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I scream like I’ve never screamed before, staring at my mangled limb.
“I’m sorry it has to end this way, Iz.”
I wail, rolling on the forest floor in agony. What the hell is he trying to do? Is the Reaper finally going to swing his scythe now?
“It doesn’t have to be like this, Don,” I beg.
“Get up!” He hauls my arm like I was a sled. My uninjured leg kicks the ground as I try to push myself upright.
“Don! Please stop!”
“Keep walking!”
“I can’t! You broke my fucking leg!”
“Keep walking, or you’ll never see your son again.”
Everything inside me dwindles. “Raffi!” I yell. But only the echo of my voice returns. “What did you do to him?”
“God, Iz. I get hard just by looking at you scared.” Don picks up a fallen tree branch and tosses it over to me from a distance, the gun firmly pointed at me. “Come on, keep walking, and don’t do anything stupid!”
The stick helps me walk, but the pain in my leg is almost unbearable. I limp my way up as Don watches my back, keeping his distance, aware that I’m holding a potential weapon.
Yard after yard, we arrive at a narrow clifftop, very rocky, with tall grass, shrubs, and trees scattered around.
“Raffi!” I call desperately.
The Grim Reaper’s laugh returns. Facing a canyon, it sounds like he is the ghost that haunts this place.
“You will see him again, I promise you,” he tells me. His face is not that of amusement. There’s irrationality oozing out of his aura. This man will do anything to eliminate me—and entertain himself.
“What are you trying to do, Don?”
“Gee, Iz. One simply needs to use his imagination. Well, actually, you don’t even need imagination. You’re not a well woman. What mother in her right mind would suddenly disappear with her young son who was thriving at school and his sport? From Los Angeles—out of anywhere in the country—to Alaska? One of the states with the most hiking accidents?”
“You want people to think I’m crazy?”
“You are!” He almost spits at me. “You tricked me in L.A., I must admit. But you, looking lost and out of place around LAX, dumping that bloodied green dress of yours—you really didn’t look well there, Iz. You’d gotten rid of Nando’s baby once. After your relationship with Clayton fell apart because of your past, you couldn’t bear it. You simply wanted to remove any trace of Nando from your life.”
“Son of a bitch!” I lunge at him, but he puts me back in my place with a mere push.
“You were here, hiking with Raffi, but who knows what your real intention is. You broke your leg. Well, accidents happen, don’t you agree? It’s a nice touch to make all this look candid, and—I just wanted to hurt you. Anyway, you kept going because you were so determined to finish it all.”
“Well, you’ve just confessed that your plan has been fucked up,” I mock. “Raffi isn’t here. If you haven’t found him by now, you won’t find him ever.”
He grins as if trying to convince himself everything is still under control. “I’ll find him. And once I’ve dealt with both of you, here’s what I’m going to tell the police. I love Raffi so much that I tracked you down. I tried to save him, but you shot me—then him, then yourself. Make no mistake, I’m not afraid to shed a little blood for the sake of a perfect scene.”
“You fucking snake!”
“That’s one scenario. I mean, I liked that boy, and I wanted to take him under my wings. But what would I need him for?”
“You do whatever you want to me. But don’t ever hurt Raffi!”
He keeps pondering. “Maybe you end up pushing your son over the cliff?”
“You sick bastard!”
“I haven’t decided, Iz, so don’t curse me yet. You’ll see how things end for you both when I’m back here with him. Maybe tomorrow or the day after.”
