Page 28 of From Hell

He suggested I go shopping when he saw what I’d brought with me. I arched a brow at him and stalked off. When your cousin, who is tighter than a rat’s ass, tells you you need a new wardrobe, you’re in dire straits.

I never go shopping because my kind of shopping is spending hours rummaging through charity shops. When you’re working all hours, stalking killers and murderers the rest of the time, it doesn’t leave much room for thrifty fashion. My old favorite, a silver backless, bodycon number I found in a bag of clothes not yet put out for sale at an Oxfam store, which clings to the body, hiding very little sins, will have to do.

I slip it on, pin my hair up, and quickly make my eyes cat-like and smokey. I finish the look with a sweep of pink gloss.

My phone rings as I’m cramming everything I need into my handbag. It’s Nola, my plus-one for tonight. If Jaxon expected me to come alone, he is in for a surprise. I told him straight—I’m not the same girl anymore. Jaxon Clémont is not standing me up twice.

As well, after I told Nola I was going to Berners House, where it all started, she insisted on being by my side. She knows what that place means, even if everyone else has conveniently forgotten.

“Hey. I’m just getting ready,” I say, a little breathless from running around.

“I’m meeting you at the place, right?” Nola asks, also out of breath as it sounds. In the background, I can hear the blare of horns and the sound of heavy traffic. “I’m almost there.”

“Are you walking?” I ask Nola.

“Yes, because I refuse to dish out for a taxi for this shit.”

“Okay. I’ll meet you at the entrance. Don’t…Don’t go in without me.”

“I’m not going anywhere near these rich pricks until you’re here.” She pauses. “Are you sure you want to do this?”

“I’m fine,” I say breezily and I am. It was so long ago that it happened.

“I’m surprised your mum is happy with you going.”

Fiona wouldn’t even think that going back to the place I was nearly murdered would have an effect on me. “It wasn’t exactly at Berners House. There are houses on the grounds the members can rent out.”

Nola sighs. “And now you’re making excuses for her.”

“I’m not. I just want to move on.”

“You will. After you find and gut that son of a bitch,” she promises. Easier said than done. I still don’t know who he is, but he knows me and where I damn well live…

Breathe.

He doesn’t know what I can do now. I’m no longer a victim.

Before I rush out, I check the locks on all the windows and doors in Cash’s ten-bedroom house one last time.

“Fuck, Cuz. Are you wearing a condom?” Cash spouts when he walks past me on my way out.

I peer at myself in the hallway mirror, lips tugging into a grim line. The dress is tight, and my boobs are on display, but that was the style ten years ago—it’ll have to do.I don’t have time to change or shop for anything else to wear. I’m late.

* * *

Berners House,a neoclassical manor in cream brick, imposing columns, and marble steps at its entrance, sits on a hill at the end of a long drive. Around it is acres of parklands and golfing ranges where I imagine the groundskeeper staff measure each blade of grass, bush, and treetop with a ruler and trim to the perfect height and shape with a pair of cuticle scissors, so nothing is out of place.

I used to love coming here as a child. It was a house out of a story where a princess lived, with a secret garden, a shining lake where mermaids lived, and mystical forests full of fairies that go on for acres and acres.

Now, it just reminds me of death and secrets.

My taxi pulls up just outside in the circular driveway. A shudder runs down my spine as it looms in the distance, staring me down. I pay using Cash’s expense card because, technically, I’m working for him after I told him where I was going. Henry was a member here, after all.

Nola doesn’t see me at first, though she stands out like a beacon in her canary yellow cowl neck dress at the entrance, scowling at the drivers in the supercars arriving who want her to move out of the way. Her hair is wavy, shielding the side of her face, hiding her missing eye. The barest glimpse of a pearl eye patch flashes underneath all that hair. She looks over and then strides forward to hug me.

I’m late by at least twenty minutes.

Nola’s going to kill me.