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No.

“Whoops. My bad. I think the boyfriend is almost dead,” Kimber corrected. “I just saw him twitch. I mean, damn. I put three bullets in him. Just what does it take? I swear, he’s like one of those monsters from a horror movie. He just keeps coming and coming.”

“He’s not a monster!” Shelby snarled. “You are.” Rage fueled her, driving out the fear that had shattered her heart. He is not dead. Not.

But Kimber just kept laughing. “Got some final words for him? Want to make some big confession to him?”

“Yes.” Her eyes had finally cracked open. It still felt like hot pokers had been shoved against her eyeballs, but her eyes were open. She let the rain pour into them. “Hunter, I love you.”

“Oh, that is so freaking sweet. But guess what? Dead men can’t love you back, sunshine. They can’t. I’m not even convinced that men can love at all.” The muzzle pressed harder into Shelby’s forehead as she crouched on the cement. “Look at Nate. He said he loved me. He fucked me like crazy, yet he still dated you the whole time. But when you broke up with him…wow! He was pissed! He told me that he was going to teach you a lesson. You and that bitch Margot and all the others in your stupid inner circle. Honestly, though, when he first came up with the plan, he just wanted to torch the house.”

Shelby balled her hands into fists.

“Sure, you would have burned and it would have been awesome, but…come on, I had a better idea. You and those bitches were so uppity. Especially Margot. I could not stand her. So I thought—slicing you all to pieces would be way more fun. I convinced him that was the way to go.” A long sigh. “But you didn’t die. Instead, you shot him. He went to prison, and you became a celebrity while I was forgotten.”

Shelby’s breath came faster. Harder. At any moment, she expected a bullet to explode from that gun and plow into her brain. Maybe if she kept Kimber talking, the other woman wouldn’t fire? “You mean while you got away with murder.”

“Well, yes, that, too, but…it was my plan, after all. I was the one who came up with the order for death. I was the one who unlocked the house and let Nate in.” Pride poured in her words. “No one ever figured that part out. Like, seriously, what? There were no signs of breaking and entering. Nate didn’t have a key. Clearly, he had to be let in the house. I did that.” A smug confession.

“You…you were wearing a ball cap…” She remembered that image, that flash…

“It was Nate’s cap. And his sweatshirt, too. I wore his gray sweatshirt that night. He did all the heavy lifting at the sorority house, but I helped. Not like it was a solo act.”

“And you killed Tiffany.” She couldn’t see. Kimber was just a blob before her.

And Hunter…Hunter…

“That bitch was asking too many questions. She came to me. Interviewed me. Asked me point blank if I’d slept with Nate back in the day.”

“She wanted to get him out of jail.” The rain hit harder. She blinked quickly. Weapon. I don’t have a weapon.

Gabriel wasn’t groaning any longer.

Gabriel…if he was here, then where was John Henry? John Henry had gone to Gabriel’s house, but surely, he’d come to her and Hunter once he realized Gabriel wasn’t there?

And where were the cops? They had to be closing in soon…

Soon.

Hunter, are you still with me? Hunter was a fighter. He had to still be alive. She wished she could see him once more.

No, not once more. Always. You are going to see him again and again. You just have to get out of this and get help. Her eyes burned, but she ignored the pain. She focused on her rage. Better to be fueled by fury than controlled by fear.

“You are clueless!” Kimber spat. “She didn’t want him out of jail. Tiffany knew he was guilty as fuck. I’m the one who wrote NOT GUILTY on her stupid murder shrine. Not like I could write GUILTY AS SIN on there.” The storm raged harder. “Had to do it before Jonah found the damn pictures. I also stole a pic that she had up there of me. A pic of me from back when I was a pledge at your stupid sorority. I took the pic after I killed her. I wrote NOT GUILTY, and I fucking decimated her laptop. No one will ever find it.”

“Jonah…”

“Nah. He’s not coming to save you, either. No one is. I saw him go in the back of the diner. I heard the gunshots.” Glee in her voice. “Did you shoot him or did your dying boyfriend do the job? Another loose end tied up and, FYI, be grateful you never slept with him. He was only a mediocre fuck. I gave him another go recently, and he bored me to tears.”

The rain kept falling. Harder and harder. “You…you going to shoot me, right now?” While she was on her knees in front of Kimber?

I am going to fight you. No weapon. Bare hands. She’d been hoping the gun would move from her forehead for just a moment. The moment she needed to attack. But…

Guess there won’t be a moment. I’ll launch at Kimber and maybe she will be too startled to pull the trigger. I just need a few seconds.

“Oh, you really can’t see anything, can you? I think I love mace. Bet it burns like a bitch, doesn’t it?” Kimber seemed delighted. “I don’t just have a gun. Guns are so cold. I like the personal touch. Speaking of touch, do you feel it?”

And she did. Shelby felt the sharp edge of a blade sliding along her left ear. “No…”