We stare at the new hot tub, freshly installed and already churning hot water. We nestled it in the corner by the front of the door. We never use this entrance, preferring the back door to come and go, so this is a great spot for it. Out of the way, with a great view overlooking acres of Gnarly Pines’s property. What more could anyone ask for?
“You’re going to have a hard time getting everyoneoutof it,” I promise with a chuckle.
“You’re talking about Santi in particular, aren’t you?”
I nod. “We might have to clean this thing out more often than it suggests in the booklet. He and Rhett?—”
“Stop.” Ledger holds up a hand, grimacing. “I don’t want to ruin this perfectly good hot tub thinking about what they’ll do in it.”
I laugh. The sound carries out over the trees and into the perfectly chill night. To Ledger and anyone else listening, I’m sure it sounds perfectly normal. Internally, however, I’m struggling to keep up appearances. After what I saw in the basement, I’ve been on high alert. Ledger has lost his shit and while he’s excellent at hiding it, I know the truth. I’ve seen behind the facade and I can’tunsee it. In order to survive his type of crazy, I have to play dumb. At least until I can concoct a plan to get Blair out of here.
Ledger eyes the warming water. “Want to give it a go?”
Somehow, I manage a grin. “Damn right I do.”
We both chuckle and start to disrobe. I’m down to my boxers and Ledger has one foot already in the water when my phone rings. Bending down, I shuffle around in my pants pocket looking for the device. When I find it, I yank it free and answer Santi’s call.
“Wes!”
I tense at the sound of panic in his voice. Ledger picks up on the sudden change in my body language and immediately pulls his foot out of the water. He stares at me hard as I instantly go into protection mode.
“Santi? What’s wrong?” I demand, putting him on speaker for Ledger to hear.
“It’s all gone to shit!” he cries out. “We were on our way home and then these SUVs came out of nowhere. They ran us off the road then went after Blair, and now she and Rhett are?—”
“Santi, calm down,” I bark as I tug on my pants. Ledger follows suit then grabs for his shoes next. “Let me get this straight, you were attacked and now Blair and Rhett are in danger, is that what you’re saying?”
There comes a shaky gasp through the phone before Santi answers, “Yeah.”
“They know to come here, right? We’ll be ready to handle?—”
“No!”
I flinch at the loud protest. My mouth opens and I’m ready to ask him why not but Santi beats me to the punch.
“I told them to run as far from the cabin as possible. I figured out who put the hit on Blair and her dad, Wes.” He sucks in a shaky breath. “It wasLedger.”
Time screeches to a halt. My heart freezes with it and without a steady beat, my blood runs cold. My eyes fly to Ledger. He stares hard at the phone, shadows gathering in his face and twisting his features into something sinister. His brows creep together and his body appears to swell as he tenses.
Holy shit… The truth is written all over his face. Ledger doesn’t need to say a word. I know he’s guilty. Anger and horror collide in my chest and it leaves me ready to draw blood.
As calm as I can, I tell Santi, “Alright, I believe you.”
There’s a brief pause of surprise before he asks, “You do?”
“I’ll look into it once we have the others back safe and sound,” I continue. “In the meantime, are you alright?”
“Yeah, I’m fine, just stranded. But what?—”
“I’ll use the tracker on your truck to find you and I’ll be there to pick you up shortly. Once we reconvene, we’ll make a plan to help the others,” I promise, still holding Ledger’s darkening glare. “In the meantime, stay put and out of sight, got it?”
There’s a pause. “Ah, yeah. Alright.”
I hang up without looking down at the phone.
Before I can say a thing, Ledger grabs for the gun in the belt holster of his pants. He’s faster than me. I don’t even get a grip on the handle of my gun before Ledger’s swings his toward my face. I freeze.
“You’ve lost it, Ledger,” I snarl, losing my cool. “You’ve fucking lost your goddamn mind! You put ahitout on the woman you supposedly love and on your best fucking friend!? What were you thinking?”
