Page 136 of You Know Why

“Eden is hopefully rotting in hell by now. She took a dose of her own medicine.”

“Hm. Well, no one said she was Einstein. Though, I have to say, she’s been quite the ally. She moved fast when we realized Andrew was getting ready to run. We thought he’d go it alone, but the fool decided to bring along the whole family. The software we loaded on your computers alerted when he booked the tickets, and Eden logged in to the airline’s system and changed your flights, plus marked you for an ‘upgrade’ so you had to come to Atlanta instead of jetting out of the country. Then put herself on the flight, too. She wasn’t supposed to get involved directly, but I suppose she just couldn’t help herself. After all those years wanting to make his life hell, I guess she wanted to get to know you a bit before she ruined you. She’s one in a million.”

“How did you get to the airport in Atlanta? Were you on the plane, too? Or were you lying in wait, ready to force my husband away from me?”

“These are the things you want to know? Why don’t you want to know how I survived being shot and dumped in the river? Or why I haven’t come for you before now? You’re asking all the wrong questions, Brook. As usual.”

I hear noises, shouts getting closer. I swear, Trey’s voice is among them.

I edge closer to my gun. If I can just keep Alex talking for a few more moments . . .

“Don’t even think about it,” he says, and scoops it up. Now he has two guns pointed at me. “This has been a lot of fun catching up, but now I need you to hand over the money so I can finish things.”

“Finish it, then,” I say, chin up. “I don’t know where the wallet is. You are a figment from my past. An inconvenient one, at that.” I see the spike land heavy, and I’m not proud of angering him like that. “I did love you, once. Until you got so controlling, so terrifying. Getting rid of you was the only choice I had. I just wish I’d made sure you were truly dead. Because Trey is worth ten of you.”

“That’s good to hear,” my husband says, coming slowly down the stairs into the shelter.

Alex trains the gun on the stairs, surprise crossing his features. When I chance a glance over my shoulder, I can’t help the gasp that escapes me. Trey looks like he’s been through hell.

“You didn’t die, Locke.”

“No, Durov, I didn’t,” Trey says, and smoothly, expertly, draws down on my ex. “Drop the weapon, and I might let you walk out of here.”

Alex responds by casually shooting me in the leg. I cry out and spin, falling at his feet, facing Trey. God, it hurts. I’ve never felt such horrible pain, not even giving birth. It burns and stings and aches, and blood, bright red, spurts into the air. I try to squeeze my leg, but it’s too slippery. Trey’s eyes are wild.

“Arterial blood,” Alex says. “She has minutes. Tell me where the wallet is, and I’ll let you call for help.”

“Here.” He throws the small black wallet at Alex, who catches it. “There you go. You’ve won.”

“Now I have.” He pulls the trigger again, and everything goes dark.

In the Deep, Deep Dark

There is such comfort in darkness.

It is soft and gentle and quiet. It is full of stars and the dust of the universe. I always tell my children it is nothing to be afraid of. Monsters don’t hide, silent and waiting, under your bed.

They come for you face-to-face.

This darkness, this monster, is not quiet. Not at all.

It takes me a heartbeat to realize I am not quite dead, that Alex has managed to shoot out the lights. There are muzzle flashes and shouts, then the wet thunk of a body dropping to the floor next to me.

Which man has fallen?

I don’t think I will ever know. A new darkness is coming for me. This one has jaws and sharp teeth and wants nothing more than to drag me into its embrace.

There will be punishment for what I’ve done. For the men whose lives I’ve taken. I thought I’d killed Alex. And because Roger knew, because he saw me do it, he had to go, too. The first act was mine, and mine alone. The second was the idea of the bright, quiet girl who flew to be by my side when I told her I needed to get out of a bad situation. The good girl who had a very bad idea. Who knew what was in Alex’s bag, and knew exactly how to handle the situation we found ourselves in.

Once upon a time, there were two sisters, born on the same day to parents overjoyed with their birth. Two of them, who looked so very much alike. Mirror images of one another, a reflection in still water.

One was very good, and the other, very naughty. And one time, one desperate moment in time . . . they changed places. Good became bad, and bad became good, and oh what a tangled web we weave.

“We’re here,” a voice calls. It is so familiar, this voice. I am floating. The darkness embraces me. The teeth withdraw. The maw softens.

“Hang on, sweetheart.”

“Trey?”