Her lips were still parted. She could feel the air sucking in, drying the back of her throat.
“You loved my father,” Andrew said. “I heard you telling him that so many times.”
Callie couldn’t move her feet. He was here for her. That was why he was standing so close. That was why he seemed so calm, so in control. She blindly reached behind her. She could hear the gorilla approaching, then his breath was in her ear, then warming her neck, then the taste of his sweaty musk was curling into her mouth.
“How did it feel when you chopped him up?” Andrew asked. “I couldn’t see your face in the video. You never looked up. You just did what Harleigh told you to do.”
It was almost a relief to feel the gorilla’s hand wrap around her neck, his arm loop around her waist. She was locked in place, trapped, the way that he always wanted her.
“You don’t have to let her keep bossing you around,” Andrew said. “I can help you get away from her.”
The gorilla pressed into her back, fingering up her spine. She heard his grunts. Felt his excitement. He was so big. So overpowering.
“Just tell me you want to get away.” Andrew took another step. “Say the word and I can take you somewhere. Anywhere you want to go.”
The scent of Andrew’s breath mints swirled into Buddy’s cheap whiskey and cigars and sweat and cum and blood—so much blood.
Andrew said, “Walter David Collier, aged forty-one, legal counsel for the Atlanta Fire Fighters’ Union.”
Callie’s heart shook inside of her chest. He was threatening Walter. She had to warn him. She clawed at the gorilla’s arm, trying to loosen his hold.
Andrew said, “Madeline Félicette Collier, aged sixteen.”
Pain dug into her arm. Not the tingling numbness or the misfiring nerves but the agony of her skin being ripped open.
“Maddy’s a gorgeous little girl, Callie.” Andrew’s smile pulled at the corners of his mouth. “Such a tiny little thing.”
Callie looked at her arm. She was shocked by the sight of blood dripping from four deep gashes. She looked at her other hand. Her own blood and skin were furled underneath the fingernails.
“It’s funny, Callie, how Harleigh’s daughter looks so much like you.” Andrew winked at her. “Like a little dolly.”
Callie shuddered, but not because Andrew sounded like his father. The gorilla had stepped into her body, melted into her bones. His strong legs were her strong legs. His fists were her fists. His mouth was her mouth.
She lunged at Andrew, fists flying, teeth bared.
“Jesus!” Andrew yelled, holding up his arms, trying to fend her off. “Crazy fucking—”
Callie went into a blind frenzy. No sound came from her mouth, no breath from her lungs, because all of her energy was directed toward killing him. She pounded him with her fists, scratched with her fingernails, tried to rip off his ears, gouge out his eyes. Her teeth bit deep into the flesh of his neck. She wrenched back her head, trying to rip out his jugular, but her neck stiffly caught on the frozen pivot at the top of her spine.
And then she was lifted into the air.
“Stop!” the security guard ordered, his arms bear-hugging her waist. “Hold the fuck still.”
Callie kicked out, trying to break the bonds. Andrew was on the ground. His ear was bleeding. Skin hung from his jaw. Red welts surrounding the bite in his neck. She was going to kill him. She had to kill him.
“I said stop!” The security guard slammed Callie face down onto the ground. His knee jammed into her back. Her nose banged into the cold concrete. She was breathless but still tensed, ready to strike again even as she heard the click of handcuffs.
“No, officer. It’s okay.” Andrew’s voice sounded raspy as he tried to catch his breath. “Please, just escort her away from the school.”
“You cocksucker,” Callie hissed. “You fucking rapist.”
“Are you serious, man?” The guard kept his knee pressed to her back. “Look at her arms. Bitch is a needle junkie. You need to call the cops, get her tested.”
“No.” Andrew was standing up. Out of the corner of her eye, Callie could see the flashing red light on his ankle monitor. He told the guard, “None of this will look good for the school, will it? And it won’t look good for you because you’re the one who let her get past the gate.”
This seemed to sway the guard, but he still asked, “Are you sure, man?”
“Yes.” Andrew knelt down so he could look at Callie’s face. “She doesn’t want you calling the police, either. Do you, miss?”