Addison and Sara were in the back seat of the car again. Scarlett and Theo were talking up front, arguing over the music, arguing over when to have date night. Scarlett said she’d lost something, and Addison looked at Sara, this time picking up on the shame spread across Sara’s face over stealing the necklace.
It was different this time, knowing what was about to happen, watching the way Theo looked at Scarlett—like a million women could be in the room, and he’d still only see one.
Had Scarlett noticed his doting affection when she was alive?
And if she had, were the feelings reciprocated?
Scarlett gripped the steering wheel hard, like she wanted to bust it in half. She was a ball of nerves, a grenade set to go off. She wasn’t just nervous, she was afraid. She’d found the necklace, and now racked her brain over where it had gone and how she’d lost it.
Addison believed Scarlett had found a secret hiding place upstairs.
It explained why Scarlett wanted Sara to hide.
She was buying time for herself to snoop around.
Addison wondered where the necklace had been found, who had hidden it, and why it had been kept as a memento, a token reminder of a heinous crime.
Sara’s palm started to perspire. She clenched Addison’s hand but didn’t let go.
“We’re almost there,” Sara said.
Addison glanced out the window. The stop sign where the crash happened was up ahead. “I know. It’s all right. Remember what I told you.”
“Don’t be scared.”
Addison nodded.
Sara braced for impact.
The car slowed to a stop on what appeared to be a deserted four-way stop, at first. Knowing where to look, Addison leaned out the open window, watched, and waited.
She didn’t wait long.
A black truck barreled through the stop, racing toward its target. The truck sideswiped the car, and Sara shot through the window, taking Addison with her. The truck stalled and then switched gears, preparing to take off, but it didn’t, it idled. The driver thrust his head out his window, scanning the scene to ensure there were no survivors. He removed the mask covering his face, and his eyes fell on an image he hadn’t expected, a tiny child blinking back at him, gasping as she took her final breath.
Then he did something Addison hadn’t predicted.
He pounded his fists into the steering wheel and screamed.
“Sara! Sara, no! No! No! No! Oh, Sara. What have I done? What have I ...”
This was his moment, his one chance to do the right thing, to rush over to Sara and scoop her up in his arms. Instead, he took the coward’s way out. He thrust the truck into gear and barreled down the road.
Addison brushed a tear from her eye as she watched him. In the last second of her life, Sara had seen the killer, the man responsible for her death.
Addison planted a kiss on Sara’s forehead. “It’s okay, sweetie. I’ve seen what I needed to see. We can leave now. We can leave and never come back.”