Then he grew frightened. Had he hit her too hard? He’d smacked her right in the face, right in the nose. He’d heard it crack. Had it been one of those things he’d heard about where the shards of the nose went up into the brain and killed someone? Was she dead? Fuck. His heart was racing as he nudged her side with his shoe. She moaned. Thank God.
He didn’t mind killing her, but he wanted to fuck her first.
Losing his virginity would not involve necrophilia, thank you very much.
She moaned again, and he leaped into action.
Within seconds, her hands were bound in front of her with zip ties. He worried she would claw at him as he raped her, but he didn’t want to risk her waking up if he turned her over. He bound her ankles with zip ties and then put a bandanna around her mouth, making sure her bleeding nose was free.
He pulled up a kitchen chair near where she lay and downed some of the whiskey he’d found in the cupboard, chasing it with a Diet Coke. All the time, he watched her carefully.
He was starting to get impatient when she finally stirred, moaning and crying a little. Tears slipped down her cheeks as she blinked open her eyes.
She lifted her bound hands in front of her, and her eyes grew wide. Then she jerked her head, first toward the door and then toward him. When she saw him, she froze.
He held his breath, waiting to see what she would do next.
She started thrashing wildly, and jerked herself up to a sitting position.
Holy fuck.
He jumped off the chair so quickly it toppled. By then, she’d scrambled onto her knees and elbows and was trying to do some sort of fucked-up crawl toward the locked front door. Keeping his distance, he grabbed the gun and watched her, heart pounding. When she reached the door and tried to stand, her bound legs failed her, and she crashed heavily onto her ass. He smacked her in the face again with the gun—not quite as hard this time. But it made her stop fighting. She leaned back against the door with her eyes closed. But he could see her chest heave and knew she was alive.
He laughed.
Her eyes flew open.
Looking back at him, her eyes shot pure hatred.
He thumped the gun in his open palm until he saw the hate turn to fear.
“Don’t worry. If you cooperate with me like you did my friend, you won’t get hurt. You’re a good girl. Didn’t go to the cops. That means you want to stay alive. Smart girl. Remember, you cooperate, you live. You keep this between me and you, you live. Do you understand?”
He watched her eyes, but they were unreadable.
“Do you understand?” He noticed there was the slightest tremor in his voice, and it sent a spark of anger through him. “Do you understand!”.
She nodded her head so hard, her hair bounced in and out of her eyes.
“Good. Because I’ve been waiting a really long time to show bitches like you who’s in charge.”
As he moved toward her, he started to unzip his jeans.
23
Molly
When Molly opened her eyes, fear nearly paralyzed her, but she talked herself out of it. Be smart. You got this, girl. But when she tried to move her head, she realized she was woozy and weak. She wanted to vomit. Her head throbbed like a son-of-a-bitch, and her ankles and wrists were tied but, somehow, she had to turn this situation around so she could take out this fucking waste of life fucker. From what he’d said before, Molly knew it was the fucked-up incel they were trying to stop. Just how he’d found her she didn’t know, but she was certain that Conrad would never have betrayed her location or name.
When her attempt to get out the door failed and he threatened to hit her with the gun a third time, she pivoted.
If only her mouth weren’t bound and she could speak.
She stared at him, willing him to undo the gag around her mouth. His eyes, which she could see were an unearthly blue, weren’t on hers though. The side of her top had slipped down, revealing her freckled shoulder and arm and some of her breast. His eyes were fixated on her skin.
He moved closer, reaching for the zipper on his jeans.
As soon as he got within striking distance, she pushed her back hard off the door and aimed her forehead right at his nose. She heard a sickening crunch as his nose broke. He howled and swung the gun wildly. It thudded weakly against her side. By then she was leaning her body against him, trying to push him down. He was already off-kilter and with one hard thrust on her part, they both tumbled to the ground, her on top of him.
His head made a loud sound as it hit the wooden floors. She lay on top of him for a second, the wind knocked out her. He wasn’t moving.
What luck. But then he moaned, and she twisted as hard as she could to roll off him and scrambled to her feet. She hopped toward the front door and managed to turn the deadbolt and thrust herself out the door. Too late, she realized her cell phone was still in her purse inside.
The closest neighbor wasn’t far. Glancing behind her, half-expecting the fucking maniac to come after her any second, she managed to shuffle across the lawn to the house next door. The going was excruciatingly slow. Standing in front of the front door, she could barely get the energy to thud her fists on it. She heard music inside. A twelve-year-old boy and his single mother lived there. The mother was probably at work, but the kid was probably home since it was summer vacation. It sounded like an old Beastie Boys song, which for some reason made her smile. But smiling hurt. That’s when she saw her face in the small pane of glass on the neighbor’s front door. Blood streamed down from a cut on her head. She was starting to feel light-headed too.
Her strength was waning. She thumped at the door again, glancing over at her house. Any second, she expected the incel to come running out and attack her. She almost started crying. He’d probably kill her neighbor’s kid too. Oh my God.
She imagined the bloodbath. And it would be all her fault.
The music paused for a second, and she used all her effort to smack her entire body into the door and then beat her forehead on it until she wanted to cry from the pain. As she drew back, she saw a small movement out of the side of her eye and glanced over.
Oh, my fucking God. The Incel was standing in her doorway, blinking and looking around. Then his gaze found her. He smiled. A horrific, terrifying smile. Her blood ran cold.
Just then the door swung open in front of her, and she nearly cried with relief.
It was her neighbor’s boyfriend, a man in his fifties. He was a long-haul trucker who lifted weights for fun.
“What the—?” he said as she leaped into his arms and gestured wildly with her head toward her house.
He was already looking that way. “Hey! Hey! Who the fuck are you? Stop!”
But he didn’t move. He was holding her up instead, glaring over her shoulder.
She turned in time to see the Incel running around the house and into the alley.
Her legs gave out.
Her neighbor’s boyfriend caught her before she hit the sidewalk.
“I’m calling the cops. And an ambulance.”
24
Eva answered on the first ring.
Molly hadn’t known who else to call.
Her mother? No way. Her dad? Even worse.
Her so-called friends? They would never in a million years understand.
Eva and Conrad were the only ones who could help her now. They were the only ones who would understand what she’d just gone through. They’d help her find that fucker and hurt him. Bad.
“It’s Molly,” she said, glancing at the nurse fiddling with her chart near the door. She’d thought the nurse was on her way out, but she was taking too long.
“Hey,” Eva said, casually.
“I’m in the hospital,” her voice broke as she said the words.
“Oh my God. Where are you? Are you okay?”
Eva’s words brought tears to Molly’s eyes.
“I’m fine. Just a bump on the head.”
“What happened?”
“I was attacked.”
“Oh my God. Who—“
“It was him.”
“Which hospital are you at?” Eva’s voice had grown hard.
Molly blinked. She didn’t actually know the name of the hospital.
The nurse was on her way out the door.
“Excuse me? What hospital is this?”
“North Shore Regional Hospital,” the nurse said and smiled. She paused for a second and then left the room.
“North Shore Regional.”
“I’m on my way.” This time Eva’s voice was soft and comforting again, motherly.
Just then the doctor walked in.
“I gotta go,” she said. “The doctor is here.”
“See you soon,” Eva said and hung up.
Molly sat holding her phone with tears streaming down her face.
An unwanted memory flashed. Her father was out of town on business. Her mother was working twelve-hour days at the law firm. Molly was fifteen and left to fend for herself. Her mother didn’t care what she was up to as long as she didn’t bug her. Molly responded by having sex with older boys and doing drugs.
One night, when her mother said she had a client dinner and wouldn’t be home until after midnight, Molly and her friend Jenny decided to go out with Rob Curtis and his friend Steve. They all met at the park near Molly’s house at dusk, smoked some weed, and fooled around a little. When an older couple showed up in a new model Mustang, Rob pulled away from kissing Molly to watch them head to the path that led down to the lake. As soon as they disappeared into the brush, he grabbed Molly’s hand.
“Come on,” he said, tugging her toward the parking lot.
“What? Where we going?”
“Joyriding, baby,” he said with a smile.
Hearing his words, Steve whooped and loped their way with Jenny following close behind.
Jenny and Molly stood by the hood of the car.
“This is a bad idea,” Molly said. She could imagine her mother’s face if she was arrested for car theft or as an accessory or whatever the fuck it would be. Would her mother represent her in court? Oh God. One thing was for sure, she would pay for any embarrassment she caused her mother in the law community.
Jenny rolled her eyes. “Whatever. It’ll be fun.”
Meanwhile, Steve and Rob had their heads ducked under the dash. Soon, the engine purred to life behind them.
“Hop in baby,” Rob said. He was in the driver’s seat.
“I got a knee for each of you,” Steve, said, patting his knees from his perch in the passenger seat.
“I don’t know.”
Rob smiled. “It’ll be a blast. We’ll just go a block or two and then ditch it. I just want to show you how fast this baby goes.” His smile melted her a little. She could still feel the way his mouth on her neck and ear sent goosebumps through her.
She crawled inside.
Later, after they’d crashed the Mustang, she’d called her mother from the hospital in tears.
“Did they admit you?” Her mother’s voice was clinical.
“No,” she said wiping a string of snotty tears onto her sleeve. “But Jenny is in surgery. Can you please come?”
“I’ll pick you up in a few hours. Or you can walk home.”
Her mother had hung up on her.
25
Conrad/Username: One-EyedJack
Conrad was beside himself with rage.
He’d just hung up with the Queen of Spades, er, Eva.
Molly was in the hospital. She’d been attacked. By ChadHater.
He balled his hand into a fist, closed his eyes, and swung for the wall. He missed, coming up half an inch short. The momentum sent him flying, and he clutched a chair so he wouldn’t crash into the other wall.
“Damn him. Damn him. God damn him to hell.”
Conrad could barely breathe. He was so angry that he was hyperventilating. He’d never been so angry in his life.
He thought his chest was going to explode.
Eva had said that Molly was at a hospital not far from his house and she claimed to be okay. But every inch of him wanted to rush to her to see for himself. He could barely contain the nervous energy ratcheting through him. Sitting at home and waiting for Eva to call wouldn’t work. He’d go crazy in the meantime.
He considered calling Eva back and asking if she thought Molly would mind him going to the hospital too.
But the thought of Eva saying he shouldn’t go, overruled that.
He’d go. Damn the consequences.
It was all his fault. Molly had been attacked because of him. He brought her into this sick world, and that sick fuck had found her. It was his fault. All of it. Everything.
He had to go see her. He had to apologize. She’d never forgive him, but he couldn’t live with himself unless he looked her in the eye and took responsibility for what happened to her.
He grabbed his keys and ran out the door. In the courtyard, he yanked half a dozen hydrangeas from a bush. He’d make it up to Mrs. Donaldson later and buy her a whole new plant.
26
Eva pounded the steering wheel as she drove.
A young woman was in the hospital because of her. She should’ve never brought someone else into this. She could have been the “actress” and filmed it so ChadHater wouldn’t have seen her face.
What was she thinking? She brought someone into this nightmare, and that person had been hurt. She was lucky the girl wasn’t dead.
Eva felt a fury rise in her on a nuclear level—a rage that she hadn’t felt since her family had been murdered. She’d wanted to get this guy beforehand, but it didn’t even compare to the level of commitment she had now. Now it was personal.
She would make him pay.
At the front desk, the nurse asked if she was a relative.
“Yes. I’m her aunt.”
When she stepped into the room and saw Molly sitting there, Eva felt like she could finally breathe normally again.
But the anger flared once again. The young woman had two black eyes and a nose swollen twice its size.
“Pretty cute, huh?” Molly said.
Eva smiled. “Does it hurt badly?”
Molly shrugged. “Not so much.”
Eva pulled up a chair. “I’m so sorry this happened to you. I should never have asked you to become involved. This is entirely my fault. I will pay all your hospital bills, but that can’t possibly make up for what you’ve gone through.”
“Eva, you didn’t force me to do anything.”
“But—”
“I’m an adult. I made my own decision. It’s fine.”
Eva was skeptical, and her face must’ve showed it.
“It’s fine. Really.”
“Do you even have health insurance?”
Molly looked away.
“Please, at least let me pay the hospital and ambulance bill. I insist.”
“Fine,” Molly said. “But only if you quit saying it was your fault.”
Eva sighed. “Okay.” She scooted closer. “Tell me everything. Every detail if you can. I’m going to find him and make him pay.”
When Molly got done talking, Eva felt like she was no closer to figuring out who ChadHater was.
“Okay. I told the cop most of it, but didn’t tell him about the other stuff,” Molly said. “Was that the right thing to do?”
“I’m not sure,” Eva said. “I know Conrad was worried that some cops were in on this incel crap. I just don’t know. I’ll call my contact who is dealing with the cops and FBI and ask how much we should reveal. Excuse me for a minute.”
Eva stepped out into the hall. There was a commotion at the end of the hall.
It was Conrad. He was trying to get past the nurse.
Eva headed that way. “Oh, thank God you’re here!”
He looked shocked at her words. Eva turned to the head nurse.
“This is my son. Molly’s cousin. She’s been asking for him.”
“Well…we usually o
nly let one family member in when it’s not visiting hours.”
“Please.”
The head nurse nodded.
Eva grabbed Conrad’s arm and looped hers through it. “So glad to see you.”
He cleared his throat. “Um, did she, was she, did she really ask for me?”
Eva turned to him. “I just got here. But I’m sure she was asking for you too. We’re a team, right? We need to work together to stop him.”
He visibly straightened. “Yeah. We’re a team.”
Eva stood in the doorway. “Look who I found,” she said.
To her delight, Molly broke into a big grin. “You came too? And brought me flowers?”
“Well, yeah,” he said, glancing at Eva. “We’re a team, right? We’re going to stop him by sticking together.”
“Damn right.”
There was an awkward silence. Eva broke it by saying, “I need to make those calls I mentioned. I’ll be back in a few minutes.”
She closed the door behind her and avoided all temptation to peek in as she dialed Jonathan.
27
Conrad/Username: One-EyedJack
He tried not to look horrified at Molly’s face. But it was bad. Really bad. His heart hurt seeing it.
“You didn’t have to come,” Molly said. For a second, he felt like crawling in a dark hole and never coming out. But she immediately said after, “But I’m glad you did.”
“You are?”
She nodded.
“I guess I’m a little embarrassed to have you see me like this.” She looked away as she said it.
“Oh my God. Why?”
She glanced at him for half a second, shrugged slightly and looked away again.
He stepped forward tentatively, as if he were approaching a wild animal he didn’t want to frighten. “Do you mind if I sit?”
“Yes. I mean no.”
He sank into the chair and pulled it close to the bed. He cleared his throat and couldn’t figure out what to do with his hands.
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