Chapter Thirty-Four

Ben

I steer clear of Tessa after the Mass. Only family and close friends go to the gravesite. Braden and Skye are going, but I choose not to. I’d go if I thought it would help Tessa, but she and I haven’t had hardly any communication since she went to stay at her mother’s, and that was nearly a week ago. I’ve texted her a few times to check in, and her responses have always been short and polite.

Instead, I have Sherlock drive me to Tessa’s mother’s neighborhood, and we wait in the car for the family to arrive back from the burial for the wake.

I sit in the backseat, going through email after email, when one catches my eye. I don’t recognize the email address, and I’m ready to send it to spam when I see the subject line.

I haven’t forgotten.

Chills skitter over my flesh as I open the email.

It’s me, Black. Remember when I said you’d get something in the mail a couple months ago?

I remember, all right. I didn’t sleep all night and watched the mail at home and at work like a hawk for the next week until I was convinced Dirk had been bluffing all along.

There’s no evidence. We made sure of that at the time.

I continue reading.

I decided to wait. Bide my time.

Time’s up, Black.

My blood turns to ice.