The rain that had been threatening all morning finally came pouring down, relentless and wild.
By the time the imperial–blue Bentley rolled up to the gates of the Creative Arts Park, the downpour was in full swing.
Jonathan parked, stepped out, and raised his umbrella.
The sound of the rain only made the Creative Arts Park seem even more deserted, the silence sharp beneath the drumming on pavement and glass.
This was where Niamh worked.
He could have gone right up to her office, could have just walked in and asked for her.
But he didn’t.
Instead, Jonathan stood alone in the rain. Even with the umbrella, his suit was quickly soaked through.
He wasn’t entirely sure why he’d come here in the first place.
Even if he’d known, he wouldn’t have been able to admit to Niamh that he’d wanted her company on his birthday.
So he just stood there, silent and unmoving beneath the torrent, umbrella in hand as thunder cracked overhead and lightning flickered across the sky.
The construction site nearby was deserted. On a night like this, no one would be working.
At the base of a concrete stairwell, three stories of rusty shipping containers were stacked, sealing off the entry completely.
No one glancing around would guess that behind those containers, a set of stairs led down into the dark.
No one knew that, at the bottom, there was an old, abandoned utility room.
And certainly, no one knew there was someone locked inside.
On Tranquil Lane, in a shabby old apartment, Susy was sprawled out on a threadbare sofa, the stale tang of cheap beer heavy in the air.
Ever since the Fraser family went bankrupt, she’d moved here. This place was her
1/3
09:43
home now.
Alone, she drank, her expression shifting between anxiety, excitement, and misery
She was anxious–because she’d tried to kill someone, though the person was probably still alive. She was excited for the same reason–she’d tried to kill someone, and even if they weren’t dead yet, it wouldn’t be long.
“A cold basement… Locked away long enough, the heart starts to race, the body freezes, you get dehydrated, you faint… Once those containers block off the old utility room, by the time anyone finds out, Niamh will already be a rotting corpse.”
The words Marina had whispered to her echoed in Susy’s mind, vivid as a nightmare, and she could picture Niamh’s face, twisted in agony, as she died.
“Niamh, just die already! Go to hell, ha ha ha ha-!”
Susy burst into hysterical laughter.
But as she laughed, tears spilled down her face, unstoppable.
She wasn’t crying for Niamh on the brink of death.
She was crying for herself.
To make sure Niamh died in agony, she had sunk so low–selling herself to
strangers.
Susy grabbed the beer bottle and chugged it, draining it in one go.
She couldn’t afford anything fancy anymore, so cheap beer was all she drank.
Trading her body for a chance at Niamh’s life-
“Worth it!”
Dusk fell, and the rain kept coming.
The construction site was as silent as a grave.
Back at the Creative Arts Park, companies had started closing for the day at five, people trickling out into the rain after work, the sky already black.
There was another wave of departures at five–thirty, then again at six.
Seven o’clock, eight, nine… One by one, people left, filing out of the office building.
Jonathan stood outside the whole time, umbrella in hand, waiting.
But in the scattered crowd, he never once caught sight of Niamh..
09:43
“Mr. Thomas?”
Jonathan lifted his umbrella a little, revealing half his face.
“Is it really you, Mr. Thomas? I thought I might’ve been mistaken!”
A young woman stood before him, someone he didn’t really know–but her face was vaguely familiar.
If he remembered right, she was Niamh’s new assistant.
Noting his silence as he studied her, the girl patted her chest and introduced herself.
“Mr. Thomas, I’m Amy. I work for Ms. Rivers–as her assistant.”
“Mm.”
Amy could tell Jonathan wasn’t much for small talk, but her intuition told her he was probably here to see Niamh.
“You’re here to find Ms. Rivers, right?”
Jonathan almost denied it, but in the end, he stayed silent.
Amy’s eyes brightened.
“I knew it! My instincts are never wrong… But, Mr. Thomas, the boss isn’t in her office. She hasn’t been back all day…”
She scratched her head, looking puzzled.
