Slow Agony (Assassins, #2)(8)

I picked up the phone. I dialed 911. I put the phone to my ear.

“You only dialed three numbers,” said the man. “I heard you. Give me the phone.”

I was shaking. Maybe if I stalled, someone would pick up, and they’d hear what was going on. I didn’t know if they’d be able to do anything with the guy. He had the serum after all, and he’d probably get away. But it would slow him down, wouldn’t it?

“Give me the phone,” he roared.

“Nine-one-one. What is your emergency?” said a voice on the other end of my phone.

He heard it. “Oh, I’m really sorry you did that.” He pulled the trigger.

There was a loud crack. Naomi went lifeless on the couch.

“No,” I moaned.

He snatched the phone away from me.

“Was that a gunshot?” said the person on the line.

He hung up.

I fell to my knees next to Naomi, my hands fluttering over her face. “No.”

The man yanked me to my feet and dragged me away from Naomi. “You got your car keys?”

“I don’t know,” I said. “You killed her.” I was crying. At least tears were leaking out of my eyes. But inside, all I felt was lurching despair. He was going to kill me now, too, wasn’t he? Could the 911 people trace my call like they did on the movies? Would they know my address? Were they on their way?

“Do you have them?” he said.

I felt in my pocket. “No. They’re hanging up near the door.” What did it matter?

He slammed me up against the wall. “All right, listen to me. You’re going to get in your car, and you’re going to drive away from here. And you’re going to go to Griffin. I’m going to follow you.”

“I’m telling you, I don’t know where he is.”

“Then you find out where he is.” His face was so close to mine that I could smell his rank breath.

I cowered. “How am I supposed to do that?”

“You figure it out.” He smiled. “You find him. You tell him that Marcel’s following you around. You tell him to meet me in two weeks in Atlantic City. Or I’m going to kill everyone you’ve ever cared about and everyone he’s ever cared about. You got it?”

“I...”

“Answer me, blondie. Do you understand?”

“I understand.”

“Watched you tonight,” he said. “You were talking to a nice boy, weren’t you? Curly hair? Dimples?”

I gulped. “I just met him tonight. I don’t care about him.”

He smiled. “You gonna care about him when I dump pieces of his body in your lap?”

I whimpered, shutting my eyes.

“You do what I say. Got it?”

I cringed. “Yes, I got it.”

He slapped my phone back into my hand. “Don’t try to call 911 again. You know they can’t protect you. They probably only got a vague idea of your location from the last cell phone call. Some latitude and longitude. It’ll take them a while to get here. You need to be gone by then. If you aren’t, then I’m going to start carving up your little friends.”

Then he was gone.

He slammed the door after himself, leaving me alone in the morning light with the dead body of my best friend. I slid down the wall, giving in to my sobs. I didn’t have the strength to hold myself up anymore.

I slid into a dark, dark hole for several minutes. I cried in a heap on the floor. I felt like I was on the edge of snapping. Something inside me wanted to break, wanted to give in to the agony of everything that had just happened.

And some other part of me knew that I didn’t have that luxury.

I got a sheet from my bed. I put it over Naomi’s face. I didn’t want to look into her dead eyes. “I’m so sorry,” I whispered to her. “You didn’t deserve this.”

With shaking hands, I picked up my phone and scrolled through my contacts. I might not know where Griffin was, but there was one other person I could call who could maybe help me. I selected Knox’s name and hit send.

It rang.

I went back the hall to my bedroom. I pulled a duffle bag out of my closet.

“Hello? Leigh? I haven’t heard from you in ages.”

“Hi, Knox,” I said. “I’ve got a situation.” I began to shove clothing into my bag, explaining at the same time what had happened. It didn’t take as long as I thought it would.

He was quiet on the other end for several minutes after I finished talking.

I zipped up my duffel bag and slung it over my shoulder. “Knox?”

“I’m here,” he said. “You still in your apartment?”

“Yes, but I’m getting ready to leave.”

“You think that the police are on their way after your 911 call?”

“I called earlier,” I said. “I gave my address then. I’m sure they’ll be here soon. Do you think I should wait for them?”

“No,” he said. “No, your instincts are right. Get the hell out of there as quick as you can.”

I strode out of my bedroom and out of the apartment, stopping to pick up my keys as I did. I didn’t bother locking the apartment when I left. I never did. It was Thomas. There hadn’t been a crime here in like...