“That’s up to my client. Is this the one, Raven?”
Ryder nudged me.
“Uh, yeah,” I called to Frankie. “Yup. Sure is.” My voice cracked as I talked. Playing it cool was definitely not my strong suit. Ryder wasn’t serious, was he? All the FBI talk had to be nonsense. This secret sex society was completely legal.Oh wait…
Frankie squealed with excitement.Excitement to send me to prison forever for dirty sex things.But I hadn’t even done anything bad yet! If anything she should be arresting Angel and Diablo for trying to rape me in the bathroom. I’d tell the judge everything and ask for leniency.
I looked back at Ryder. “Do we have to kill her? I can’t go to prison. I’m not made for it.”
His perfect smile reappeared for a second. “We could do that. But I’d rather jump.”
“JUMP?!” My stalker was out of his mind. Which also made sense. Because he was a freaking stalker!
“Shhh!” He pressed his hand over my mouth. It smelled like blueberry pie. I kind of wanted to lick it, but this was no time for such things. Wait…since when did I want to lick someone’s hands? That was super gross. But licking his hand kind of seemed appealing?Weird.
“Seriously, what are we gonna do?” I could feel the sweat pooling in my pits.
“Jump. Well, zipline, to be precise.” A zipline handle had appeared in his hands.
“Where did you get that?”
“From uh…under that plant.” He pointed to a potted shrub that definitely didn’t look like it had been hiding a zipline. And then he secured the handle to a thick metal cable that ran from his balcony all the way to an adjacent building. Above six lanes of traffic. Hundreds of feet in the air.
I was definitely going to die.
Stalker Problems - Chapter 18 - The Escape
Tuesday – April 11, 2023
I shook my head. “Hell. No. I’m not riding that thing.”
“You’d rather kill Frankie?” asked Ryder.
“Than go splat on the pavement? Yes,” I hissed.
“Good luck with that. And the SWAT team.”
“I thought it was the FBI?”
“Right…them.” He checked his watch. “They should be here any minute.” He adjusted his grip on the zipline and took a few steps back.
Then I heard it. The door breaking. The officers yelling, “FBI!”
Holy shit.My heart felt like it was about to explode out of my chest. I couldn’t get enough air. All I could picture was myself in prison and splattered in the middle of traffic. Somehow at the same time. I couldn’t move.
“Raven, look at me,” said Ryder. He grabbed my chin and forced me to meet his gaze. “I won’t drop you. I’ll keep you safe. I promise.” The sincerity in his voice. The look in his eyes. I knew he was telling the truth. And most of all…his hands on me made my whole body feel like it was on fire. In a good way. Not in a Matthew Caldwell flaming penis way. And in that moment, I knew I had to go with him. Because I didn’t want him to stop touching me. And I certainly wasn’t safe here. I’d joined anapparently illegal sex club. I’d tried to rape Dr. Lyons. I was wanted on so many levels.
“Fine. But if you drop me, I’ll kill you.”
For a second he paused, like he was going to leave me behind.
“I’m kidding. Please don’t leave me.” I jumped into his arms and he laughed.
“Hold on tight,” he said.
I wrapped my arms around his muscular torso and hooked my legs behind him. I felt so small wrapped around him. And so safe. Even though we were about to jump off a freaking building.
“Three, two…” As he said, “one,” he jumped off the roof. I hung on for dear life with my face buried in his chest. The wind whipped my hair everywhere.My wig!Was my wig going to fly off? Or did it already? What if it flew off back on the balcony? It would have my DNA all over it. The police would have my identity.
