“Stop! Wait!” I shouted. Panic took hold of me as the women rushed out of the cabin, leaving Vero and me lashed to our chairs. I called after Mrs. Haggerty as the screen door slammed behind her.
We had to get out of here. We had to stop Nick before he made it to the cabin, or the three of us were going to end up in a grave with Sally’s husband. All I’d wanted was to prove that Penny hadlied about Steven—that she’d known Mrs. Haggerty all along—and Penny wasn’t even here.
“What are you doing?” Vero asked me as I started bouncing in my chair. It thumped over the floor as I steered it toward the kitchen. “There must something sharp in here. Maybe we can cut the twine.”
Vero bounced up and down in her chair and thumped into the kitchen beside me. “The knife block is empty”
“Help me look for something else.”
She followed my lead, using her teeth to grab the knobs and open all the drawers. “There’s nothing here!”
“What about the pruning scissors you took from the truck?”
Vero’s eyes widened. “They’re in my belt, under my coat. Maybe you can reach them.”
Vero and I bounced in our chairs, rotating ourselves inch by inch until we were back-to-back.
“You’re too far away,” I said, stretching my fingers behind me. “Push yourself closer.” There was a soft screech as Vero’s chair slid backward into mine, close enough for my fingers to brush the hem of her coat. “I’ve got it,” I said, prying the tool from her belt loop. “Hold still. I’m going to try to cut you free.”
“If you accidentally kill me and join their creepy book club cult, I swear to god, Finlay, I will never forgive you.”
“Shh! I’m concentrating.” I gripped the scissors and felt around for the twine. “I really hope this isn’t your finger,” I said, wedging something long and thin between the blades.
“There’s no dismemberment coverage on my cheap-ass HMO, Finlay! Please do not cut off my—”
I squeezed my eyes shut and snipped. When no one screamed, I opened one eye.
Vero leapt to her feet and shook off the last of her twine. Sheknelt and took the scissors from me. With two quick snips, I was out of my chair.
“What do we do?” she asked, peeking out the window. The women were huddled in a circle, their raised voices muted but clear as they argued with one another at the bottom of the porch.
“I vote we shoot him,” Birdie said. Kathy raised her hand. So did Gita.
Sally wrung hers. “This wasn’t in the bylaws of the membership agreement.”
Lola crossed her arms and paced. “We don’t have time to wait for a fucking quorum!”
Viola clutched her rifle. “Whatever we’re doing, we need to decide quick. You heard Destiny. He could be here any minute.”
Vero crouched under the window beside me. “We need to call Nick and warn him.”
“We can’t. Destiny and Lola have our phones.”
“What about your keys?” she suggested. “If we can get to the van without being seen, maybe we can intercept Nick at the road.”
I searched frantically around the room and found my keys hanging on a hook beside the door. I stuffed them in my pocket. “Maybe there’s another way out,” I said. “Come on.”
Vero scurried after me down a short, dark hall. There were only two doors, both of them shut. I tried the knob on the first one, but it was locked. I could have sworn I heard rustling behind it. My heart skipped a beat as I wondered if one of the women might still be inside.
“Hurry!” Vero whispered. “Try the next one.”
The next door opened easily. Vero and I slipped inside the bedroom and locked the door behind us. I ran to the window on the back wall.
“It’s kind of small. Sure you can fit?” Vero asked. “What? I’m just saying.”
“Go!” I wedged it open and gave her a boost. She shimmied through it, grunting when she hit the ground.
“Come on!” she whispered.
