Chapter 30
“You lost her?”
Toby’s voice rang in Addie’s ears. Toby…all this time.
Was everything Toby? The texts. Rhett’s murder and Ellis’s stabbing? All to scare her out of town? But why?
“She pretended she was unconscious and attacked me. Do you see my nose? I’m lucky she didn’t have a weapon!”
Addie touched a hand to her chest, trying to remain calm as she watched Toby’s shoes close the space between him and Cass. “We need to find her now, before any of those soldiers show up.”
“No.” Cass stepped back. “The deal was, I deliver her here to you and then I leave.”
“I know this is scary, Cass. But if you don’t help me, and they find her, you’ll be arrested anyway.” His voice was soft now. Gentle. “She murdered Rhett. You loved him. Help me make sure she can’t hurt anyone else.”
Jesus, had he been using his training as a therapist to manipulate Cass?
There was a pause before Cass spoke. “Thirty minutes. And if we don’t find her, I need to go.”
“Thank you. Call me if you find her. I’ll take care of her.”
“Good. Because I can’t kill anyone.”
“I know. It’s okay. That’s why I’m here.”
Addie’s belly rolled at that gentle, I-care-about-you fakeness. He was using Cass. Lying to her. And she was buying all of it.
Cass and Toby both walked away in opposite directions.
For a few minutes, Addie didn’t move. She wasn’t even sure if moving was the best option. She could wait here for Noah or Colt, because one of them had to arrive soon.
But there was a chance Cass or Toby would return, and she was vulnerable under this food truck. They’d probably already checked the cabin, so maybe they didn’t plan to return there? Plus, there were knives in the kitchen. A phone to call Noah, in case he hadn’t connected her with the alarm.
Move. Every part of her screamed that she needed to get out from under this vehicle. Run.
She closed her eyes and drew in a deep breath.
You can do this, Addie. Survive until help comes.
One more deep inhale and she slipped out from under the chassis, her body hurting from all the injuries. Her pulse galloped in her veins and her legs felt like rubber. But she moved. Slipping through the trees, trying to run quickly while keeping her steps as quiet as possible.
Her eyes scanned the forest around her, searching. Making sure she was alone. Every step had her breathing quickening and the fear in her chest squeezing and expanding.
When the office came into view, she almost sighed in relief.
So close.
It wasn’t until she reached the window that she realized she’d have to crawl through the broken shards of glass that bordered the frame.
Crap.
She turned and searched for a rock. When she found one, she used it to break the remaining glass off. Every time she hit a new shard, she cringed. After three hits, she couldn’t risk the sound anymore.
Someone would hear. She just needed to get inside.
She grabbed the edge and hauled herself up. Small fragments of glass cut into her palms, shooting pain into her hands. But she ignored it. She had one focus, find a weapon.
She dropped to the other side. She was in. Now she needed a knife.
In the kitchen, she searched through the drawers, finding the long butcher’s knife. She wrapped her fingers around the handle and turned. But the second she stepped into the office, she stopped.
Because there, standing in front of her, was Toby—and he had a gun aimed straight at her chest.
“Put down the knife, Addie.”
She swallowed, every part of her wanting, needing, to keep the knife firmly gripped in her palm. But she didn’t have a choice. The knife dropped with a clatter.
“How did you know I was here?”
“I saw you. I could have taken a shot but I’m not the best distance shooter, so I followed instead.”
“Why?” The single word was coated with confusion and disbelief. “Why have you done all this? What money is there to gain from chasing me out of town?”
“You still haven’t worked it out?”
“Worked what out?”
“Jules.”
She frowned. “What does Jules have to do with any of this?”
His step forward was slow and predatory. “Every so often, I get a golden client. Someone who’s nearing death, but with no family to leave any inheritance to. Usually, it’s the elderly. But it could also include the sick…like Jules.”
Finally, she understood. And it made her sick. This guy didn’t want to help people—he wanted to take from them. Steal.
“So she started seeing you for therapy, you learned that she had no one to will her money or assets to, and that she was going to die, so you took advantage of her.”
“I made myself important. Home visits. Late-night calls. I spent eighteen months investing in Jules. We both benefited. But then, she suddenly reveals that she has a daughter! She didn’t even tell me she was looking for you, and suddenly she calls me from fucking Amber Ridge to tell me what she was doing.
And I knew if I didn’t act quickly, everything I’d worked so hard for would be taken from me—by you. ”
Everything he’d worked hard for? Was he serious? He hadn’t worked hard for anything. He’d lied and taken advantage of Jules, only showing her kindness so he could steal from her.
“You’re a terrible person,” she whispered.
“No. I’m smart. But clearly, you’re not.
I tried to scare you away. I even tried to break up you and Noah because I knew if you two started dating, you were never going to leave.
Once you were gone, I could keep getting closer to Jules.
Reaffirm to her that I am the closest person to her.
But you just wouldn’t heed my warnings. You just kept getting closer to Jules. ”
“Why did you kill Rhett?” The question burst out of her.
“The sheriff was onto him. I couldn’t have him ratting me out for paying him to tamper with the rock-climbing gear and steal your house key.
” He frowned. “I’d actually planned to kill him when he turned his back to me, but he was so cocky and made me so damn angry.
He started yelling, saying I was a psycho and he was going to tell everyone what I’d done. ”
He’d lost his temper? How was this guy a therapist? “And now you plan to kill me?”
“I do. And then Cass. I’ll put her prints on the gun, and everyone will think she did it. Jules will be so upset that she’ll lean on me. And everything will go back to the way it was.”
Something flickered outside the window. It took everything inside Addie not to look. But she didn’t need to. She knew what it was.
“There’s something you don’t know,” she said quietly.
He lifted a brow.
“There’s a silent alarm on this cabin. It alerted Noah and Colt the second I broke the window. And I think they just arrived.”
A crunch of what sounded like glass beneath feet came from the other room.
Toby moved so quickly that she didn’t see him coming. He yanked her in front of him and pressed his back to the wall.
Then Noah stepped into the room, gun raised, eyes narrowed on Toby.
Noah pressed his foot to the floor, his truck well exceeding the speed limit. He’d run out of Jules’s house so fast that Jesse hadn’t been able to stop him. Not that his cousin would have. Jesse and his deputy were behind him.
Cass had headed west. The park was west and the alarm had gone off…it meant she was there. It had to mean she was there.
He checked the rearview mirror to see Jesse’s patrol car close on his tail. Colt would be on his way too. His friend knew Addie was missing. Noah had no doubt that the second the alarm went off, he’d have connected it to Addie.
Noah’s fingers tightened around the wheel.
He wanted to kick his own ass. This entire time, it had been Toby.
Noah had sat in the man’s office and asked for his help while telling him things he’d never told anyone.
And the asshole had used that information against him.
Pushed him to break things off with Addie, likely to leave her unprotected.
Noah was going to kill him. And if the asshole had touched a fucking hair on Addie’s head, he was going to tear him apart with his bare hands.
He pulled into the driveway of the park but didn’t go all the way to the parking lot. He couldn’t risk Toby or Cass realizing he was here before he wanted them to know.
Cass…fuck, he’d basically handed her to Toby on a silver platter. But she’d made the choice to work with him. And now she needed to be stopped too.
When the truck was parked, he took his Glock from the middle console and climbed out.
Jesse and his deputy were already out of their patrol car.
“Claudia, I want you to search the forest. When backup gets here, they can do the same.” Jesse turned to Noah. “Let’s go check out the office.”
Noah nodded before jogging down the drive. He moved quickly, scanning the trees as he ran, looking for threats.
When he finally reached the cabin, he remained low, moving quietly. He didn’t bother with the door. It was closed and didn’t look broken. So where had they gained access? What had set off the alarm?
He rounded the cabin and spotted the shattered window.
He was about to haul himself inside when he heard her voice.
“There’s a silent alarm on this log cabin. It alerted Noah and Colt the second I broke the window. And I think they just arrived.”
His heart stopped. Addie. She was alive!
Quickly, he leaped through the window and ran into the office. What he saw made his blood run cold.
Toby had his arm around Addie’s throat and the muzzle of a gun to her temple.
Noah’s eyes narrowed. “Put down the gun, Toby.”
He growled. “No. I’m calling the shots here. You put down the gun or I shoot her.”
“You don’t want to die today.”
The therapist’s jaw visibly tightened. “I’m holding a gun on your woman. If you want her to live, then you need to unlock the door and let me leave.”
“You expect me to believe that you’ll just let her go?”
“What’s the alternative? Wait for me to shoot her?”
“The alternative is for you to release her and put your hands up so no one gets hurt.”
Toby laughed, but the sound was almost manic. “I’m not going to prison.”
“I’m afraid that other than a bullet to your head, that’s your only option.”
A single second passed before Toby suddenly pulled the pistol from her head and started to point it at Noah.
Addie immediately shoved his arm straight up into the air and dropped.
That’s when Noah fired, hitting Toby in the skull.
Jesse appeared in the window, gun raised, but he wasn’t needed.
Toby crashed to the floor and Noah was across the room in seconds, wrapping Addie in his arms.
“Shit, Addison, you scared the hell out of me! Are you okay?”
She dug her head into the crook of his neck. “I am now.”
He tightened his arms around her. She was alive. Safe. He wasn’t too late.
Finally, he could breathe again.