Sprinting down the hall to his bathroom, he yanked open his medicine cabinet, tossing items aside until he found what he needed. Pressing his palm to the top of the bottle, he wrenched it open and dropped four tablets into his palm, grateful he hadn’t tossed the fentanyl after his surgery for a torn meniscus.

His next stop was the kitchen, where he grabbed two whiskey glasses and slammed them onto the counter. Using a mortar and pestle, he ground two of the tablets and dumped the powder into one of the glasses. Then he repeated the process with two more pills, finally adding water.

Carefully, he carried his concoction down the hall. His voice pitched high as he approached the girls, knowing they had no reason to trust him, but knowing if they didn’t, they were as good as dead.

You are, too, a voice whispered in his ear.

‘Drink this or die.’ He let them think he would be the one to kill them if they disobeyed. He set both glasses on the windowsill before lowering himself to his knees. Then, reaching out, he grabbed a corner of the duct tape and ripped it from the blue-haired girl’s mouth, slapping his hand over her lips before she could scream. He didn’t need a degree in psychology to dissect his reasoning behind choosing her first. He needed to stop her knowing, accusing glare from seeping into his brain, and the sooner he got the fentanyl down her throat, the faster that goal would be accomplished.

Gripping her jaw tightly so that she had no choice but to open her mouth, he dumped the contents of the glass down her throat, clenching his jaws as he made sure she swallowed before releasing his hold. Whether it was the menacing glare he shot in her direction or seeing what he’d done with her blue-haired friend, the other girl was more compliant, her quivering mouth falling open as he brought the drugged water to her lips. He wasted no time before replacing the tape, just in case, and then headed to his own bedroom where he grabbed his wallet and a few extra blankets. Thirty minutes later, his car loaded, he checked on the girls, relieved to see the drug had taken effect.

After covering their mouths with fresh pieces of tape, he lifted the blue-haired girl into his arms. Checking outside his door, he made sure no one was lurking about, and then scurried to the back of his car, hitting the remote that would pop his trunk, and slid her all the way back before returning for her friend.

Five minutes later, he was on the road, heading to the only place he could think of, hoping Alex wouldn’t think of it, too, after discovering the girls were no longer at his house.

Chapter Five

Friday, October 4