Page 69 of Unmasking Her Shadow

My phone rings as our doors shut, and I answer it, putting it on speaker.

“Ki Ki,” she doesn’t sound as chipper as last time, and my stomach sinks. “I have the Captain here with us. That Tyler dude has more skeletons than a cemetery. Captain, I am sending you all the information now. His dad is not actually his dad. The biological father is some richy-rich and has been bailing Tyler out of trouble for the past couple of years, and having all of his records hidden. Too bad for him, I’m awesome at uncovering these digital webs of lies. The missing records were multiple rape charges that were dropped, and he paid each victim a large sum of money right before. Horrible, horrible men. Tyler hasn’t been to work in weeks, and his cell phone has also been inactive for the same duration. But here’s the kicker: there have been multiple girls reported missing right before he disappeared. That doesn’t sound like a coincidence,” Chloe speaks fast and uses as few breaths as possible to get all the information out quickly.

My hand goes to my chest. It has to be him. “Put out an APB, Pike. He’s her ex-boyfriend, and she ran from him when he wouldn’t willingly let her go. I’m going to her house now to get her dog. Don’t let any officers go inside her house until I have her contained.”

I end the call, not giving him a chance to argue with me. No, his face was not in the video, but it’s fucking him. We list off possibilities of places he would take her on the short drive to her house. Each one getting texted to Pike. He didn’t get far. I discovered she was missing too fast. She’s close.

My stomach sinks at the sight of her empty driveway. My body feels like it’s being pulled in too many directions, but I’m not sure which one to take first. Nyx first, but where to second? Officers will arrive at some of the suspected places any minute. I will owe everything to whoever finds her first. Of course I’d prefer it to be me, but I can’t check everywhere at once. The moment I step out of the car, I can hear Nyx scratching and barking at the door. I jog up the stairs and across the porch, forcing myself inside when she tries to bolt around me. Ryker slips in behind me, shutting the door quickly to block her escape. She’s panting and her eyes are…wild.

“It’s okay, Nyx,” I say sweetly, reaching for her leash hanging by the door. Before I can grab it, she’s running past Ryker, almost knocking him over, and then barks at a window, then another. Bouncing between every exit. Shit. I grab hold of her collar when she runs by, and she jerks me forward, jumping at the door. My eyes lock with Ryker’s as I clip the hook to the ring on her collar. His hand is on his gun before I open the door, and she takes off, pulling me with her. Instead of taking the stairs, she jumps over the railing, my grip on the leash loosening as I jump with her. My feet hit the gravel, and she’s a silent midnight bullet zooming through the backyard towards the treeline.

Sam.

We are running at full speed behind her, but she’s already disappeared.

“We need backup and medics at Sam River’s house,” Ryker barks orders.

It’s unlikely she’s here, but he’s putting as much faith into Nyx as I am. Some hope is better than none. My gun is already in my hand before we cross into the woods and hear the attack. The goodest fucking girl in all the world is tearing into Tyler when we reach her. My eyes skim over Sam. She’s alive. Then back to Nyx.

Tyler’s fingers find purchase on a knife, and I scream, “Release, Nyx.”

If this is the only time she listens to me, I’ll be okay with that.

41

Sam

Muffled screams stay trapped behind the duct tape across my mouth as I’m jostled around over someone’s shoulders. My wrists and ankles are bound, and I have a blindfold on. The crunching of twigs and leaves tells me we are in the woods. I’m just not sure what one. Who in the fuck would want to kidnap me? For one, I’m dating a cop. Two, I’m not that interesting. I flail like a fish out of water and beat against their back and ass with my fist, screaming as loudly as possible, hoping I can make enough “Mmm…” sounds that someone can hear me. Kioni is probably already aware that I’m missing, right?

Please, baby. I need my overprotective, obsessed stalker right about now.

The person carrying me dips to the ground and then rises too quickly for me to try…I don’t know…falling off him and rolling away. My back and head slams against something hard, and by the texture, I’m assuming it’s a tree. The only thing I can do is wriggle to make whatever they are doing more difficult. They grab my wrists, shoving them above me, and something cool is pressed to the palm of my hand.

Pain sears through my flesh.

Red.

Red.

Red…I scream against the barrier trapping my voice.

They free my other hand, and I hit whatever I can before they shove it above me too. More pain brings tears rushing down my face. The harder I try to pull my hands free, the worse the pain gets. Hot liquid drips down the palms of my hands, and I know it’s blood. Everything in me is telling me to fight, but it hurts too much.

I’m…trapped.

The covering around my eyes is removed, and the glowing mask I saw in the window appears again. It’s just like Kioni’s, but it’s not hers. I’ve come to know her body and her scent. It’s woodsy with a subtle floral undertone. When she acted as Shadow, she covered it up with leather and campfire-like smoke to disguise herself from me. This person smells like body odor and a car freshener. Fear claws into me when I see the nail gun. That’s what he used on my hands. A deep chuckle reverberates through him as he trails the tip of it through my tears, and I squeeze my eyes closed.

“No more running, sweet pea.,” he taunts with such dark, twisted humor in his voice.

It’s Tyler. It’s fucking Tyler! I plead with him with my eyes. Begging him to tell me why he’s doing this to me. And then I remember his finger in the gift box. No, no, no. I didn’t ask her to do that. He lifts the mask, tugging it back to reveal himself, a devilish smirk plastered across his face. He takes a deep breath and sighs happily, as if he had just stuck his toes into the sand at the beach.

“You know, sweet pea, none of the other girls enjoy the chase like you did. They scream and cry and then run to the fucking police, traumatized afterwards. I finally found a woman who actually enjoyed being used. A little pet for the monster that lives in here.” He taps the side of his head with the nail gun. “But you had to up and leave me. Guess what happened when I couldn’t find you anymore?”

More tears fall. Did I do this to him? Did I create the monster he speaks of? Or was I the only one dumb enough not to see who he was?

“I found another little slut. I wore the mask, chased her like I did you, but when I caught her, she screamed. So I had to silence her. Have you ever used blood as lube?”

I wince when I attempt to pull my hands free again. The realization of what he plans to do to me sends a shiver down my spine, and dread settles in the pit of my stomach.