“Old friends? Sure. You know, I was over you. I really was. Then you came back. And I thought finally.Finally, we could be together. But you wanted Sheila. I saw you at the bank. The way you looked at her.”
“I didn’t want Sheila. We were just talking.”
“She wanted that reunion. Wanted to bring everyone together. I was never part of that group, Tyler. They tortured me. Made my life miserable. So I took care of her. For you. For us.”
Another glass broke.
“And Monique,” Edi said. “During the interview, when Adam and I questioned her about Sheila’s death, she made a joke. About how fat I was in high school. How I should thank her and Sheila for motivating me to lose weight. She laughed. Just like Sheila used to laugh. Just like they all laughed.”
“Ma’am? Ma’am, are you still there?” the operator asked.
Brooke knew she couldn’t answer. Edi thought she’d made it out the back door. If Edi found her, she’d be as good as dead. They all would be.
“You know what, Tyler?” Edi’s voice drifted up the stairs. “I don’t believe you. She wouldn’t leave you. Not her precious Tyler. She’s still here somewhere.”
“She’s gone,” Tyler said, but there was strain in his voice now. Fear.
“Then you won’t mind if I check.”
Footsteps. Edi was moving toward the stairs.
“Edi, don’t— ”
The gunshot cracked through the house like thunder.
Tyler’s cry of pain followed immediately after.
Brooke scanned the hallway for something to use as a weapon. Her eyes landed on the heavy ceramic lamp. She set her phone down and yanked the lamp free, the cord tearing from the wall socket.
She moved to the top of the stairs. Through the spindles, she could see Tyler on the floor near the couch, clutching his calf. Blood seeped between his fingers.
Edi stood over him, gun still raised. “Where is she, Tyler?”
Brooke couldn’t let Edi shoot him again. Couldn’t hide while Tyler bled out on her living room floor.
She started down the stairs, the lamp clenched in both hands like a club. Edi heard her and turned. Their eyes locked.
“There you are,” Edi said, swinging the gun toward Brooke, smiling. A wide smile that was the creepiest thing Brooke had ever seen. Edi leveled the pistol, taking a bead on her.
Tyler lunged and hit Edi in the thigh as she pulled the trigger. The wall behind Brooke exploded in a spray of drywall.
Her ears rang, but Brooke kept moving, sprinting down the stairs. Tyler and Edi struggled. Edi screamed obscenities while Tyler grunted with effort.
And worst of all, Edi still had the gun.
With a fierce swing, Brooke brought the lamp down. It connected with Edi’s shoulder with a crack.
Edi stumbled sideways. The gun fell from her hand and skittered across the floor toward the kitchen. But before Brooke could process that small victory, Edi recovered and charged.
The impact knocked the air from Brooke’s lungs. They crashed into the bookshelf together. Books rained down around them. Then Edi’s hands were around her throat, squeezing.
Brooke clawed at Edi’s wrists, trying to pry her fingers loose. But Edi was the stronger of the two, and the pressure kept building. Brooke’s vision started to go dark around the edges. Her lungs screamed for air.
Then the pressure lifted, and Brooke took in a ragged, desperate breath. Tyler yanked Edi backward. She hit the coffee table, and the whole thing collapsed under her with a crash.
Brooke doubled over, gasping. Each breath hurt like swallowing broken glass, but she’d never been so grateful for air. When she looked up, Tyler stood between her and Edi. His sweats were dark with blood around his calf, but he kept his weight balanced, ready.
Edi scrambled to her feet. Blood streamed from her nose. “If I can’t have you, no one can. We’ll all be together. All of us. Forever.”
