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I glanced at the screen as the video turned off, and I knew my parents were saved. They’d gotten to them in time, but those two men…
Who I knew well…
I wasn’t so sure of my own fate.
They spared my parents from watching what might unfold.
The horror slammed into me like a freight train.
“You’ve taken away the one person who’s ever loved me,” Tracy seethed. Her breathing was like an animal’s as she hovered over me. “I will make you pay.”
She licked her lips as if she were rabid. This was not the woman I knew.
But now I couldn’t unsee the Tracy before me. How had I not recognized Melanie as her?
Tracy walked over to a box. She bent over it as I tried to worm my way off the mattress.
“Where do you think you’re going?” Tracy’s eyes flashed to mine. “I have a promise to keep to my brother.”
“What’s that?” My words still slurred, but they weren’t so useless.
“That you would help feed the seashells of the world.” Her eyes blackened as she bent back over the box. “This one should do well. This one, too.”
I slinked like a snake toward the door, only feet away.
I could do this. Maybe someone would see me.
Tracy straightened and laughed. “Where do you think you’re going?”
Holding a knife in each hand, she let out a tearful sigh. “Ah, so much better. I felt a little vulnerable before, if you know what I mean.”
She put one of the knives in her other hand and wiped away a stray tear.
Maybe there was some way to get through to her. She could get help. She didn’t have to ruin the rest of her life.
“The brother you know today was the one I knew I needed to get away from years ago. He was a bad man, Tracy. But that doesn’t mean you are too.” I stared at her, my head slouching against the wall.
If I could somehow prop myself just right, I could reach the doorknob.
And just get outside.
“What do you know? You dumped him and never looked back.” She shook her head. “I thought he’d almost forgotten about you.” She clanked the knives together. “But then you got yourself in the news. The moment my brother saw the way you looked at Zack, he came unglued.”
“That doesn’t make it right. You don’t have to keep going, Tracy.”
“It’s too late, Sadie. I’m already in this, and now, with my brother gone, I have nothing left to lose.”
“Your freedom. They’ll find you.” I stared at her, unable to understand how she had so much hate for me. “You will pay for this.”
“Just like your Carmella?” She laughed as a prickle of terror ran through my spine. “Do you know how awful our childhood was, Sadie? Did you ever stop to listen to what Tim and I went through growing up?”
I cleared my throat and shook my head. “I asked about his family a lot, but he’d never let me in. He’d never tell me about your parents or how you grew up. I only met you in person once.”
Her brows rose. “So, what’s your excuse? I wasn’t worthy of friendship because we’d only met once. What about all those messages day and night for over a year? We talked about everything.”
“We didn’t talk about everything. I don’t know about your family.”
I knew I needed to buy time. It was my only chance at surviving this.
