Hideaway (Devil's Night 2)

The man stared at Will hesitantly, and I suddenly felt like a shoe was about to drop. I narrowed my gaze on him. What was going on?

Hanson then turned his head, speaking to the young woman. “Banks?” he asked. “Did you need anything more from the gentlemen?”

Banks? What? My heart pounded in my chest.

I slowly moved my gaze to the servant girl he was speaking to, the one who had stood so demurely next to the wall, quiet this whole time.

I watched as she raised her head, the timid and submissive demeanor now gone. Her gaze met mine, dark brows framing green eyes with a blue rim around the iris. Her chin lifted, a subtle defiance in the gesture.

Oh, my God. Her?

“No, I think I have all I need,” she told him.

She then untied the white apron around her waist and tossed it on the cart of food.

I forced down the lump in my throat. Fuck.

That dark hair hidden under a cap, the slender shoulders and narrow jaw, the men’s clothes she still wore… Only instead of the dirty jeans, broken shoes, and oversized sweatshirt I remembered, it was now a pair of black suit pants, a black shirt, and a striped neck tie.

I dropped my eyes. Her fingernails were still dirty, though, visible in her fingerless leather gloves.

She turned on her heel and left the room, grabbing a suit jacket off the chair in the hall and donning it as she disappeared from sight. I followed her with my eyes, my breathing gone shallow.

“Gentlemen,” Hanson said. “Mr. Torrance’s assistant will update him, and one of them will be in touch. If you’re finished, I’ll see you out.”

“What a minute,” Michael barked. “That was his assistant?”

I let out a breath, turning my eyes on him. “That was Banks.”

He pinched his eyebrows together, not remembering, but then the light dawned, and he looked back down the hall to where she’d disappeared and then back to me. And his jaw dropped open.

“What did she hear that she’s going to update him on?” Will spoke up, looking worried. “Did we say anything bad?”

I laughed to myself, my blood suddenly running hot as memories of that night came flooding back.

“Do you think she remembers us?” Michael asked.

I took a step, all of us following Hanson out of the dining room and toward the front door as I mumbled under my breath, “Does she realize he’s not around to get in my way this time?”

Kai

Devil’s Night

Six Years Ago

I’d been on edge ever since confession earlier.

Looking over my shoulder, taking second glances at everyone as I walked down hallways and sat in classrooms.

The girl in the confessional, I had to know her, right? She certainly knew who I was.

And steal me? What the hell did that mean? I shot a glance to the girls sitting and chatting in the bleachers, ready and waiting to give the guys on the court some attention after practice. Any one of them could be her. Any girl in this school could be her. While I liked a little mystery, I preferred being on the inside track. The one doing the playing, not the one being played with.

Shooting the basketball over to Will, I jogged to the end of the court with everyone else, twenty sets of sneakers skidding across the floor as the ball changed hands twice more and then came back to me. I caught it, breathing hard with sweat cooling my back as I pushed into the point guard at my back, dribbling, twisting, and then shooting. The ball soared through the air, skidded off the rim, and I clenched my jaw as it missed the basket and fell into Damon’s waiting hands.

He grinned, running back down to the other end of the court, satisfied in my failure.

Anger sat like a brick in my stomach, but I kept quiet. I shouldn’t have missed that. I was thinking about her, and I would until I figured out who she was. I should’ve barged in there and confronted her when I had the chance.