Page 52 of Silent Desires

Me:I knew her.

He looks at me, surprised.

“You did? I didn’t know you knew anyone else?”

Me:She was in my gym class. She talked to me. She seemed so nice. She...

“She what, sweetheart?” he asks, watching me as I type.

Me:I thought she looked a lot like me. Are there other victims?

He looks away, like he doesn’t want to answer, but I know how to find answers now, so I start searching for news articles about other murders.

“Mina, don’t,” Max says, placing his hand over my phone. I need to know, though. I pull it away and start searching. I find one other result of a murder from a couple of months ago in this town, Elsie. She has the same brown hair, green eyes and height as me, too. Then I remember last week hearing about a guy’s sister being murdered. I switch my phone off and try to contain my tears from spilling.

“Sweetheart?” I blink my eyes open and look up at Max, not even trying to hide my fear and worry. “Do you really not know anything about the murders?”

I shake my head rapidly at him. He seems to soften.

“Are you scared?”

I nod, and he wraps me in a gentle hug, softly rubbing the top of my back, near my shoulders—thankfully missing the lash marks.

“Shh shh, it’s okay, Sweetheart. We’re gonna take care of you. Nothing is going to happen to you, okay?”

I’m not sure how he can promise that, but I pretend, if even just for a moment, that he can do that and I give a small nod against his chest.

“I want you to remember that you can talk to me or my brothers about anything. You can tell us if something scares you, and we’ll chase your fears away, okay?”

I nod and pull myself together as Mrs. Pinkins starts class.

Chapter thirty-four

Istare at Mina’s home as I blindly spin my pocketknife in my hand before closing it and opening it, repeating that comforting gesture over and over again. Today, I’m staking out her home on my own. Gideon, Tucker and the twins are at school, while Ben’s at home researching and Dom will be taking my place later to give me a break.

The house has been quiet since I saw Mina leave early this morning. I was glad I could coordinate the twins picking her up, so she didn’t have to walk all the way to school. I can’t believe she’s been walking this distance twice a day. If her mother’s worried about a stalker, it seems strange she wouldn’t drive her to school, especially since she doesn’t seem to have a job. That raises another question: where is Helen getting her money from?

My phone pings and I unlock the screen to see a message from Max in our group chat.

Max:I just told Mina about Lisa. She noticed students acting weird and asked why. She seemed genuinely shocked. She said Lisa was in her gym class and spoke to her, that she was nice to her.

Max:She saw a picture of another victim and figured out it was a serial killer targeting people who look like her. She started crying and almost had apanic attack. I asked her straight up if she really knew nothing about the murders and she said no. I believe her. You should have seen her face.

Jasper:I didn’t even think to ask her this morning if she heard.

Max:That’s because we were a bit preoccupied.

Tucker:Preoccupied with what?

Jasper:Max saw what she’d been googling…

Gideon:Which was…?

Max:‘How to know if he’s into you,’ and ‘how to flirt.’

Ben:Oh, shit.

Jasper:Yeah…

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