Chapter 59

CHAPTER

FIFTY-NINE

Nausea rose in Maddie.

How could someone do this?

Now everyone here knew about her past.

Including Josh. Brody. Detective Kalani.

This only served to make her look more guilty.

Everyone would now know what she had done . . . just not why she had done it. They would make assumptions, however.

She couldn't stay here anymore. Couldn't bear to see anything else someone might want to put on that screen for everyone to watch.

She hurried back toward her room, tears blurring her eyes as she rushed through the pool area toward her wing. She kept her head down, hoping no one would see how upset she was. Praying no one would ask questions.

How could this have happened? She should have never come. She should have broken up with Josh when she tried to the first time.

She just didn't understand why anyone would do this. Was it to ruin her? To ruin Josh?

Nothing made sense.

She would get her luggage and get out of here. Not look back.

She sprinted all the way back to her room, her arms trembling as she threw her door open.

Wasting no time, she grabbed her suitcase, which she'd left by the door.

Maddie would catch the shuttle to the airport and wait there for as long as necessary before her flight.

She stepped toward the door, ready to go. But then her phone buzzed.

Dread pooled in her stomach when she remembered something.

She'd seen Adrienne leave. Had seen Brody follow.

Could this have happened since then? It had only been probably thirty minutes.

She forced herself to take the phone out of her pocket. To look at the screen.

What she saw there horrified her.

It was a picture of Adrienne. Bound and gagged with tears rolling down her cheeks. She wore the dress Maddie had seen her in only an hour earlier.

Beneath the photo were the words:

Come to the cliffs. Alone. Tell anyone and your friend will die. THE RING will be gone forever . . .

The Ring ? Another movie reference? Maddie could only assume the sender was talking about her engagement ring.

That jewelry meant nothing to her in comparison to Adrienne's life, however.

Maddie's heart raced.

Going to the cliffs would be stupid. Most likely a death wish. Especially since the sun would disappear beneath the horizon at any time.

But if she didn't go then Adrienne would die.

She couldn't let anything happen to Adrienne because of her either.

She glanced at the ceiling before closing her eyes. What should I do? Tell Detective Kalani?

It seemed the only smart thing to do.

Then, almost as if the perpetrator of these crimes had read her mind, her phone buzzed again.

If you don't come, the detective will see this after Adrienne dies. Check your earlier messages.

Her earlier messages? What did that even mean?

Maddie scrolled down, and a gasp escaped.

Text messages had shown up on her phone between her and Adrienne.

Texts that made it appear the two had a fight. That made it appear Maddie had asked her to meet on the cliffs.

That made it look like Maddie was behind all of this.

Who had done this? These messages hadn't been there earlier.

Even if she deleted them, she had a feeling whoever was responsible could make these magically reappear.

This person was forcing her hand. And if the sender was capable of making messages appear on her phone, what else was this person capable of?

Maddie had no choice but to do this. Or maybe she did have other choices but none she could conjure at the moment.

If she went to the cliffs, maybe she could save Adrienne. If she didn't go, Adrienne could die, and Maddie might be blamed for her death.

If Maddie told the police . . . there was no guarantee Detective Kalani wouldn't think she was guilty anyway. Especially now that Kalani knew she had a record from her juvenile days.

She knew what she had to do.

Instead of leaving through the main exit, Maddie followed the hallway down to the opposite end of the resort and took the door leading to the parking lot. From there, she could skirt along the edge of the resort and hopefully avoid running into anyone.

Was everyone still at the gala? What had happened after that video played? Had they tried to wrap things up and somehow place a nice pretty bow on it, pretending like it wasn't a big deal? Had the board members realized Josh's character and decided they'd made the wrong decision?

What a disaster. An utter disaster.

It was getting dark as she reached the cliffs near Shipwreck Beach.

When she'd first met Bree and Fowler, the two of them had been hiking these cliffs early in the morning. They knew this area better than most.

Could they be behind this? As far as Maddie knew, Fowler hadn't been found yet. Was that because he had disappeared on his own and set all of this up?

So much still didn't make sense.

These cliffs covered a large area. Exactly where was she supposed to find Adrienne?

Maddie wasn't sure, so she started up a sandy path through some trees until she reached a rocky area closer to the water. The cliffs waited up ahead.

Maybe if she walked closer to the edge she could spot someone. However, she also needed to stay far enough from the drop-off that she wouldn't be taken by surprise.

She was so out of her element right now. Yes, she had taken a life before. But she'd vowed to never do it again.

However, if push came to shove . . . she couldn't turn a blind eye to an innocent person being harmed.

She paused and cupped her hands around her mouth before calling, "Hello?"

No answer.

Swallowing hard, she kept moving. The sun finally sank on the horizon, leaving the area bathed in a grayish, pinkish haze. Soon, it would be inky dark.

These cliffs would even be more dangerous.

As Maddie climbed over several large rocks, she came to a new area.

Someone knelt on the ground ahead of her.

A woman with her hands bound behind her.

The breath left Maddie's lungs. "Adrienne!"

She glanced around and saw no one else.

This might be her chance.

Maddie rushed toward her.

It seemed too easy that she might be able to untie her friend. That the two of them might get away. That no one was here to stop them.

Where was Adrienne's captor?

Maddie would figure that out later. She needed to act now while no one was close.

Frantically, she untied the gag around Adrienne's mouth. Finally, it loosened enough to slide down to her neck.

Adrienne gasped in several shallow breaths. "You found me."

"Are you okay?"

"I am now." Her words came out raspy with anxiety. "You've got to get me out of here."

"Let me get your hands and feet free."

Maddie worked the knots at Adrienne's wrists until finally they loosened. Then they both began to work on the ties at her feet.

When Adrienne was free, Maddie helped her to her feet.

"Who did this to you?" Maddie asked as she began to pull her toward the brush, away from the cliffs toward some cover.

"You'll never believe it. It was?—"

"Madison! I don't know where you think you're going."

She froze. She would recognize that voice anywhere.

It was Josh.

Was he behind all of this?