“Someone’s going to die,” Drew warned.
The hint of excitement in his gaze told me that he was up for the challenge.
I was almost breathless. “Don’t worry. I’ll save you.”
I looked at him, and he looked at me as the old, rusty car rolled into the pond, both of us locked into our seatbelts.
“And if I chicken out first and still don’t keep my end of the bargain?”
“Then I’ll go to Madoc,” I warned him. “After I burn it all down around you.”
He could never resist a dare. Maybe I couldn’t either. We wouldn’t fight. There would be no guns. I simply had to stay in my seat the longest as the car sank to the bottom.
The water fills the space around us, rising up our legs. He turns to me. “You would risk killing me to end Green Street?”
The shock of the cold water made me suck in a breath. “And you thought I was a lamb,” I scoffed.
The car started to go bottom-up, plunging, and we planted our hands on the dash, watching each other for any signs of retreat.
The water hit our chest. “I’ll miss you,” he told me.
I smiled. “Yes, you will.”
Drawing in one last breath, I got ready to sink, but then I heard it.
The pounding and screaming coming from the trunk.
I flex my jaw, that familiar roil through my stomach making the bile rise. I could’ve gotten out of a murder charge. Maybe even a manslaughter charge. But I would never forget what happened. Of that, I was always going to be a prisoner. The horror of the moment when you realize that you’re never going to be the same, and you can’t undo what you did.
God, Drew knew me so well. I didn’t know him at all. How could I not have understood that someone who had boundaries could never beat someone who had none? I still can’t believe I was stupid enough to challenge him like that, thinking I would ever win. He didn’t follow rules. He would make sure he succeeded, even if he had to cheat.
I speed to town, knowing the police have their hands full elsewhere. Farrow trails me on his motorcycle, and there are a couple of other cars behind him. The traffic tonight will be heavy everywhere as people move from one party to another.
Cruising past High Street, I see the lane blocked up with barriers, tables, vendors, and people slowly filling the spaceunder the street lights. They dance and drink, firecrackers going off as sparklers light up the air. Far off, a firework whistles into the sky. I don’t see the pop overhead, but I hear the fizzle as it dissipates somewhere.
I park along a side street and get out of the car, noticing the tail-end of another Mustang, like Dylan’s, turning and disappearing down another block.
I shake my head. She was in the pool with her family ten minutes ago. It can’t be her.
Farrow strides up to my side, and we turn at Frosted, heading past Rivertown.
“I think they’re gonna set off the city fireworks early,” Farrow says. “Rain’s coming.”
All the more reason to make this quick. We won’t be in the dark for long. “Where are they again?” I ask him.
“On the roof.”
We cut down the next street, pulling down the ladder to the fire escape. Chills prick the back of my neck again, and I look behind me, searching for someone following us. High Street practically vibrates under my shoes, laughter and liquor flowing in equal measure.
No one’s looking at me, though.
I shake it off. “How many of them are there?”
“Just Hugo and a couple of his lackeys.”
I side-eye him. “Isn’t that what you are?”
He could be leading me into a trap, but if there’s any chance to settle this on my own, I’m taking it.
