Page 126 of Watch Me Burn
Fifty-five minutes. Luna could be dead in five.
“Grab the helicopter and get your ass back here. Now.”
“On my way.Damien—”
“What?”
“Don’t do anything stupid. We can’t afford to have the sheriff looking at you any closer than she already is.”
Too late for that. If Hunter touches one hair on Luna’s head, I’ll paint the walls with his blood and deal with the consequences later.
I end the call and focus on the road, but my eyes keep flicking to the screen.
“Call Luna.”
The phone rings through the speakers, but Luna doesn’t react, and I don’t hear her phone ringing.
Where is your fucking phone, Luna?
The call goes to voicemail.
Fuck!
Luna’s moved to the living room now, checking her watch. She’s expecting me and has no idea that her psychotic ex-boyfriend is minutes away from her door.
The camera feeds Cade patched through give me eyes everywhere. Interior angles, exterior perimeter, and blind spots I built into the system myself. The bitter irony isn’t lost on me that the surveillance system I installed to spy on her is now the only thing allowing me to watch her potential murder in real time.
But right now, I’m grateful for every lens, every angle, every pixel that shows me she’s still alive.
Luna pauses, head tilted like she’s listening. Then she moves to the window and peers through the glass. Everything about her posture changes. Relaxation drains away, replaced by rigid tension.
“Fuck, fuck, fuck!”
I press the accelerator to the floor. The Range Rover’s engine screams as I take a hairpin turn, tires squealing against the asphalt.
The microphone I disabled weeks ago so I wouldn’t accidentally trigger it is my enemy now. I can’t warn her. But the audio comes through crystal clear as Luna backs away from her front door. Caleb stumbles up her front porch steps, his heavy footsteps and the aggressive pounding on the wood making her flinch.
“Luna! Open this fucking door!” Hunter’s voice is slurred. “I know you’re in there!”
She approaches the door, calling through it. “Caleb, you need to leave. You’re violating the restraining order.”
The laugh that escapes his lips is ugly and bitter. “That piece of paper destroyed my life, you bitch! Open the door, or I’ll kick it in!”
My hands are white-knuckled on the steering wheel. I’m still eight minutes out, and every second feels like an eternity watching this unfold.
“I’m calling the sheriff.”
“Go ahead! By the time she gets here, we’ll be long gone. You and I are taking a little trip, baby. Just like old times.”
There’s a crash as Hunter throws his body into the door. Luna stumbles backward and fumbles around, feeling for her phone in her pocket, and then her face fills with panic when she realizes it’s not there.
Go upstairs and get your grandfather’s shotgun, Luna!
“Don’t make this harder than it has to be!” Hunter’s voice booms through the door.
Another crash, and this time the door bursts open. Hunter stumbles inside, his face flushed with alcohol and rage.
“There’s my beautiful ex-girlfriend. Miss me, baby?”
