Chapter 24
Chapter Twenty-Four
“Ryan. Hang on. Help is on the way.”
Ryan recognized Boone’s voice. He opened his eyes and stared directly into the concern on the sheriff’s face. “Where’s Charlie?” His worst fear raced through his fuzzy thoughts.
“We’ll find her.”
She wasn’t there. Ryan tried to move but Boone kept him down. “You’ve got to stay still. The ambulance is close.”
“I can’t lose her.” The words slurred. His vision blurred.
“You’re not doing anything but going to the hospital buddy. You’ve been shot.”
Ryan focused on Boone’s face. This was serious. He’d been shot and was fading fast. He had to hang on for Charlie.
“Find her, Boone. Please, find her.”
“I will.” Boone’s attention shifted. “There’s the ambo.”
Soon the familiar faces of the town’s EMTs replaced Boone’s.
Ryan was aware of them working to save his life but it took all his focus to hold onto consciousness.
“We’re ready to transport.” Gavin Rhoades, the lead paramedic announced.
Boone leaned over him. “We have a trail. We’re going after her now. As soon as we have Charlie, I’ll bring her to you.”
“We have to go, Sheriff. Now.” The strain in Gavin’s tone confirmed the seriousness of Ryan’s condition.
“Go.” Boone squeezed Ryan’s hand. “She’ll be there waiting for you when you come out of surgery.”
The hint of tears in Boone’s eyes ripped Ryan’s heart to shreds. Would he survive long enough to see his Charlie again? To finally know what happened to Abby all those years ago that had sent a madman into enough of a panic to kill again?
“Time to find out the truth, Charlie.”
No. The bottom fell out of her world. It wasn’t possible. Her heart wouldn’t let her accept the voice of the person who had taken her.
Until the blindfold was removed and all doubt was taken away.
“Lila?” Even though she looked right at her best friend it wasn’t the Lila she knew any longer.
Lila giggled with glee. “I got you, didn’t I?
You never suspected me, admit it. It’s on your face.
” Lila spun around the cave before returning to Charlie.
She jabbed her finger onto Charlie’s forehead.
While Charlie tried to gain control of her spiraling fear, Lila’s face instantly sobered.
“But you would have figured it out soon enough. He told you, didn’t he? ”
Charlie had to hold on. Had to believe Boone would have found Ryan by now. She couldn’t think about seeing Ryan lying on the cold, snowy ground, blood covering his shirt and not fall apart. She had to stay strong for him.
“Who are you talking about?”
“Pete,” Lila spat the name out. “He wouldn’t give up. He kept digging. I knew eventually he’d figure it out. That’s why I had to stay close to him.”
Charlie recalled the numerous conversations she and Pete had about Lila. He thought she came to see him because she cared about him and Charlie. The truth was she was keeping tabs on Pete’s search for answers.
“Where’s Abby?” Charlie forced the words out while she wasn’t sure she wanted to know.
“Right beside you.” Lila pointed to Charlie’s right.
Slowly, Charlie turned to stare at a mound of dirt that was the grave for her childhood friend. She screamed and then screamed again.
“Shut up, shut up, shut up!” Lila grabbed hold of her chin, forcing Charlie to look into her deranged face.
When Charlie forced herself to be calm, Lila let her go.
“Why did you kill Abby?” Her voice sounded devoid of all emotion. She glanced around the cave lit only by Lila’s flashlight. As far as she could tell there was only one way out and that was blocked by a stack of rubble.
“You know why. Don’t pretend you don’t.” Lila snapped, drawing Charlie’s attention back.
“I don’t. Abby was your friend, too. Why?”
Dark red blotches dotted Lila’s pretty face. “Because she killed my brother!”
Despite her desperate situation, Charlie couldn’t believe what she’d heard. “That’s not true. Tyler was killed when his car went over the mountainside. It was an accident.”
“No!” Lila screamed in her face while waving her arms all around.
“Abby was driving and she was high. She was driving too fast. She misjudged the curve in the road and went over the side. She walked away with only a few scratches while my brother. . .” Her words turned into sobs. “W-while my precious brother died.”
Charlie couldn’t believe it. “That’s not true.”
“Yes, it is,” Lila screamed. “She told me. Abby confessed she was the one driving. She’d been using drugs. Tyler had fallen asleep. She killed my brother.”
Charlie finally had the answers as to what happened to her friend, and it was the last thing she ever imagined.
Now, the depression that seemed to follow Abby around back then made sense.
At the time, she thought it was simply because they’d lost a friend in Tyler’s death. The truth was much darker.
“Why didn’t you just turn her in? Abby would have faced charges. She would have paid for what she did.”
“No. That wasn’t good enough. She needed to die.” Lila scrubbed her tears away. “So, when you called to say let’s meet at the bridge, I had it all figured out.”
Charlie frowned. “But you said you couldn’t go. You weren’t there.”
Lila’s sinister smile told the truth. “I used the excuse that it was a bad idea to give me a reason for not going with you and Abby. Instead, I snuck out and followed Abby into the woods.” She shrugged.
“I caught up with her and told her the meeting place had changed. She didn’t question me at first. I think she began to suspect something before we reached the cave, but I told her you had something important to tell us both. She went along with it.”
Lila had lured Abby to her death by using Charlie as bait. Her stomach turned and she vomited.
Lila didn’t seem to notice. “When we reached this cave, I had everything set up. She kept asking where you were. I told her you’d be here soon.
I had the knife tucked into my waistband.
” Lila pulled out a grotesque knife and showed it to Charlie.
“When she started to leave, I grabbed her from behind and put my hand over her mouth to keep her from screaming. And then I stabbed her again and again until she wasn’t moving any longer.
” She spoke of murdering Abby as if it were nothing.
Charlie tried to control her rage. They’d grown up together. Abby had made an awful mistake but still. . .
She remembered Pete and her heart clenched. “Pete found out the truth. How?” Before she died, she had to know everything.
“By accident. You know Pete, always talking to everyone about the case. He kept in touch with Abby’s family. He heard the initials she wrote down and couldn’t let them go.”
“EHJ. But they weren’t Tyler’s initials or anyone connected to Abby.”
Lila looked at her as if she were just the stupidest person.
“Yes, they were. If you knew what you were looking for.
EHJ. “Echo my heart, James. He used Echo my heart, Abby.” Lila laughed bitterly.
“It was a stupid nickname Abby came up with for Tyler, whose middle name is James. She thought it was so funny. A way to tell him how she felt about him without anyone knowing. . .except me. Tyler told me the truth. We never kept secrets from each other.”
“So, you knew when Pete found the initials that there was a chance he would figure the rest out.”
Lila looked at her with disgust. “There was no doubt in my mind. In fact, he did. The last time I went to see him, I came prepared.”
It sickened Charlie to hear her discuss killing her uncle.
“You can get anything off the Dark Web. I found out potassium chloride would mimic a heart attack. It’s hard to trace and only stays in the blood for a certain length of time. It was perfect.” Her mouth thinned. “Or so I thought. Until you came back and started working with Ryan on the case.”
Out of the corner of her eye, Charlie saw movement and realized it was Boone with a wealth of armed officers standing near the rear entrance to the cave. Would they be able to subdue Lila before she finished the job?
Charlie had to keep talking. “So, you knew it was only a matter of time if we kept investigating before we found the truth.”
“Of course. Why’d you have to stay? You were never supposed to stay.”
A faint sound coming from the men advancing on Lila had her whirling toward them. When she realized they were coming for her, Lila charged for Charlie with the knife above her head.
A shot rang out in the cave. The knife flew from Lila’s hand. Before Lila could make a move, Boone and two other officers had her in custody.
She was saved. The truth about Abby’s disappearance had finally been made known. Now Abby could go home to be with her parents.
But there was one question Charlie had to know. “Is he alive?” she asked as soon as Boone knelt beside her.
“He is. He’s in bad shape, but he’s alive.” He cut her restraints free.
“Take me to him. I want to be there for him.”
And she did. No matter what happened. She wanted to be there for Ryan.