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I ran as fast as I could to Keelan’s Jeep in the darn wedge heels I had chosen to wear to Ethan’s party. Using the key fob, I unlocked the Jeep. Just as I ripped open the driver’s door, I sent the text I had typed out and tossed my phone in the oleander bushes that separated my house from the guys’. I couldn’t afford to keep it on me anymore.
I knew I had a small amount of time to pull out of the driveway before the guys came rushing out to stop me. Working fast, I started the car and shifted into reverse. I floored it out of the driveway and just as I was in the street shifting the car into drive, the Stones’ front door opened. I looked away before I could see them. If I spared one glance at them, I’d hesitate, and I didn’t have the time. So I floored it again. Only when I was speeding down the road did I glance in the rearview mirror. It hurt my heart to see the three of them in the street watching me drive away.
The text I had sent was to our group chat.
Me: The Sheriff has Colt. I’m sorry I lied. I couldn’t tell you the truth. Logan isn’t coming. Take my car and go to my closest safe house. You know which one I’m talking about, Creed. Directions to it, keys, and cash are in my go bag in the trunk. Leave your phones behind and only use cash if you need to pay for anything. I will get Colt and we will meet you there. I love you.
2
I tookoff my wedges in the car as soon as I parked in Desert Stone Fitness’s parking lot. There was only one other vehicle in the lot. It was a truck I knew belonged to the sheriff, parked near the entrance.
Because it was the middle of the night, all the lights should have been off and the doors locked. Yet I walked right through an unlocked front door into a brightly lit, empty gym. Even the music that normally played through the built-in speakers in the main room was on. With the lack of people inside, the music felt louder.
I didn’t see Colt or the sheriff in the main room, so I was going to have to search for them. With my gun held out in front of me, I started with the offices behind the front desk, then I moved to the locker rooms. My heart, which had already been trying to beat its way out of my chest, boomed painfully each time I stepped into a different room.
By the locker rooms was the entrance to the indoor pool. I headed there next. Slowly, I opened the door and stepped inside. The smell of chlorine instantly filled my nose. The only lights on were the lights inside the pool, which gave the room a dim bluish hue.
The moment I saw the sheriff standing at the other end of the long, rectangular pool, the sound of the door closing behind me echoed loudly in the room. He held a gun to the back of Colt’s head, who was sitting in a rolling desk chair at the very edge of the pool with his feet dangling over the water. If he tried to stand, Colt would fall right in. His ankles were bound together and his eyes were covered with thick black tape. There was a rag shoved into his mouth. His hands were behind his back, which told me they were bound as well.
Sheriff McAllister greeted me with a menacing smile, and he tracked me with his cruel eyes as I made my way closer, gun aimed at him.
“Took you long enough,” he said. “I’m surprised you were the first one to get here.”
My stomach dipped with fear at his implication. I was relieved I was here first, but the thought of Mr. X walking through the door at any moment made my breathing turn shaky. However, it would be better if Mr. X came here. Because if he was here, it meant he wasn’t with Knox, Keelan, and Creed. It meant that they could get away to somewhere safe without being followed.
“I’m here. What now?” I replied.
The sound of my voice made Colt sit up straighter and he tried to speak around his gag.
“We wait,” the sheriff said.
For Mr. X.
“Then let Colt go,” I said as I stopped walking about twenty feet from him.
The sheriff pushed the barrel of his gun against the back of Colt’s head, making him lean forward. “He stays to make sure you cooperate.”
My mind raced. If Colt was still here when Mr. X arrived, Mr. X would kill him. I eyed the pool and a far-fetched plan came to me. “If you push on Colt any harder, he will fall into the pool.”
“Then you better be good,” the sheriff said.
“But then you’d lose your leverage, and my boyfriend happens to be an amazing swimmer.”
Everything in me stilled as I hoped and waited for what I said to click for Colt. It couldn’t have been more than a second or two after I spoke, but it felt like an eternity until Colt lunged forward and fell into the pool.
I watched the sheriff’s eyes widen before they shifted to me. I should have pulled the trigger right then. I’d had such confidence that I could do it before being faced with this decision, but my finger hesitated. No matter how evil the sheriff was, he was still a human being—a life.
That hesitation gave the sheriff time to aim his gun at me. There wasn’t any hesitation in his eyes. I tried to jump out of the way. The sound of a gunshot filled and echoed in the large room. Searing pain ripped across my upper arm, making me cry out. I landed on my hands and knees on the hard floor. Ignoring the pain in my arm, I aimed my gun back in the sheriff’s direction and pulled the trigger twice.
I missed him both times as he bolted through the door that led to the men’s locker room.
When he was out of sight, I got to my feet and ran for the pool. Colt was at the bottom of its deepest part. Gun still in my hand, I dove into the water, spearing down toward him. I kicked as hard as I could to get to him faster. As soon as he was in reach, I pulled the rag from his mouth, wrapped my hurt arm around him, and pushed off the bottom of the pool to help propel us up. That boost only helped so far. I wasn’t a strong swimmer to begin with, and with the pain in my arm and the extra weight of pulling Colt, the surface felt so far away. My lungs began to burn and panic built in me.
Just when I was about to succumb to that panic, my hand breached the surface. The instant my head was above water, I sucked in delicious air and brought Colt’s head up.
He gasped for air. “Shiloh.”
“I got you,” I said as I swam us toward the edge of the pool, breathing loudly.
