He gives me a bloody smile. “He’s not gonna make it.” Lifting the gun, he fires.
EPILOGUE
COLE
Twelve years later . . .
It’s the usual cloudy day in Collins, Oregon. Any second, the clouds are going to open and pour down rain. I miss it here. This town had a lot of demons, but it was quiet at times. You never get that in Dallas. There are always people no matter where you go. And the traffic—it drives me mad sometimes.
I kneel and place the bouquet of yellow flowers on the grave. They’re the only ones at this cemetery. Not much has changed. The dead are still forgotten at the top of this hill. I come back to visit it twice a year. Every Christmas and on her birthday. I wish I could come more, but work isn’t slow by any means. Running a law firm isn’t an easy feat. Even if you have Deke Biggs as your partner. But I make sure to come and tell her that I miss her. How much I loved her. How I wish she could see Lilly grow up. She’s gonna turn eighteen this year, and I just can’t wrap my head around it.
I turn around, giving the grave my back and look down the hill at the house that was torn down years ago. The Lowes estate was demolished after Bruce was arrested on three counts of manslaughter. We were supposed to kill him, but like I once told Austin—plans change. And that’s exactly what happened when Deke and I showed up to the house after she called me that night.
My phone rings, and I look down to see it’s the Lowes residence. I answer, expecting it to be Celeste. “Hello?”
“Cole!” Austin strangled voice calls out my name.
I jump up from the couch in the clubhouse. “Austin! What’s wrong?” I demand.
“What’s going on?” Deke asks also standing.
She starts to cry uncontrollably, and I can’t understand a thing she is trying to say. “Slow down, sweetheart. I can’t understand a thing you’re saying.”
“He’s here!” she screams. “Kellan’s at my father’s house. He killed Celeste!”
“I’m on my way …” The line goes dead.
Deke and I pull into the drive in record time and jump out of my car. He’s already called 911 on our way. I burst through the front door and don’t even bother giving Celeste’s lifeless body a second of attention, knowing she’s already dead.
“Austin?” I yell out, pulling my gun out of the back of my jeans. “Austin?” I shout, running down the hallway.
I follow a blood trail into the kitchen and come to a stop when I see Kellan leaning against the countertop. He chuckles when he sees me, but it causes him to cough. A knife sticks out of his side.
My eyes look at the wall ahead of me, and it’s also covered in blood. Austin’s blood. She lies on the floor on her side. I run to her.
“Austin?” I choke on her name, brushing her hair from her face. The smell of the blood so strong it causes bile to rise, but I swallow it down.
“What the fuck?” Deke gasps, entering the kitchen.
“Take him!” I call out.
“She needs help,” he says, looking down at her body with narrowed eyes. There’s so much blood I don’t know where it’s coming from.
“Take him!” I bark. “Help is on their way.” I turn my attention back to her, and I hear Kellan grunt as Deke drags him out to the car. Taking him where the cops will never find him. He’s not dead yet, but once I’m done with him, he’ll wish he was.
Austin’s eyes are closed, and her body lies limp. “Please, baby,” I beg. “I can’t lose you.” My throat tightens. I feel her neck for a pulse, and I feel nothing.
My heart stops, and I drag her away from the wall to the center of the kitchen floor. I begin CPR.
The guys and I called off the last dare. Bruce didn’t need to die. We had enough evidence on the laptop that Austin had Shane steal to prove Bruce had three people killed. I never did find out why he tried to kill me. Deke thinks he wanted me dead so Celeste could have Lilly. I always knew she wished Lilly was hers, but that didn’t make sense to me. Bruce never wanted kids. Why would he want Lilly then? I reminded Deke that some people are just evil. They do things just because of the simple fact that they can. I should know. Look at what I put Austin through.
Bruce was arrested three days after I found Austin dead on his kitchen floor, and his conviction gives him no chance of parole. He’ll spend the rest of his miserable life in a cell wondering how in the hell he got caught. Trying to figure out how four teenage boys and his teenage daughter managed to fuck him. It wasn’t the original plan, but it was good enough for me.