Chapter 27
TWENTY-SEVEN
Pain pulsed through her skull. Annie winced and peeled her eyes open.
Pale light lay across her legs and ankles, which were secured to an old wooden chair with zip ties.
Nausea threatened. She sucked in air scented with moldy hay and machine oil, willing her stomach to settle as flashes of memory flickered through her slow-moving brain.
Fighting with Heather in an attempt to escape.
Receiving another jolt from the stun gun.
Then a blow to the head, landing on the same tender spot she’d cracked against Kayla’s SUV.
She’d passed out.
Fear lanced through her, erasing some of the fogginess in her brain.
Her surroundings came into focus. She was in the old barn at the edge of her property.
Weak light filtered across the cement floor from a kerosene lamp.
Something scuffled overhead in the loft.
It sent Annie’s heart rate spiking overdrive.
A rat darted along a beam and disappeared into a pile of hay.
Sucking in a breath, Annie searched the barn for Heather, but didn’t see her. Rain beat a steady tempo against the ancient tin roof, and an icy wind whipped through gaps in the old wooden boards on the walls.
Her head throbbed, made worse by the cold seeping under her jacket. It was painful to keep her eyes open. Still, Annie tugged at the ties on her wrists.
“Don’t bother trying to escape.” Heather’s bored voice filtered out of the shadows along the far side of the barn. “I’ll just kill you.”
Annie didn’t understand why she wasn’t dead already, but it didn’t seem prudent to ask.
Instead, she stilled her movements. Everything she’d learned about talking to a person holding a weapon came back at once.
If there was any chance of getting out of this alive, she needed to connect with Heather.
“I never knew you were in love with Seth. It must’ve hurt to see him with Kayla.
” She kept her gaze on the shadow across the room.
Heather’s expression wasn’t visible. “Did Seth know how you felt?”
“What do you care? You and I were never friends, Annie.”
“No, Kayla made sure of that.” Annie hated to speak ill of the dead, but she was in a fight for her life here. “But I’d like to think we could’ve been friends, if given the chance.”
Heather was quiet and then sighed. She eased into the light of the lantern resting on the floor near Annie.
Her red hair was scraped back into a low ponytail, her mouth tight with something between regret and rage.
She held the stun gun. “A lot of things would’ve been different if Kayla hadn’t interfered. ”
“Like you and Seth.”
She nodded. “She knew I cared about him, but it didn’t matter.” Heather sneered. “What Kayla wanted, she got.”
Annie flexed her wrists. The ties were immovable. “And the worst part is she didn’t even care about Seth. She was just using him to make Preston jealous.”
Heather’s face hardened. “She betrayed Seth. She discovered his secrets and told them to Preston. They probably had a good laugh about it behind Seth’s back. And then to reveal that his dad was in prison for murder in front of everyone…Preston knew exactly what he was doing.”
“What they did was cruel. I was angry about it too. That’s why I went after Seth.” She met Heather’s gaze. “I’m not like Preston. Or Kayla. I cared about him too. Surely you realize that.”
“I recognized that you and Tate tried to help him, but you both cared more about each other than Seth.”
“That’s not true.” Tears pricked Annie’s eyes. The pain in her head was unbearable. “We were heartbroken over his death, just like you are. You saw me at the funeral. Please, Heather, things don’t have to end this way. You have the power to change it. Release me and let’s walk out of here.”
Heather’s silence seemed louder in the wide expanse of the barn.
Annie’s heart sank. Nothing she was saying made any difference.
A memory surfaced. Kayla and Heather were together at the front desk on the first day of the reunion.
She inhaled sharply. “The parking lot attack…you knew I’d gone out to Kayla’s car.
You were standing there with her when she asked me to get her cell phone and laptop. Marcus attacked anyway.”
“That was a mistake. I texted to warn him, but he didn’t check his phone until it was over. Marcus knew the second you fought back that something was wrong. Kayla never threw a punch in her life.”
“And he kept coming.”
“You’re an ex-cop. The plan was always to kill you at some point. We couldn’t have you putting together the pieces.”
A sour taste filled her mouth. “And Tate?”
“He wasn’t supposed to attend the reunion. We had to change plans.”
“So the attacks were designed to get rid of us?” She closed her eyes as her vision blurred and doubled. “It was never about Seth. Tate and I were just in the way.”
“It’s always been about Seth. But we’re not stupid. Marcus and I plan on walking away once it’s all said and done.”
Annie shook her head and then stopped as pain laced through her. “Do you really think you can simply continue on as if nothing has happened?” She recalled the sadness in Heather’s voice during their conversation after Kayla died. The grief had been real. “Kayla was your friend.”
Anger, hot and quick, flashed across Heather’s face. “She was never my friend. Kayla only liked me if I worshiped her.”
Sadly, that was probably true. Annie kept the focus on Heather. “Her death still affected you. You had regrets about what you were doing, I know you did, and those won’t go away once you leave the ranch.” She paused. “Dylan’s dead. Did you know that?”
Heather’s expression pinched with grief before she shoved it aside. “Of course I knew. Who do you think called, begging to have someone walk me to the cabin so I could be safe?”
Horror sank into Annie with sharp claws. It shouldn’t have surprised her—the callousness of Heather’s actions—but it did. “You tricked him.”
She shrugged. “Blame Preston. He was the one I was really after. I messaged him, begging for an escort, but the coward sent someone else to do his dirty work. Just like always.” Her gaze flickered over Annie, lingering on her face.
“You’re hiding it well, but I can see your judgment.
Dylan isn’t someone you should cry for. He’s just as horrible as Preston.
Don’t you remember what they did to you at prom?
Dylan helped plan that little charade, and he laughed along with the rest of them when you left in tears. ”
“And you didn’t?” Annie challenged. “We’ve all made mistakes. Some of them have been horrible and painful to others, but the answer isn’t murder. This is wrong, Heather.”
“You just don’t get it. My life was supposed to be different.
Seth should have fallen in love with me.
Would have if Kayla hadn’t gotten in the way.
We’d get married, have babies. A happy life.
” Her face flushed as her voice rose. “But instead, he died! Don’t you get that?
It didn’t have to happen. Every one of you robbed me of the future I was supposed to have! ”
Annie stared at Heather. She was delusional. Lost. Saying that aloud wouldn’t help
though, so Annie dug deep for compassion. “I’m sorry. It’s clear you loved Seth, and I know you’re in pain, but this isn’t the way to fix things.”
“It is for me. And for Marcus.” She smiled, although it was bitter and cold. “The storm was a sign that the universe is with us.”
The universe. Heather believed in something just big enough to agree with her. The God Annie prayed to grieved Kayla. Grieved Seth. He didn't send ice storms to bless murder.
Annie swallowed down her disgust. “You provided Marcus with our phone numbers so he could text us messages pretending to be Seth. But how did you track our movements? You were in your room so much.”
“There are hidden cameras in the lobby and the dining room. Small, wireless ones that were easy enough to position during the opening gathering. Between those and the times I came downstairs, it wasn’t hard to track everyone.
” Heather’s anger flared again. “I’ve been underestimated my whole life.
Not smart enough. Not pretty enough. Seth was the first guy who noticed me. He saw me. Until Kayla got in the way.”
“And Marcus?”
“We understand each other.”
Annie shook her head, wincing at the pain the movement wrought. “He’s using you.”
Heather glowered. “We’re using each other.” She sucked in a breath, the last of her rage melting away behind a mask of determination. “Marcus and I will have our vengeance.” She checked her watch and then drifted over to the shadows again.
Annie heard hinges creak. Watching for Marcus?
More than likely. Annie took advantage of Heather’s distraction to wobble the chair.
It swayed beneath her. If she tipped over, it was possible she’d be able to free her hands.
And then what? It would take several seconds to remove the zip ties securing her feet to the chair.
By then Heather would zap her with the stun gun.
Plus, she was blocking the only doorway.
If…and it was a big if…Annie could get free, she’d need to get to the loft.
The hay would shield her from view, and there was an old door and chute she could use to escape.
She pulled on the chair rungs, trying to loosen the rotting wood from the seat.
To cover any noise, she kept talking. “How long have you and Marcus been planning this?”