Page 96 of From Hell

“It seems too much of a coincidence if he isn’t. Wasn’t his career thriving in America before he came back? Isn’t his company worth billions? Why then take a job as a surgeon in a small town in England?” She pauses and glances at me. “Maybe he came back for you?”

Sage knows I used myself as bait to lure the real Ripper back from hiding. She’s not implying he came back to date me, that’s for sure. I shrug my shoulders. “At least, now I have him where I want him.”

Sage gives me a worried look. The reality of it all is like a knife scoring my insides and slashing me open for all to see. Before, when I suspected it was Jaxon, I could lie to myself and pretend I was being ridiculous. Paranoid.

Now, I can’t see the dark streets for the stars. He’s chasing me down hidden corners, and I don’t even know it. “I need to get back to my cottage.” And then I’ll see the letters for myself.

A message pings. I glance at the screen. It’s from an unknown number. My stomach twists when I read it.

Unknown:

Where are you going?

I type back quickly.

Laine:

Jaxon?

Unknown:

Were you expecting someone else? I told you not to leave the house.

Laine:

Too bad. I’m going shopping. I need a dress for tonight.

Unknown:

Use the card I gave you.

It’s not a lie. I’ll make Sage drive me to a mall after we stop at the cottage.

“Er, Laine. There’s a car following us.”

I glance behind us; sure enough, a black Maybach is weaving after us through traffic. It can’t be Jaxon, can it?

“Can you drive to the nearest shopping mall instead?”

Sage does, and the car follows us into the parking lot. The blacked-out windows make it difficult to see who is behind the wheel.

We spent the next few hours sitting in the mall food court with veggie burgers and vegan milkshakes, watching the crowds for Jaxon. My heart leaps whenever a guy with dark hair and a tailored suit walks by.

It’s not him, I reassure myself, draining my chocolate oat milkshake through a paper straw until there’s nothing but bubbles left.

He doesn’t show, but the Maybach is back as soon as we hit the road. We can’t risk going to the cottage, so Sage drives me back to Jaxon’s place, and it peels away miles before we get there.

“Are you sure you’re going to be alright?” she asks as I hug her goodbye.

I almost ask her to stay, but I need to face him alone.

“I’ll call you if it’s not,” I promise. We didn’t get the letters today, but I’ll get them tonight when Jaxon is distracted. If I run now, he’ll keep chasing me. I can’t let him know that I suspect him of anything. A small voice at the back of my head tells me I’m stalling, but I squash it down before it can do any more damage.

* * *

It’s raining againwhen Jaxon’s car pulls into the driveway. I’m sitting on the sofa, knees drawn up under me, staring at the wall when he walks through and calmly sets his keys and wallet on the table.He’s wearing a three-piece suit, not a hair or button out of place, looking too handsome for me to hate.

“Shopping? Really?”