“He fucking better be,” I growl, wrangling my arm from her grip. I slip out of the car before Daya can try to stop me again and charge towards the manor.
“Addie, stop! You’re being stupid.”
I am, but the alcohol has only made my anger more potent. Before Daya can stop me, I’m unlocking the front door and barreling into the house.
A single light is on over my kitchen sink, too weak to illuminate the front of the house properly.
No one is waiting for me, so I start flipping on lights to diminish the ominous tone in the air.
“Come out, you freak!” I yell, storming into the kitchen and grabbing the largest knife I can find. When I turn, Daya is standing in the doorway, looking around the room with an alarmed expression on her face.
I was so intent on killing the bastard, I didn’t even bother to look around.
The entire living room is covered in red roses. My mouth pops open, and the words on my tongue stutter and evaporate.
I turn and spot an empty whiskey glass sitting on the counter, a dribble of alcohol at the bottom of the glass, and a distinct mark on the lip.
Lying next to the glass is a single red rose.
My widened gaze clashes with Daya's. All we can do is just stare at each other in shock.
Heart in my throat, I finally choke out, “I need to check the rest of the house.”
“Addie, he could still be here. We need to call the police and leave. Now.”
I bite my lip, two halves warring inside me. I want to look for him, confront him, and stab him in the eye a few times. But I can’t endanger Daya more than I already have. I can’t keep being stupid about this.
Relenting, I nod my head and follow her out of the manor. The brisk air doesn’t even penetrate the ice settling in my bones.
What else did he do? A snarl forms when I realize that he probably went into my bedroom. Touched my underwear. Maybe even stole some.
The operator's voice cuts through my thoughts. I was so zoned out, I hadn’t realized Daya called the police for me.
She describes the situation, and after a few minutes, the operator dispatches an officer and lets us know it’ll take him twenty minutes to get to us.
I know the stalker isn’t here anymore. I know it in my bones. But I’m hoping he’s a criminal and in the system, that way his DNA from the whiskey glass will identify him.
But just like I know he’s no longer here, I know it won’t be that easy to catch him either.
“Come home with me tonight,” Daya says. We're both tired and stone-cold sober after talking to the police for two hours.
They searched the house, and he was nowhere to be found. They did take prints from the whiskey glass to see if they could get a match.
I’m exhausted, so I nod my head.
Her house is twenty minutes away, and it’s a good thing I tailed her the entire time, or else I might have lost focus and drove without direction.
Daya lives in a quaint house in a nice, quiet neighborhood. She parks the car and we both slump our way into the house.
Her house would be fairly empty if it weren’t for the furniture and the thousands of computers everywhere. She takes her work seriously, and while she doesn’t talk much about her job, I know she deals with some pretty heavy matters.
She's mentioned before that she deals with the dark web and human trafficking. And that alone is enough to give someone night terrors.
Apparently, her boss is strict with keeping the details confidential, but there's been times where Daya has looked more haunted than Parsons Manor.
When I had asked what she gets out of it, she had said saving innocent lives. That was all I needed to hear to know that Daya is a hero.
“You know where the guest bedroom is,” Daya says, lazily pointing her finger in the direction. “Do you want some company? I’m sure you’re really freaked out.”