Chapter 48
FORTY-EIGHT
CASH
SEVENTEEN YEARS OLD
Stadium lights blinded from above and sweat poured down his back.
His helmet felt five thousand pounds too heavy.
A millstone around his neck.
The ball a boulder in his hand.
They were in the last minute of the game and down by three. Down by three because he kept making little mistakes that cost them.
His team raced out ahead of him.
Protecting him.
Shielding him.
Their futures bent to his will.
To this stupid fucking thing Matthew had asked of him.
His mind spun back to this afternoon. His brother had been frantic, but that was typical Matthew bullshit.
Making so much more out of something than it was.
Creating chaos where it didn’t belong. It had only grown a thousand times worse since his injury.
Yeah, it sucked, but that didn’t absolve him of the behavior.
What an asshole.
What a selfish asshole.
Anger surged as Kyle went rushing out to where he was supposed to catch the pass.
And Cash made that split-second decision.
He threw the ball. It spiraled flawlessly through the air. Meeting its mark the way he’d nearly perfected.
Right smack into Kyle’s hands.
Kyle sprinted, and he lifted his hand with the ball over his head as he crossed the goal line.
Touchdown.
Thirty-six to thirty-three.
Everyone screamed and cheered.
The game won.
While Cash stood stagnant in the middle of the field wondering what he had done.
The team bus pulled out of the stadium grounds. His team sang and chanted. Shouted and cheered. Their celebration was already in full swing, but Cash knew it would only grow wilder tonight.
But Cash couldn’t seem to fully settle into the mood.
His conscience pressed down in dread, making him feel sick.
His brother’s pleas spun and spun through his mind.
Trying to shove it off and focus on the good things he had ahead of him, he glanced back at the thread on his phone for what was truly the best thing ahead of him.
Wallflower
You did it. I’m so proud of you.
Cash
Did you doubt me?
Wallflower
Not at all. But still, I thought I was going to freak out on that last play.
Yeah, Cash had thought he was going to freak out, too. He guessed he still was freaking out.
Cash
You’re riding home with my parents?
Wallflower
Yep. They’re going to drop me off back at school. They’re so kind.
Cash
They’re the best. Well, except for you.
Wallflower
Are you trying to butter me up?
He couldn’t stop his grin.
Cash
I hope it’s working.
Wallflower
Count me sufficiently buttered.
Wallflower
Wait, oh God, that came out wrong.
He could almost see her hiding her embarrassment behind her hands.
Cash
I personally like the way it came out.
Wallflower
I bet you did.
Cash
Can’t wait to see you.
Cash
Can’t wait to celebrate with you.
Cash
Can’t wait to kiss you.
He left off the rest of what he planned to do to her.
Cash
We’ll be back to school in about an hour. Meet me at my truck?
Wallflower
I’ll be waiting.
The team bus traveled through the night, hitting the freeway that led back to their town. Voices were elevated, the guys refusing to stay in their seats as they shouted and stomped their feet.
Tons of that praise was directed at Cash, who did his best to give it back.
His brother was only exaggerating, he tried to convince himself. Probably trying to manipulate him so he could actually win some big bet. At this point, he wouldn’t put it past him.
But that dread was sinking deeper when another text blipped through and he rushed to look at it, but rather than it being from Daisy, it was from Matthew.
Matthew
How could you do this to me? Oh fuck, how could you?
Matthew
I’m dead, Cash. Fuck, I’m dead thanks to you.
Fear impaled him, and his head felt fuzzy as he tried to process what the hell to do.
Cash
No, man, you’re just freaking out. It’s going to be okay.
Matthew
It’s not okay.
Matthew was wrong, he kept trying to tell himself, but there was a sense coming over him that made him sure that he was the one who was wrong. The one who’d miscalculated and misjudged.
Trepidation driving him, he tapped out of that thread and into a different one.
Cash
Hey, something came up with my brother. Have my parents drop you off at home and I’ll come by later. I’m really sorry.
Wallflower
Is everything okay?
Cash
Just Matthew being an idiot again. I need to take care of it. I promise I’ll make it up to you.
Wallflower
Is there anything I can do?
Cash
Just go home so I know you’re safe.
He wasn’t even sure what possessed him to type that, but he knew that’s what he needed. To know she was safe. To know his brother was safe. He returned to the thread with Matthew.
Cash
Where are you? Just sit tight and I’ll come talk to you. We’ll go to the police together.
Matthew
It’s too late. I’m getting my things and leaving town. That’s if I make it out of here.
Cash
Come on, man, just wait for me. We’ll talk this out. I’ll be home in like thirty minutes.
About ten minutes later, the bus was rolling into the school parking lot and rounding to the backside of the gym.
The disquiet only amplified when Matthew didn’t text him back.
The team piled out, all heading for the showers before they would hit the town, but Cash ducked out before they noticed. His hands began to shake as he hurried for his truck.
He unlocked it, and the old door groaned as he pulled it open. He jumped inside, and the engine chugged to life when he turned the key. He put it in gear and turned it in the direction of his house across town. Figuring it was the only place he was going to be able to cut Matthew off.
He’d try to talk some sense into him.
Get him help.
Sweat dribbled from his nape and down his spine as he traveled as quickly as he could, hopping lanes to get around slower traffic, his thumb anxiously tapping at the steering wheel.
“Come on, come on,” he shouted at a red light before he was gunning it again when it turned green.
He made the left into their neighborhood, taking the old truck hard up the road toward his house.
And he couldn’t quite decipher the feeling that overcame him as he came up on it.
Wickedness, he guessed.
The sense of evil crawling through the night as he approached the driveway. He yanked at the wheel to pull his truck off the side of the road, and he jumped out, his eyes scanning as he tried to discern what was wrong.
Smoke.
There was smoke coming out of the right side of the roof, and he could see flames licking up through the living room window, consuming that entire side.
“Oh fuck,” he gasped before he went running up the drive, fumbling to dial 911 as he went.
“911, what’s your emergency?”
“House fire at 4523 N. Milligan. Hurry.” The words were shards, choked and hard as he ran up the drive. He started to angle for the front door when he noticed the muted glow on the left side of the house.
It was coming from his bedroom window.
And he knew…he fucking knew that Daisy was in his room. She hadn’t gone home. She was waiting for him there.
He didn’t even think it through.
His body moved on compulsion.
He shifted course, his feet pounding across the lawn and around the side of the house. He scaled the tree in three seconds flat. When he made it to the top, he found the window was closed against the howl of cold wind that whipped through the night air.
Frantic, he smacked his palms against it, and he pressed his face to the glass.
Smoke filled the room.
“Daisy! Oh God, Daisy!” he screamed. “Daisy!”
There was no movement, just the crackle and howl of the fire as it spread across the house’s roof.
He shifted, gritting his teeth as he turned and drove his elbow through the glass.
It shattered into a million pieces, and he shoved the fragments away, not caring about the pain as a piece of glass sliced through his skin as he pushed through the window.
“Daisy?! Daisy?!”
A cry erupted from his left. He covered his nose and mouth with his shirt and began to crawl in that direction.
His hands flung and smacked out ahead of him.
Searching and searching.
He finally felt it.
A leg.
He wrapped his hand around it, and he used it to guide him up until he had her in his arms. He basically dragged her back to the window, and he somehow managed to get her onto his back as he climbed from it and out onto the tree.
They both choked as they found the clear air. “Are you okay?” he begged, shifting around to brush the hair back from her face.
“I…I fell asleep and when I woke up…”
“It’s okay. It’s okay. We have to get out of here.”
He helped her all the way down, and they ducked their heads as they ran to the opposite side of the lawn, far outside the reach of the fire that quickly consumed the house.
When he got Daisy to safety, his mind began to clear. In a flash, a whole new dread gripped him. “Where are my parents?” Cash gasped, trying to breathe and see and make sense of what had happened.
Of what he had done.
Trepidation toiled in Daisy’s eyes, her own panic seeping through. “I…they said they were exhausted and going to bed.”
Horror gripped his soul.
Their room was on the bottom floor on the right side of the house.
“No. No.”
In the distance, he could hear sirens, and the crackle of the fire intensified. Glass suddenly shattered from the big pane glass window in the kitchen nook.
And he was on his feet again, racing for the house.
“Cash, no!”
He barely heard the shout from Daisy as he sprinted across the lawn. He picked up a big rock and broke the window next to his parents’ room before he dove through it.
One second later, he was engulfed in flames.