CHAPTER 19 - MALLORY
I must have been hearing things.
There was no possible way this was happening, right? I mean, things like this just didn't happen, did they? I meant, not to people outside of books and movies.
Setting aside that I was on the run from a bloodthirsty killer — why was that bloodthirsty killer on the other line asking if someone 'had killed me yet?'
I didn't say anything. I couldn't. I just hung up the phone as quickly as I could.
Then I stared at it, for longer than I could tell, like I was scared the phone was going to somehow come to life and attack me.
Shit.
Shit.
Shit Shit Shit Shit.
The tears came without warning, and I slumped over, sinking to the floor dragging a notepad and some loose papers down with me as my hands hit the counter next to the phone. What was I going to do now?
Tate Norman wanted me dead. And he'd gotten Barrett to take the job?
How was that possible?!
How could Barrett want me dead? After all we'd been through...what was his angle?!
I couldn't figure it out, and I couldn't even think straight. Nothing made any sense anymore. In fact, things made even less sense now than they had just a couple minutes earlier.
A minute ago Barrett and I had been ready to leave this whole mess behind us — as soon as he'd gotten back with breakfast, we'd eat and then figure out where I could go to escape from Tate Norman's clutches.
That poorly timed phone call had changed everything. I didn't know how much time I had before something else came to knock me off my feet, but I already knew that I couldn't take much more of this - I was nearing my breaking point.
All I knew was that I needed to collect myself as soon as possible.
And then I needed to get the fuck out of here. I couldn't wait for Barrett.
Barrett wasn't on my side. He never had been. Barrett was Tate Norman's foot soldier.
Barrett was...the enemy.
The very thought crushed my soul into a small pulp and threw it around my insides, carving me up. I leaned over, dry heaving, thoughts flashing all over.
I don't know how long I lay there on the floor, but it couldn't have been too long. I wrenched my eyes open and wiped the tears away. "Get up," I whispered to myself. "Get up, Mallory."
I did what I'd told myself to do, and after wobbling around a little bit, stood up and patted myself off. I glanced at the clock and realized with a shiver that at any moment Barrett could walk back in the door.
And he could come back with bags of food or he could come back to kill me.
I didn’t have a moment to waste - I didn’t know when he’d left or how long he’d be.
I had to get out of the apartment.
As soon as the idea crossed my mind I recoiled — leaving the relative safety of the apartment just seemed so wrong — especially alone.
Especially without Barrett.
I shook my head again, trying to drive all thoughts of him out of my head. No, no, no, I couldn’t waste any more time on Barrett.
Everything we’d been through since Friday night had been a lie - Barrett wasn’t trying to protect me, he was finding the right time to kill me and dispose of me properly.
I had to get away — my life depended on it.
I ran back into the bedroom and gathered up the rest of my clothes. I didn’t have much with me, but I would need everything. After I finished getting dressed and tossed some water on my face, I marched back into the main room and got my purse.
I felt so rushed, leaving like this, but it was for the best - I couldn’t trust anyone anymore, and I had no idea what was in store for me. I just knew that I couldn’t stay here.
As I took one last look around the small apartment that had become my home over the last couple days, I was shocked — both by how much I would miss this place and intense memories I had of it, and by the pain of Barrett’s betrayal covering the entire place in a haze of hurt.
When I turned back toward the door and put my hand on the knob to open it, a lance of fear arced through me — what if Barrett was already on his way back? What if we ran into each other as I was making my escape?
How could I hope to get away from him?
I pushed those thoughts and that fear down as far as I could and steeled myself as best I could, gritted my teeth and opened the door.
The cold Meridian wind attacked me as soon as the door opened and I took the first tentative step out. I stuck my head out a couple inches just to see if Barrett was on his way, but as I swept my eyes out over the parking lot, I could only see a handful of people walking around, and none of them had Barrett’s build.
At least for the moment, the coast was clear, and I had to take advantage of it while the getting was good. I quickly locked the door behind me and closed it, quietly so none of the neighbors, if there were any, would be able to report back to Barrett if he came asking.
Closing the door was a big step, like cutting myself off from the umbilical cord that had sustained me ever since I had arrived. I needed to make as clean a break as I could, so I pulled my coat close to me and after looking around one more time to see if I could spot Barrett coming back, I rushed toward the end of the hallway.
I thought about taking the elevator for a quick moment, but almost immediately pushed the door to the stairwell open - I was only going down two floors, and I knew that any more time spent waiting would just drive me nuts.
I was about to walk across the parking lot when I realized that I’d be out in the open, and thought better of it, slinking along the side of the building while trying not to be too conspicuous.
I had no idea where I was going, and no idea if I could call anyone.
All I knew was that I had to get as far away from the building as possible. Where could I go after that?
I needed to get the hell out of Meridian, and fast.
Before Barrett could find me and finish the job.