The screens stop as Garett pushes buttons. Then it begins to play. The entire wall of displays is showing the same scene—an empty room with an unmade bed. It’s the same room Liv was in. This must have been from after they went in and grabbed her to bring her back here. I chance a glance behind me and watch her shutter. Celeste wraps her girlfriend tightly in her arms, kissing her lightly on the temple and whispering something in her ear.
Suddenly, two people appear on the screen. Erika is being pushed backward toward the bed by a towering Will. There’s no audio but he looks angry. His body language suggests he’s yelling. Erika looks terrified.
Luke moves swiftly across the room, burying his pink-haired girlfriend in his chest. He spins her so her back faces the screen and her forehead is pressed against him. His arms wrap around her protectively. Next to him, Celeste keeps herself wrapped around Liv as well—both of them protecting the girl they love. My chest warms slightly as I watch them.
“Keep your eyes closed, Flower. You don’t need to see this,” Luke tells her as he places a chaste kiss on the top of her head.
My eyes flit back to the screen, watching as Will’s hand flies out. I knew he was a bad man, an evil man; and yet, watching him strike out sends terrible shockwaves through me.
My eyes can’t look away as I watch in horror as he hits her again, and again, and again. Erika throws her arms up in a desperate attempt to save herself, but it’s no use. His arm cocks back then his fist drives forward, cracking against her face over and over. Blood begins to splatter; her skin splitting as he continues his assault.
“Garett,” I whimper as red begins to pool around her,staining the sheets beneath her.
He spins, his eyes wild and filled with swirling fury. He catches sight of me, the tears threatening to spill and he instantly softens.
“Shit, Princess,” he whispers before closing the space between us and pulling me into his arms. “They will never get anywhere near you again. I promise you. I will cut off each of their fingers and shove them down their esophaguses until they choke on them if they ever so much as think of touching you ever again.”
I watch over Garett’s shoulder as Will finishes his assault. He looks down at Erika’s lifeless body. And then comes the knife. There’s so much blood. Too much blood. It spills like a sea of scarlet onto the sheets, the walls, and every surface around from the large wound in her neck. Eventually, the blood slows.
She’s dead.
I just watched a woman being murdered. Murdered in cold blood. Murdered because of us—because we took Liv back. That’s what Brody meant by consequences. He wants me to think that this is my fault. But it’s not my hands stained with her blood.
I watch as Will hikes her body over his shoulder, carrying her from the scene. My mind begins reeling, a plan formulating. It’s a crazy plan, one that would truly take a miracle to pull off, but if we could…
“Garett…” I pull back slightly to look up at him. He stares back, his face so full of worry that it warms my heart. “Can you track his car or phone or whatever? Find where Will went after this?”
“I should be able to,” he says as he gives me a quizzical look. “Why?”
“I think I have a plan,” I tell him. “That should solve all of our problems.”
THIRTY-ONE
Garett
“You sure this is a good idea?” Luke whispers to me low enough that the girls won’t hear.
We’re walking a distance ahead of all three of the women, approaching the body first and assessing the scene to make sure they can handle seeing this body dump. Though, none of these women seemed too keen on being left out of this plan. Stubborn fucking women.
“A good idea?” I scoff as I step over a tree root stickingseveral inches out of the mud. “Absolutely not. But it’s the only plan we have.”
I wipe the perspiration from my brow and push my hair back off of my forehead. Spring is right around the corner, meaning it’s damp and wet, but starting to be warm here. Fucking rain. Always with the fucking rain in this goddamn state. Once this is done, I’m taking Ali and moving away from the fucking rain. As if the spiteful forces of nature can hear my very thoughts, my boot gets stuck in the mud with my next step. The wet earth suctions down my foot and I have to wrench it free with considerable effort.
“Fuck this,” I growl as my foot finally comes loose and I stumble forward.
“This was your idea,” Luke singsongs from beside me as he walks around the mud, stepping from tree root to rock.
Asshole.
I have half a mind to tell him it wasn’t my idea, it was Ali’s idea. But that would make it seem like I’m ungrateful, and truthfully, this plan of hers is so deviously unhinged that I don’t dare say a word. To think that my good girl thought this up…it sends a shiver down my spine. If I wasn’t already obsessed with her, I would be after hearing her lay out this idea.
“Garett,” Luke calls from a clearing up ahead. “She’s here.”
My mind hones in on our current task. There’s too much to do and too much to lose. I can’t let myself be distracted right now.
We followed the GPS on Will’s phone out to where he dumped Erika’s body. The plan is simple—we grab the body and restage the scene, plant evidence, get the fuck out, and let The Fox drop an anonymous tip to the police. Allison’s gone, Brody goes to jail, and two of our problems are dealt with. After that, we just have to send some pictures to Will and lure him to where we want him then end it.
Simple enough, right?
