Page 71 of His Obsession
I see it too late. White, folded, already wet with something sharp and chemical. I turn my head, but he presses it hard over my mouth and nose, one arm locked around me.
I fight like hell. I claw at his wrist, kick at his legs, and twist hard enough that pain shoots through my side. I try not to breathe, but my lungs burn and my body betrays me. The porch light blurs. The open doorway tilts. Gia’s hand is visible on the floor, still and pale against the dark wood.
I try to say her name, but nothing comes out right.
Adrian’s voice follows me down.
“Finally,” he says. “Let’s go home.”
26
SEBASTIAN
The police and ambulance are already outside Val’s house when I get there. I park crooked at the curb and get out without killing the engine. One of my men pulls in behind me, but I don’t wait. I’m already moving up the driveway, eyes locked on the open ambulance doors and the woman sitting on the back bumper with a blanket around her shoulders.
Gia.
Her hair is falling out of its knot. One side of her face is swollen and there’s dried blood crusted at the corner of her mouth. A paramedic crouches in front of her with a penlight, trying to check her pupils, but she keeps looking toward the house like she expects Val to walk out of it.
She sees me, and her face crumples. That tells me enough before she says a word.
“Where is she?” I ask.
The paramedic turns his head sharply. “Sir, you need to give us some room.”
Gia grabs my sleeve before I can answer him. Her hand is shaking badly.
“I don’t know.” Her voice cracks on the last word. “I don’t know where she is.”
I crouch in front of her, ignoring the paramedic’s annoyed look. “Tell me what happened.”
“She called me.” Gia swallows hard, presses the blanket tighter around herself. “She said she was at her house. She was upset and didn’t want to be alone, so I came over. She checked the camera before she opened the door. I know she did because I told her to.”
“Gia,” the paramedic says, “you should sit back.”
“I’m sitting.” She barely looks at him. Her eyes stay on me. “I started yelling at her the second she opened the door. I didn’t even get through the sentence. I saw someone move behind me, and then I woke up on the porch with Mr.Keller standing over me.”
A uniformed officer steps closer, notebook in hand.
“Mr.Keller lives across the street. He found her around six-thirty when he came outside for the morning paper. Called 9-1-1.”
Some old man with a newspaper subscription is the only reason Gia isn’t still lying on that porch. I look past the officer at Val’s front door. It stands open now, but I can see the scene clearly in my head. Gia on the porch. Val inside. Adrian waiting in the blind spot.
I don’t let myself think about how she got out of my house.
Not yet.
“Did you see him?” I ask Gia.
Her eyes fill with tears again, which seems to piss her off more than anything. “No.I’m sorry. I tried to remember, but I didn’t see his face. It happened too fast.”
“It was Adrian.”
She nods once, too quickly, and winces from the movement. “It had to be.”
My phone is already in my hand when I stand. Nico picks up before the first ring finishes.
“Did you find her?” he asks.
