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And she left Hunter with the man who now sighed and aimed Hunter’s own weapon at him.

“Hi, there,” Shamus Quint told him. “This is awkward, isn’t it?”

Not really. In minutes, Shamus would be dead. Nothing was awkward when you were dead.

Shamus edged back a bit. Light from the side of the diner briefly hit him, revealing the black raincoat that covered his upper body. “By the looks of things, you are barely clinging to life. I think I just need to wait you out. Or, rather, let you bleed out. Doesn’t really make sense for me to shoot you, does it? Not with what I suspect is your own gun, anyway. That would just be something else to have to explain later, and it’s going to be messy enough as things are.”

Hunter shoved up to his knees.

“Wow. Look at you go. Do you even know what you’re doing?” Shamus asked, as he edged back a little bit more, moving closer to the deeper shadows and Gabriel’s prone body. “Or are you acting purely on instinct? Survival instincts can be crazy strong. That ass-prick professor should have done his research on them. Not on all that high-level predator bullshit.” Nervous laughter. “If you went by what he said, Kimber was a high-level predator, but, honestly, between us…” A little more of a retreat. “She’s just crazy, not some brilliant killer.”

“You…” Where was Shelby? She’d gone toward the woods. Was she safe? Had Kimber found her? “You’re…working with…”

“I slept with Kimber when I was an undergrad. Didn’t realize she was crazy at the time. She has real long periods of sanity and super clarity. Didn’t see the insanity until later.”

All Hunter saw was a gun pointing at him.

“Every now and then, Kimber will convince herself that she’s a victim. Sometimes, she’ll imagine things happening that never do. It’s gotten worse over time which is why I knew that I needed to push her and get her to act on the seven-year anniversary. Just didn’t think she could hold it together much longer. And this could be my time now, you know?”

Hunter knew that he’d heard the faint wail of a siren in the distance.

“You just heard that, didn’t you? Did it give you hope? Sorry to say that they aren’t coming here. I set a big fire on campus before arriving at the diner. That’s why I was late. All the emergency responders are going there first. There, not here. Not like we have a ton of cops and firefighters in this town. I just needed a distraction, understand? Smart, isn’t it? Because I’m smart. I’m not crazy like her. I don’t ever have any slips.”

No, the reporter wasn’t so smart.

Shamus had just edged back more. More toward the shadows. More toward Gabriel.

“I planted the bomb,” Shamus confessed. “Learned how to do it from this prisoner I interviewed on one of my many trips to the penitentiary. Couldn’t believe my eyes when Shelby actually got out while I was waiting for the big boom. I’m also the one who shot her in New Orleans. I’d been keeping an eye on her. Kimber wanted me to do that, see. Kimber had Shelby’s PO box because she’d sent letters to Shelby. Letters and the invitation to the big dedication.”

Hunter shuddered. He wasn’t just soaked from the rain. His blood kept pouring and pouring from him.

The bastard could be on to something. If he just keeps talking and my ass kneels here much longer, I could bleed out.

Nope. Couldn’t happen. He’d made a promise to Shelby. He’d promised to protect her.

That meant Shamus was dying. Hunter pulled in a deep breath.

“Kimber always worried that Shelby might have spotted her that long ago night. I’d headed to New Orleans to check in on her—I did that every now and then—and when I realized that she was going to a PI, I reported to Kimber. She flipped out. Ordered me to handle Shelby. I had my hunting rifle in the car, equipped with a scope, so I figured I’d take a shot. Not the glamorous ending that Shelby deserved, but, hey, at least it would have been quick, right?”

He hated that prick.

“Then you interrupted. You really screwed things to hell.”

“So sorry…” Hunter gasped. “For the inconvenience.” You piece of shit.

“Got to tell you, I kinda liked watching Shelby. You know what Nate said about her? Oh, no. Right. You probably don’t. You don’t know what he told me. You weren’t there. Well, he once described her as having this damaged intensity.”

Nate had said similar bullshit in front of Hunter.

“Nate told me it made you want to protect her and hurt her at the same time. He was right. But, you know, he was pretty much responsible for her being damaged in the first place so…”

“You will not hurt her.”

“I like the Big Easy. I think I’ll move there when this is all over.” He’d backed up so far that he was now right beside a prone Gabriel. “I’m gonna be huge. This story—I’ll be the one who breaks it. But it’s not going to be with the ending that Kimber wants. It can’t be. I don’t trust her, and like I said, she’s just getting crazier and crazier. Too many slips. You’ll die. And either Shelby will kill Kimber out in those woods, or Kimber will survive. If Kimber survives, I’ll kill her. I’ll say she attacked me, too, and I had no choice but to fight back. I’ll be the sole survivor. Hello, headlines.”

Everyone was so fucking interested in headlines. “And if Shelby does kill Kimber? What will you do then? What will…” Fuck, he was bleeding too much! “What if Shelby survives? You gonna…kill her?” Not happening.

“Nah, I don’t think so. She hasn’t seen me. Hasn’t realized I’m in this thing at all. Plus, she did offer to give me that exclusive interview. I can do so much with the final girl. I’ll be the reporter who gets her to safety, I’ll be the one to tell her story, and maybe later, I’ll even fuck⁠—”