Chapter 23
Chapter Twenty-Three
W hen Aaron got the call that there was a bear on the grounds, Beth and Jules immediately started lockdown procedures.
Her pulse spiked, but she forced her voice to steady as she picked up the phone to notify the cabins while Jules ran over to the front doors and started ushering campers in.
She ran through the checklist they had all practiced—secure entrances, notify other staff, account for every single guest. Every detail mattered.
Beth hurried down the hallway, making sure everyone inside knew to stay put, then she stepped into the staff lounge where two housekeepers lingered.
“We’re under bear lockdown. Stay inside until you get the all clear,” she said, trying to keep her voice calm, even though adrenaline burned under her skin.
They nodded, eyes wide, and rushed to obey.
Back at the desk, she double-checked the logbook to make sure all of the shuttles to the cabins had returned.
She didn’t want anyone caught outside. Jules gave her a quick thumbs-up from where she was securing the last guest within eyesight of the main building.
Together, they waited for the next update, the resort suddenly hushed except for the faint echo of guests in the lobby area.
Her phone buzzed in her pocket, sharp in the silence. She pulled it out, irritation rising when she saw her mom’s name.
“We need to talk.”
Beth frowned, thumbs already moving to reply. “I’m busy at work.”
Almost instantly came another message: “I’m here. Outside.”
Her heart gave a jolt. Her mom? Here? That made no sense. Her mom never showed up at her work.
“There’s a bear on the grounds. You need to get inside somewhere.”
Just then, the all clear came over the walkie-talkie and she relaxed.
“Can you meet me?” her mother responded.
Was something wrong? A new fear prickled at the base of her neck. Was her mother sick? Whatever it was, it was important enough for her mother to step foot at a place she deemed a breeding ground for Satan.
“Where are you?”
“I can see a boat dock.”
Beth’s breath caught, uncertainty prickling her skin. Fear rose at the thought of her mother needing to tell her news that was so bad she’d show up in person. She glanced at Jules.
“Everything okay?” Jules asked.
Beth forced a nod. “I need a break.”
Jules raised a brow but didn’t press. A customer had asked her a question, and she turned to answer.
Beth slipped outside through the side door closest to the dock area, keeping to the edge of the building. She scanned the quiet paths. The woods were still, almost too still, and she hugged her arms around herself as she hurried towards the docks. Her phone buzzed again.
“Bethany?”
“I’m on my way to you. Stay put.”
She quickened her pace and turned down the pathway that led towards the boathouse and docks, her heart racing as she moved faster. When she reached the wooden planks stretching over the water, a shadowy figure stood waiting near the end.
Her steps faltered as it moved into the pathway from the cover of the trees.
It was obviously not her mother.
Ian stood only a few feet away from her, his service weapon aimed directly at her heart.
Her breath stuttered in her chest as he lifted her mother’s phone in his other hand and wiggled it like a prize, a slow smile curving his mouth.
“Miss me, wife?”
Her heart stopped for more than a beat.
His smile sent chills racing through her blood.
Then her breath whooshed out of her chest. “Where’s my mom?” She practically yelled it.
“Safe. For now. But really, wife, you didn’t think you could keep me away forever, did you?”
Her knees threatened to give out, but adrenaline kept her upright. Every survival instinct screamed at her to run, but she forced herself to stand her ground, fingers tightening on the cell phone like it might serve as a shield.
“You need to leave. You’re not supposed to be here, remember?” she said firmly, or at least tried to. Her voice broke despite her efforts.
His smile widened. “Oh, I’m not going anywhere. This is going to end today. One way or another, we’re going to be together. Either you’re coming home with me, for good…” His eyes narrowed. “Or…” He lifted the gun a little more.
The thought of a bullet ripping through her terrified her. She knew he was a good enough shot that he wouldn’t miss, especially at such a close distance.
Stall. Everything in her body screamed for her to stall until someone came, until Aaron came.
But the thought of a bullet ripping through Aaron had her moving forward a step.
“I’ll go with you,” she said, oddly calm.
Ian’s eyebrows shot up, then he chuckled softly.
“I figured you would. You know, for as shitty as that bitch treated you all your life, you’d still give up anything for her.”
“She’s my mother,” she said, wanting to keep Ian from thinking about Aaron or the rest of the people in the camp.
In response he chuckled again. “And a very gullible woman. She easily gave up the keys to your apartment that day when I showed up and told her I was helping you move back home.”
“Is she okay?” she asked, fearing that this time Ian had harmed her. She couldn’t see her mother just giving him her cell phone. She could understand the keys, which she’d only now remembered she’d given her mother in case of emergencies. But her cell phone, no.
“Like I said, she’s safe for now.” He waved the gun. “Let’s go.”
Instead of pointing towards a pathway, he motioned towards a small rowboat.
“That’s how you got here?” she asked.
“It was the easiest way.” He motioned again.
Beth’s lungs tightened. If she stepped into that boat, the camp would vanish behind them, along with the safety of the cameras, the lights, the people who might still be close enough to hear her scream.
Out on the bay, she’d be swallowed by the black water and the endless stretch of dark horizon.
Once they reached wherever his truck was waiting, he could take her anywhere.
No cameras. No witnesses. No hope of escape.
One thing was very clear—he knew that he couldn’t just take her home. Everyone she loved, that loved her, would be knocking on his door within minutes of discovering she was missing.
When she didn’t move towards him fast enough, he stalked towards her and his hand clamped around her wrist, his grip vice-like, bruising.
“You’re coming home, Beth,” he murmured, voice low and chillingly calm, as if he were explaining something she should already know. He gave her arm a sharp tug, pulling her closer to the edge of the dock where the small boat bobbed against the steps.
“You’re going to be a good wife again. Just like before,” he whispered, bending close enough that she felt his breath against her cheek.
His eyes glittered with something unhinged.
Desperation. “Things are going to be perfect now that we’re back together.
No more running away from me. No more of your little friends filling your head with lies. ”
Beth’s stomach twisted. His fingers dug in deeper, cutting off her circulation, and the world seemed to shrink until it was only his hand, his voice, and the gaping black water, like all those dark shadows she’d dreamed about, waiting to swallow her whole.
Her brain scrambled for possibilities. If she made a scene here, if she fought, maybe someone would notice. Maybe Aaron, or one of the others, would hear her. But if she let him push her into that boat, her chances of escape dropped to almost nothing.
Ian yanked again, harder this time, forcing her a step closer to the dock’s edge. “Stop fighting fate. Once we’re out of here, you’ll thank me. I’ll take care of everything, like I always have.”
Her chest heaved, air catching like glass in her lungs. The bay stretched out before her, almost endless, black and final.
No. She couldn’t let him get her on that water. She had to end this here. Now.
She used all her strength and tore free from his grip, the sting of his fingers bruising her arm. She must have caught him by surprise because she was able to sprint up the pathway.
She ran hard and fast, her chest heaving with terror. Her ears rang as she ran, her heartbeat almost deafening in her ears, blocking out the sound of Ian shouting behind her. His heavy footsteps were a distant pounding against the gravel.
Since the lockdown had just ended, the guests were still spilling from the buildings. She could hear voices and turned down the pathway towards the nearest building, the pool house. There would be people in the pools, at the outside bar and patio.
It was her best chance.
She burst into the open courtyard near the pool house, her hair sticking to her damp forehead as her lungs continued burning.
“Beth?” Kara called from the steps after seeing her. Worry filled her friend’s eyes. But before Beth could reach her, Ian caught up, his hand clamping hard on her shoulder.
He yanked her back and spun her around. The world slowed, voices gasped around them, and then his palm cracked across her cheek. The sound of it, sharp and brutal, echoed off the pool house walls.
Ian’s eyes were so focused on her, he didn’t even see the audience they had. Nor, she doubted, did he care any longer. He was beyond help. Beyond reason. Something had finally snapped in him. What? Why now?
Beth staggered back but didn’t fall. Fire lit her veins. For the first time, she didn’t cower. She shoved him with everything she had. She knew that there was no stopping him now. Nothing she could say or do would stop what was coming.
Once again, she seemed to catch him off balance. He stumbled back away from her just a step.
Then another shadow came out of nowhere and tackled Ian, sending them both toppling into the deep end of the pool.
She screamed and almost went in with them, if not for the arms that wrapped around her and pulled her to safety.
“I’ve got you,” Kara said as she held on. “We’ve got you,” she added, as they watched Aaron fighting Ian in the water, as gasps rippled through the crowd. Guests stood frozen, some with phones out, others with wide eyes.
Beth’s cheek throbbed, her chest heaved with every breath as she tried to recover from the sprint through the woods.
She screamed for Ian to stop, then yelled to Aaron to warn him that Ian had a gun. Only, neither man seemed to hear her. They didn’t stop wrestling one another, both of their heads sinking under water for long moments at a time.
At one point, the gun hovered above the water, firmly in Ian’s grip with Aaron’s hand grabbing for it. She screamed. Several people cried out as well or scrambled back, away from the edge of the water.
Two other people jumped into the water. They were only blurs since she couldn’t rip her eyes away from Aaron out of fear. Moments seemed to stretch on as several people fought to drag the fight out of the deep end to where they could finally control Ian.
Then, Aaron finally got his footing. Beth watched his arm jerk back, and his fist connected solidly with Ian’s nose. Ian’s head jerked back as blood splattered everywhere, filling the pool with a circle around the now-unconscious man.
Her heart seemed to finally beat as Brett surfaced from the water, holding the gun in his hands. He swam to the side and quickly removed all the bullets onto the side of the pool. Then he climbed out and helped haul the still-unconscious Ian out of the water.
Beth stood there, frozen in place. She had faced him, in front of everyone. Now he couldn’t hide behind his badge anymore. There was so much proof. This time, finally, he would pay.
She watched Aaron, Brett, and Dean haul Ian to the pool deck. All three of them were soaking wet and breathing heavily.
Then, suddenly, Aaron was there, his arms wrapping around her tightly, soaking her clothes and steadying her trembling body. His jaw was locked tight, fury in his eyes, but his hands on her were gentle. “You’re safe,” he whispered.
She stood there, eyes closed for so long that it wasn’t until she felt weightless that she realized he’d lifted her up into his arms. When her eyes opened again, he was setting her down on a lounge chair under an umbrella. He sat beside her, never letting her go.
For the next half an hour or so, the courtyard buzzed with voices, as people retold what had happened. Then the sound of handcuffs clicking shut jolted her out of her stupor.
“He’s being arrested?”
“Yeah.” Aaron hugged her. “We got his confession and his attack on tape. That’s how we found you.
Brett saw you at the docks.” He closed his eyes and held onto her as she watched two deputies haul Ian away, dripping and cursing.
His service weapon had been handed over as evidence, no doubt along with the tape of what he’d said at the docks.
She had known that the entire camp had cameras, but it hadn’t crossed her mind until Aaron had mentioned it.
“Beth, Aaron.” The chief of police nodded as he approached them as several other officers took witnesses statements.
“We have proof that it was Ian who started the fire. Thanks to the security footage, we got a search warrant for his place and had the lab match accelerant in his garage to the fire. We had just issued a warrant for his arrest this morning. He must have gotten wind of it and came here.” He glanced around slowly.
“Now, I guess, we have him on assault charges as well.” He turned back to Beth.
“He won’t be walking away from this one. ”
Beth wrapped her arms around herself, the welt on her cheek still stinging. The night air felt thick, heavy with the weight of everything that had just happened. But instead of fear, there was a strange, bone-deep relief. It was finally over. The shadows were gone.
Ian shouted her name from somewhere down the pathway as they hauled him towards the parking lot, like a curse. Oddly, the sound caused her to laugh.
Aaron slipped his arm around her shoulders, pulling her against his steady warmth. His shirt was damp from the pool, but she pressed into him anyway, needing the grounding. Burying her face into his chest, she let her entire body relax.
“I’ve got you,” Aaron murmured, his voice firm, as if he needed her to believe it.
Beth nodded, her throat tightening. For the first time since she’d left Ian all those years ago, freedom didn’t feel like something fragile that could be snatched away at any moment.
It felt real.
Solid.
And, thankfully, she wasn’t alone.