My eyebrows rise in surprise because he groans, trying to fight, but I pull out my phone and lift it for the perfect angle, readying the camera to film.
“Say murder.”
Chapter Twenty-One
Evie
I barely get my car into park and my keys out of the ignition before my sister comes bounding from her house, but I’m doing the same, bursting from my car and meeting her in the middle of the pathway. Our arms instantly wrap around the other, tears already staining each other’s shoulders as we hug fiercely.
She pulls back, the palms of her hands wiping my cheeks as she keeps repeating, “Are you okay? Are you okay?”
I nod because I know she’s wondering if I’m hurt, and I am; she just doesn’t know how yet.
“Baby,” Noah whispers, looking around. “Inside the house.” He ushers us in, but I point to my car.
“There’s a bag in the back ...”
Noah doesn’t hesitate as Evie and I rush inside the house. I’m through the door as I ask, “What did the police say?”
She frowns, immediately letting me go before walking to the fridge and grabbing me a bottle of water. “Here, drink this.”
“I’m fine. I want to know what the police said. Do they know who sent the link? Can they locate him? Do they have a lead on Remus?”
All my questions are laid bare in front of her as I stare unblinking, waiting for answers.
Noah walks back inside as she lets out a breath. “The link—”
I draw my head back, confused. “What about it?”
“We called and spoke to a detective, but when we tried to send the video of ...” She chokes up, and I have to look away. So I take the bottle from her hand to give me something to focus on, or I’ll scream again.
She sniffles, pulling herself together, and I blink, listening to the plastic ring around the cap pop while trying to ignore the visions of Chase’s body being dragged, bloody and beaten, playing in my mind.
Noah runs his hand down her shoulder, finishing her sentence. “We couldn’t send the video ... The link doesn’t work anymore.”
I shake my head, pulling out my phone and swiping straight to my messages before, with a tremble, hitting the link. But they’re right, it doesn’t work.
“What the fuck,” I shout, turning toward the kitchen island because I feel like I’m going to break. “But what about Remus ... They have to look for him.”
Nobody answers me, so I turn back, locking eyes with my sister.
“Did you tell them about Remus?”
She’s staring back at me, searching my eyes before her lips part and she says, “No.”
My chest caves with the exhale I let out. “I don’t understand ... Why wouldn’t you tell them? Goldie ...” She looks at Noah, and I feel irate, so I yell her name again. “Goldie.”
Her head whips back to me, her voice almost as loud as mine. “Because he was just the camp counselor, Evie ... and I saw him die. With my own eyes.” She stabs her finger at the floor. “I stood in front of him and watched him bleed to death.”
“Goldie ...” Noah whispers, trying to comfort her, reaching for her hand, but she pulls it away.
“No, Noah. Chase is out there. Someone has him, and she’s still back there, in that night ... Remus isn’t alive. Jesus. He was just some poor guy who got caught in the crosshairs of a lunatic’s revenge. You know that. This is her panic, and it isn’t helping.”
Her voice trails off as she turns away from me, walking toward the windows in the living room with her arms crossed over her chest.
“Fuck you.” The room is silent as she turns back, and we lock eyes. “Fuck you. You think I’m crazy?”
She spits back with just as much venom, “I think you thought Billy was back at the theater. I think you haven’t dealt with the trauma. And I think you’re making this about you. You don’t even like him, but I can’t take care of you right now, Evie. Chase—”
