A female scream rang out in the darkness. Relief washed over me. It wasn't Domino's voice. Swayze had seen my text. I raised the knife and stood at the edge of the cliff. I could hear the zipline coming closer, and right as the body came rushing at me, I plunged.
The screaming stopped abruptly as I looked down and saw Ruth. I'd fucked her once. Swayze had too. It was no secret she was hurt and jealous that we hadn't wanted her for more than a night. Her throat gurgled and blood spilled from her throat. I let go of the knife, leaving it in her belly.
"Bye, Ruth."
I turned and ran to catch the others.
One day later.
"How many traps did you set?" This was the first chance since he got to Johnny’s that I’d had to talk to Swayze alone. Domino had gone off to the bathroom.
"Like two dozen. One wrong step and the machete will swing down."
Good.
"Thanks for sticking around to do it. How was the Ruth thing?"
"The worst thing I've ever done in my life. Those Risky kids are clinically insane. I don't know how Domino lasted as long as she did before running off." His eyes took on a hazy look.
Blane’s been blowing up my phone," I said. "He's not the smartest, but he figured it out. He's not going to cover for me." I picked up my phone and scrolled through the dozen messages I'd gotten from him. All of them said the same variation of how he was going to expose me as Ruth’s murderer.
"Chickenshit." Swayze snickered. "If he won't shut up, we'll make him shut up."
"How do you propose we get him to the woods?"
Swayze looked down the hall.
"When we get back, we suggest Mattias to have a meeting. There's a firepit by the beach. We'll have it there. Get Blane all pissed off, and he'll leave. Maybe scare him a little."
"You sure that will work?" I wasn't entirely confident in the plan.
"I am. We spook him enough, he'll run. Now, onto more important things."
Domino returned from the bathroom, smiling. Swayze patted the space between us, and she plopped down between us. Swayze and I shared a look over her head. We were going to shoot our shot tonight, taking Domino together. Afterward, when we got back, we'd shoot our shot with Blane, and so long as we played our cards right, he'd be dead and no one would ever suspect us.
Four days after Blane's death
"Why did you do it? Was it not enough to kill Ruth?" Chitra had dragged me and Swayze to the park. She claimed to know who had tried to drown Domino, my blessing, but it was clear now it was a ruse. She stood by the Lazy Lane River, fumbling with her hands.
"This is a setup. Let's go." Swayze took my arm and pulled me away.
"What about Blane? Was that you too? Or Elliott Spencer? Marisol told me how you killed him too. You can't keep doing this. Your massacre is going to stop here."
Massacre?
I laughed dryly. "We didn't kill Elliott. She didn't even know he was dead until I showed her the body I'd found in the woods. Nice try."
"Why did you bring us here, Chitra?" Swayze demanded.
She reached behind her. With shaky hands, she brought out a gun, cocked it, and pointed it at me. "We're taking care of this now."
Swayze and I put our hands up.
"What do you mean?"
"It's the fourth day, and since no one's died yet, we're making sure it's not one of us. We've all agreed that when the police come tonight, we're telling them it was all Domino. She'll go to jail and Marisol is going to give us Domino's share. All we have to do is lie. You were stupid to side with Domino. She's nothing but trouble."
Swayze lunged for her. He slapped the gun out of her hand and it fell into the water. I ran forward, pushing us both into the water. I came up for air and found Chitra swimming quickly away. She was fast. Swayze scooped her up, pulling her out of the water. He lifted her shoulders and then smacked her back down onto the pavement. Her head made a sickening sound as is it cracked on the cement. Swayze lifted her and did it again, just as hard. Blood burst from her dark curls.
