Total pages in book: 66
Estimated words: 68006 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 340(@200wpm)___ 272(@250wpm)___ 227(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 68006 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 340(@200wpm)___ 272(@250wpm)___ 227(@300wpm)
Doesn’t help. My throat is still parched, sore, tight.
I’m frozen on the inside. Frozen in fear. I barely make it back to Leif’s bed on my jelly legs, and I lie down, curling into a fetal position and pulling the covers over me.
The landline unit sits on the nightstand, glowing at me as if it’s lit from within.
Leif. I need to call Leif.
He promised that the landline was secure, so I reach forward, my hands trembling, and pick up the receiver. I punch in his number.
“Hello?” A female voice.
“Who the hell is this?” I demand.
“Who the hell is this? You called me.”
“I’m looking for Leif.”
“I think you have the wrong number.”
A tiny bit of relief swims through me. Of course. I punched in the wrong number. My fingers aren’t working.
I try again, this time carefully looking at each key as I push it.
It rings.
Again.
Five rings, until—
“Kelly! What is it?”
“I…”
“Are you all right?”
“I need you.”
“Are you hurt? What happened?”
“There was a letter. I opened it.”
“What letter?”
“From…”
“Oh, fuck. I forgot about that. It was on the floor after… Anyway, I put it in my pocket and I left it on the table at my place.”
“It’s from him, Leif. The one who sent the text. He’s not going to stop. He’s coming after me, and he threatened…”
“Threatened what?” Leif’s voice is low, angry.
“He said he was going to do to me what he did to my friend. I don’t understand. I don’t have any friends, unless you count the women here, we’re not really friends. I don’t know what it meant, Leif.”
Silence for a few seconds.
When I can’t take it anymore— “Leif? Please.”
“Oh, baby. I’ll be right there.”
The phone goes dead. I replace the receiver on the landline unit, crawl back under my covers.
I don’t know how quickly Leif will get here. I have no idea where he is.
Until he bursts through the bedroom door. I gasp in fear, even though I recognize his face.
“Leif, thank God. I didn’t know where you were.”
“No one else can get in here, Kelly. This is my place, remember?”
“Thank God.” I scramble out of bed and launch myself into his arms.
He kisses the top of my head.
“Did you read the letter?” I ask.
“No. Where is it?”
“I don’t know. I—”
He kisses my head again. “It’s probably where you left it. Somewhere near the table by the door.”
“It’s from him. One of the men from the island. The one who’s texting me.”
“Oh, baby…” He pulls away so that he can meet my gaze. “I swear to God, Kelly. No one will harm you. I will die first.”
My eyes have adjusted to the darkness of the bedroom, and his eyes… Something in Leif’s eyes…
He’s serious. Completely serious.
This man will die before any harm comes to me.
He means it. He means those words. He means them as if he had his hand on the Bible swearing to them under oath.
I mean something to this man. And those feelings I’ve been having… Those feelings I can’t put a name to…
No. It’s not possible.
“Kelly, I need to look at the letter. Are you okay here in the bedroom?”
I shake my head vehemently. “I’m coming with you.”
He nods, takes my hand, and leads me out of the bedroom toward the living room where the yellow paper still lies on the floor.
“Aren’t you going to pick it up?” I ask.
“Not yet.” He leads me to the kitchen area, where he opens the cupboard and pulls out a box marked nitrile gloves. He pulls out two blue disposable gloves and puts them on.
“What’s that for?”
“I don’t want to disturb any fingerprints that might be on the paper.”
My heart sinks to my stomach. “Oh, Leif. I already touched it.”
Leif draws in a breath, lets it out slowly. “All right, Kelly. You weren’t thinking. You were scared.”
“I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I know better than to mess with potential evidence.”
“You had no idea who it was from.”
“I shouldn’t have even opened it. This is your apartment. I was out of line, and I’m sorry, Leif.”
His gaze softens, and the searing blue of his eyes melts me.
“Baby, it’s okay. No one’s going to think anything of it.”
“I hope not.”
“I promise.” He finishes snapping on the second glove. “Now let’s look at that letter.”
Still gripping his hand, I follow him. Leif kneels, picks up the letter, his eyes widening as he reads it.
He glances at a small spot on the paper. “There’s a speck of blood on this letter. Maybe we could find some DNA.”
“That’s probably my blood.” I hold up my thumb. “I got a paper cut when I was opening the envelope.”
“I see. Now that I look at it, the color’s not quite right. It’s too fresh to have come from whoever wrote the letter.”
“What can we do now?”
He folds the letter and then slowly turns to face me, his jaw clenched and his eyes unreadable. “Kelly, I have to tell you something.”