If Francesca hasn’t been threatening me, then who is?
Because somebody has been making those calls. Somebody wrote “slut” on her door. It isn’t in her head.
Unless it’s the ghost of Francesca.
No, not too likely. Grandma Bea spent the last several years of her life praying for Grandpa Marv to return as a ghost. If anyone was going to come back as a ghost, it would have been Marv. If there’s a heaven, he was certainly up there, pleading with St. Peter, Let me go down there and be with Bea.
But the fact that Ghost Marv never made any appearances, except in Bea’s imagination, is enough to convince Cassie the afterlife is not a thing.
When Cassie finally reaches her building, she discovers the lights that usually shine right outside the door have burned out. It’s pitch black as she fumbles in her purse for her keys. It’s so dark, anyone could be standing behind her and she’d never know.
Where are those goddamn keys?
When she gets the door to the building open and locked behind her, she breathes a sigh of relief. She can’t shake the feeling someone is watching her. But who? And why?
Now that she’s safe inside the building, she takes the elevator up to her apartment. She leans against the wall, totally spent. She can’t wait to get into her apartment. And then into the bathtub.
She was in her bathtub, her wrists slit and… she was cold by then.
Cassie closes her eyes, trying not to think of Francesca. Is this the way it’s going to be? Is Francesca going to haunt everything she does from now on? Is she literally haunting her right now?
Maybe Joel can’t push the thoughts from his head, but Cassie can. She starts the hot water going in the bathtub and plugs the drain. Then she goes to her bedroom to fetch some warm, cozy clothes. She shuffles through her closet, looking for a nice, warm fleece.
And that’s when she sees the black ink at the back of her closet.
Her heart pounding, she pushes her clothes aside, parting them to get a view of the wall behind them. There’s writing. In the back of her closet.
In black ink, someone has scribbled the word “SLUT.”
Someone was in her apartment. Not a ghost. A human being entered her home when she wasn’t there, picked up a marker, and wrote that word on the wall.
Cassie hears the screaming as she backs away from the closet. It takes her a moment to identify the voice as her own.
Chapter 49: The Ex
I’ve got to do something.
My own jealousy—that was something I could get past. Eventually. But I can’t stand by if Olive is putting someone else’s life in danger. Yes, Joel was an ass to me last time we saw each other, but I can’t pretend he’s some guy I bumped into on the subway. I loved him. I can’t let her destroy his life. Or take his life.
So that’s why I decide to go to Olive’s apartment.
The weather has been especially cold, so I bundle up in my boots and warmest coat before I leave the apartment. And there’s one other thing I do that I can’t quite explain. Something that I know I may later regret.
I take a knife from the kitchen and drop it in my purse.
After all, Olive owes money to very bad people. It isn’t terrible to have some protection, is it?
My heart is thumping audibly the entire subway ride into Manhattan. What am I doing? Why am I going to such lengths to protect Joel? He had no problem walking away from me. If I were in danger, would he do the same for me?
Honestly, I think he would.
Olive’s apartment building is three blocks from the subway. It’s not as nice as the place where Joel and I used to live, but it’s nicer than what she can afford, given her financial woes. Then again, people don’t get deep in debt by spending responsibly.