Chapter Sixty-Nine
Hayley sees the swirling gray sky overhead as he jerks her head back. She feels the rain pouring over her face like tears. But she isn’t crying.
She’s too angry for tears, filled with fury that leaves no room for fear.
How dare he?
How dare he do this to her?
How dare he touch her, threaten her, kill her?
She’s actually going to die.
This is what it feels like. This is how it happens.
You do one little thing wrong, and it leads to an even worse thing, and then another even worse thing, and the next thing you know, you’re in trouble. In danger.
You’re going to die, and there’s nothing you can do about it.
Her parents are going to be so sad, and Caleb is going to be so scared, and it’s all her fault.
No, it’s really the fault of this horrible, evil man who looks like a normal person and thinks she’s someone named Sis, and has a knife and is holding her so tightly she can’t move, and she sees the glint of steel blade as it slashes toward her, and she closes her eyes just before it hits her throat—
And then there’s a deafening blast, the loudest noise Hayley has ever heard.
All at once, he lets go.
She falls on her back, gasping. She feels him topple to the ground beside her, and she feels a rush of movement.
A voice says, “Run! Go!”
She opens her eyes.
The man is lying there, gaping at her, blood pouring from his mouth. He’s making terrible gasping sounds.
Someone else is here, standing over them.
“Run!” the voice says again, and Hayley realizes it’s a command meant for her.
She rolls onto her side and sees the girl. She’s dressed all in black, wearing a hood and some kind of cloak, and she’s holding a gun.
That’s what made the noise. She shot him.
She’s going to shoot him again. She’s leaning toward him, pointing the gun at his head.
Hayley pushes herself up. Her feet are bare, her flip-flops lost in the struggle, but it doesn’t matter. She starts running, as fast as she can.
She hears another blast of sound, and this time, she knows it came from the gun. She runs faster, her heart racing as much from the exertion as from shock.
Because she recognized the girl with the gun. The girl who saved her.
It’s Caroline Winterfield, Mom’s friend who drowned in the lake.