Chapter 57

RILEY

My heart pounded as I sat in the tree, praying someone would find me. Leith's stepbrother was somewhere in the forest, prowling through the trees, tormenting me with a blow-by-blow description of how he killed two women.

Placing my hands over my ears, I try to keep my imagination from seeing the cruel and sadistic ritual the victims had gone through. I didn't know what Leith's stepbrother's life had been like to make him such a monster, but it must have been horrific.

I frowned as another sound drifted across the lake. Sirens. The police were here, and maybe Eric and Alex. I bit my lip to keep from yelling for help. It would take a while for them to work out what had happened, to search the cottage, and then head into the forest.

Closing my eyes, I thought about Granddad and the hours he spent in the forest, exploring the shore of Willow Lake. He called it his little slice of paradise. When he wasn't in the forest, he was in the garage, inventing gadgets that made the world a little easier for someone else. Grandma would smile at him as she listened to him explain how his latest invention worked. None of the designs were ever produced commercially, but they both enjoyed the excitement of creating and using something that no one had ever seen.

A branch snapped. My eyes flew open. Leith's stepbrother was close. I could almost smell his adrenaline, the excitement pounding through his veins.

"It won't be long now," his voice taunted. "You can't outrun a predator, Riley. We have a sixth sense when it comes to our victims. You all make the same mistakes, the same…"

I didn't want to know what made him stop talking, but whatever it was couldn't be good.

"What do we have here? Oh, dear. It looks as though someone hurt themselves."

My leg throbbed. Blood oozed through the thin cotton bandage, scenting the forest as if it were feeding time at the zoo. Leith's stepbrother would find me, dissect me like the lab rats we studied in high school.

If he was standing where I fell, he wasn't far away. I was too scared to breathe, too scared to move in case he saw me through the canopy of trees. Where were the police? Eric and Alex must be here by now. And Sherlock—he would know what to do.

I had no idea how long I sat there, praying someone would find me before Leith's stepbrother did.

"Well, well. You really are imaginative, but not terribly clever."

My blood ran cold. He was standing below the tree, staring at me through the canopy of branches. His dark eyes were piercing, slicing through my fear and leaving a toxic residue in my veins.

"I had such high hopes for you. Our little chase should have lasted much longer."

I slid sideways, trying to put as much space between us as I could. But it didn't help. The platform was too small, too—something brushed against my neck. My hand flew to my throat. If it was a big, hairy spider, I swore I'd scream until there was no air left in my lungs. My fingers swept across my skin. It wasn't a spider.

My heart pounded. It was Eric's dog whistle. He made a necklace, threading it through a piece of string so I wouldn't lose it.

"You know, I used to wonder what it felt like to be on the receiving end of my attention. But then I decided it didn't matter." Leith's stepbrother circled the tree. "Some things are better left to the imagination."

I blew the whistle. Then I blew again, desperately hoping Sherlock was close. A series of short, sharp barks filled me with hope. The manic laughter coming from below the tree turned that hope to dread. Leith's stepbrother should be running away. If Eric and Sherlock were here, the police wouldn't be far behind. I kept the whistle against my lips, blowing it hard every few seconds.

"Do you really think I'm that na?ve? My mother used to say there's more than one way to skin a cat. I like to apply the same principle to the human form, don't you?" He pulled out a gun, pointing it straight at me. "It's time you and I had a different type of discussion."

I stared at the determined sneer on his face. With a certainty that made me sick, I knew I wouldn't be leaving the forest alive. But if I was about to die, I wasn't doing it silently. The whistle dropped out of my mouth. I filled my lungs with air and screamed like it was my last breath on earth.

I screamed again, and again, letting go of every fear, every hurt, every pain I'd ever felt. I wanted to live. I wanted to love Eric. I wanted children, a safe place to call home. I wanted?—

A gun fired. The sting of something sharp hit my arm. I looked down. Blood. Oh, God. So much blood.

"Drop the gun or you're dead!"

I sagged against the tree. Eric was here.

A click. Silence.

"Drop the gun, Chapman!"

Leith's stepbrother laughed manically. "You think I scare that easy? I'm not afraid of dying. There are worse places to be and, believe me, I've been to all of them."

I didn't care where he'd been or what he'd done. My arm was on fire. I needed to stop the bleeding and get out of the tree. I took off the rest of my mangled T-shirt. Using my teeth to hold one end of the cotton, I wound the other around my arm. By the time this was over, I'd look like G.I. Joe—bruised, bloody, and beaten.

The platform tilted sideways. Closing my eyes, I waited for the world to stop spinning.

"Your boyfriend's an easy target. I could shoot him in the head and you wouldn't be able to stop me."

Didn't he ever give up?

Throwing myself sideways, I protected my head with my arms. Pain ripped through my body.

A single gunshot echoed across the forest—and darkness became my friend.