“And…other things.”
“Oh, Russ.” I lower onto the edge of my bed. How could he be so careless?
“Then San Diego happened. I couldn’t tell you the truth.”
“So you let me believe you’d cheated?”
His eyes turn pained. “I’ve been closing everything down since. And I would be a free man right now had it not been for Trina.”
I shake my head in confusion. “What’s Trina got to do with any of this?”
“She was trying to blackmail me. That night she died…” He rubs down his chin. “I met with her at that house. I had to talk some sense into her. I mean, I’d just spent a year closing everything down. I wasn’t about to let her stop me from finally walking away once and for all. But she was acting crazy. Making threats. Saying she was wearing a wire, that she was going to tell the cops everything unless I paid her off.”
Cold fear licks up my spine. “Did you kill her?”
“No,” he barks, shaking his head. “That’s why…I have to give myself up. The cops found out that I went to the house that night. They were looking for me in Seattle yesterday. They think it wasme. But she was alive when I left that house, I swear.”
“Someone hurt her though. The autopsy…” I shake my head. This is all too much to comprehend.
“There’s one other person who could have done it. Someone who had even more to lose than I did.”
“Who?”
The lights go out, plunging us into fuzzy gray darkness.
Panic floods my body and I bolt to my feet. “What’s going on?”
“I think someone’s here.” Russel spins from the doorway.
“Wait, Russ!” I call out. This is all wrong.
“You just couldn’t keep your mouth shut,” a woman says, hurrying up the stairs. I recognize the voice, but my brain can’t make sense of why she’s here.
“It’s over, Stacy,” Russ says in a firm voice.
“For you, maybe,” Stacy replies.
“No!” Russ cries. “Meg, run!”
There’s a flash of movement, followed by a deep thud, then something heavy crashes down the stairs.
“Russel!” I cry out.
Panic floods my veins. Run? Where can I run to? A figure races at me. I get a glimpse of Stacy’s hard glare and the tire iron in her hands before I lunge for the door so I can slam it shut. But she yanks it open, launching me backwards. The last thing I see before I crash into the bedpost is her raised fist, gripping the tireiron.
I wake to an unfamiliar crackling, but it’s muted, or maybe it’s because the back of my head is throbbing so hard, my ears are numb. Why can’t I move? It’s like I’m swimming in molasses.
I remember Ice cream. I was going to pack up the cartons and surprise Linden at the fire station, but...
Russel.
Why am I on the floor?
The crackling gets louder. And it’shot. I’m sweating, and my throat…
Russel’s disturbing confession. It doesn’t even feel real. “Russel?” I call out, but it makes the pain at the base of my skull explode.
In the dim light, I try to get my bearings. I’m in my room with the door shut. How did my door get closed?
