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Ignoring Riley’s plea, Sebastian grills a petrified Jude. His entire body is shaking while tears, blood, and dirt roll carelessly down his face. “Did you try to kill my daughter?”
“No. No, I swear to God, it wasn’t me.”
My eyes dance from Sebastian to Neo, then to Maddie. While Sebastian is glowering at Jude, I see Maddie and Neo engaging in a hushed conversation. I’m not sure what they’re saying, but whatever it is has Maddie’s chin trembling.
“You’re lying.” Still holding the gun out, he calls out to Neo, “Neo, bring Maddie over here.”
“No,” Neo says, “you wanna talk to her, be a man and turn around.”
Sebastian, dumbfounded by the response, tilts his head slightly. “Excuse me?”
“You heard me. Be a man and turn around if you wanna talk to her.”
Slowly, he lowers the gun, then turns to face Maddie. Once he’s facing her, Maddie lets out a whimper, “It was you.”
Sebastian chuckles. “You don’t know what you’re talking about, honey. You’re ill.”
“No.” Her breath catches in her throat. “I remember. Scar had just gone down the mountain and I was angry. Angry with Scar and Crew for kissing.” She looks at me. “I remember it all.” Her attention returns to her dad. “I was planning to go down and give them both a piece of my mind when I heard someone come up behind me. Just as I turned my head and saw you, you shoved me.”
“No!” Sebastian shouts, returning his gun to Jude. “He shoved you!”
“No!” Maddie screams hysterically. “It was you.” Tears slide recklessly down her cheeks. “Why did you want to hurt me, Daddy?”
While they’re hashing this out, I survey the ground for Neo’s gun. My entire body is shaking, and I fear something really bad is going to happen, if one of us doesn't take control of this situation fast.
“I never wanted to hurt you, honey.”
Sebastian’s admission stuns us all. I cover my mouth with my glove, eyes wide in surprise.
“I thought it was her.”
He turns to face me, holding the gun at his side now. My body freezes up. Everything is numb.
He thought it was me?
“She doesn’t belong here,” he goes on. “This disgraceful, little wench tried to corrupt you and your brother. She was going to hurt you.” He’s speaking to Maddie, all the while looking at me. “She and Crew were going to hurt you.”
“Dad,” Neo says, tone low, “Scar isn’t the enemy.”
Neo’s words go right through him as he chokes up. “I never wanted to hurt Maddie. She was at the wrong place at the wrong time. When I saw Crew and Scarlett kiss, I thought it was her in that jacket. I should’ve known it was this whore.”
“Dad,” Neo saunters toward him, each step slow and cautious, while his eyes are laser-focused on the gun, “has it been you this whole time? Did you leave the notes?”
“No. That was Jude.”
I don’t even look at Jude for a reaction. I can’t take my eyes off Sebastian and that gun in his hand. There’s no telling what he might do.
“I knew he was the perfect person to help me destroy Scarlett. After all, he’s her brother. And the son of a bitch who ruined all my plans. Ya know, had you not killed your father, he was going to handle all this mess for me. Years of working with him on a plan to bring down the Sunders and get back his daughter, Scarlett, and you blew it all to hell with one bullet. I know you always wanted to be one of us and never wanted to be one of them. But that’ll never happen. You're a half-bred dog, just like Scarlett is.”
Jude was right all along.
“That was just one of the hiccups in the road. Don’t get me started on your piece-of-shit mother. That bitch was always breathing down my neck.”
“What are you saying?” Maddie cries. “What does Mom have to do with this?”
“She overheard something she shouldn’t have and I did what I had to do. Just like I did what I had to with Maddie. I just needed to keep her asleep until this was all over. Now I’m sorry she has to see this.” He raises the gun and I stare straight into the barrel. My mind goes blank. I freeze under the immense pressure of what I’m supposed to do. If I move, he’ll shoot me.
“So now, my game is over, but I’m not going out alone. I’m taking her with me.” His words are directed at me, followed by the barrel of the gun pointed right at my chest.
