Dean is shouting that he won’t let Shane take Molly. Thad is trying to be heard over him, demanding that Shane reconsider, that I won’t be of any use to him.
Then Shane redirects the gun, directly at Thad’s forehead. My heart stutters at the sight. Up until now, the gun’s felt more like a threat to keep us in line, but something about the way Shane is looking at Thad now makes it feel more like a promise.
I’m not sure if the room actually falls silent, or if it’s just the blood rushing in my ears. If Dean and Thad don’t stop protesting, Shane is going to shoot Thad. Shane is going tokillThad. He’ll never tease me again, or call meSister Helenjust to get me riled up, or rub the back of his neck when I gethimriled up. Those blue-gray eyes that hold so much in them will be lifeless, dimmed, forever.
And I can’t let that happen.
Thad tries to grasp my arm, hold me in place, but I step around him and out of reach. “I’ll do it. Just don’t shoot anyone—please, Shane.”
Thad tries to move between us again. “Helen?—”
“Don’t,” Shane says sharply, and now the gun is aimed toward me, right at my sternum.
Thad hesitates, then steps back. We wait.
Shane visibly relaxes. “Good. I’m in charge here, Thad, not you. Don’t try to pull anything on me—I’m not as stupid as you think.” He blinks furiously, swallowing. “What should I use for rope?”
It takes me a moment to realize he’s talking to me—and genuinely asking me. I cast my eyes around the room. I don’t particularly want to help him come up with ways to tie everyone up, but there is the matter of the gun. Plus, I have a feeling that he weirdly trusts me. Maybe all that time chatting over books affected him more than he realized. We librarians are sneaky that way.
“Um…I can tie their shoelaces together?”
Shane barks a laugh at that. “Yeah. Let’s do that. You two sit at the table.” He motions Dean and Thad with the gun. “Tie them together, and around one of the table legs. Make it nice and tight, no tricks.”
Dean and Thad both reluctantly, obediently sit at the table. I can’t quite meet either of their gazes as I kneel to do what Shane’s instructed, but I can feel both of them watching me. “I’m so sorry, Hel,” Dean babbles. “This is all my fault. I’m so stupid.”
I can hear he’s close to tears, but I can’t think about that too much. I focus on the task at hand, debating if I should chance leaving the laces loose. But if Shane checks, he’ll lose trust in me, and somehow I know instinctively I have to try and keep him on my side.
As I finish, I glance up at Thad. I want to convey to him that I’m okay, that I have a plan, sort of, and that I knew all along what he was trying to do with Shane, that I didn’t really think he’d betray us.Me.
It’s a lot to try to say with one look, probably impossible; but it’s a moot point, anyway, since Thad’s not looking at me. He’s looking over my shoulder at Shane, and his face is tight, furious. “Cut it out.”
Shane laughs that irritating, frat-boy giggle I’ve only heard him use around Thad. “Just admiring the view.”
It takes me a moment to realize he’s talking about me. Kneeling down like this, my behind is straight up in the air, and based on Thad’s expression, Shane’s been putting on a show of ogling.
I know it’s a show, too. Shane has no real interest in me. He’s doing all this to get under Thad’s skin, rile him up. I don’t know their whole history, though it seems like there’s some serious competitive energy between them. But Shane’s never paid me any attention when Thad isn’t there to witness it, and now is no exception.
“Come here, Helen,” Shane orders me.
Wary, humiliated, I obediently stand up and move over to Shane. I force myself to meet his gaze, but he isn’t looking at me—rather, at Thad. “Take off my belt.”
“Shane,” Thad says warningly.
“I’m in charge here,” Shane reminds him. He’s still grinning, but there’s something dangerous in his expression.
Dropping my eyes, I undo the belt and pull it through the loops of his khakis, careful not to touch any part of him as I do so.
Despite this, Shane lets out an exaggerated moan. “Helen, you’re so good at this.”
“Fuck off,” Thad snaps. Almost on top of him, Dean shouts, “Fuck you, asshole!”
Shane just chortles. “Belt their hands together under the table, around the table leg.”
All of this testosterone in the room is making me nervous. I know Shane was only ever using me to find Dean and Molly, but even so, his energy when it was just the two of us at the library was radically different. Being near Thad seems to supercharge him, bring out his mean, spiteful side.
Maybe it’s naive of me, but I think if I could remind him of our friendship, get his focus off one-upping Thad, I might be able to de-escalate things. It’s not that I think Shane is good, per se, but maybe I could appeal to something good in him, some better instinct. “What a good idea,” I praise him. “Did you read about that in that sailing book you checked out? I remember you told me about how you went down that TikTok rabbit hole, watching all those videos about knots.”
It’s a bit of a gamble, bringing this up, since I don’t actually know if he read any of those books or watched any of those videos, or if it was all just a part of his act to ingratiate himself with me.
