Noah’s right hand balls into a fist. He looks like he wants to hit one or both of them. At this point, maybe he should. They’re going to kill us anyway. We may as well go out swinging.
“There’s only one little detail,” Lindsay says.
She raises the gun and points it directly at Noah’s skull. I squeeze my eyes shut just as I hear a gunshot. No. No. This isn’t happening.
I’m terrified to open my eyes and discover my husband lying on the sofa, a bullet hole in his head. I crack them open, and Noah is still sitting up. It doesn’t appear he’s been shot in the head. He looks fine.
Then I hear a gurgling sound coming from the ground. I look down—Warner on the ground, gripping his neck, which is gushing blood. I stare down at him, my heart pounding. What just happened?
“I am so sorry, sweetie.” Lindsay is standing over him, her brows knitted together. “But your story was just too complicated. And the police have your fingerprints on file. I just couldn’t take the risk of being associated with you.”
Warner coughs up blood. He looks like he’s trying to say something, but he can’t.
“Two people can’t keep a secret,” she says. “Not unless one of them is dead. It’s just a fact. I always work alone.”
I watch in horror as Warner’s eyes roll up in their sockets. He’s dead. She just killed him.
“So,” Lindsay says briskly. She seems utterly unconcerned that she just killed a man, and that chills me. Who is this woman? I thought I knew her better than anyone else. “Here’s the deal. I met Warner on a dating site, and my bad, he turned out to be a psychopath. He killed all of us, but I managed to survive by playing dead.” She smiles benevolently. “That’s your gift if you behave yourselves and don’t try anything funny.”
Try anything funny? What am I supposed to do? She’s got the gun. Of course, Warner dropped his rifle on the ground, but Lindsay knows better than anyone that I would have no idea what to do with that thing. I doubt Noah does either. Except…
Where’s that Swiss Army knife?
I see Noah’s right hand is in his pocket now. Lindsay hasn’t seemed to notice. Does he have the knife in there? If he has it, we’ve got a chance. If he doesn’t… well…
“So,” Lindsay says, “which one of you would like to go first?”
Oh God. Please let Noah have that knife…
I take a breath, stalling for time. “Lindsay, you’ve got to understand, what I did with Jack… It just happened. I didn’t mean for it to happen.”
“Right.” She snorts. “That’s the same thing my father said.”
“Your father was an asshole,” I say. She jerks her head back, but I push on. “I remember when he died, we stayed up all night talking about him. Do you remember that?”
Lindsay sneers. “It was a long time ago,”
“Well, I remember.” I look her in the eyes. “You told me about how badly he treated your mother. How he was never there for your family. That you always felt like you weren’t good enough for him.”
Lindsay lowers her gun a millimeter. “Yeah, well…”
“You and I…” I swallow hard. “We were always there for each other. Every time I needed you, you were there for me, Lindsay. I mean, you were my maid of honor. You’re my kids’ godmother. When I thought you were dead…”
She looks at me for a moment, her eyebrows knitting together. “When you thought I died and you wanted to stay behind, I almost couldn’t go through with it. I… I honestly didn’t think you would care enough.”
“What are you talking about? Of course I care!”
As the words are coming out of my mouth, I realize how much I mean them. When I thought Lindsay was dead, it was like my whole world was falling apart. Clearly, she has much deeper issues than I ever thought possible. I mean, I always knew she was a little crazy. But I never suspected she could be capable of this.
Part of me still doesn’t believe it.
“Lindsay,” I choke out. “We can figure this out. I’ll do whatever it takes to get you out of this.”
Of course, there isn’t really a way out of it. Three people are dead. But Lindsay’s face softens and she lowers her gun. I let out a breath. “I don’t want to kill you, Claire.” She shakes her head. “I really don’t. But you have to understand…” She lifts her eyes. “You know too much. I can’t trust you to keep my secrets.”