She stopped, the breath knocked out of her.
The teenage girl from the woods was standing right behind Nash, staring at Sabrina.
The girl raised a thin finger to her lips.
“Shhhhh.”
Sabrina heard Nash say something, but his voice was muffled, as though it was being filtered through a tunnel. She couldn’t take her eyes off the ghostly girl. This time, Sabrina could see something in the girl’s almond-shaped eyes. Urgency, yes. But something else, too … compassion.
The girl looked at Nash, then she whispered something that took Sabrina a second to process.
“You can’t trust them.”
The girl was gone as quickly as she’d appeared, and Sabrina was left staring at the empty spot behind Nash.
“Sabrina? What’s going on? Are you okay?”
“Nothing. I … I …” she trailed off lamely. Sabrina couldn’t explain it, but there was something protective about this girl’s presence. Something she trusted. But how could Sabrina believe this girl over Nash?
Nash’s confusion immediately turned to frustration. “Sabrina, whatever you saw, you need to tell me.”
Sabrina bristled at his commanding tone. She’d done it again — gotten caught up in her feelings for Nash and let them cloud her judgment. Z’s words echoed in her ears, in chorus with the girl’s. They had no reason to trust Nash and Patricia.
“Are you telling me everything?” she challenged.
His expression barely changed, but the energy in the room shifted to something adversarial. Nash’s eyes bored into hers, but he didn’t say anything except, “Your leg should heal fine now. I’ll show myself out.”
Eventually Sabrina stood up, wobbly on her feet. She limped into her bedroom, sat down on her bed and grabbed her phone. She had to tell someone about this.
“What’s up?” Z said, answering on the first ring.
Sabrina took a deep breath. “I agree. We should look into Devon Warner ourselves.”
CHAPTER NINETEEN
“We don’t have to go in there,” Gabby said for the third time. She shifted in her seat in the back row of Z’s Range Rover, the chill of the night air slipping through the partially open windows. For the last hour, the five of them had been huddled together in the car, parked on the outskirts of Falcon Rock, watching the second-floor corner window of an apartment building down the block. “What if that’s not even the right place?”
“I’m positive that’s it,” Andrew replied from his seat next to her. “I didn’t even have to hack anything to find this out. All I needed to do was go on Spokeo. It’s the only address for a Devon Warner in this area.”
Devon Warner’s apartment building was in an even more bleak area than the motel and restaurant had been, on a run-down street that boasted three liquor stores, but no working streetlights.
When the group began their drive here tonight, Gabby had gotten swept up in their nervous excitement. It felt liberating to be out at night, doing something totally unexpected. But now that she was there, she was just plain nervous. Anything could happen on this dark, desolate street. It was so different from the last time they were all crammed in Z’s car on the way to Falcon Rock. That was for an actual assignment from Patricia and Nash with a clear-cut goal. Now that the five of them had decided to take matters into their own hands, they had to come up with their own plan of attack.
“I say we go into the apartment now. He could come back any second. We’re just wasting time,” Sabrina said. Gabby wasn’t surprised that Sabrina was pushing them to go in. Sabrina had told them about the ghost and what she’d said to her. You can’t trust them. Now Sabrina was just like Z, aggressive and suspicious. Maybe even more so.
Sabrina had volunteered to enter the building as soon as they’d arrived, just for some early reconnaissance.
“He’s not home,” she reported when she came back to the car. She’d knocked on the door, received no answer and heard no sounds from inside. Since then, the window had remained dark.
“We’ll be quick,” she urged them all now. “Let’s go in, see what we can find out about this guy. Who is he? How did he know about the serum?”
Gabby shook her head nervously. “We don’t even know if Devon Warner did know about the serum.”
“Gabby, he took Sadie’s gun and bracelet. The bracelet that ended up with Lily’s blood all over it,” Sabrina reminded her. “He was at the scene of the crime. Chances are he knew about the serum.”
“But didn’t you say he could’ve been a middleman? I think we should wait. Just scope out the place from out here. Nash said he’d let us know when they needed us.”
Z gave Gabby a pitying look.
Gabby’s eyes flitted to the dark window again. “Don’t you think that if it’s as easy to find this place as Andrew said, then Nash and Patricia have probably already been here —”
“Which makes me wonder why we haven’t,” Z broke in. “We can find out things they can’t. Remember what happened at Lily’s cabin?”
“It’s just … something doesn’t feel right here,” Gabby countered. She wished she could articulate it better.
“Of course something isn’t right here. There’s three guys doing crack fifty yards away and Devon Warner could come back at any second to find us all,” Z replied.
“I know it’s a little risky, Gabby,” Sabrina admitted.
The understatement of the year, Gabby thought. At best Devon Warner was a guy who knocked out women for fun and a few dollars. At worst he was a murderer.
“But you know what could happen if the serum gets into the wrong hands. This is worth the risk. We need some answers.” Her eyes locked with Z’s, and Gabby realized they were totally on the same page.
“Maybe you could stay in the car,” Justin told Gabby quietly, his eyes focused on the car console. Since they’d arrived, he’d been testing his ability to move the heating dial psychokinetically, with limited success.
“No, she can’t,” Andrew piped up from the other side. “Gabby needs to be up there. She’s the one who has visions. If she sees the right thing, she could solve the whole case.”
“Answers could be only a few minutes away,” Z reminded her.
Despite the danger, Gabby could admit that this part was tempting.
“I don’t want to force you to go, though, Gabby,” Sabrina said, softening. “If you feel that strongly, then we’ll respect it. Going into Devon’s apartment should be a unanimous decision.”
The others nodded, which Gabby appreciated. But Z had touched a nerve. Gabby did want answers. She shouldn’t let her personal fear get in the way.
“Okay,” she said. “I’ll do it.” A look of relief spread across their faces.
“I’ll go with you,” Justin told her. “Nothing will happen to you, I promise.” He sounded so sure that Gabby almost believed him.
* * *
A few moments later, she was following Justin up the graffiti-covered stairwell. The rest of the group would stay in the car a bit longer to avoid being too conspicuous.
Gabby reached the second-story hall, which had a thin, stained carpet. Before she knew what she was doing, she reached down to touch a large brown mark on the carpet and was instantly transported.
Blood. Fresh blood splattering everywhere, the sounds of someone in pain suddenly in Gabby’s ears. Then she could see two girls with stringy hair and wiry frames but almost superhuman strength kicking a third one who lay on the floor, clutching her ribs. Again and again and again, they kicked her head and body, the girl on the floor begging them to stop, while the perpetrators laughed.
“You okay?” Justin asked, bringing her out of the vision.
“Yeah,” she lied, keeping her eyes firmly forward, avoiding the other telltale stains. Don’t look, don’t touch. She didn’t want to know what other sordid secrets were hidden in this filthy place.<
br />
A light flickered at the end of the corridor, above the door to apartment 204.
“I’m going to knock one more time,” Justin whispered. “Just in case.”
Gabby wondered if he was even scared.
The knocking was met by silence. Justin looked at her. “Should I …?”
“I guess so,” she replied, though every bone in her body was telling her to turn back.
“I honestly don’t know how much control I have. I don’t want to rip the whole door out,” he said in a low voice.
“Maybe you could just focus on sliding the lock over. See this part here …” Gabby slipped her hand on the brass knob, then found it turned easily under her hand. “Wait — it’s not even locked.”
She allowed the door to open, revealing the small, dark apartment. Her heart was beating at triple speed.
“Let me double-check he’s not here,” Justin whispered, taking the lead as they quickly shut the door behind them. The place was tiny, with a hallway leading to just one bedroom and bathroom off a main living and kitchen area. Justin was able to check it out within a few moments.
“I think we’re clear. No one’s here.”
Gabby should’ve been relieved, but the feeling in her gut just intensified. Something isn’t right.
“Do you want to look around in the other rooms? See if you get a vibe off anything? I’ll stand by the door, just in case.”
Gabby wasn’t thrilled at the prospect of going through the apartment alone, but it was smarter to have Justin standing guard.
She entered the small beige bathroom and nudged open the vanity drawer to reveal a mess of soaps and shaving creams. She sorted through it, her palms clammy as she looked for anything that could contain the serum. Then she took a deep breath and opened the medicine cabinet.
It was empty except for a dozen orange prescription bottles lined up on the top shelf. Gabby pulled one down, reading the label. Valium. She was about to put it back when she caught sight of the name on the prescription label. Her hands started to shake.
Lily Carpenter.
CHAPTER TWENTY
Nash waited in the shadows of the darkened alley.
He had been there twenty minutes already, and if the person he was waiting for didn’t come soon, he’d be forced to leave.
He’d give it five more minutes.
His thoughts shifted to Sabrina. Not many people could surprise him, but he had a hard time getting a clear read on her. He was still frustrated by what had transpired the night before. Clearly, she’d seen something — or someone — in the woods while she was running. And she seemed spooked all over again the second he asked her about it. What was she not telling him? He shouldn’t have left her house so quickly. He knew that. If he’d been less reactive, waited, given her some time, she might have told him the truth.
Suddenly, he heard the back door swing open. A broad-shouldered guy in a white T-shirt exited, carrying a crate full of empty bottles on his shoulder. It was the bartender who’d tried to drug Sabrina.
Toby.
It took all of Nash’s self-control to stop himself from hurtling straight toward him and bashing him into the brick wall.
Instead, he moved silently through the darkness as Toby dumped the bottles in the bin. When Toby turned back, Nash was right in his face.
Toby puffed his chest out. “What’s your problem, man? Back off.”
He tried to shove past Nash. Toby was arrogant enough to think he was still in control.
Nash kept his body steady. Toby couldn’t move even a fraction of an inch.
“What the hell? Back off, dude.” Toby tried to shove Nash again, but this time Nash shoved back, sending Toby stumbling against the trash cans.
Toby’s eyes narrowed. “You messed with the wrong guy.” He made a fist and took a swing. Nash easily dodged the jab and returned with a right hook of his own. When it connected with Toby’s jaw, the shattering sound echoed through the alley.
Toby recoiled and Nash shoved an elbow against his throat, backing him to the wall. That was when Toby realized how outmatched he really was.
“Take whatever you want. I have, like, eighty bucks in my wallet,” Toby said.
“I don’t want your money,” Nash said in a low, calm voice. “I want you to stay away from Sabrina.”
“Sabrina?” Toby blinked a few times. “That girl who came in the other day? Nothing happened, bro. I swear.”
“I know what you did.”
Toby looked as if he was going to protest but then saw Nash’s face.
“Is that what you do every time a girl doesn’t want to go home with you?”
“I’m sorry. It was a mistake.” He was almost crying now.
Nash pressed his elbow in harder. “If you ever slip a drug into someone’s drink — anyone’s — I will know and I will be back.” Nash held his gaze for a moment, tightening his grip. “Nod your head if you understand.”
Toby nodded weakly and Nash removed his elbow. “Get out of here,” he instructed.
Toby quickly scurried back into the bar before Nash made a fast exit from the alley himself. He had to make one more stop before this night could be over.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Gabby watched as Z pulled down the rest of the prescription bottles from Devon Warner’s medicine cabinet. The rest of the group had joined her and Justin in the apartment after he had texted them that it was all clear.
“Xanax, Effexor, Ambien,” Z said, inspecting the labels. “These meds are all for different things — anti-anxiety, depression, sleeping pills. And every single one is prescribed to Lily Carpenter.”
“What kind of doctor prescribes so many pills all at once?” Gabby wondered.
Z pulled the rest of the bottles down from the shelf. “Looks like it wasn’t just one doctor. They’re all prescribed by different ones, but around the same time. I guess Lily was a doctor shopper.”
Gabby’s impression of Lily kept getting fuzzier. Maybe she was being ignorant, but she never imagined the woman who sold her two pine-scented Christmas candles last year was so mentally unstable that she needed an arsenal of drugs. And wasn’t “doctor shopping” against the law?
“Do you think Devon took these from her house that night?” Gabby asked Z. “It’s definitely proof he was there.” The bracelet was proof, too, but all the intelligence they’d gleaned from it had come from Gabby’s vision and Z’s superhearing. This was the first piece of solid proof they’d come across that Devon and Lily were, indeed, connected.
“It’s proof he was there … or that she was here,” Z replied thoughtfully. “I mean, what if Lily slept over here a lot? Like if her and Devon were dating … who knows what secrets she might have told him then.”
Gabby frowned, the scenario feeling wrong to her. “Isn’t she a lot older than him?”
“Maybe he liked that.”
While Z continued her inspection, Gabby entered the bedroom tentatively.
Devon’s bed was unmade, a navy blue comforter lying in a jumbled mess of sheets near the end of the mattress. As odd as Lily’s cabin had been, Gabby couldn’t imagine a mature professional woman like Lily spending the night here. A solitary nightstand stood beside the bed, only a lamp and an alarm clock on top. An oak dresser was against the wall, the top devoid of framed photos or anything personal.
The one thing Devon seemed to take pride in was the tall bookshelf in the corner of his bedroom, overflowing with hardback and paperback books. She ran her finger along the book spines: everything from Tolstoy and Shakespeare to Franzen and Rowling. The pages were worn and dog-eared, as if they’d been read over and over, as Gabby often did with her collection. It was the library of a book lover, the last thing she expected to find here. It was hard to imagine Devon as anything other than a man who had beat up Sadie Webb, stole from her and maybe murdered s
omeone else.
Gabby held her breath as she opened the top drawer of the bureau, wondering if she should call Z in for moral support. Who knew what she’d find in there? A bloody knife? A severed head? To her relief, it was just dozens of balled-up socks. Should she try to touch them? She hesitated, but nothing came of it. She was about to close the drawer when something stopped her. She listened to her instincts.
She reached in again, and this time, her fingers caught something leathery in the back corner. Gabby pulled the drawer all the way out to find three wallets, all creased and seemingly used but empty. Two were men’s wallets made of black leather, but the third was daintier, a robin’s-egg blue. It had to belong to a woman.
Gabby picked it up and the involuntary spasm began immediately, her eyes fluttering. Sweat. It was still dark and hazy, but the first thing she sensed was the acidic smell of hot sweat clinging to a body. Voices swirled around her, so close, too close. She felt confined, claustrophobic. So crammed in that she could barely move her arms.
Her eyes fluttered, but Gabby pressed her fingers more firmly on the wallet, willing herself to stay in the vision.
She was on a bus. She knew it before she could see it. Within a few seconds, the darkness had begun to dissipate and the picture unfolded around her. A crowded bus at rush hour.
She knew instinctively she was in Devon Warner’s body. Next to him stood a young guy, eighteen or nineteen, with broad shoulders and a shaved head, clicking shut a flip phone. The landscape looked unfamiliar to Gabby, but a few billboards caught her eye, one advertising the University Medical Center of El Paso. She was in Texas?
“You ready?” the guy asked Devon. It appeared they were friends.
She could feel Devon’s muscles tensing. Something’s about to happen.
Then the bus lurched to a stop, and Devon stumbled into a woman next to him. “Sorry,” he said, before heading to the exit door.
Suddenly, the vision jumped forward a few minutes, disorienting Gabby. Devon was running down a street; she could feel his heart pounding. The teenage guy from the bus sprinted next to him. They rounded a corner, the two of them slowing to enter an alley, before Devon slouched and began to vomit.
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