The words swam on the screen before him. As he typed, the words poured from him faster than his fingers could move. A raging torrent of anger flowed from him out onto the screen infusing his book with all the hatred he felt for Sarah. She was destroying his life and there wasn’t anything he could do about it.

Or was there?

Gritting his teeth, Jax flipped through his saved documents for his notes on his last book, Tormented. He scanned the notes scouring them for a way to find out more about Sarah.

Perfect.

A slow smile spread across his face as he typed in the username and password he used to access a privacy website when he was writing Tormented.

Sarah Bender, IL., age 32

Sarah J. Bender, IL. Age 31

Sarah A. Bender, CA., IL. Age 32

Sarah M. Bender, NY, IL. Age 30

He kept looking through all the Sarah Bender hits. Several of them could be her, he thought. He imagined she was around 32, but he couldn’t be certain. That’s when it hit him.

Quickly, he punched in Meridian International and looked through the staff profiles.

Sarah Bender, Senior Staff Editor.

He clicked on the name.

Oh my God.

His heart nearly stopped. The photograph he was looking at wasn’t the Sarah Bender he knew.

Yet it had to her.

The woman in the photograph had shoulder length blonde hair and brown eyes. She appeared to be in her early 30s.

But the woman he knew as Sarah had long brown hair and green eyes.

Could she have simply colored her hair?

No, the woman in the picture was much smaller built than Sarah.

What the fuck?

There was only one explanation for the discrepancy in the photo.

The woman he knew as Sarah wasn’t the real Sarah.

Immediately, he searched social media for the real Sarah Bender’s profile. He found one that matched the photo he’d seen. The real Sarah had many photos on her Facebook confirming they were indeed two different people.

Worse yet, there were messages on her Facebook page wondering why Sarah wasn’t replying to them. Several of her friends messaged that she hadn’t been returning their calls.

My God, where is the real Sarah?

Who the fuck had been following him?

With his hands trembling, he dialed Jessica’s number. He had to talk her now! She didn’t answer. It was after 11 PM, so she might be in bed. He left a voicemail.

What to do now? Racing to his bedroom, he grabbed his .45 making sure it was loaded. He was glad Brooke was in the city for the night visiting her parents. He didn’t want to have to explain the situation to her yet.

Slipping the gun into the waistband of his shorts, he dashed to ensure that all the windows were closed and locked. Sitting in his living room with his laptop opened, he felt like a prisoner. Why should he have to live in fear because of some crazy bitch?

He tried calling Jessica again. Still no answer. Something was wrong.

Very wrong.

* * *

An hour later, Sarah was standing on the elevator waiting to get to the top floor. The building was nearly deserted as it was 8 PM on a Friday night. Everyone always fled the office at 5 PM sharp on Fridays like rats abandoning a sinking ship. It was amusing to her how everyone casually worked later on other days of the week, but come Friday they all watched the clock anxiously and as soon as 5 PM hit, they were gone.

Nervously, Sarah adjusted her purse on her shoulder. It was unusually heavy today it seemed.

For a good reason.

The elevator stopped when it reached the top floor. Sarah ran her hands through her long hair as she stepped off the elevator. The office was dark and quiet.

Seeing the light coming from Jessica’s office, Sarah walked down the long corridor keeping her left hand on her purse hanging from her right shoulder. As she crept closer to Jessica’s office, she stopped to ensure that Jessica wasn’t on the phone.

All was silent.

Taking a deep breath, she swung open the glass door to Jessica’s office.

Showtime.

Her long brown hair shrouded her face as she was bent over reading a manuscript. Hearing the door open, Jessica looked up.

“May I help you?”

Sarah smiled broadly.

“We had a meeting tonight.”

Jessica’s brows shot up in question. She pushed the manuscript aside to look at her calendar.

“I’m sorry, I don’t believe we did. The only thing I have on my calendar is a meeting with Sarah Bender.”

“Exactly.” Sarah smiled at her. God, for a woman who was high on the food chain at the office she certainly was slow on the pickup.

“What was your name?”

Sarah bit her lip to keep from laughing.

“Sarah Bender.”

Jessica shook her head.

“Honey, I don’t know who you are, but you’re not Sarah Bender.” She began to look annoyed.

“Yes, I am. You hired me to stalk Jax Paulson. I’m one of the senior staff editors in the Fiction department.”

Jessica pushed her chair back and stood up. Her face reddened with anger.

“Did Jax put you up to this?”

Sarah shook her head.

“How the hell did you know Sarah was stalking Jax? That assignment is top secret. If you dare leak this, I’ll make sure you’re fired immediately and you’ll never work as an editor again!” Jessica fumed as she tightened her fists.

Sarah kept her hand on her purse. Funny, that she should feel this calm when she was as close to…

(Murder)

As she’d ever been before.

“I know because you hired me. I told you I’m Sarah Bender.”

Jessica went pale as it finally dawned on her why she hadn’t seen Sarah around the office lately.

Sarah Bender was dead.

The woman standing before her was ‘Sarah Bender’.

And the one who’d been stalking Jax.

Her mind reeled as she thought of a way to extract herself from the situation before ‘Sarah’ turned violent.

“Oh, yes, Sarah, I’m sorry I didn’t recognize you. It’s been such a long day.” Jessica thought if she placated the woman she might escape unharmed.

As soon as she left, she’d be calling 911.

And Jax.

“Save the bullshit, Jessica. I’m not Sarah and you know it. I bet you don’t even remember me, do you?”

Jessica slowly backed away running into the credenza.

“No, I don’t,” she whispered.

“Sit down, Jessica.” Sarah commanded.

“But I---“

“NOW!”

As her voice took on a terrifying tone, Jessica did as she asked.

“Three years ago, your editing department was taking on new hires. I was one of them. Sarah Bender was my supervisor.”

“I see.” Jessica dropped the tone of her voice as low as she could attempting to calm Sarah.

“I bet you still don’t remember me. I was an associate editor working on short fiction novels when I came across one of the greatest authors I’d ever read.”

Jessica closed her eyes briefly.

“Jax.”

Sarah nodded.

“Yes, Jax Paulson. I brought him to Sarah’s attention who, in turn, brought him to yours.”

A flood of memories rushed into Jessica’s mind. She recalled the woman before her.

Oh God, she remembered.

Please not her.

The woman before her was….

“That’s right, Jessica. I was the one who worked on getting in touch with Jax’s PA, Kristi to get him to sign with us.”

Jessica bit her lip and nodded.

Sarah’s face turned dark.

“What happened after that fateful meeting? Your company ended up signing Jax! And what happened to me?”

Jessica felt her stomach tighten. This was bad, very bad. She recalled what happened now as though it were yesterday.

The woman in front of her had started to behave erratically as soon as they took Jax on as a client. She insisted she be given all of his manuscripts to edit. She demanded that his work be given top billing even over much higher ranking authors. At the time, Jax had only been a mid-list author nowhere near the ranks of a NYT bestseller.

Her actions had aroused suspicions in the real Sarah Bender who then took her concerns to Jessica. They had both conferred and it was decided that the woman should be terminated.

And so she was.

She hadn’t gone quietly. She had thrown things in the office and smashed her computer screen. The police had to be called and the woman had been drug away in handcuffs.

Then she’d come back several times harassing various staff members. They’d had to file a restraining order against her.

But that was nearly a year ago. How did she know about Sarah being hired to stalk Jax?

Unless….

Oh, my God, Jessica thought. She slowly inched her chair back. She thought of her cell phone in her purse which was still in her bottom desk drawer. If she could get to that….

Sarah slammed her fist on the desk.

“WHAT HAPPENED TO ME?”

Jessica swallowed hard.

“You were let go,” she whispered her hands shaking.

“I was FIRED!” Sarah screamed.

Jessica nodded.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered.

“Sorry? Oh, she’s sorry now.” Sarah laughed as though she were playing to an invisible audience.

“The great Jessica Pierce is sorry now. She thinks now maybe she made a mistake in letting me go. That’s what you call it, isn’t it? Letting someone go? It’s such fucking bullshit! Tell me, Jessica, why was I let go?”

Jessica squirmed in her seat. The woman was between her and the door. There was no other way out.

“Your behavior was disconcerting to others.”

Sarah spun around laughing. Her hand clasped tightly on her purse as she paced the floor.

“Disconcerting? Well, I wonder why. I had found the greatest talent this lousy company has ever had and I was just shoved out the door like so much unwanted trash! Fuck you, Jessica, I was a damn good editor!”

“Your work had nothing to do with it. Sarah had given you several warnings about your behavior.” Jessica replied weakly. She let her hand fall behind the desk trying to open her desk drawer to get to her purse without the woman knowing it.

Sarah felt rage boiling within her. The voices began to whisper all at once.

She’s evil.

Just like Jax.

Stop her.

“Is that how you treat people, Jessica? I was tossed out of here with no warning. This job was my fucking life! I worked 12 hour days without extra pay. I gave my life to your company and you stabbed me in the fucking back!” Sarah screamed.

Jessica watched her intently as she attempted to slide the bottom drawer open.

“I came here tonight, Jessica to let you know just how I feel and to tell you what happened to your precious Sarah.”

Jessica gulped. Sweat began to bead on her forehead as she strained to open the drawer. She just needed to get to her purse.

Sarah shoved the desk violently into Jessica. She jumped back nearly falling out of the chair.

“Stop it, Jessica! I know exactly what you’re doing. Put your fucking hands on the desk!”

Sarah’s rage was palpable. She placed her hands on the desk.

“You think I’m fucking crazy, don’t you?” Sarah’s pretty face was distorted with anger as she leaned forward to peer at Jessica.

“I think you need help. Let me help you,” Jessica whispered. Her back was wet with perspiration gluing her blouse to her.

“Help? You’re right I do need help, but not from you!”

With that, Sarah whipped the 9mm from her purse. Jessica’s eyes widened in fear as she gaped at the gun.

Cocking the gun, Sarah pointed it at her. Jessica’s heart pounded in her chest. This was it.

“Please, don’t hurt me. I’m sorry. We can work this out. You can leave and I won’t tell anyone. This will be our secret.”

Sarah laughed loudly as she kept her finger on the trigger.

“That’s what they all say. I may be crazy, Jessica, but I’m not stupid. If you walk out of here, you’ll call the police then Jax. I’m not going to let that happen.”

Jessica watched Sarah’s eyes. They bore directly into her own. She knew then that she was staring into the eyes of a killer.

First, Sarah then me, Jessica thought.

Jax might be next.

“Chel---“

“Don’t call me that! My name is Sarah!” She screamed her finger twitching on the trigger. Jessica kept her eyes locked on Sarah.

Don’t let your eyes waver. She’ll kill you if you do, Jessica thought.

Sarah’s hand gripped the gun tightly holding it steady.

Do it, Sarah.

She’s evil.

You must stop her.

Jessica pleaded with her eyes. Tears began to spill down her cheeks. She held her hands up.

“I have a son,” she whispered.

Sarah closed her eyes.