Page 144 of I Never Stopped Loving You

“Just down that way.”

Monty moves back and points West, the opposite way of our car, causing Alex to lean out of the doorway to look across the open field West of his house. I take a cautious step closer testing each floorboard as I close the distance between me and my target.

My heart is racing, but my hands are steady. This is only half of the fun. I love chasing them in my labyrinth, but sneaking up behind them and striking is definitely a rush.

“You can use my cell phone. Who the hell is your carrier? We’re not in the middle of nowhere,” he growls.

He seems like he’s about to turn around and go back inside, but Monty stops him.

“Well, can you by chance take a look at it?”

“Do I look like I want to work on a car at this time of night?” Alex snaps as he gestures to his T-shirt and boxers.

“Sorry. Can you look up the number of a tow truck?” Monty asks, trying not to glance behind Alex at where I’m getting closer.

I know my body is still cloaked in some shadow, but from the small hall table lamp, it’s enough glow to give me away.

“I know a guy. Give me a second,” Alex says as he steps backward until he is fully inside.

“Wait,” Monty shouts, but it’s too late.

The door is slammed in his face, cutting him off. With the sound covering any move I make, I strike. I wrap one arm around his throat and use the other to cover his face with the chloroform-soaked rag.

He fights, clawing at my arms as he bucks backward trying to get me to loosen my hold on him. His nails break open the skin on my arm as he thrashes, pushing me until my back hits the wall behind me. I tighten my hold on his throat cutting off his air supply so that the only breaths he takes are filled with chloroform.

He’s not a big guy at all, maybe one sixty soaking wet. If I’m not careful, I could probably snap his neck. It would make things simpler, but not nearly as much fun. His muffled shouts slowly die out as he stops struggling in my grasp.

“Noah…You good?” Monty shouts from the other side of the door as Alex’s body goes limp in my arms.

I release him letting his body fold in on itself as he crumples and hits his head on the hardwood floor.

“Yeah,” I say as I open the door. “I’m good. Good job distracting him.”

“I’m not going to lie, it was so fucking awesome watching you appear out of the shadows. Straight up nightmare fuel, dude. You’re terrifying.”

I can’t stop laughing. He glances down at Alex’s unconscious form and starts laughing as well. I guess I can be quite terrifying. Can’t wait to hear what he thinks about my skull mask. Shit, I’ll have to get him his own if he’s going to be down there with me. Plus, he can’t use my real name around James.

He takes a moment to walk through the house, double-checking for anything that may not have been jammed, but there isn’t anything. The dude didn’t have a security system or a single camera. What an idiot.

“So…What do we do now?” Monty asks.

He squats down next to Alex and pokes him in the side of the face testing to see how unconscious he really is. When he looks up at me, I’m grabbing the zip-ties out of my pocket and turning them into a makeshift set of handcuffs.

“We get him back to my place, and that’s when we can have some real fun.”

CHAPTER 66

NOAH

OCTOBER FLASHBACK

The sounds of the waves crashing against the metal wall are the only thing that can be heard. The night is silent, just like I like it. I’ve been sitting on my back deck for the last hour letting the cool October air seep into my veins. Tonight’s the night I end Rayes. One more final breath for Parker to hear. Just add the tally onto my sins because the count doesn’t matter anymore.

Nothing else matters…except finding her.

*Ding*

Jeremy