‹ Prequel: Beyond
Status: Last story in the Avidity trilogy.

Sinister

Exposure

When I woke up a few hours later, I was not with Scott, but in a dingy looking motel room the size of a shack. My memory was a bit hazy, but I recalled what I needed, the essential things, like the bullet hole in the wall beside John's head in the hotel.

John gripping my throat, squeezing until I passed out. I barely heard Scott, but I knew he was there. He wouldn't have shot John, because I was the shield between them. If he had, he would have put a bullet into me, too. Had that been part of their conversation?

"Oh, good. You're alive. I was worried I'd accidentally killed you."

Funny, he didn't sound worried at all.

I sat up and found his shadow in the corner. When he reached over and flicked on the light, the room came to life. John was sitting in a chair, legs crossed at the ankles, an arrogant smirk on his face.

"How do you feel?"

"How the fuck do you think?" I snapped.

He frowned and leaned forward. That was when I saw the gun on the table next to him. He eyed it with interest, then his eyes slid to my face.

"I didn't want this, you know." His voice was gentle, almost human, but I knew better. "The first woman I killed was someone I was deeply in love with. When she betrayed me, something snapped. She wanted to leave me, and I wouldn't allow that. We were mean to be together, Sophia and I."

I squinted at him. "Why are you telling me this?"

John's head tilted, considering. "Because you need to know, if you don't already, which judging from your stoic expression, you do. You've done your research, Charlotte." The ghost of a smile flicked along his mouth. "And I've done mine. I know everything about you, even what you try to hide from Detective Malloy."

"Scott knows all of my secrets," I said, narrowing my eyes.

John smiled. "Oh, I'm quite sure that he doesn't know this one." He picks up the gun and stands. When he reaches me, he jams the muzzle underneath my jaw. With his unoccupied hand, he shoves a cell phone into my palm. "Call him. Tell him where to find you. He has one hour."