CHAPTER EIGHTEEN #2
She patted her chest, frantically feeling for an entry wound. No blood. No pain. She hadn’t been hit.
She dropped next to her mother. “Are you hurt?”
“No, no. I’m not hurt,” Donna breathed.
A click, then light flared from a camping lantern perched on a filing cabinet.
Rhonda voice was frigid. “Next shot won’t be a warning. I’d prefer if this went according to plan, but either way, you’ll end up dead. Now sit. Back to the wall.”
Thunder boomed outside, echoing the gunshot. Melanie couldn’t see any way to avoid it, so she sat.
Zip ties were cinched tight, biting into ankles and wrists. Beside her, Donna shifted like she was trying to find a comfortable position.
“If I’m ending up dead anyway,” Melanie said, steeling her voice, “at least tell me the truth. Why, Rhonda?”
“Because I have no choice,” Rhonda snapped. “Because you won’t stop digging. I’m done being afraid.”
She no longer looked like the polished banking official. Her eyes glittered with cold disdain, but also desperation.
Had Gage read the message Melanie’d sent? Once he did, she was sure he’d follow her into the mountains, but who knew when that would be?
Hope wavered. It could be hours before help arrived. She’d do what she could to buy time and trust they’d get a break and find some way to escape.
Donna moved again, her elbow bumping Melanie’s.
For now, she’d keep Rhonda talking. She was beginning to think her mom was up to something.
Eyes on the gun pointed at her, Melanie asked, “Does this have to do with your son?”
Rhonda gave her a startled look. “You must have talked to Greg. He’ll keep his mouth shut if he knows what’s good for him.”
Melanie’s eyes narrowed. “That voicemail, it wasn’t my mom, was it?”
Rhonda smirked. “Dylan, my brilliant son, showed me how to do it. He recorded his teacher’s voice, then used an AI app to make the voice say whatever he wanted.”
Melanie’s stomach turned. “How did you record Mom’s voice?”
“I went to the bank to open a CD account for Addy,” Donna muttered. “The message I got about the dogs being dumped out here must have been fake too.”
“Clever, aren’t I? And it’s surprisingly easy to send a call straight to voicemail without the phone ever ringing. Tech is such a blessing.” Rhonda’s voice dripped with false cheer. “In fact, I’ll play a little snippet for you.”
She produced her phone and hit play. A voice eerily like Melanie’s told Chase she had new information and to meet her at the mill.
“He won’t be able to ignore that. Now we wait for him to get here.”
“You plan to kill him too,” Melanie said, realization dawning. “He knows Dylan isn’t Josh’s son.”
The other woman shrugged. “He saw me and Greg together that night, and later Greg told him about the baby. But I saw something too. I saw him next to your car, siphoning gas. He left right after you did.”
“You kept each other’s secrets.” Melanie seethed, fury building like a wildfire racing through her veins.
Rhonda’s disclosure meant Chase Bradford had raped her, an attack that had altered the trajectory of her life.
Rhonda had known he’d done it and said nothing.
And by not coming forward, Walker McGrath had been wrongfully imprisoned. “You’re as contemptible as he is.”
Her ire was matched by the force of the gale sweeping down from the mountain. The building groaned with the force of the wind. Water dripped nearby.
“It wasn’t personal.”
“It sure as hell feels personal to me.”
“Everything was working until you came back and started stirring things up. Now Chase has the FBI breathing down his neck at the bank and I’m afraid they’ll screw up the financing to build our resort.
He’s freaking out and drinking too much, and when he drinks, he talks.
” Rhonda’s tone reflected her disgust. “Everything is your fault. If you expose him as your attacker, he’s got no reason to keep my secret.
” Rhonda gestured with the gun. “That’s why you’re a problem for me. ”
“You’ll be charged for withholding evidence.”
“No, I won’t. I’m fixing things. All I ever wanted is for my son to have the benefits of the Lockwood name. With Chase out of the way, the FBI won’t have a case, and once you’re gone, I won’t have anything to worry about.” She glanced at Donna. “Your mom’s merely collateral damage.”
“You’ll never get away with this.” Melanie wanted to believe it. If Gage got her text, they had a chance. She wished she’d taken the time to give him more information.
“Oh, I will. I’ll tell you how I’m solving all my problems.” Rhonda seemed pleased with herself and wanted to share her plans.
She drew a gas can from behind the desk.
“Once Chase is in here with you ladies, I’ll splash this gas around.
Toss a match, and it’s done. A little hike to where my car is hidden, and I’m out of here.
It could be months before anyone realizes this place burned.
Eventually, your cars will be discovered, and your bodies.
There’ll be an investigation, but it won’t go anywhere.
There nothing to tie it to me.” She looked smug.
“I’ll be another shocked resident of Sisters, horrified about what happened to those poor people. ”
Melanie’s fantasy of knocking Rhonda to the ground and punching her in the throat was shut down when footsteps echoed from the space outside.
“Melanie? I’m here. What the fuck do you want?” Anger threaded Chase’s voice.
“Showtime,” Rhonda said in a quiet voice as she moved to the door.
The second she was out of sight Donna spoke in a rush of whispered words. “I’ve got my pocketknife. I got the blade open but the angle’s wrong and I can’t cut the ties.”
“Oh, my god, Mom. You’re amazing.” Unexpected hope surged.
Rhonda had bound their hands in front of them. Melanie grasped the knife and cut through the plastic binding Donna’s wrists. She grimaced when the ties released. She took the knife and did the same for Melanie and in seconds they were both free.
“Melanie, you go. Get out of here and get help. I did something to my knee, and it hurts bad. I don’t think I can walk.”
“I’m not leaving you.”
“You have to. I’ll slow you down. I’ll do what I can to protect myself, but you have to go.”
“Mom.”
“No, you’ve got Addy. You have to save yourself.”
“No.” Melanie brushed away a tear.
“Go, Mellie. Addy needs you.”
Hating her decision, Melanie forced back tears and handed back the pocketknife. “Okay. But I’m helping you to your feet. Get to the doorway. If Rhonda gets past me, stab her in the neck when she walks in.”
With Donna standing, Melanie retrieved her flashlight and crept to peer around the doorway.
Chase stood inside the bay opening. As she watched, Rhonda stepped into the light. He caught sight of her and stumbled back.
“What the hell, Rhonda? What are you doing here? Put that gun down.”
Rhonda’s laughter hinged on derangement. “You’re not running this show, Chase. Not anymore. I’m done taking orders from you.”
“Where’s Melanie? What’s going on?”
Rhonda’s back was to her and with Chase’s attention focused on the gun, Melanie crept out of the room. Staying low, she followed the wall, using the shadows as cover.
“Melanie’s in here. She knows it was you, that you’re the rapist.”
“Fuck! You told her?” he snarled. “You bitch. I’ll destroy whatever reputation you think you have. You think Josh won’t divorce you once he knows you lied to him? He’ll disown Dylan, and your kid will be left with nothing.”
“That won’t happen because you won’t get the chance to tell him.” Rhonda motioned with the gun. “Into that room.”
“Fuck no. I’m not going anywhere with you.”
Melanie darted behind a large piece of machinery. There had to be a back exit. She tried to remember her walk around the building. Had there been a door at the far end?
A strong gust of wind shook the building. A section of the metal roof lifted before tearing loose and disappearing.
Chase and Rhonda appeared poised in a frozen tableau with rain pelting through the opening. Chase lunged forward and gripped Rhonda’s arm. They crashed into the log conveyor, both struggling for the gun. Melanie sucked in a breath as Chase forced Rhonda back toward the teeth of a giant saw blade.
Rhonda twisted and a gunshot rang out. The gun clattered across the floor. Chase and Rhonda both scrambled for it. When they rose, Chase held the gun. Blood ran from a graze across his forehead.
“This changes things, doesn’t it, bitch?” he sneered, blood and rain running down his face like tears.
Rhonda bolted up the stairs.
Chase ran to follow her, then faltered when he spied Melanie.
“You! This is all because of you.” He raised the pistol slowly. “Rhonda was on to something. Better this ends now. I’ll take care of you first, then her.”
Melanie stepped forward. Anger overcame her fear.
“No, Chase. This is all because of you. You will rot in hell for what you did to me. You are a despicable excuse for a human being.” Words bottled inside for fifteen years tumbled out.
“Now everyone will know. No matter what happens here today, it will come out. People will know the deeply reprehensible and shameful thing you did to me, and how you let an innocent man go to prison for your crime. You’re a monster. ”
“That was a long time ago. You deserved what you got for rejecting me. But you should have left it alone, moved on with your life like I did. Now I’m fixing this, and no one will know. I’ll get rid of you and Rhonda. I’m a Bradford and people respect that. They’ll believe anything I tell them.”
“Are you so sure about that?” she asked coolly. “Are you really a Bradford?
Confusion flickered across Chase’s face. “What the fuck are you talking about?”
“I got an email this morning from Neil Grafton. Did you know he had an affair with your mother?”
“I don’t believe you.”
“Believe it,” she said, voice low and fierce. “We have a witness. Someone who overheard your mother telling Neil she was pregnant, and that it’d be easy to convince her husband the baby was his.”
He shook his head in denial. “You’re lying. Even if it happened, it doesn’t matter.”
“It matters, Chase, because she and George were having fertility issues. They were unable to conceive. He probably saw the pregnancy as a miracle. But it wasn’t a miracle, was it?”
“You’re making this up,” he snapped. “I’m a Bradford.”
“Then explain why Grafton swapped your name with Walker’s as the DNA match. He did it because you’re his son. He admitted it in the email.”
“You’re lying,” he roared, fury blazing in his eyes.
Movement near the bay door made them both freeze.
Melanie blinked against a sudden gust of wind, and there he was.
Gage stood silhouetted in the open doorway, the storm roiling behind him. Legs braced, gaze laser focused, he leveled his gun on Chase.
“Drop the weapon, Bradford, or you’re a dead man.” Gage’s voice cracked through the storm like a rifle shot, lethal and unflinching. Rain drenched his coat.
Relief crashed over Melanie in a dizzying wave. Her knees wobbled, but she forced herself to stay upright.
Chase’s bravado collapsed. The gun trembled in his grip. Then his expression hardened and she braced herself.
A blur of motion and Shane Keller came in hard, taking Chase to the ground. The gun skittered across the floor. Gage surged forward and retrieved it as Shane wrenched Chase’s hands behind his back.
Gage threw him handcuffs. He moved to Melanie as his gaze surveyed the scene.
“Gage, Rhonda is here,” Melanie spoke urgently. “She ran up the stairs when Chase got the gun.”
Donna, who’d hobbled to the doorway, shouted a warning that drew their attention up.
Rhonda stood on a narrow metal catwalk, hands wrapped around a massive industrial claw suspended by a rusted cable. Her expression was wild with desperation as she fought to move the heavy steel.
“Leave it, Rhonda,” Gage shouted. “Come down. It’s over.”
“Rhonda, think of Dylan.” Melanie raised her voice to be heard over the crashing storm. “Please. Come down. Your son needs you.”
“I’m protecting my son.” Her voice cracked with rage. “I’m doing what I have to.”
With a wrenching cry, Rhonda released the heavy claw and let it drop.
It swung in a deadly arc bearing directly toward them.
Shane flattened on the floor beside Chase. Gage grabbed Melanie and pushed them both against the wall as the claw swung perilously close.
Like a massive pendulum, the weight swung back toward the catwalk.
Melanie’s heart stopped. Rhonda realized her mistake and tried to scramble back. But it was too late.
The claw crashed into the catwalk, making the entire structure shudder. Rhonda lost her footing and grabbed for a railing that gave under her weight. Her scream echoed through the mill as she toppled over the edge.
Her cry died the instant she was impaled on a jagged saw blade.