Chapter 36

Laura

November

I never planned to drive. Not this drunk. And yet Theo tells me to get in the driver's seat, Mel in the passenger's seat.

He wants the money, but there's no way I'm bringing him into my house, where my husband and children are sleeping.

"It's in the hollow tree by the Garden Shed," I tell him. "I'll take you there, just leave Melanie out of this."

"Like I'm falling for that." He slides in behind us, the gun still pointed at Mel's head.

Mel is pale. I will never forgive myself if she has a heart attack right now because of me.

I start the engine and back out of the driveway. My hands are in a death grip on the steering wheel, adrenaline roaring in my veins. The heavens let loose as the lights of Black Lake fade behind us, rain sluicing off the windshield, the wipers beating frantically to keep up.

"Theo, please," I plead. "We can figure this out."

"This is your own fucking fault," he snaps. "You should've just given me the money."

"I know who beat you up," I say, my words tangling in their hurry to get out. Adrenaline and booze fight for control in my body. "Who you're working for. You're in debt to Ronny DeLuca, and now that you don't have the money, you're in trouble."

Ronny DeLuca is a mob boss in Boston. I'd never heard of him, but Maya had a lot to say about him, rumors her manager at the sports store, an old friend of Theo's, had spilled.

"You were running drugs for DeLuca in Boston," I say. "Then a chunk of it was stolen by a competitor. That's when you made the plan to get me involved. I have a rich brother; you thought it would be easy stealing money from him."

"It was."

"Wait, you stole money from Jack?" Mel interjects.

We both ignore her.

"And now, I'm guessing DeLuca's after you." I glance in the rearview mirror. Something flickers in Theo's eyes. Fear. My stomach clenches. "If you don't get it, you're a dead man. But we don't have enough to pay off your debt. Not yet. Give me some time and I can get it."

"I don't need all of it. Just enough to get a fake ID. To get myself set up far away from here. I know you have enough for that."

I grip the steering wheel, slowing the car as I hit a curve. "You know if you run, DeLuca will find you. You'll spend the rest of your life looking over your shoulder. I can help you get all of it. I swear I will."

"Help me like hiding money and lying to me?" he spits bitterly. "No thanks."

"You shouldn't have lied to me about Cody!"

"What are you guys talking about?" Mel asks.

"Not that it's any of your business," Theo says, "but Laura here's been running a scam on her brother."

Mel looks at me. "Is that true?"

I don't answer, but Theo points the gun at me. "Tell her."

So I do. I admit the whole thing, from emailing clients with fabricated tax fees to setting up my own business to invoicing Jack's company. How it had started out as a way to help Cody, who Theo said needed a care home.

Mel groans. "I knew you were up to something! You were manipulating Laura so you could steal from Jack."

Theo catches my eyes in the rearview mirror. "I never wanted you to get hurt, but I need that money. I'm getting the hell out of here."

A gust of wind pushes at the minivan, rattling the windows and pushing at the doors. I grip the steering wheel harder, my knuckles turning white. Along the road, trees bow low, swaying like they're drunk in the edgy, blustery dark. A flash of lightning illuminates the river. It's rising rapidly, thrashing angry and violent to our right.

I glance at Mel, the gun still leveled at her head. "Between Mel and me, we can get you that money."

I glance at Theo in the back seat, his face in shadow. He's quiet for a long moment.

"Just keep driving," he finally says. And I know I'm out of options.

A crack of lightning floods the road with a burst of light. Rain whips the windshield, pouring from the sky. We had a hotter than usual summer, less than usual rain in the fall. But this storm is making up for it. The sudden torrent is expected to bring floods, rivers overflowing, the lake rising, roads made impassable.

I pass the Garden Shed, which is now dark, the lot empty, and pull into a lay-by a couple hundred feet before a curve in the road. The minivan bumps over potholes, my tires crackling ominously over gravel. I flick my headlights off, plunging us into darkness.

If anybody comes around that bend in the road, they will see us. I can flag them down. But the road stays empty. Quiet.

Theo pushes open his door. "Come on."

"Leave Mel here," I plead again. "I swear I'll take you to the money, just leave her here."

Theo leans forward, digging the muzzle hard into Mel's throat. She inhales sharply.

"Maybe if that money is really where you say it is, if you aren't the lying bitch I think you are, maybe I'll let her go. But for now, get out of the fucking car."

I thrust my door open, shoulders tense. Lightning cracks in the matte-black sky. I grab the gun from underneath my seat and slide it into the waistband of my pants.

Mel and I walk side by side along the river walk that parallels the edge of the river, Theo behind us with the gun and a flashlight. The light bounces over the ground, exposing the roaring water muscling the riverbank, swirling like ink.

The paved walkway ends, turning into slippery mud. I pull my coat up higher, but the icy wind still knocks the air out of my lungs. Rain pummels me, plastering my hair to my face. Melanie is shivering, her arms wrapped tightly around her body.

The walk to the hollowed-out tree ends too quickly.

"Get it out!" Theo shouts over the rain.

He presses the gun to Melanie's head. She squeezes her eyes shut, her teeth chattering. Mel isn't one to cry. She's rational, calm in a crisis. But right now she's terrified, sobbing openly.

I bend, reach into the empty space at the bottom of the tree. My fingers close around a handful of mud and leaves.

It's like everything moves in slow motion. I fling the mud at Theo, shouting at Mel to run. Theo flinches, his hands coming up to protect his eyes. I yank the gun out of my waistband. He sees it, suddenly understanding what's happened.

His gun rises, but not quick enough.