AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I don’t know what’s going on,” Axel said. “But I would sure like to find out. I don’t want to be overdramatic about the whole thing, but he’s been acting really strange lately. Some days I barely recognize him.”
“Yeah,” I said. “I’d kind of noticed. While you were sick, he had a few heated arguments with your father about staying here to help keep an eye on you. He always had somewhere to go. That was why I was here so often. Kobe wasn’t’.”
“Thank God you were here. I’m grateful for that, but damn, I hope he’s not getting himself into any trouble,” Axel said.
His phone beeped a notification and he headed back into the living room to grab it.
“What?” he muttered. “Holy fuck.”
“What is it?” I said, coming up behind him and wrapping my arms around his waist as I tried to peek at his phone’s screen. I couldn’t see anything.
“Holy...” He choked on his words, and I thought I heard a sob come from him.
Alarmed, I maneuvered myself around to come up and face him. “Axel, what’s wrong? What’s going on?”
He simply handed me his phone as he turned away, wiping the tears from his eyes. His face was red and his mouth contorted into a grimace.
I looked at the screen of his phone. It was an article from a New York City newspaper.
Well-known New York chef, Erica Babbette, was found dead in an alleyway trash bin late last night. Reports say that she had been dead for days and was bludgeoned to death. The authorities are blaming the sudden spike in violent crimes across the city. There are calls for an autopsy from many of her fans.
I read the name over and over again; Erica Babbette. Then I looked at the photo of her at the start of the article.
She appeared to be in her late thirties, perhaps early forties. An attractive woman with a vivacious spark in her eyes and a very welcoming smile.
Setting the phone down, I looked at Axel who was shaken by his uncontrollable sobs.
“I can’t believe it,” he muttered.
She’s the one, isn’t she? I wanted to say. She’s the one who hurt you. She’s the one who traumatized you. She’s the one who had you twisting and turning in your bed with awful nightmares.
And now, she was dead.
Chapter 26
Taryn
