Which says a lot, considering he usually treats me like a glorified food dispenser. But this morning? He was relentless—batting my hair, licking my nose, chirping like he’d just uncovered a body.
It was sweet. Disturbing, but sweet.
I bolt upright, heart lurching, my brain reminding me of fact I need to call Darcy.
No stalling. No prepping.
Just fingers dialling fast, breath short.
She picks up immediately.
“Don’t tell me you’re calling in sick again?” she snipes. Her voice is sharp enough to leave a sting—but I don’t even flinch. There’s no time for polite greetings or guilt tripping.
“Darcy—” I cut in, voice tight. “I need to tell you something.”
She hears it, the shake laced panic in my voice.
But she stays silent for too long.
“What’s happened?”
I unload everything—no filter, no breath.
I tell her how I followed him home, how I bugged his house, how I watched footage last night that made my blood run cold. Words tumble out so fast I’m not even sure she catches half of them.
But when I finally stop, when silence settles between us—she doesn’t speak. And that is deafening. My heart thrashes inside my chest. I’m screaming on the inside, willing her to say something.Anything.
“Why didn’t you tell me before?”
Is she mad at me?
Surely not.
“I didn’t want to say anything until I was sure. But I’ve got a plan.”
A rushed, barely-holding-it-together kind of plan. But still—a plan.
“Go to work like normal. Don’t let on that anything’s off. I’ll handle things from my end, and tonight… we get him.”
Darcy’s quiet on the other end.
“You need to stick to your routine,” I press, voice low and firm. “If he senses anything, he’ll vanish. I’m telling you—he won’t make a move until after the gym. That’s when I’ll be there. And that’s when I’ll stop him.”
“Nell, come on. We should just go to the police. They’d actually—”
“They won’t help.”
My voice cracks, heat rising in my throat. “You think they would dismiss how I got the footage in the first place? Everything I’ve got, it’s inadmissible. Illegal. I’d be the one arrested.”
She’s silent again.
“This is our only shot, Darcy. And we’re ahead now. Ipromise you, I can do this.”
“If you say so.”
The doubt lingers under her words. Maybe she thinks I’m spiralling. Maybe she’s right.
“You know you’re going to get sacked if you call in sick again.”
