Page 98 of Ice Covered Heart

As for Harvey, well, he could use the extra cash. His pension from the PD wasn’t exactly that great.

His keys jingled as he walked back down the stairs. The maintenance guys had left. The lights were all working again. Things were back to normal.

His flask was empty. A pain in the ass. He and that pretty Kimber had drained it. They’d chatted about the past. About that prick Jonah. Jonah had never been able to handle a crime scene. Something that still annoyed Harvey. Jonah had destroyed the evidence at that sorority house years ago, and they were lucky that Nate Shiloh⁠—

“I see you.”

He froze midway down the stairs. He’d heard those words, hadn’t he?

His hand automatically went toward his taser.

Silence. His breath shuddered in and out.

Slowly, he began climbing down the stairs again. He was on edge. Hearing things. Being way too tense. Because of Tiffany. That girl had come to see him just two weeks ago, wanting to ask him questions about the night that Nate had killed all those girls. The night that Nate had stabbed him, too. She’d wanted to know how Nate had responded to Jonah. If he’d said anything during that last attack directly to Jonah.

Hell, all Harvey could remember was calling for help. He’d tried to help that kid, and then the punk had ripped the knife out of his chest and stabbed it into Harvey’s stomach.

Jonah had been there the whole time, shining his bright flashlight down on Nate.

Tiffany—she’d wanted so many details about the murders. She’d wanted to know if he’d spotted anything unusual in the house. If he’d seen anything that stood out to him. No matter how small the detail, she’d wanted to know⁠—

“I see you.”

He’d just reached the base of the stairs when that voice came to him again. He yanked the taser up. “This isn’t funny.” He turned to the right. Harvey thought the voice had come from that direction. His eyes narrowed.

Then all of the lights turned off. Every single one.

Fuck. The maintenance crew swore they’d fixed⁠—

The taser was knocked from his hand.

And something sharp and hard drove into his stomach. He knew that feeling. After all, Nate Shiloh had stabbed him before. But this time…

The knife pulled out of him. Only to come back. To slice him again. In the chest. In the arm that he tried to yank up. Across his throat.

Even as he fell, the knife came slicing at him again.

Chapter Twenty-One

“I told you that he was a loser.” Margot glowered at Shelby. “You wouldn’t listen to me. I told you, over and over, that Nate was not some Prince Charming. Quite the opposite, in fact. The guy is a villain to his core.”

Shelby stood in Margot’s doorway. Her white nightgown rubbed against her skin. “If he’s some villain, then why did you sleep with him?” This hurt so much. Everyone knew Nate had cheated on her, but they didn’t get that he’d cheated with her best friend. For days, Shelby had slapped a bright smile on her face, and she’d acted like everything was fine. When the truth was, each time that she saw Margot, Shelby wanted to scream with the fury and betrayal she felt.

“He’s good in bed.” A shrug from Margot. “But I did it for you.”

Disgust twisted Shelby’s lips.

“I did.” Margot insisted with a huff. “You wouldn’t listen to me, so I had to prove it. And I get it, having you walk in on us was a total dick move, but you were talking about marrying the guy after graduation. I couldn’t let that happen! He is not the guy you want to marry. Nate has been cheating on you for ages. I’m not the first. I’m just the one who deliberately got caught so you could see what he was doing.”

Shelby blinked quickly. She would not cry in front of Margot. “You were my best friend.”

Margot bounded forward. “I am your best friend. Am. Present tense. Don’t you dare use past tense on me. I’m your best friend!”

She…

Shelby’s gaze dropped. And fear bloomed in her stomach. “Margot, why are you holding a knife?”

Margot gripped a knife in her right hand. She looked down at it. “Seriously, Shelby? Calm down. It’s not like I’m going to stab you with it.” She lifted the knife.