Read Online Tabula Rasa by Kitty Thomas - Free Book Online Page A

did... and how calmly you did it.”
    He sighed and stared at me for a good long time while I tried to
perfect the art of invisibility. Finally he said, “Okay, I’ll
play your game. Hypothetically I just leave you. What’s your next
move?”
    “I-I wait until
day, and then I get out of the park.”
    “How?”
    “I don’t know.
It can’t be that hard.”
    He looked skeptical, but he let the logistics slide. “And then
what?”
    “I-I don’t
know.”
    “Do you have any
money?”
    “No. I mean...
not on me. I don’t remember if I have any in general.” Was I the
type of person who saved? Had I been in the position to save? If I
was a botanist, did that mean I still had student debts, or did
botany pay pretty well? How could I know how fast kudzu grows but not
know how much botany pays? Maybe Trevor had lied about my job. Maybe
I had just been fixated on kudzu in my former life, and somehow it
slipped through the cracks of my amnesia.
    I blinked a few times, realizing Shannon was still speaking to me.
    “Where do you
live? Where do you bank? How will you get into your bank accounts?
What do you plan to do when that runs dry? If you don’t want to
have to deal with the police or the media or anyone else, how do you
plan to live under the radar and get money to survive long term?”
    He just kept hitting me so fast with all these questions. Questions
he knew I couldn’t answer. Finally, I shouted, “Why are you doing
this?”
    “I’m just
trying to show you that the anonymity and safety from scrutiny that
you asked for isn’t available going on your own. Even if I didn’t
have to worry about the fact that you just watched me kill a guy and
dispose of the body, it’s not feasible for you to do this alone.
And you know it.”
    “M-maybe I’ll
just go to the police.”
    Shannon laughed. “Not now, you’re not. Do you recall begging me
not to make you do that? I’m not hanging out to dry because you
can’t make up your mind. I’m sorry for what you’ve been
through, and I know you’re terrified, but honey, you’re coming
with me.”
    “Maybe I’ll
scream. Maybe your friends are wandering around and will hear me.
Whatever you do to me, they’ll still know what you are. Is it worth
blowing your cover?”
    He stared me down in that way wild predators do when defending
territory and space, and I instinctively flinched. If I hadn’t been
bound to a chair, I would have taken a step back. I’m not sure
where my sudden insane bravery had come from.
    “You don’t
want to challenge me. I’m only a few degrees removed from the
psycho you just spent the last however many months with.”
    A few degrees in which direction? Trevor ruined my life, but he
hadn’t beaten me or killed me. God, that sounded like some
Stockholm Syndrome right there. He’d basically fucking raped me and
held me captive living like a wild animal in Tetanus Land.
    “I thought you
didn’t kill innocents.”
    “I didn’t say
I would kill you. Now, are you coming with me when I go?” He asked
like I had a choice. He’d already made it clear I didn’t. I
didn’t blame him for not wanting to risk his freedom for a total
stranger. In his position with his strength and abilities, I might
have been on the same path to ambiguous felony he was on.
    “I don’t know
who I can trust. And you just killed someone,” I said, deflated.
    “You know that
was self defense. And as much as you don’t like the implications,
you know I know what I’m doing. Do you believe I’d also know if
someone was going to shoot me? That was his only option because there
was no way he could let a witness leave either.”
    If this guy really wanted to hurt me, he could take me out like he
had Trevor. He wouldn’t even have to use his gun. It would be quiet
and easy. A quick snap of my neck—a little crunch of bone to
oblivion.
    It didn’t seem plausible that with no plan or intention to, he’d
interrupt his weekend fun time to kidnap a woman he’d