Chapter 24 #2
Her eyes popped open and focused on Sebastián standing atop the bald rock. Her pulse pounded and her heart leaped into her throat at the sight of the gun he held, pointing to Bianca’s head.
Bianca’s cream-colored shirt was saturated with blood on the neckline.
Her right eye was nearly swollen shut, and most of her face was the color of an eggplant.
Dried blood streaked over her cheek. It obviously came from her disfigured nose.
Her full upper lip was swollen. She looked exhausted as she stood limply, as Sebastián clutched her close to his side.
“Come out, come out, wherever you are?” Sebastián yelled.
Chief Ricco gripped her arm and put his finger to his mouth, telling her to stay quiet.
“I offer a fair exchange. You for Bianca.”
That was bullshit, and Hannah knew it. He’d kill them both.
She and Hunter both looked to the chief for direction. He mouthed the word wait to them. Did he have a plan, or was he trying to think one up? She’d never expected to see Bianca with him. This was a game changer.
“I know you’re here. I saw your campsite. You’ve got to the count of three before I blow your little friend’s head off.”
“Don’t. Run. He’ll kill us both!” Bianca yelled with slurred words.
Hannah sprang forward, but only made it one step before Hunter grabbed her upper arm so tightly it halted her.
Bianca slumped, and Sebastián yanked her back up, using her as a shield.
“One.”
“Chief, do something,” she pleaded.
He had his aim on her with his pistol, but Bianca was so close to Sebastián.
“Stay,” he said before he stepped out of the tree line.
Sebastián’s facial features hardened, and he tugged Bianca in front of him. Her body moved as if she were a ragdoll.
“Give me that bitch now,” Sebastián yelled to the chief.
“No. Release Bianca. If you don’t, you are not getting out of here alive.”
“You won’t shoot. You might accidentally hit her. How would that look? Cop kills victim.”
Sebastián stood with only half of his face peering around Bianca.
He was right. There was no way Chief Ricco could shoot.
Hannah wanted to leap out of the woods to end this madness.
Hunter must have read her mind because his grip tightened on her arm.
What they’d thought would be a good visual position was now the worst position they could be in.
To get to Sebastián, they’d have to go through Bianca, and they couldn’t do that.
Bianca went into a full-blown sob and kept slumping.
Sebastián kept yanking at her. She gasped for air.
Her face turned white as a ghost. The one eye Hannah could see rolled back into her head, and she collapsed to the ground.
A shot rang out. Sebastián fell to the ground behind her.
Chief Ricco crouched down and looked to the left, then back to Sebastián, then to the left again.
The chief sprang up and ran toward Bianca and Sebastián. Hunter flew by her side and did the same. She felt frozen in place. She didn’t want to see another dead body on top of these falls, or anywhere else for that matter.
“She’s breathing. Sebastián is dead,” Hunter yelled to her.
Hannah leaped out of the woods and ran to Bianca.
Hannah crouched down next to her, placed her hand on her shoulder, and shook her slightly.
“Bianca, can you hear me?” Hannah asked twice before her friend’s eyes fluttered open, the swollen one just a slit.
“Hannah?” Bianca whispered.
“Yes. You’re okay. Sebastián is dead.”
“I’m so sorry. This is all my fault.”
“What?”
“I did this. I did all of this. I didn’t want to. He made me.”
“It’s okay. I know.”
“No. You don’t. Even back then. Alyssa. Your parents. This is all my fault.”
Bianca’s words felt like a knife slicing her heart. Her friend had betrayed her.
Hannah looked at Hunter and Chief Ricco. Both men wore a shocked expression.
Bianca’s breathing labored, and she passed out.
The chief called over the radio for evacuation help, then asked the million-dollar question.
“Who shot?”
One by one, the men replied. Nobody fessed up.
Chief Ricco glanced around.
“None of our men were in a position to see this far and shoot,” the chief stated.
The probing look he wore basically asked her and Hunter if they knew who shot.
“I’ve got no idea. Nobody else knows we’re here,” Hunter replied.
Hannah nodded in agreement.
Chief Ricco shared a knowing glance with Hunter and he looked away.
Now she really wanted to know. Lee? Heidi?
Was this why Lee used the word my instead of we before, and I’m instead of we’re? Was Lee letting the chief know Heidi wasn’t with him—was in some sort of position?
Good heavens. Did Heidi do this? She recalled the elk story from earlier in the day. Lee beamed when he’d said Heidi shot that elk at five hundred and seventy-five yards.
Had Chief Ricco asked the men the question, already knowing the answer to keep the shooter a mystery? Had he and Hunter just held that brief conversation for her benefit? To keep her from knowing the truth when asked?
You know what, she didn’t care who the shooter was, the demon was dead and wouldn’t be able to hurt anyone else.