46
A loud, high-pitched laugh wakes me.
My eyelids flutter. A powerful wave of nausea sweeps over me, making my body tremble. Everything feels heavy, like a blanket covering my vision.
Finally, I manage to blink my eyes open. Images blur, then come together.
I’m in my chalet, on the bed, propped up by pillows. My wrists are tied in front of me, my feet bound with rope. There’s a glass of whiskey on the table. One of my stage outfits, a short dress with fringe, hangs on the wall. At the foot of the bed, my contract.
Bile, panic surge in my stomach.
“No,” I gasp when Gavin steps out of the bathroom with a knife in his hand.
“It’s your selfishness that brought us to this moment, Reese,” he says in a voice of disapproval. “Remember that. Your selfishness. Not mine.”
“Why are you doing this?”
A sneer spreads across his lips. “You are mine , Reese. My money. My star. And you want to leave me?”
I strain against my binds. “I’m not yours, Gavin. And I never will be.”
“Do you know the things I’ve done for you? I’ve turned down the bad roles. I made you a star. I’ve protected you from people who want to hurt you.”
“ You hurt me,” I shoot back. “You drugged me. You controlled me.”
He stops at the side of the bed. His eyes look like black rocks in a pale piggish face. “I had to. You were crazy. Uncontrollable.”
“ No ,” I scream in rage. “ You made me think I was crazy. I’m not crazy. You’re the fucking crazy one.”
In a fury, his hand lashes out. I cry out as he grabs my hair, yanking my face to his. Violent pain shoots through my head. The world blurs.
Outside, the storm rages. The air in the chalet is humid and electric.
“You stupid bitch. Time’s up.”
“What do you mean?” I croak. I have to do something, say something, to keep him talking. To buy me time.
He releases me with a snap. “The world knows about Muirwood. They’ll think the stress got to you. You ran. You couldn’t handle it. You ended it all.” A gesture toward the mirror. There, in red lipstick, the word GOODBYE .
My breath catches at his plan. Oh God. He’s going to kill me and make it look like I did it. Terror overtakes my body, making me tremble.
“Which makes me your sole beneficiary. I get your money. Your inheritance.” Gavin checks the clock on the nightstand. “Twelve hours until midnight.”
“Please, Gavin. I want to go back to my family.”
“You don’t have a family. I’m your family. I took you from your parents.” He giggles. “They wanted you back, Reese. Did you know that? They came begging for their little girl back. But you were mine.”
“What?” I tug on my restraints, my thoughts spiraling. “What are you talking about?”
“It was supposed to be a favor. Take care of you while they were down and out. But I kept you. I kept you for myself.”
My stomach roils. My parents wanted me back?
“They didn’t fight because they couldn’t. So poor, so stupid.” He closes his eyes and slowly smiles. “I told them if they came after you, I’d kill them. And then you.”
“You’re a monster,” I hiss.
“I am, Reese. I’m your monster. You made me love you, and then you took it all away.” I flinch as he sits beside me. His eyes are manic in a way I’ve never seen them before. A way that makes me terrified.
That makes me want Ford.
Ford.
At the thought of him, I close my eyes. His handsome face. That lazy grin. How safe he makes me feel whenever I’m with him.
We made promises just the other night—our future, our hope. Only to be snuffed out by Gavin. He’s ruined so much for me, and he won’t ruin this.
Mustering all my strength, I look Gavin in the eyes. “Ford will come for me.”
“He doesn’t love you,” he taunts.
Never. I’m never going back to that place where Gavin breaks my will. Takes my freedom. My hope. My joy.
My voice tremors. “He does. He loves me.”
At my words, Gavin explodes off the bed, the knife raised in his hand. I flinch, waiting for it to rip through me. Instead, he stabs the papers at the end of the bed in a froth of anger, desperation. Over and over, he shreds my contract. “I love you, I love you, I love you , you little bitch!”
I stare at him in horror as he screams. He’s going crazy now.
Gavin’s head jerks up. “He doesn’t deserve you. So that means I take you away from him.”
Breathing heavily, he drops the knife and crosses to the kitchenette. He mutters as he unzips a duffel bag, his back to me.
Nausea swirls as my eyes race around the cabin. My heart jumps when I spy the two-way radio on the nightstand. Ford’s words float through my memory.
Glitchy wiring.
Sweat drips down my spine. Keeping one eye on Gavin, I wiggle the best I can toward the edge of the bed. To the two-way radio.
If I can just knock it over…somehow turn it on…
I wiggle my toes. No longer numb. Whatever drug Gavin’s injected me with, it’s wearing off.
Hope flickers.
With all my remaining strength, I lift my arms to the edge of the nightstand and knock the corner. The radio wobbles once. Steadies.
I choke on a sob.
Fuck. Please work. Please glitch.
“One last song, Reese.” Gavin’s voice jerks me from my task.
He stalks toward me, a syringe in one hand.
I recoil and scream for Ford, for someone, but he’s too fast. The needle slips into the crook of my elbow, and I yelp in pain. Sudden dizziness surrounds me. My fluttering eyes look up at him in horror as I slump back against the pillows.
“No,” I slur. “N’more. Please…please…”
“That’s right, Reese. No more. After this, no more.”
My head swims. Darkness drifts over me like a wave.
“But first, before you go, you have to look the part, Reese,” Gavin’s voice croons. Sitting beside me, he smooths my hair back. His hot, putrid breath washes over my face. “My star. My shiny little shooting star.”
He unties my hands, my feet. I try to move, but my entire body feels like it’s made from cement. A hollow ringing fills my ears.
My stomach roils as he slips my cut-offs down my legs. My damp sweatshirt and boots follow. Tears stream down my face. I’m powerless in my own skin. Just want he wants.
As I lie in my underwear, waiting for the worst, Gavin lifts me in his arms.
My body, my mind lose all sense of where I am as he caresses and brushes my hair. “You have to be pretty, don’t you? My pretty, pretty girl.” He dabs perfume on my neck and kisses my cheek.
I whimper. The world fades out. I’m floating.
Through a haze of pain, I realize he’s tugging the fringed stage dress down over my head. Slipping tights on my legs. Black high heels on my feet.
I’m laid back down.
My head lolls across the pillow. The world spins, warps.
Hope slips away as Gavin looms over me at a strange angle and says, “You made a mistake, Reese. The last one you’ll ever make.”
Something cold presses against my wrist. For one long second, it’s numb, but then I feel a sharp, searing pain spread through my skin.
Warm, slick heat courses down my arm. Blood.
He’s stabbing me, slicing my arms over and over again with the knife. Lines of fire roll across my skin.
I scream until I pass out.
Minutes, seconds, God knows how long.
When I blink my eyes open next, everything’s still.
My arms are stiff and sticky. The sheets, the comforter are soaked with blood.
My blood.
I feel so weak. So exhausted.
In my periphery, I can see Gavin pacing in the kitchen. Muttering to himself. Over and over again in a frantic murmur. “Do it. Just do it. But I love her. I can help her.”
In his hand, the knife jerks wildly, the tip of it cutting into his pants, his leg. Blood spreads.
He’s furious. Insane.
Be brave, Reese.
His shoes stomp across the tile. Fear spikes. He’s coming back for me.
I reach deep inside myself. One last chance.
When Gavin is close, I kick with all my remaining strength. I miss connecting with solid bone, but something else happens. I knock him off balance. He mutters and falls back, rocking the nightstand.
The two-way radio topples to its side. I hear the crackle as it glitches on.
I lick my dry lips, turn my face toward the mouthpiece. “Ford, please. Please, I need you.”
Gavin cackles and leans in close. His fingers wrap around my wrist possessively. “You think he can help you? You’re mine, and it’s over now. It’s time to take a swim.”
The last thing I hear before I fade out is the crackle of the two-way radio.