Light glinting on something silver catches my eye through the gap in the floorboard.
What is that?
The imaginative reader in me has a brief fantasy of finding buried treasure under here.
Under a floorboard in an apartment. Yeah, sure, Audrey.
It’s more likely that a coin dropped under here or a nail came out of the floorboard.
Curious, I put my fingertip under the lip of the floorboard and ease it up.
It comes up easier than I expected it to.
Lifting it free, I pause with it in my hand when I see what’s lying beneath my floor.
A knife.
Next to it is a stained cloth.
My heart starts to beat faster. The stains look like blood.
And there’s a blue velvet jewelry pouch.
It reminds me of the one my mother used to keep her pearls in.
Pulse beating in my ears, I reach down and pick up the pouch.
Pulling the string open, I look inside.
There are two rings, a necklace, a bracelet, and a man’s wristwatch.
“What the hell is this?” I whisper to myself.
I sense movement in the corner of my eye.
Spinning my head around, I stifle a scream.
Relief replaces fear when I see who it is. Even if I am confused as to why he’s here.
“Jesus, Cole!” I exclaim to my brother, pressing my hand to my chest, covering my thudding heart. “You just scared ten years off my life.”
Cole steps around from behind me and kneels on the floor in front of me. His knees just touching mine. But he doesn’t say anything.
“What are you doing here? How did you find me?” My head swivels to my closed front door. “How did you get in?”
He still says nothing.
I stare at him. He looks tired. His hair is unkempt. His clothes are wrinkled.
Which is strange because Cole is always impeccable. His hair is always neatly combed. Clothes always ironed.
And he’s acting strange. I mean, Cole is often weird. But this sudden appearance in my apartment and this overly long, stretching silence are odd, even for him.
“Cole? Answer me.”
Nothing. His eyes are looking down at the things I’ve found.
“They were in my floor,” I tell him. “I spilled some water and found these beneath a loose floorboard under the sofa. There’s jewelry in this pouch. Don’t you think it looks like the one Mom used to keep her pearls in? And I’m pretty sure that’s blood on that cloth.”
Cole sighs. Finally, a response comes from him. “You weren’t supposed to find these, Audrey.”
“What?” I laugh, but it’s a nervous sound. Something doesn’t feel right. “What do you mean, I wasn’t supposed to find these? You’re acting really weird, Cole. You never answered my question as to what you’re doing here. I never told you where I lived. So, how did you know where to find me?”
“I always know where you are, Audrey.”
I’m staring at him, and I have this alien feeling. Fear. I have never once felt that around Cole. He has always been my protector. He’s always taken care of me. He would never hurt me. But right now … I’m not so sure.
“Cole, you’re scaring me. What’s going on?”
The expression on his face is sad. He takes the pouch from my hand and puts it back into the floor where I found it, next to the knife and stained cloth.
Cole reaches for my hand. It’s shaking. So hard that I can barely feel his hand touching mine. His fingers entwine with mine. I stare down at them.
What is happening here? Why can’t I feel him?
“It’s time, Audrey.”
I blink up at him. My vision goes hazy. “Time for what?” I hear myself saying.
“For you to rest.”
Then, he moves so fast that I don’t have time to react.
And then it’s just blackness.
Cole
I hate to do this.
I don’t want to hurt Audrey.
I never want to hurt her.
But I don’t have a choice.
She wasn’t supposed to find those things. My things. My private things.
She was never meant to know about any of this.
But she found them, leaving me with no other option.
I know Audrey. She would have overthought things. Thought about the maybes and whys. She would have thought of the recent murders. And then she would have taken them to Jack, and he would have told her to take them to the police. Because he would have thought that they might be able to help get his brother out of jail.
And he would have been right.
So, they have to go.
Just like last time.
Although, the last time, when I had to frame Tobias for the murders, it was because the police were beginning to get suspicious.
In the beginning, they had seen Audrey as a victim. But as time went on, I could tell their thoughts were beginning to change. They were starting to wonder if maybe Audrey had actually played a part in the murders.
I couldn’t have that.
I needed to point their scent another way.
And Tobias—poor, stupid Tobias who lived down the street and had a crush on Audrey—was perfect.
But now, it’s Audrey, not the police, who has left me with no other choice.
I walk over to the kitchen, get some disposable gloves from the drawer, and put them on.
Laying out some paper towels on the floor, I pick up the knife and cleaning cloth and place them on the pouch of jewelry—my small souvenirs from my victims.
None of my DNA or fingerprints are on any of these. I’m always careful to keep my things free of anything that can be traced back to me. But now, Audrey has touched the velvet pouch.
I sigh. I tip the jewelry out onto a paper towel and put the knife and cleaning cloth with them. Then, I put the pouch back into the floor and put the floorboard back in place.
I wrap the items up in a paper towel and get to my feet, bringing them with me.
Then, I push the sofa back into its original spot.
I get the key to Jack’s apartment from Audrey’s bag. A
