Chapter 33
Berkley wasn’t sure what she was seeing. Or more accurately, why Silvia was in the cave, tied up and gagged. When she’d smelled Silvia’s Black Opium she’d thought… Well, she hadn’t thought she’d be walking into this.
Her friend’s eyes were wide with fear as she approached, box cutter in hand.
Silvia shook her head wildly, trying to talk behind her mouth covering.
Berkley wasn’t sure if she heard the noise or her instinct kicked in, but she ducked and rolled as the sound of a bat whistled by her head.
On her back for only a second, she scrambled away, staring in horror as Kendall stood there holding a bat, her eyes wild with rage. She also wasn’t wounded, no swollen eye, nothing like in the pictures she’d seen.
She also realized she’d dropped her box cutter. But she still had her pepper spray.
When she went to grab it from her pocket, Kendall whipped out a pistol and dropped her bat with a loud clatter, the sound echoing in the wide cave.
“Drop it on the ground, kick it away,” Kendall ordered. Her eyes might be crazy, but her voice was deadly calm.
And so was the grip on her weapon.
Trembling from the cold and a whole lot of fear, Berkley managed to pull it out of her front pocket and tossed it away. It bounced off one of the walls with a rattle but she didn’t dare take her eyes off Kendall.
“I’m impressed you managed to avoid my men,” her friend—former!—said.
Men?
“But I know not to take anything you do for granted. Especially after you didn’t call the cops at Reed’s house.” She sounded mildly impressed.
Berkley blinked. “Wait… You killed Reed? And Henry?” What alternate universe was she in right now?
Out of the corner of her eye she could see that Silvia had quietly grabbed the box cutter and was working on freeing her bindings.
Berkley needed to keep all the attention on her until Silvia was free.
“Of course I did. Jesus, you should be thanking me,” Kendall snarled. Her white-blonde hair was pulled back in a tight braid, and even with the waterproof hoodie jacket, her hair and face were damp.
“Thank you for trying to set me up for murder?”
Kendall’s mouth curved up in a semblance of a smile, but all Berkley saw was a shark. As if a mask had fallen away. Which clearly it had, because she didn’t recognize this woman staring back at her as if she was prey. As if Berkley disgusted her.
“Why did you kill them?” she whispered, angry at herself for not being able to shout the question. But it was as if her entire world had shifted, the foundation crumbling underneath her feet.
She’d been friends with Kendall since she was thirteen. Silvia since she was six. Oh god, Silvia, keep cutting those bindings!
“Because I wanted to.” Spit flew from her mouth as she snarled the words. “Men are all the same. Every single one of them deserve what they get.”
“So you’re like…a serial killer?” Were those words actually coming out of her mouth right now?
Kendall sniffed once. “Technically, sure. But this isn’t about that.”
What the hell was this or that? “Oookay.” She could see that Silvia was almost free.
Unfortunately the pistol hadn’t wavered in Kendall’s grip once. At least all her focus was on Berkley. Maybe Silvia would still have a chance.
Kendall rolled her eyes when Berkley didn’t say more. “I’ve taken out way more than your obnoxious ex-husband and that sniveling monkey Reed.”
“Why?”
“Because they all underestimated me, that’s why! Henry thought he could screw me and discard me just like he did with you.” Disdain dripped from every word as she looked Berkley up and down.
So they’d hooked up. Not important, but it still cut deep to know her friend— Nope. Kendall was not her friend. She was a monster in human clothing, that much was clear. Maybe she’d never known her at all.
“Is that why you killed Reed too? And why did you dump me at his house? I don’t even know him.”
She held up a finger with her free hand, then pulled out a radio from under her jacket. “Everything still clear?” she asked.
“All clear,” a male voice responded.
Looking satisfied, she tucked it away again.
“I killed Reed because he was skimming off the top of my profits. I did that asshole a favor by letting him run pills for me. He needed to pay off a debt to another asshole and couldn’t afford it.
So, problem solver that I am, I offered him an easy solution.
Instead of being grateful, he got greedy.
Typical man,” she muttered, shaking her head.
So Kendall was selling drugs on top of killing people for fun? “And Henry?”
She lifted a shoulder. “He found out about my operation and wanted a cut. Threatened to turn me in if I didn’t give him fifty percent. Fifty. Percent.” Pure outrage filled her voice.
“The audacity,” Berkley said dryly, voice shaking. Also, what freaking operation? She had so many questions but wasn’t sure how long she could keep Kendall distracted and talking.
“Right?” It was like Kendall didn’t even hear the sarcasm.
“Why did you set me up? I thought we were friends.” God, why did her voice have to sound so small?
Kendall rolled her eyes. “We were never friends. You used to be fun,” she added.
“But we weren’t friends. Then you had to marry that asshole.
God, he was even a lousy lay.” She shook herself again, shuddered.
“And I set you up because I was so tired of your self-righteousness. You healed after Henry, oh my god, we all get it! You think you’re so much better than me and I’m over it.
So when you messed up my plan with Reed, I decided it would make more sense to dump you at Henry’s.
I figured for sure the cops would take you down for that one and I’d kill two birds with one stone. ”
“You want me in jail?” Otherwise Kendall could have just killed her at any time. She’d let the woman in her house… Kendall had known her security code, had free access to her house at any time. Oh god, she was going to be sick.
“I’m so tired of your holier-than-thou bullshit. You turned your life around and act insufferable about it.”
Even though it wasn’t true, the words still hit their mark. She tried to keep her expression neutral, but knew her hurt must have shown because Kendall smirked.
“Why bring Silvia into it though?” she asked when Kendall made a move to turn around.
Kendall made a little tsking sound. “Because someone couldn’t mind their own business—”
“Shut up!” Silvia screamed as she lunged, blade raised.
Kendall spun fast, so Berkley threw herself at her former friend.
The gun went off, a cracking boom echoing in the cave as she tackled Kendall to the hard ground.
Kendall screamed and swung out at Berkley, still clutching her gun.
Silvia wasn’t moving, but Berkley couldn’t focus on her. Couldn’t even risk looking in her direction as she grabbed Kendall’s arm and slammed it to the ground with a scream of rage and terror.
She didn’t let go, so Berkley bit down on her forearm as rage punched through her.
Kendall screamed and dropped the gun.
Before Berkley could get her bearings, pain exploded in her skull when Kendall punched her.
Berkley loosened her grip and Kendall scrambled away. Dove for the gun.
Berkley moved faster, kicking out at it since she couldn’t grab it.
The gun skittered into the entryway to the waterfall cliff.
When Kendall jumped up and stumbled after it, Berkley forced herself to her feet even as her temple throbbed. She thought she heard movement behind her, hoped Silvia was okay. But there was no time to check.
As Kendall bent down to grab the gun, the opening of the dry waterfall behind her, Berkley launched herself at the woman she’d never really known.
Kendall screamed as she was knocked off-balance, tumbled over the edge.
Berkley wasn’t sure what compelled her to reach out but she did, trying to stop Kendall from falling to her death. Stupid instinct kicking in.
She needed to pay for her crimes, to face justice.
Dangling over the edge, Kendall held tight to Berkley’s forearm, digging her fingers in tight as she thrashed with her whole body.
She was going to pull them both down if she didn’t stop.
“Stop moving!” Berkley shouted. “You’ll fall.” The only reason she had the strength to hold her up was because of all the bouldering she’d been doing the last year.
“I’m not going to jail,” Kendall screamed at her, thrashing wilder as she tightened her grip even more. Her nails sliced into Berkley’s arms, digging deep.
Oh god. She was going to take Berkley down with her. She clawed at the woman’s fingers, trying to tear free, but Kendall’s grip was like steel as Berkley slipped farther and farther forward.
Kendall was a dead weight now, dragging them both to their deaths—
Nick was suddenly there, lying flat next to Berkley, the discarded box cutter in hand.
“No!” Kendall screamed.
But it was too late. He stabbed straight into Kendall’s hand, forcing her to let go with another short-lived scream.
Berkley stared in horror as the woman she’d once known, once loved, fell onto the frozen ice below with a sickening crack of bones and… Her body began to sink below the ice as the shattered pieces shifted and moved under the brutal impact.
“Don’t look.” Nick hauled her backward, practically dragged her away from the deadly drop.
Exhausted, she crawled back a few feet then forced herself to her feet on shaky legs even as it hit her that he was here. He’d come for her. “Silvia!” she suddenly shouted.
“She’s alive.” He held on to her hand, tugged her back into the open cave to find Silvia struggling to her feet as she clutched the side of her head.
“Are you okay?” Standing in front of her friend, Berkley tried to see how deep the wound was.
“I’m pissed, but fine,” Silvia said, then paused. “Actually I’m not fine. But we’re alive and she can’t hurt anyone anymore.”
As the tears started to fall, Nick’s arms wrapped around both her and Silvia.
“You guys are going to be okay,” he murmured and that was when she realized Silvia was crying too.
Of course she was.
And she didn’t care that he was holding her too tight as she squeezed both him and Silvia. The nightmare was over. They were alive. And Kendall’s broken body was lying under the ice.