But Dan doesn’t move either. Ishea killer? Or is it Henry? All Ash knows is that she’s the odd one out in this grouping of Caro, Henry, Dan. They’re a family unit. They’re going to stick together.Blood is thicker than water, than friendship, than anything.But Dan isn’t technically Caro and Henry’s blood. Maybehe’sthe killer?
Ash’s mind is swimming She should run. She would, except for Page. She can’t leave Page. And at least Caro wants to get Page out of here. That’s good, right?
“Did your dad kill Eve?” Ash asks. “Did he do this to Page?”
“No,”Caro says. “He couldn’t hurt anyone. Ever. I think Eve was his student. He had lots of students.” But there’s a waver in her voice. Henry is coming closer to Page. “I’m sorry,” he is saying, over and over. “I’m sorry.” He kneels down next to Page, gasoline soaking into the knees of his pants. His eyes are unsettled. Ash doesn’t know what to think. Is he the man Caro has always described—gentle, competent, beloved by all? Or is he someone else entirely?
“Dad.”Caro’s voice cracks as she touches his arm. “Come on. Let’s get out of here. We need to get Page out, too. This woman’s name isPage. She’s not Eve Herriman.”
Ash looks over at Dan. He’s bewildered, shocked, his puppy-dog eyes staring at Caro and Page. “Dan,” Ash says. “You were standing in the doorway, too. Was Page talking aboutyou? Didyoukill Eve Herriman?”My survival instincts,she thinks,are terrible.Her need-to-know compulsion, however, is apparently alive and well.
“No,”Dan says. “You thinkIkilled someone?” He sounds stunned, buthis eyes flick to the side as if he’s looking for someone to back him up. No one’s there. “Why would you think that?”
“Because Page said it,” Ash says. “And she was looking in your direction.”
“She was also looking at Henry.” Dan takes a step closer. His eyes lock on Caro. “Caro. You don’t believe this, right?”
“We can talk about it later,” Caro says. “We need to get Page out of here. Weallneed to get out of here.”
But the doorway has darkened. Somone else is here. Two people, Ash realizes. One of them is a man wearing a ski mask, his head almost brushing against the top of the doorway. Someone smaller is silhouetted with him, and Ash’s heart leaps in her chest. She knows that shape. And when the other person speaks, Ash knows that voice.
“Hi, guys,” Hope says. “I’m sorry. Really sorry. As you can see, things haven’t exactly gone according to plan.”
67
CARO
THIS CAN’T BE REAL, Caro thinks.It has to be staged somehow.
Shewantsit to be staged. She wants Hope to have orchestrated this for some reason because then it won’t mean that a strange man is holding a real knife to Hope’s throat and that Page from the resort hasn’t accused either Caro’s father or Caro’s husband of murdering Page’s sister, whose bones they found in the Underground.
None of this can be happening.The fumes are making her sick and dizzy. Maybe she’s hallucinating? But Hope is alive, andthatis good. She looks very tired and thin, dark circles under her eyes, her skin pale under her tan. But that electricity, thatsomething about herthat draws people to her, is still there. Dimmed, but shining.
“Hope?” Caro says. “You’re alive. You didn’t die in the Underground.”
“I did not.” Hope’s voice is very calm, her tone dry. “I think you should all get out of here,” she says. “He only has a knife. Not a gun. There are five of you. Six? I’m sorry, these fumes and him cutting off my windpipe are making it hard to count.”
“Just let us all go,” Ash says to the man, her voice desperate. “The police are coming.”
“Then I’d better be fast,” the man says. His voice sounds vaguely familiar.Who is he?“There are more of you than I expected.” He nods to Caro. “There’s a flare gun in the backpack next to you. Bring it to me.”
“Who the hell are you?” Caro asks. “Why should I do what you say?”Why would I let you shoot flares into the gasoline and set us all on fire?She sees that Dan is ready to spring, to try to take down whoever this man is.Don’t, she thinks to him.Please don’t. It’s too risky.
“Because I’ll kill her if you don’t,” the man says.
Okay, touché.Caro will indeed bring him the flare gun. Can she shoot him with it without setting them all ablaze?
“You can let us all go.” Ash’s tone is level now, but her outstretched hands are shaking. “We don’t even know who you are. Everything can still be fine. We won’t turn you in. We won’t even look for you. Will we, you guys?”
The man laughs. “You’ve been hunting me down ever since you knew I existed.”
Because you werespyingon us, you pervert.
“You need help,” Henry says to the man, rising to his feet from where he’s been kneeling near Page. Caro grabs his arm.“Dad,”she says. “Stop.” Ash and Hope are right. There has to be a way around this. Why can’t she think of it?
“The gun,” the man says again.“Now.”And he presses the knife so hard into Hope’s windpipe that she gags. Caro grabs the backpack, unzips it. Packages of food—ramen, granola bars, fruit snacks—and bottles of Gatorade fall out. Some of the bottles roll their way across the uneven flooring. Caro glances up at the window nearest her. Could she smash the glass? Could someone climb out? The minute she takes the flare gun to him, they’re all dead. The minute she doesn’t, Hope is. It’s impossible math.
There’s the gun, at the bottom of the pack. Caro removes it. “Let’s talk about this,” Henry says, using his gentle doctor’s voice, and oh no, he’s walking toward the man. He’s going to get himself or Hope killed.
