The Roommate, Kiersten Modglin [best books for 20 year olds .txt] 📗

several hearts around her face. I fought back bile as it rose in my throat, my vision blurring with fury-filled tears.

I flipped back a page, using a single finger to turn it, and checked for my picture. He’d scribbled out my face to the point that the paper had torn.

I looked down, to where someone just below me had been scribbled through, too, so much so that I had to look at their name to see who it was.

Noah Munn.

His own brother?

I felt sick.

I tossed the yearbook in the direction of the notebook, pulling out another.

And another.

And another.

Each year, Addy had hearts, and I was scribbled out. Each year until his brother had passed away, he too was scribbled out. I trembled with trepidation as I closed the last book, both wanting and not wanting to know what other secrets the box might hold.

I flipped through pages and pages of photographs—candid shots he’d managed to snap of us. At restaurants, through the open windows of our house, at a neighbor’s barbecue and an art gallery event I’d dragged Addy to at the last minute. So many moments… In each one, his face replaced mine. With each one, the sick feeling in my stomach grew stronger and stronger. How long had he been watching us? Following us?

When I reached the bottom of the box, I sat in horror, looking around at all the evidence that had been just under my nose. It was then that I realized it had never been about me. He wasn’t ruining my life because of anything I’d done. It was always Addy.

He was obsessed with her.

He was deranged.

Everything he’d done…it was always just about him trying to get me out of the way. Inviting me to move in, ruining my life, making Addy believe I was crazy. He’d seen his chance and swooped in immediately.

Another sick thought hit me. Had he done the same thing to his brother? Had he been willing to do whatever it took to get Addy back then, too?

I stood up on shaky legs, clicking his mouse to open the computer, hoping it might give me some clue as to where they’d gone. Maybe he’d searched an address or…bought a plane ticket. The idea was terrifying. When the computer lit up, the screen caused me to jump back. His wallpaper was a collage of photos of her, some candid, some posed. I spied a few of our wedding photos where he’d edited me out.

I tapped the mouse, cursing when I realized the computer was locked. I tried to think.

Addy, I typed. The box buzzed, letting me know it was wrong.

Addison, I tried again. Still wrong.

I tried her birthday.

Her full name.

Then, I thought of the notebook. Mrs. Addison Munn.

Success. The darkened screen disappeared, allowing me access to his computer, but what I saw was completely and utterly terrifying. I backed away as though I’d been shoved, a scalding-hot wave of disbelief washing over me.

The screen was like a beehive, small square sections all around. There were at least twenty of them.

Each box was a separate camera. And each camera was spying on us.

There was one that appeared to be in the corner of the bedroom he’d given me, a hidden camera placed just above my bed, with a bird’s-eye view of the entire room, but that was far from the most sinister. One gave a clear view into my old bedroom, Addy’s and mine, and I knew the view was from the computer across from our bed. I spied the photo of us propped up on her nightstand, next to where her head rested each night, and realized she’d taken it from its place on the wall and moved it there, closer to her. A lump rose in my throat. She’d missed me. Though I wanted to savor the moment, the outright horror I felt wouldn’t allow me to. The camera he’d labeled A’s phone gave a darkened view of what appeared to be the inside of her purse. My stomach rolled, and I put a hand to my mouth as my eyes processed the next one: Rory’s bedroom. Rory’s bed. The view of Rory’s ceiling came from the camera labeled R’s phone. My hands clenched into shaking fists as fuzzy patches clouded my vision. I gritted my teeth so hard I winced, looking at the next one. The box labeled W’s phone gave a darkened view of what appeared to be the inside of Addison’s vehicle. There was a camera with a view of Addy’s classroom. One in my old office. I forced myself to look away, unable to catch my breath. It wasn’t possible and yet, it was all real. Straight from a nightmare.

I remembered Elias’ warnings then, about webcams and being careful, and it all began to click into place. I remembered tearing the blue sticky note off the day after he’d placed it there, thinking he was ridiculous.

He wasn’t trying to protect me. He was teasing me, playing games that I hadn’t realized he was playing.

He’d hacked our webcams. Our phone cameras. He’d been watching us at home, at work… Everywhere. He knew our every move.

He hadn’t just happened to run into me that day. It had been his plan for years.

All our lives.

He’d just been waiting for the perfect time to make a move.

Chapter Thirty-Three

The one good thing about having access to the webcams, once I’d gotten over the initial horror, was that I could tell where they were. When I clicked on the camera that belonged to Addy’s phone, I could hear her voice as she led him into the house.

Our house.

“I just don’t want to be gone for too long,” she was saying. It was terrifying how clearly he could hear us. How long had he been listening? What all had he heard? “In case he wakes up.” Why didn’t they warn people this kind of thing could happen?

“I agree,” he was saying. “Dr. Foster just wants us to get a few things of his