Vicious Valentine by Patti Benning (best ereader for comics .txt) 📕

They fell silent, listening for any sound inside the apartment. The two women turned to look at each other when there was nothing but silence.

“What should we do?” Caroline asked in a low voice.

“I don’t know,” Hannah said. “Maybe we are wrong. Maybe she’s not here after all.”

“Who else would have a motorbike parked outside of their apartment building in the middle of winter? Besides, where else would she go? The crime scene tape is gone, and she took all of her things out of your house. She has to be here.”

“Even if she is, what can we do about it? I don’t really want to call the police on her just because we are worried. She wouldn’t thank us for that.”

“She would if she was hurt and needed help. What if she tripped and hit her head or something?”

“I think it’s a lot more likely she’s just ignoring us,” Hannah said with a sigh. “We might be able to see if one of her neighbors has a key, I suppose.”

“Do you really think they would let us in even if they did?” Caroline said with a groan. “I don’t know what to do. And don’t forget, we lost track of Helena. What if she slipped out of the bar and made it here before us and is in there murdering my best friend?”

“That’s not very likely,” Hannah said, trying to calm Caroline down.

Frustrated, Caroline kicked the door. Surprisingly, that got them a reaction. They heard footsteps and then a moment later, the deadbolt turned.

“Finally,” Caroline said, stepping forward as the door slowly opened. “Vanessa, what on earth were you thinking –” She broke off and Hannah leaned forward to see why.

The face on the other side of the door wasn’t Vanessa’s at all. Shayne was the one peering back at them.

Chapter Eleven

“What are you doing here?” Caroline asked without an ounce of her usual politeness.

“Whoa,” he said, stepping back and raising his hands. “It’s all right. I ran into Vanessa outside and she wasn’t feeling well so I helped her up here. We’ve gotten to know each other pretty well ever since I got hired. She stops in at Hawk’s Place a lot, you know?”

“Well, where is she? We want to make sure she’s all right.”

“She said she didn’t want to see you,” he said. “Sorry, I don’t know why. Just that you were fighting about something.”

“We are not fighting,” Hannah said. She took a step toward the door, sticking her foot in the gap between the door and the doorframe. “We were helping her with something and she vanished out of nowhere. We’re worried about her.”

“I promise you, she’s fine,” Shayne said. He tried to close the door, but hit Hannah’s foot instead.

“Can you at least tell her we are here?” Caroline asked. “Tell her we just want to see her.”

“Fine, I’ll see if she wants to talk to you.” He frowned at Hannah’s foot and stepped back reluctantly. Hannah pushed the door open and she and Caroline stepped into Vanessa’s apartment. It was the first time Hannah had seen it since Rory had been killed, and she was appalled at the mess. The furniture had been shoved over, and the knickknacks that were on the tables were scattered across the room.

“Wait out here. She’s in her room. I’ll go ask her.”

He disappeared down the hallway. Hannah shifted, feeling comfortable. A glance at Caroline told her that her friend was likely feeling much the same way.

“Did he really get to know her that well over the past couple of days?” Caroline asked in a low voice.

“No, I don’t think so,” Hannah said. “But I guess I don’t really know. I’m in the kitchen a lot of the time when I’m there.”

“So am I.”

“I don’t like any of this, Hannah –”

Caroline broke off when Shayne came back into the room. His hands were in his pockets and he had an apologetic look in his face. “Sorry, she said she didn’t want to see either of you.”

“Sorry, but I don’t think she really gets a choice in this. I’m just going to open the door and say hi.” Caroline said, her voice firm. She took half a step forward and Shayne moved as if he was going to block her. Hannah tensed, not sure what to do. All of the alarm bells in her head were ringing by now.

Then a thump came from the back of the apartment. Shayne flinched, and Hannah and Caroline both hurried past him at the same time. Caroline reached the bedroom door first and flung it open. She stopped so suddenly that Hannah nearly ran into her. She peeked over her friend’s shoulder and saw Vanessa tied to the radiator on the far wall with zip ties. She was gagged and there was a shattered vase of roses on the floor next to her.

“It’s not what you think,” Shayne said from behind them. Hannah spun around, shoving Caroline into the room as she backed through the doorway and managed to slam the door shut just as Shayne reached it. He pounded on the door, but Hannah leaned against it while Caroline ran over to Vanessa. She crouched beside her friend and removed the gag.

“Are you okay?” Caroline asked.

“Thank you,” Vanessa said, heaving in great gulps of air. She had tear streaks on her face. “He was going insane. I thought he was going to kill me. He’s behind all of this, Caroline. He killed Rory and he attacked Corbin, and he’s been stalking me for months. Corbin was never the one behind it.”

Caroline began tugging at the wrist restraints, but even from this distance Hannah could see that they weren’t going to pull apart easily. “How did he even get you up here?”

“The police said I could come back to my apartment today, and he was waiting in the hallway when I arrived. He said Hannah