Page 26 of Killer Summer
Dani let out a long, slow sigh. She didn’t tell this story often. The only way she had been able to survive all these years was to leave Dani Kincaid in the past, soaked in blood and trauma. Shehadto leave that terrified teenager behind in order to becomeDanielle Spencer, college professor and functional adult. She had to move on from her past in order to just fuckinglive. But if Vickers was really back, then she would have to confront all of that again. She took a deep breath. When it came to the true story of her life, Dani wanted to choose her words wisely.
“The summer after I graduated high school, I was working at this video rental store. There was this guy that would come in and he was a total creep. His name was Matt—Matt Vickers. He became fixated on me and, unbeknownst to me, had been stalking me for months.” Dani cleared her throat and took a sip of water. “Well, he came into the store one night and asked me out on a date. I turned him down, and then he killed my coworker and my boyfriend.”
“What?” Missy put down her glass, her mouth open slack into a wideO.
“Then he chased me. I tried to get help from a man who was fishing, but Matt killed him too.”
Dani’s throat closed. It was always difficult for her to discuss that time in her life, even all these years later. She could usually discuss the details of her own assault, but talking about the loss of her parents nearly broke her.
“You don’t have to keep going.” Missy slid her hand along the table and gave her wrist a squeeze.
“No, it’s okay.” Dani wiped at her eyes. “He jumped into the ocean that night and got away. Well, he didn’t jump, he attacked me and I sort of dodged him and he fell.”
Missy shook her head. “That’s so awful!”
Dani sighed. “He was on the run for a while. I had to delay college, and I spent months learning self-defense, just waiting for him to come back. And then, one day when I finally got the courage to go out and try to do something like a normal teenager again, he killed another one of my friends. And then he killed my parents and attacked me.”
“Oh my god,” Missy said. “Dani, I had no idea.”
“It’s really painful to talk about,” she said. “I changed my name and moved across the country to live here with my aunt after it happened. I put him in the hospital the night that he killed my mom and dad, but really, I wished I killed him. The cops stopped me before I had the chance.”
“That’s heavy. I’m so sorry.”
“It’s okay,” Dani said. “It’s not really something you want everyone to know about, you know?”
“So no one knows that this happened to you?” Missy asked.
“My aunt knows. Everyone back home knows. No one here knows about it, though.” Dani shrugged. “I had a counselor that I talked to for a while, but it didn’t help. Even before all this happened, I didn’t exactly like to discuss my feelings with people.”
“So did the guy get the death sentence? He’s in solitary confinement at least, right?”
Dani shook her head. “No. Um … I really shouldn’t say.”
“It’s okay! You can tell me,” Missy said. “You clearly need someone to talk to about this.”
A shuddering sob threatened to burst forth from Dani’s throat. She’d held in her tears for twenty-five years. Surely she could get through this brunch. She swallowed down a ball of grief and regret and struggled to regain her composure.
“I heard from a reputable source that my attacker might have escaped. I’m worried that he’s going to try and find me.”
Missy sat up straight and glanced out onto the crowd of dining brunchers. They were seated outside the restaurant on a paved patio area overlooking the Gulf of Mexico. A soft, warm breeze blew in salt-kissed air from the sea as hungry gulls cackled overhead. By all accounts, it was a beautiful day in paradise where nothing could go wrong.
“Won’t the police give you extra protection then?” Missy’s face was pinched in an expression of worry.
Dani shook her head. “It’s all being covered up. I’m not even supposed to know about it. My source says I shouldn’t worry, but I can’t help it.”
“Well, there must be something you can do.”
“I don’t know. I locked down my house, but I’m due back to work tomorrow. Even though there are security guards, I don’t feel like the college is entirely safe. I might end up taking a leave of absence and heading to the mountains with my aunt until this all blows over.”
“Wow. Well you should definitely do what you feel is best. Let me know if I can help,” Missy said.
“Actually, I probably shouldn’t hang out with you again until I know he’s back in state custody. On the off chance that he does find out where I live, he’ll stop at nothing to get to me. Anyone that gets in his way is in danger.”
“Oh.” Missy’s eyes grew wide as she glanced around the patio. “Do you thinkI’min danger?”
“No. Not now, anyway. But I think we should probably hold off on meeting up for runs for the time being.”
“Bummer.” Missy sighed. “Well, I wish I could do something to help. This whole thing sounds like a nightmare.”
