Adam
He never should’ve left the house to go for a walk.
For all of Henry’s brains, the boy was an idiot. Did he think the cops would just send Bram home if someone else confessed to being the unidentifiable hooded figure from the video?
Even worse, Henry seemed more worried about what Hayden thought of him than of the consequences of his actions. Last night he was a mess because Hayden was ignoring his calls and texts. He’d started to worry that she might go to the cops, that she didn’t believe his story.
“Nobody,” he heard Hayden say.
“Henry’s a sicko, Hayden.” Adam flinched at the vitriol behind Sage’s words, rustling a branch and nearly giving away his cover.
He froze, watching Hayden start to turn in his direction, and silently pleaded with her to stop.
“How demented do you have to be to take a girl to the woods and hit her over the head with a rock until she dies?”
It took Adam a moment to put together what Sage was saying.
Then his heart plummeted. Hayden must have told her something.
After all these years of friendship and being the only schoolmate not to turn on the triplets after Mariana’s death, she had finally jumped ship.
She was siding with Sage Wheeler and all the others.
Of course Henry would have confided in Hayden. He loved and trusted her, and because he couldn’t keep his guilt-ridden conscience to himself—he’d made this monumental mistake of telling her about his plan to confront Kennedy.
Now, Hayden was telling everyone that it had been Henry in the woods with Kennedy, not Bram.
It wouldn’t be long before the cops went from arresting one wrongly accused suspect to another. In fact, the girls could be talking about going to the cops that very moment.
Adam’s fears had been blaring in his head so loudly, he’d missed the point when the girls’ conversation had taken a turn, becoming more heated.
Hayden was pleading now. “Sage, I know that Kennedy confessed to killing Mariana. I know she killed your cousin, so it wouldn’t be—”
Adam’s blood began to boil. She had no right to tell Sage, Silver Creek’s biggest gossip and snitch, what they’d learned about Kennedy. That would be the final nail in Bram’s coffin. He wanted to go over there and tell Sage it was a lie.
But before he could decide what to do—before he even knew what was happening—Sage was barreling toward Hayden.
Then Hayden was toppling over the low railing of the bridge. Adam heard her scream; he watched her body fall. Heard the smack as she hit the water.
Adam sprinted into the open, still struggling to comprehend what he’d seen.
The quickest way to Hayden was a dive off the bridge, but the creek was laden with huge rocks beneath the surface.
Everyone knew it was too dangerous to jump or dive.
Adam’s mind brought up the horrible town tale of Ronny Ackles, the only person who’d ever tried to make this jump. He hadn’t survived.
If by some miracle Hayden had managed to survive, Adam needed to remain in one piece to help her.
He raced through the brush and dried grass to the ravine, but the incline was steep.
Short of throwing himself down, descending the ravine would take far longer than he could afford.
As it was, when he looked out over the rushing water, there was no sign of Hayden.
He’d have to risk diving.
Adam charged toward the bridge, where he spotted Sage staring at him in horror. “Call for help!” he shouted at her as his footsteps thundered over the wooden planks.
Once he reached the place Hayden had gone over, Adam kicked off his shoes.
He climbed up onto the bottom rung, splinters piercing the soft flesh of his feet.
He searched for a sign of life, and for a split second, saw Hayden’s hair bobble toward the surface.
Stepping onto the top rail with one foot, still bent over and grasping the wood with one hand, Adam scanned the creek for rocks.
The water was dark and frothy. It was impossible to be certain, but he thought he saw a clear area below. Adam let go of the rail with his hand and, in one fell swoop, pushed up onto it with his remaining foot.
Then he leapt off.