Chapter 62
The sound of distant knocking broke through the silence of the room. It echoed down the hallway, the sound muffled by the door. Frantic voices called out. I strained to make out the words. My heart skipped a beat.
“West! Here! Here!” I shouted as loudly as I could.
Jill was on me in a second, shoving a pillow over my head.
But she was too late. The door burst open in a violent splintering of wood. West pointed a gun at Jill and, unable to get to her own gun on the bed in time, she threw her hands up in the air.
“Fuck, I thought you’d never fucking get here!” I shouted at them.
“Rian was too busy getting laid,” West growled.
I looked over at Rian and he shrugged sheepishly.
“Oh, well, in that case, I forgive you,” I said, sarcastically. “Maybe you can untie me and get me the fuck out of here, though?”
“Sure thing, man,” Rian said, moving towards the bed.
“Don’t fucking move,” West warned Jill, his gun still pointed towards her.
Rian moved towards me and relief flooded my veins. He stopped short and froze before he reached me, failing to look behind West.
“You don’t fucking move,” Harlan said, his gun jammed in the back of West’s head. “Lower the gun, West.”
Slowly, West complied.
“If you want your precious friend here to live,” Harlan said to Rian. “You’ll move over to the corner of the room.”
“Harlan, you don’t have to do this,” I said. “Let them go. It’s me you want. Right?”
“You’re all assholes, as far as I’m concerned.” He gestured to Rian. “Move!”
“You don’t want to do this.”
“It would bring me great pleasure to dole out some much overdue revenge.”
“Harlan?” West said, his face scrunching. “From Westlake?”
“Oh, you actually remember me?” Harlan said.
West shrugged. “Yeah, man, I remember your sister too.”
“Don’t bring up my sister!” Harlan objected.
“Why not? She was nice, if I remember correctly,” West said, nodding. “She was in my Biology class. She had some rare bone disease, though, right? That’s why she used a wheelchair.”
“Leave her out of this,” Harlan said.
Jill had moved next to him now. “That’s why he wants the money,” she confessed.
“To care for your sister?” West asked.
“So, it’s not just revenge for Avett, then?” I latched onto this new information. “Harlan, if you kill us, you’ll never get away with it. Just like I said to Jill. You’d be better off just taking the money and we can just let this all go now. We won’t tell anyone. We have a lot to lose ourselves.”
“Harlan, if you put down that gun, I promise you I’ll make sure your sister has everything she needs,” West offered.
“For the rest of her life,” I agreed. “Full time caretakers, the best healthcare, we can even get her into a few studies.”
“We’ve tried all that,” Harlan insisted.
“Have you tried all that with the support of our fame and wealth?” West asked.
Harlan hesitated, seeming to contemplate our offer. From my vantage point on the bed, I could see the front door but Jill and Harlan were facing away from it, their attention focused on Rian and West. When I saw Everleigh at the door, silently taking in the scene, a wave of fear washed over me.
Once she saw that Jill and Harlan were facing away from the door, she silently moved to the bed, untying me as West kept them talking.
“What was your sister’s name, Harlan? I can’t remember.”
In seconds, Ev had me untied. I was in awe at how quickly she’d unknotted the ropes but I moved quickly to my feet and pushed her behind me.
West, in the best acting moment of his life, didn’t flinch as he watched me walk up behind Harlan.
“Her name’s Hannah,” Harlan replied. “And she’s a really good person.”
“Yeah, I bet you are too,” West said, just as I wrapped my arm around Harlan’s neck and grabbed the gun at the same time.
He never heard me coming.
West and Rian rushed towards us, knocking Jill to the ground as I turned the gun on both of them.
“On the floor!” I shouted. Harlan scrambled to the floor, trembling in fear.
“Don’t shoot!” He cried.
“Don’t fucking move! Neither one of you!” I shouted.
When Violet rushed into the room, it was all over.