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“Of course, I got it inside. But Ezra is looking for her high and low. I reported back that this area was clear, but I know him well enough to know that’s not going to stop him. He’ll hunt every inch of this fucking state until he finds her.”
“Then they’ve all got to go.”
My eyes rammed closed, like it might hold the strength to block the impact of his command. The sickness of what he intended. I couldn’t handle it, putting Ezra in the path of danger, and there was no missing the peril that lurked all around.
Samson let go of a dubious laugh. “That’s a tall fucking order. You want to take out the fucking Sheriff? I’m afraid you’re digging a grave deeper than you’re going to be able to climb out of.”
“I’m the mayor.” Jack Harris smacked himself across the chest. “The fucking mayor. And you know what is riding on my shoulders.”
“And if you hadn’t been so goddamn obsessed with Brianna, you wouldn’t be in this situation. I tried to get that journal back, but I got headed off every-fucking-time, both at the motel and at Ezra’s place. You’re fucking lucky Ezra didn’t see my face that night in the alley.”
Brianna?
Ezra’s wife?
And it had been Samson at the motel. Samson who’d stabbed Ezra.
Nausea turned over my guts.
The mayor turned to face the room, and I could barely make him out as he rubbed his hand over his chin, his head cocked down as he contemplated.
But I could feel it.
The arrogance. The disgust and disbelief written into his pompous demeanor, as if he had the right to anger.
As if he wasn’t responsible.
I tried to remain as still as I could, wishing I could disappear into the shadows.
He laughed a hard sound, and his attention moved to the far wall to my right. “I should have known you were nothing but a worthless fuck.”
He crossed the space, his dress shoes clacking on the shiny wooden floor. A smack rang out followed by a long moan.
Surprise jolted me, and my head tilted all the way back so I could peer into that side of the room, unable to keep myself still any longer.
Oh my God.
Hayden was on the floor, bound the same as me, though a gag had been stuffed into his mouth and taped in place.
“You did it, didn’t you? You’re the one who took the journal? I should have known, but it wasn’t until this afternoon when Ezra Patterson came into my office to voice his concerns over you that I knew who was responsible. You sent it to her sister, didn’t you? Brought her here? What did you think you were going to achieve?”
Hayden frantically shook his head, and a garbled sound rose from his throat.
Jack Harris cracked the back of his hand across the side of his face, and his voice lifted in a depraved shout. “I said, what did you think you were going to achieve?”
Hayden thrashed where he was bound.
Jack reached out and tore the masking tape free, and I cringed at the sound of ripping skin. He knelt in front of Hayden, going still, the words deathly quiet. “Answer me.”
Hayden laughed. A choked, bitter, resigned clank that hit the atmosphere like a bomb.
“Because I didn’t sign up for this. Because you’re a twisted fuck who deserves to be exposed. Because I tried to convince Brianna to tell Ezra what was happening, but she was so spellbound by your bullshit that she couldn’t see what a goddamn monster you are. I sent it to Savannah thinking she would give it to the cops, and they’d discover the sickness of what you’ve been doing down here. Most of all, I did it because I can’t sit idle and watch you hurt these girls for a second longer.”
Hayden bit out every single one of the words.
“Good, you don’t have to.”
The mayor stood, pulled a gun from inside his suit jacket, and fired.
I didn’t know what was louder. The sound of the gunshot or the scream that lacerated the air.
My scream that I couldn’t contain.
Horror taking me over, terror surging and sending me flailing back. I ripped and tore at my bindings when Jack Harris turned his sights on me, and my heels dug into the mattress and pushed me up against the headboard.
No, no, no.
He slowly crossed the room until he was standing over the bed. Reaching out, he dragged a single fingertip down my cheek. “It’s a shame I can’t keep you around. I’ve had so much fun playing with your sister.”
Whimpering, I reared back from his touch, nausea churning in my guts, my heart hemorrhaging.
Jessica. Jessica.
“What did you do to her? You fucking monster, what did you do to my sister?”
“Go get them.” He wasn’t talking to me, even though he remained staring down at me when he spoke. He was speaking to Samson.
