I hope to God we’re not too late.
The lumberyard is eerilyquiet save for the hum of a motor coming from the work shed. I’ve beaten the police and Marlin by a landslide, so I take advantage of the moment and park by the evergreens. I jog over to where I spot Serena’s car alongside another in a similar make and model, and my heart begins to jump out of my chest. I may as well surprise whoever the hell I’m coming up on. My guess is Shelby Trainee, but what the hell would Barry’s newly wealthy sister want with Serena at this time of night?
A trio of muffled voices stream from inside the aluminum barn, and I hear Serena’s high-pitched frantic voice going off a mile a minute, most likely pleading for her life.
Good girl. Keep it together. Keep yourself on this side of the dirt. There is no way in hell I’m letting anything happen to Serena. I couldn’t protect my sister that day she fell off that embankment—and losing another person I love is something I can never repeat. I almost didn’t survive the first time. I won’t be able to the second.
My heart drums right through my ears as I step lightly over to the opening.
I duck my head a moment and spot Serena standing in front of a wood stack with her hands up high. Next to her vibrates a bright yellow machine with a metallic chute that’s usually hungry for wood.
The chipper.
Holy hell. My entire body seizes. I glance to the left and spot two people standing nearby, neither of which is Shelby Trainee. It’s Craig Carter and Belinda Johnson. I recognize her from her picture on the gym’s website. After Serena mentioned what she knew about her, I did a little digging of my own. Not nearly enough.
Serena spots me, and her eyes grow wide before she looks back at her captors. “Since I’m going to die anyway, why don’t you fill me in on the real reason you killed Barry—Belinda.”
Belinda?Belindakilled Barry?
Serena clears her throat. “You said you were dating Barry at the same time your own sister was engaged to him—that you didn’t want her to find out. But Barry didn’t want to leave Hannah for you, did he? So when Hannah broke it off because she suspected something fishy going on, he broke it off with you—didn’t he? And I bet he was about to expose you—humiliate you. Why else would you pull the trigger?”
Belinda bubbles with laughter as if she were at happy hour with friends. “Barry and I were hardly dating. He was no boyfriend of mine. Craig here is the real deal. I couldn’t stand Hannah’s constant preening about her perfect life, her perfect fiancé. Everyone could tell he was a loser. I was just out to prove it by stealing him away. Ruining the golden child’s wedding day was just an added bonus.”
Serena groans. “You really do hate your sister. So, what’s in the safe?”
“A key.” Belinda shrugs as if she knew it wasn’t the juiciest answer.
“A key?” Serena scoffs. “You killed a man for a measly key? You mean I’ve risked life and limb and I’m going to be fed to a wood chipper over a stupid piece of metal? What the hell?”
“What the hell is right,” Craig barks. “That key happens to lead to a safe-deposit box at the Bank of Jepson, and once I produced it, his sister promised to split whatever the hell was in it with us for offing him. As much as Barry meant to me alive, he meant a hell of a lot more dead.”
Why am I not surprised this has circled back to Shelby? And, oddly, I feel a touch vindicated by the revelation.
“His sister was selling him out for money?” Serena glances my way briefly. “It sounds as if Barry needed new friendsandfamily.”
The wail of a siren knifes through the air, and both Belinda and Craig glance at one another and freeze.
“We need to go.” Craig picks up a bag by his feet, and if I had to guess, it looks like a cash deposit from the lumberyard’s safe.
Belinda waves her gun at Serena, and my adrenaline hits its zenith. “Get rid of her so we can leave.”
Craig shifts his weight, his face bleaching white. “Shoot her then. I’m not putting her in there alive. It’s not humane.”
“I’m not killing another person!” she riots back. “I damn near have nightmares every night because of that idiot I offed so we could have a nice life together.”
Serena topples a stack of wood to the left before dodging right, and Belinda leaps blindly, jumping on top of her.
I run in with a roar and kick the gun out of Belinda’s hand, sending it spinning underneath that yellow monster of a machine they wanted to feed Serena to.
I toss Belinda’s body like a rag doll just as Craig tackles me from behind, and my face lands hard into the dirt.
Craig and I wrestle it out before a loud scream comes from above, and a two-by-four of a log comes crashing over his head. I glance up to find Serena panting like mad. Thank God she didn’t miss. She could have impaled me, but she didn’t. I roll Craig’s moaning body off mine and jump up and wrap my arms around Serena just as the place floods with Hollow Brook’s finest.
“Shep!” Her body bucks as she pulls me in tight, her lips quickly finding a home over mine. Amongst the chaos, the screaming, the shouts from the police, Serena’s mouth offers up a calm to the storm.
“Holy shit,” a deep voice barks from behind, and I freeze, my eyes opening slowly to confirm what I already know. “Step the hell away from my sister, and we’ll pretend this never happened.”
I turn to face Marlin as Serena runs from my arms to his. “You can’t kill him,” she wails. “Shep saved me. And if you do”—she strides back my way and latches an arm around me—“you’ll have to kill me, too.” Serena looks to me, bashful, her lips swelling along with the tears in her eyes. “I’m in love with him, Marlin. I love Shepherd Collins.”
