Page 72 of From Hell

And I need to know if Jaxon can be trusted.

I must have fallen asleep a few hours after I’m done prepping because I wake abruptly to darkness and Charlie whining.

“Charlie?” I gasp as I fumble for the lamp, gun in my hand, my heart rocketing like a firework in my chest. Light floods the room as soon as I hit the switch. The door to the bedroom is open, and Charlie is nowhere to be seen.

“Charlie,” I call again.

He comes trotting in, tongue hanging out, ears pricked forward, and licks my outreached hand. I grab his collar, pulling him close to me, stroking the warm fur on his head with a shaking hand. My eyes are still fixed on the open door.

I closed it.

I always close it.

He’s here.

“Who is there?” I challenge whoever is beyond the door. “I’m calling the police.”

Tigger glares at me from the top of the dresser, where he likes to sleep, for waking him up. I slip out of bed, gun poised, phone in the other, ready to call my dad as I don’t want to make a complete fool of myself if there’s no one there.

And there isn’t anyone when I step onto the landing, just an empty stairwell and bathroom.

The spare room should be locked so that no one would be in there, but I pace up the door anyway and try the handle. When it doesn’t turn all the way or open, I breathe a sigh of relief.

The rest of the house is just as undisturbed when I check it. Charlie accompanies me to peer into every dark hole the cottage has until I’m satisfied that I’m alone. Maybe the bedroom door swung open independently, or Charlie might have nudged it—only one way to tell.

Quinn fixed me up with some security cameras, the discreet kind not on the market because most homeowners want intruders to know they’re being watched. Shakily, I turn on the monitor in my office. A dark, green-tinged picture blurs into view of each room as the cameras rotate through every room in the house and the small back and front gardens. When I’m convinced there isn’t anyone there, I press rewind.

Until I see him.

A hooded figure on the landing, feeding Charlie a few treats and giving his ears a good old rub. My chest squeezes and fear tightens every nerve in my body as I watch him.

Got you, you sick fuck.

I rewind a little more to the part where he enters through the back door after climbing over the garden wall. There’s nothing to say who he is other than he knew I had a dog, and he’s young and athletic. I’m shaken, but at least now I’ve seen him.

He’s real.

Quickly, I shove on a pair of jeans and slip on a pair of bunny slippers, grabbing my car keys. The last camera had a view of the front and a car—a Maybach. When I get outside, it’s gone, but that doesn’t stop me from patrolling the area in my car and looking for the bastard.

“Cuz, what’s up?” Cash huffs down the phone when I call him. In the background, a male voice is cursing and wheezing, like they’ve been hurt.

“Is now a bad time?” I thought I’d be waking him, but I should have known my cousin runs hisotherbusiness in the dead of the night.

“Nope, not for you.”

“Okay, I need another favor. I can pay you.”

He makes a mock offended sound. “You wound me. I thought we were family.”

I roll my eyes. “Okay, then I need your help. I need a stun gun. Can you get me one?”

“Does a bear shit in the woods? I’ll have it for you in an hour. Come by the house. I’ll leave it on the porch.” He suddenly pauses. “No, no, no. The nails first. Leave the tongue ‘til last. How can he rat when he can’t fucking speak? Haven’t I taught you anything? Like this.” There’s a blood-curdling scream down the line from the man who was wheezing earlier.

Jesus. H. Christ.

I chew my lower lip. I don’t know what Cash is doing, but I’m thankful I’m in the dark. “Thanks, Cash. I’ll let you get back to…what you’re doing.”

“Any time, Cuz.” I can hear him grinning on the phone. I hang up, but then something pops into my mind and I quickly call Nola. “Can your hacker tell me where a car is right now by hacking into the traffic cams?”