Chapter 50

FIFTY

I don't know what I should be feeling right now, but I'm a mess inside—cold and numb and feeling too much at once. It's almost like a dream, one I can't wake up from, like I can't take a breath deep enough to fight it off.

Tommy deserves this though. Alek is worried, wanting to go with me, and I know he wants to help, but this is something I need to do.

Taking my phone outside, I look up at the night sky for strength, my finger hesitating on the call button. I can't even imagine what they will feel when they get this call in the middle of the night.

Their son is dead.

He was murdered.

How do you recover from that?

You don't.

Glancing back through the glass doors, I see Alek waiting for me in the station. Alice leans into Lally's side, her eyes closed, and Skylar and Bones argue at another desk, which makes me smile for a second, but we are missing someone. We are missing our painter, and I know there will always be a hole where he belongs. All of us feel that, bonded over the trauma and horror we endured tonight.

Looking at my phone, I linger over the number, scared.

"Evan?"

My head snaps up at the soft, familiar, female voice, and I see a hesitant Clarissa standing there, her teeth digging into her lip nervously. "It is you, hi," she murmurs, glancing around.

My brows draw together as I meet her eyes. "Hi, what are you doing here?"

"A friend told me what happened tonight and that he's here." She looks scared, her eyes darting inside as she hesitates. "Is it true that he's been caught? For good this time?"

I nod, pushing away from the wall and pocketing my phone. If anyone understands trauma, it's her. "It's true. He was caught, and he won't be getting out for a long time. Do you want me to walk you inside?"

She bites her lip harder. "I don't know if I can go in just yet. Can you stay with me for a minute?" Her eyes widen. "I'm sorry. That's so selfish of me. I can't even begin to imagine what you have endured tonight."

I wave it away with a forced smile. "I need air anyway. I like the silence out here. My friends are worried, and it's kind of choking me."

"I bet. I used to hate the way everyone looked at me," she admits, wincing. "Pity mixed with?—"

"Guilt and relief," I mutter, and she nods, moving closer.

"How about we take a little walk and then go in together? Just two survivors?" she suggests.

I nod, and we walk through the parking lot, taking in the night air. "How's your father? I don't know what will happen about his care now that he's in jail," I say.

She laughs bitterly. "Don't worry about it."

My eyebrows draw together again as we stop before a black Mercedes. "What do you mean?"

"He died last night," she replies. She looks distraught, but there's something in her eyes—something that puts me on edge.

"I'm sorry to hear that. He was very ill?—"

"Death happens every day," she remarks, her voice strange as she steps closer. "You know that. You're like me. "

"Like you how?" I frown as I step back. There is something inside me warning me that something is wrong.

"Determined to get what you want, strong, a survivor . . . smart. I like that. I knew you were the one." She smiles, and it's wicked, one I haven't seen on her face before.

"Look, Clarissa, I think I should go back—" I step past her, freaked out. I don't know what her problem is, but she isn't the same woman we met at her house, and I've had enough crazy for tonight.

Something sharp stabs into my neck, and I whirl, my eyes wide as I stumble back. There is a needle in her hand. I try to run, but my legs give out, and I hit the pavement.

"I knew you would be mine the moment I saw you." She grins. "You're perfect and just what I wanted. Tonight didn't go as planned, but that's okay." She leans down, rubbing my cheek.

I try to slap her away, but my body won't work.

It's too heavy.

"Shh, it's okay." She wipes away a tear I didn't even know I spilled. "I'm here now. Everything will be okay."

I stare up into her eyes, finally realizing what's wrong with them.

They are cold, empty, and dead.

The last thing I hear before whatever drug she gave me takes me is my name being called from far away.

Alek.

ALEK

"I can't find Evan." I pant as I burst back into the waiting room where everyone is. Our driver escorts are on the way. Most of them were diverted to the school and the fire.

"What do you mean?" Lally asks, standing. "He was right outside?—"

"He isn't there." I know I'm panicking, my eyes wild, but something is wrong. I know it. I couldn't find a trace of him; he's just gone. He wouldn't do that to me or us, not after tonight.

A bitter laugh fills the air, and we all turn to the cell we have been studiously ignoring. Ford sits up from the bench, his hands cuffed together as he leans casually into the bars. His eyes linger on Alice for far longer than I like, so I step in front of her.

"She has him now. You're too late."

"What are you talking about?" I snap.

"Don't listen to him. He's fucking insane," Skylar interjects. "Come on, I'll help you find him."

His laugh comes again, chilling me to the bone, and the hair on the back of my neck rises. "If you want answers, then come here."

"Alek—" Sky tries to stop me, but I step closer, unafraid as I face him in his cell. He's just a man, nothing more.

"Who has him?" I demand as I grab him through the bars, ignoring the shouts as I slam his face into them. He hisses but grins. "Talk!"

"Do you really think I could do this all by myself or that I even wanted to? I had a job—not what I wanted in the long run, but I had a life until she came back into it. I'm betting she gave you the sob story, right? That I stalked and harassed her, even killed those boys when we were in class together."

"Who are you talking about?"

"Clarissa Wright." He spits the name as I go cold. "Don't you see? This was all her plan, not mine. She wanted him. I simply got what I wanted as well, freedom from her while keeping Alice safe and sound. The fire? She started it. The flowers and everything, she sent them all. She was in the car, not me. You played right into her hands. We all did."

I search his eyes, but all I see is the truth.

"She's the crazy one, not me. I took the fall for her all those years ago out of guilt. It was my father's suggestion since it was our fault her father got sick, and I might have flirted with her. I did everything they ordered. I smeared my name, ruining my future, and she dropped out and left us alone. That was the deal—until this year. She found out I liked a student. I don't know how, but she threatened to kill her. She must have seen Evan with her, and when she met him for real, she came to me. She wanted him. She will stop at nothing to get what she wants. I knew she would kill Alice for even being near him—fuck, she killed those students for daring to touch him—so I did what I had to so I could protect the woman I love."

"You're sick." I slam him into the bars and step back. "It's a lie?—"

"No? Then where is he? She used me, used all of you—the fire, the school, me getting caught, I'm betting it was all her plan to get him alone and swoop in. She'll have him, and you're just the fool who was too slow to save your friend and boyfriend. You are just too fucking slow."

Bones grabs me, and he and Skylar drag me back as I lunge at him.

He's telling the truth. I can taste it.

He might be behind this, but he isn't the only one, and if what he's saying is true, then we walked right into her plan. We basically handed her what she wanted on a platter.

She has Evan.

"Alek, the officers aren't back," Alice whispers, and I glance over my shoulder, frowning. "They went to get their stuff from the back when you went outside. Why aren't they back?"

The lights turn off, and his laughter rings out in the dark.

"I guess she's keeping her end of the deal after all. She gets Evan, and I get Alice. It's time to end this once and for all."

We hear the buzz as the cell swings open.

He's free.