Page 48
“Your driver?”
I nod.
“When?”
“Tonight. In the parking lot at the tower. Just a short while ago, actually. I was holding him, Lena. I was the last person he saw before he died.”
She puts a hand on the door and for a second I think she is going to come in. Then she looks at my face and the fight comes back.
“That’s it, now I’m definitely staying.”
“No.”
“Rhys, stop. Don’t do this. Don’t push me away like I am someone from your office. People around you are dying. I just drove through the dark to get to you. I am not turning around because you said so.”
“This house is not safe.”
“Okay, fine. Then you leave, too.”
“No.”
“Rhys, come on, stop trying to be the fucking hero all the time. Get your shit and come with me. Let’s just get in the car and drive. We can leave town for a while or you can come and stay with me. Let that officer take both of us down the mountain. You can fight with the police from anywhere, but not here. You don’t have to sit here and wait for it.”
“But that’s just it, sis. I do.”
“Why?”
“Because it’s obvious that it’s me that they want. And besides they’ve had plenty of opportunities to kill me. If they wanted me dead they could have done it already. Whoever it is they’re just fucking with me because they get a thrill out of watching me suffer and torturing me.”
“Torturing you? How? You never mentioned that in any of our phone calls.”
“Look, it doesn’t matter. I didn’t tell you because I knew you would react like this. I don’t need babysitting, Lena. What I need is for you to be safe, and the only way that’s going to happen, is if you stay as far away from me as possible.”
Her mouth opens, she looks at the glass, then at the trees.
“And what about you, Rhys? What about keeping yourself safe?”
“This is not yours to deal with, Lena. This is between me and them. I have to stop them tonight before they kill someone else. It is Halloween. This is their night. They told me they were coming here. That is why you have to go. Whatever happens tonight happens in this house. With me. Not with you.”
“Then why would you stay?”
“Because tonight, I see their face. Tonight, I unmask this asshole once and for all.”
“Rhys, are you fucking nuts? This is stupid. What if what you’re dealing with is more than just a mask. What if they come in here and—”
“That is why you are leaving, Lena.”
“I’m scared, Rhys. I’m scared for you and for me too, and that terrifies me. I hate that I am even here saying it. But I am not leaving you here alone unless you make me.”
“I am making you.” I take a step closer. “There is a police car in the drive. Pell sent it after I left the tower. Get back in your vehicle. That officer is taking you down the mountain. You do not stay in this house. You do not wait in the trees. You go, now.”
“You called me for days and now you want me gone.”
“I called you so you wouldn’t come here, but you came anyway. That is enough for me to protect you. I need you off this road and out of my house. I need you safe … and alive.”
She looks at my face, then at the glass. She is my sister. Lena can tell when I am hiding something and she also knows that despite her efforts, I am not leaving this house.
“If I leave,” she says, “I call you when I get to the bottom of the mountain, and when I do, you answer. If you don’t, I turn around and come straight back here. I don’t care what you want then.”
