.”

Skull blew out a slow breath.“This was close.Real close.That photo was taken right here.Right under our fucking noses.”

I stared at the screen, and the image burned into my brain.