Sweet Hatred-Chapter 469: The Near Miss

SARAH

I stared at the nearly empty water bottles lined up against the wall and cursed under my breath.

Three left.

Maybe four if I counted the one that was barely half-full.

Not enough.

Not nearly enough if we were going to be here for another day or two while I figured out our next move.

I couldn’t risk Aria getting dehydrated. Couldn’t risk her getting sick.

I needed her alive.

Healthy.

At least until... until what?

I didn’t let myself finish that thought.

The point was, I needed supplies. Water. Food. Maybe some basic medical supplies in case...

In case of what? In case she tried to escape again and hurt herself? In case the baby...

Stop.

I grabbed my jacket and checked the cash I had left. Two hundred dollars from Chase’s pockets after I’d killed him. Not much, but enough for what I needed.

I looked at Aria, still tied to the chair, the gag back in her mouth.

She watched me with exhausted, terrified eyes.

"I need to go out for supplies," I said, my voice flat. "I’ll be back in ten minutes. Maybe less. Behave yourself."

She tried to say something through the gag, her eyes pleading.

"I don’t want to hear it, Aria."

I grabbed my bag... the one with the taser, just in case... and headed for the door.

"Don’t do anything stupid," I called back without looking at her. "I’d hate for you to hurt yourself. Or the baby."

I’d stolen clothes from a donation bin two blocks away earlier... an oversized hoodie, cheap sunglasses, a baseball cap.

Not much of a disguise, but better than nothing.

I kept my head down as I walked, hands shoved in my pockets, trying to look like just another person running errands.

The pharmacy was four blocks away. Small. Run-down. The kind of place that didn’t ask questions and had shitty security cameras.

Perfect.

I pushed through the door, the bell chiming.

An elderly clerk barely looked up from behind the counter.

I grabbed a basket and moved quickly through the aisles.

Water bottles. Protein bars. Crackers. Anything non-perishable.

A small first aid kit.

Painkillers.

I was heading toward the checkout when I heard it.

"... massive manhunt underway for Sarah Whitmore, wanted in connection with the abduction of Aria Thorne... "

I froze.

The TV mounted in the corner of the store was playing the news.

My face filled the screen.

Not a flattering photo... pulled from my old employee ID, my expression blank and professional.

But unmistakably me.

"...considered armed and dangerous. Authorities are asking anyone with information to contact..."

The news anchor’s voice droned on, but I couldn’t hear it over the roaring in my ears.

My face. Plastered everywhere.

"Armed and dangerous."

A reward. Fifty thousand dollars for information leading to my arrest.

And then another photo appeared on screen.

Kael Roman.

Standing at a podium, his expression carved from stone.

"...Mr. Roman, CEO of Roman Holdings and fiancé of the missing woman, has mobilized extensive resources in the search..."

Fucking bastard.

He’d done this. Put my face on every screen in the city. Made me public enemy number one.

I forced myself to breathe.

To stay calm.

No one here was looking at me. The clerk was still absorbed in his phone. The only other customer... an old woman... was shuffling through the medicine aisle, oblivious.

I could still do this.

I moved to the checkout, keeping my head down, the cap pulled low.

"Just these," I muttered, setting the basket on the counter.

The clerk rang everything up without looking at me.

"Thirty-seven fifty."

I handed him two twenties.

He gave me my change.

I grabbed the bags and turned toward the door...

And that’s when I saw them.

Three men standing outside.

Not together. Scattered across the parking lot in a way that looked casual but wasn’t.

One leaning against a car. One pretending to be on his phone. One smoking a cigarette near the entrance.

But all of them watching.

All of them too alert. Too deliberate.

My blood ran cold.

Kael’s men? Had they found me already?

But something felt wrong.

These men didn’t move like private security or cops.

They moved like...

The one by the entrance turned slightly, and I saw his face.

Recognition slammed into me.

I knew him.

From the club. The night I’d met with Andrew to discuss our "partnership."

He’d been there. In the background. One of Andrew’s people.

Fuck.

Fuck fuck fuck.

It wasn’t Kael hunting me.

It was Andrew.

Of course it was Andrew.

I was a loose end. A witness who could connect him to Ewan’s attempted murder. To the embezzlement. To everything.

He needed me dead.

And he’d found me.

Or... no. No, they hadn’t seen me yet. They were watching the area. Canvassing. Looking.

But if I walked out that door right now, they’d spot me immediately.

Think. Think.

I turned away from the entrance, moving deeper into the store.

The clerk looked up, confused. "You forget something?"

"Bathroom," I said quickly.

He jerked his thumb toward the back.

I walked fast, trying not to run, my mind racing.

There had to be a back exit. Storage room. Employee entrance. Something.

I found it... a door marked "Employees Only."

Pushed through without hesitation.

A narrow hallway. Boxes stacked against the walls. And at the end... a metal door with a push bar.

Emergency exit.

I slammed through it, the alarm immediately blaring.

Didn’t matter.

I ran.

Out into an alley. Left. Then right. Cutting through side streets, moving fast, not looking back.

My heart hammered against my ribs.

Andrew’s men were here. In this neighborhood.

Which meant they were close.

Too close.

I had to get back to Aria.

Had to move her.

Had to...

I burst through the door of the hideout, breathing hard, my hands shaking.

And stopped.

The chair was on its side.

Broken.

Aria was on her feet by the door, holding a splintered chair leg, her face pale and desperate.

For a split second, we just stared at each other.

Then rage exploded through me.

"WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU THINK YOU’RE DOING?"

She flinched, backing up against the wall.

I dropped the bags and yanked the taser from my jacket.

"Sarah, wait... "

I didn’t wait.

I pulled the trigger.

The prongs shot out, connecting with her chest.

Aria’s body convulsed, her scream cutting off into a choked gasp.

She collapsed, the chair leg clattering from her hand.

I held the trigger for five seconds... longer than necessary... before releasing.

Aria lay on the concrete, twitching, her eyes wide and glassy.

Conscious but immobilized.

I stood over her, breathing hard, my hands still shaking.

"Were you trying to escape?" I asked, my voice dangerously quiet.

She couldn’t answer. Could barely move.

Just stared up at me with those terrified eyes.

"You don’t understand," I said, crouching down beside her. "You don’t understand what’s happening out there."