The thought sent a little thrill through me. Not quite relief, but something close to it. We'd made it this far, and we were safe out here, hidden in the middle of nowhere. No hunters had found us. No one had even come close.
Maybe Jeremiah was right. Maybe everything really would be okay.
“I still can't believe you and Bryce used to hook up here,” Cherry said. “I mean, this place is falling apart. Where's the romance?”
“It wasn't about romance,” Dylan said dryly. “It was about privacy. And it worked. No one ever—”
He stopped mid-sentence, his head snapping toward the window.
“What?” Jeremiah asked.
Dylan held up a hand, listening. We all fell silent.
At first, I didn't hear anything except the normal sounds of the forest. Wind rustling through branches, the distant call of an owl. But then I caught it. A low rumble, growing steadily louder.
An engine.
“Is that...” Cherry started.
Dylan stood up and moved to the window, careful to stay to the side so he wouldn't be visible. He peered out into the darkness.
“Oh, shit,” he breathed.
“What?” Cherry was on her feet now too. “What is it?”
Dylan's face had gone pale in the flashlight's glow. “I think a car's coming.”
My stomach dropped. The granola bar I'd been eating turned to ash in my mouth.
“Are you sure?” Jeremiah asked, but he was already moving toward the other window.
“Yeah. I can see headlights through the trees.”
All the warmth, all the safety, all the almost-confidence I'd been feeling evaporated in an instant. Someone had found us.
“Could it be someone from Bryce’s family?” I asked in a small voice. “Maybe they decided to use the place after all?”
Dylan shook his head. “No way. They just… wouldn’t.Ever.”
“Maybe Bryce is back in town, and he’s got a new secret boyfriend,” Cherry said. Her eyes moved to me. “Don’t worry, Vee, it’s not a hunter. It’s just not possible. But whoever it is, we’ll handle it. We’ll say we were hiking and got lost in the woods, and then we found this cab—”
“It’s Julian Valcourt,” Ginny cut in, rising from her spot on the floor. “I’m sorry, Violet. I’m so, so sorry.”
Cherry whirled around. “What are you sorry for?” she asked in a low voice. “What did you do?”
Ginny stepped forward. In the dim light, I could see guilt etched all over her pretty face. “Julian found me when I was leaving the phone store earlier,” she said, dropping her gaze to the floor. “He told me he was looking for you, and he… he knew about the treatment.”
“What treatment?” Dylan asked.
Ginny drew in a shaky breath. Her voice had thickened. “There’s an experimental treatment that my sister is eligible for. High success rate. But it’s over two hundred thousand dollars, and my family… we just don’t have the money for it,” she said. “Julian somehow knew all about it, and he told me he’d transfer the money to my parents’ account if I told him where you were.”
“So you just caved that easily?” Cherry said, eyes bulging.
“No! At least… not right away,” Ginny replied. “I said no. But he gave me a card with his number written on it, and he told me to text him when I changed my mind.When, notif.It’s like… he just knew exactly how to get to me. He knew I’d agonize about it for hours and eventually decide—”
“To betray your friend,” Cherry cut in, arms folding.
Ginny winced and went on. “I thought about it for hours. But then… I justhadto say yes,” she said, voice trembling. “So, about an hour ago, I texted the number he gave me and turned on my burner’s location services. That’s how I know it’s him coming down the driveway right now.”
