Page 139 of Executing Malice

It can’t be.

It can’t. It’s not possible.

But my knees are trembling. My hold on Leila’s hand tightens and I know I’m hurting her but she’s not complaining.

Leila.

I need to get him away from her. I need to protect her. If I’m right, if he’s back...

“Stay away from her,” I warn. “I’ll kill you if you touch her.”

Again.

Kill you. Again.

That can’t be possible. Dead people don’t come back. Not after...

I can’t think straight. My brain keeps fluctuating between now and the last time I saw him. Every second of that night is a brand burned into my memory.

He can’t be alive.

He. Can’t.

“I think by the end of our conversation, Danny, she’ll decide on her own who she would rather be with.”

I can’t process a replay fast enough when my entire system is locked. Paralyzed. I can’t even regulate my breathing.

“We can skip the talk, and I’ll tell you right now to go fuck yourself,” Leila’s voice cuts through the white noise filling my ears. “You sick fuck. Who just watches people in the woods? A fucking pervert with no life and a limp dick. Eat shit.”

I’m about to tell her to stop talking when the figure in the distance laughs. It’s a deep, familiar cackle that prickles all the hairs at the back of my neck.

“Ah, Leila, it’s nice to see you haven’t lost that fire. I would have been upset.” The light jerks to the left. “But let’s talk back at your car. Let’s go.”

I can find the car easily enough through the tracker I put on it earlier this morning in case we went too far in. I hadn’t expected to need it because a dead guy with a gun is forcing us to. But we don’t need it. We arrive at the main road where the car is still parked. The trunk still open. The box with Leila’s stuff, still on the floor. I know several feet in the direction we’d come, I’dfind my night vision goggles that I discarded after Leila turned the flashlight on.

“I love your consistency, Danny. Still go out of your way to make Halloween a depraved event for her.” He clicks his tongue. “I remember the first time I watched you rail her in a cemetery, over a freshly covered grave. I finally understood why you got off on it. I don’t think I’ve cum so hard since, except maybe just now. She’s such a little freak.”

I stop and spin to face the piece of shit keeping a reasonable distance between us.

“Watch it.” I still can’t see his face, but I know it’s him. I would recognize that voice anywhere. “Why are you here?”

He takes several steps around us, keeping a wide birth as he moves along the edges of the clearing.

“I can’t imagine why you wouldn’t be thrilled to see your big brother, Danny.”

“Stop calling me that,” I bite back, hating that nickname to the very molecules of my soul.

He ignores me as he swings the light in a neat little circle. “Could it be that you killed me and you feel some sense of guilt?”

My heart is rampant in my chest, loud enough to rattle through my bones as I stare at the faint outline of a face I haven’t seen in eight years.

But the unsteady rhythm has nothing to do with seeing a ghost. I’m terrified of Leila’s reaction. I’m terrified I’ll turn to find her watching me like I’m a monster.

Still, turn I do because I’m no longer in control of my body.

“Ah, you haven’t told her what you did, have you,Danny?”Everett taunts, humor twisting each word.

Leila stands two steps behind me, green eyes too wide and bright in the filthy light, staring at me with question.