Chapter 23
Chapter Twenty-Three
Charlie screamed again and rushed to Ryan’s side. Blood oozed from the wound near his shoulder. How close to the heart? She couldn’t tell.
Tears blurred her vision as she tried to assess the damage by moving his jacket aside.
They needed help. Now. She grabbed Ryan’s cell phone and prepared to call Boone when the crunch of a boot had her whirling.
A figure dressed all in black with their face covered by a mask slammed something hard against her temple.
The pain was excruciating. She landed next to Ryan.
The world tilted and careened toward blackness.
Her last coherent thought was to reach for Ryan’s hand.
Dragging her dead weight down the riverbank wasn’t easy but I had everything to lose, and I would finish this before I left town.
I heard her moan. “Be quiet.” After I’d knocked Charlie out, I blindfolded her then secured her hands and feet. She wasn’t going anywhere.
I smile as I lug her across the shallow end of the river. The cold water wakes her. She tries to scream but the gag makes it appear little more than a muffled sound.
“Shut up,” I yell when she tries to scream again.” The last thing I needed was for the sheriff to arrive before I reveal my grand finale.
No, this was a long time coming and I wasn’t about to be robbed of the moment I’d waited for.
She struggled as we headed up the other side of the bank and toward the caves where the truth lay hidden. Buried in the dust of time.
A smile plays across my lips when I imagine her surprise and then her fear when she realizes the last seconds of her life are coming to an end.
I pause for a breath and listen. Over my labored breaths there’s no sign Boone is on his way. But he’ll be here soon. I might have to take him out if he tries to stop what I have planned.
When I finally reach the first cave, I quickly cover my tracks before starting to the bowels of the mountain.
The year I killed my first person stood out as the most satisfying moment of my life.
I hadn’t woken up and suddenly thought I’d take a life.
No, the decision had been forced upon me.
She’d forced it by the cover up. I wouldn’t let his death go unanswered.
The cave where everything would be revealed was just as I’d planned it. I drop her legs. Her answers can wait. There’s one more thing to do.
I’d planned it all out carefully. They wouldn’t reach her in time to save her and I’d make sure they never found me. I’d disappear into oblivion somewhere. Maybe change my name. Become a blonde even.
I smile at the possibility. When I reached the entrance of the cave again, I squint through the fading light. Yes, Ryan is still where I left him. Probably dead by now. No sign of the sheriff but he had to be close. Now was the time.
Back inside the cave, I see she had managed to sit up and was working on getting her hands in front of her. Foolish Charlie. She never even realized how close the answers were.
I walk into the cave right past Charlie and return to where I left the detonator. I push it down. A breath later, the entrance to the cave collapses onto itself.
They’d hear the noise.
They’d try to save her.
But there wouldn’t be enough time.