Page 14 of Shadow Man

“No trouble here, darlin’.” I lengthen my drawl to inject a little southern charm into the proceedings. I try not to kill women, least of all old ladies who look like crackhouse Betty Whites.Where the fuck did you go, Anna? Are you hiding in here?

The old lady sniffs. The sliver widens into a crack again. “You her boyfriend?”

“Nope.”

“A cop?”

Is she fucking kidding me?

“No, ma’am.”

“You a bad man?”

The worst.

“My Jerry was a bad man,” she says with another sniff. “He’s been dead for five years now. Best five years of my life.”

I force a smile, but it’s not a natural thing for me. Hell, it’s a damn sight scarier than my gun. She tries to slam the door on me again, but my foot stays put.

“I’m not here to hurt her or you, Mrs…?”

“Wyatt. Ingrid Wyatt.” I watch her gaze travel down to my arm again.

Slowly, I bring it away from my gun and hold both hands up in submission. “Anna’s in trouble. I’m here to help.”

Her sour expression slips. I see regret, and my smile vanishes.

“Tell me where she is, Mrs. Wyatt.”

“I-I don’t know.”

“But you saw her?”

The old woman nods frantically, her candy-pink rollers colliding together like fucking atoms.

“And?”

I trace the nervous glide of her throat, but those wrinkles around her mouth still aren’t budging for me. She needs a little more persuasion so I prop one hand against the doorframe, blocking the hall with my six-foot-four frame, invading her personal space with every shade of warning.

She backs down pretty quick after that.

The door swings open to reveal a shit-colored, geometric-print eye fucking. The whole place reeks of the kind of pussy that doesn't interest me.

“She used the fire escape,” I hear her say.

That’s when I see the breeze blowing through the soiled net curtain by the kitchenette.

“Motherfucker,” I roar, pushing past her to reach it, but all that’s waiting for me outside is the heat and humidity of South Beach, Miami.

6

Anna

Ihit the ground running, my pink Chucks tearing up the distance to the next block, with my lungs bursting and my legs on fire. I only have seconds before one of the most lethal men on the planet discovers my deception and turns the call of the hunt onto me.

Run, Anna! Run!

I veer left, down past the liquor store where Eve first enticed this nightmare into our world, and then I’m heading east toward the taxicab rank on the corner. Tonight’s moon is a contradiction—full and promising, but shrouded in cloud. It’s one a.m., and it’s just me, my fear, and the cool kids awake right now. There’s a noisy pack of them hanging out on the sidewalk next to a bar. The doors are wide open, bleeding Post Malone and hot gossip into the night.

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