Page 46 of ’Til You Break

I miss having control.

Of myself. Of her. Of every situation that presented itself.

These days, she gives me nothing. Not a scowl of anger. Not a grunt of disappointment. Instead, Hannah drifts through the house like a ghost, treading carefully wherever she goes to avoid my attention. The only time I hear her is through the walls while she’s playing with her cat.

I’ve never been jealous of an animal before. But what I wouldn’t give to trade places with the little bastard for one night.

My mistakes are obvious. My cruelty was unintentional. But it’s difficult to show remorse when there isn’t much to feel. I’m the man who cornered her in that alley. I held her against me. Felt her trembling in my arms.

No matter what she believes, she was never in any real danger.

So, I’d be lying if I told her the bastard who touched her was going to suffer for it. Because there is no suffering to be had.

It was a rush. A thrill. For both of us, whether she wants to admit it or not.

Still, I find myself in a strange predicament. While things with Hannah have reached an all-time low, the rest of my work has never been better. Thanks to the man named X—and the help of my team—I’ve finally tracked down Brian Harris.

He’s a clean-cut accountant at a small firm in the city. Knowing who he really is, I suspect it’s nothing more than a front for laundering his ill-gotten gains. Tax havens in the Cayman Islands and Switzerland. Cooked books for local businesses. Every dirty dollar washed clean.

And now that I’ve found him, my troubles at home will have to wait. There’s work to be done.

I’m lying across the back seat of his Honda Civic, staring at the roof. I slipped into the car an hour after sunset. Over the past few days, I’ve learned his routine. Not once had Brian left the office before eight-thirty. This gave me plenty of time to wait for the strip mall parking lot to empty before climbing into the back of his car.

Getting in was easy. Waiting was the hard part. I spent the entire time trying to clear Hannah from my head and focus on the job in front of me.

The sound of the doors unlocking finally pulls me back into the moment. Brian climbs into the driver’s seat, whistling to himself as he settles in for his usual drive home. I let him. Until we’re clear of the parking lot and a few blocks down the road.

Then I sit up in the middle of the back seat.

I wait for him to notice me. It takes a ludicrous amount of time, considering he’s driving. At least getting rid of him will kill two birds with one stone.

I get my revenge... and the world loses another terrible driver.

“Jesus Christ! What the fuck?”

He slams on the brakes the moment he finally spots me. Thankfully, we’re in a deserted part of town, and there isn’t another car around for him to crash into. I may feel invincible behind the mask... but I’m not stupid enough to test it in a car accident.

“I have a gun pointed at your spine,” I say calmly. “If you make any sudden moves, I’ll be forced to pull the trigger.”

Brian narrows his eyes in the rearview mirror, and the car rolls forward again. He’s younger than I expected. Early fifties, maybe. But I’d put him closer to his late forties. Smooth skin and only a scattering of grey through his otherwise black hair make me question whether he’s really the man I’m looking for.

“What’s this about?”

There isn’t the slightest hint of nerves in his voice, reassuring me I’m on the right track. No ordinary man stays this calm with a gun pointed at his back.

“I’m going to give you directions. You’re going to follow them.” There’s no point answering his question yet.

I guide Brian through the city streets before directing him out toward a small patch of woodland my company purchased years ago. Although my primary base of operations is in New York City, I acquired this land under the guise of an environmentally friendly research and development facility for the many products my company produces. One hundred and fifty acres, give or take, hidden beneath a dense canopy of trees. At the center sits an elegant glass building surrounded by its own Garden of Eden. But that was not the reason I bought this place. The real value lies in the woods surrounding it.

We leave the road well before the main entrance and follow an old dirt track to the end. Brian brings the car to a stop and climbs out first. I follow close behind, keeping my pistol visible to discourage any stupid ideas.

So far...

It seems to be enough.

At the end sits nothing more than an aging concrete slab, half-hidden beneath years of overgrowth. Unless you know exactly where to look, you’d never find it. Set into the concrete is a heavy steel trapdoor.

Understanding what’s expected of him, Brian pulls it open while I scan the surrounding trees for anyone foolish enough to be wandering through the forest this late at night.