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The door opens behind me, and I fall backward into the hallway. Before I have time to react, I’m being picked up and shoved back inside the room with a hand covering my mouth.
“Don’t scream,” a voice whispers into my ear.
I nod my head, but I’m not sure I can make that promise.
“I’m going to take my hand away now. Don’t say a word.”
I nod again. The hand slowly releases from my mouth, leaving a salty taste on my lips. I slowly turn around, my heart beating fast against my rib cage as if it might explode.
My body sags with relief when it’s a familiar face—Kade.
He lifts his pointer finger to his lips, and I obey.
In his hushed voice, he whispers, “Max, we need to get Jordan and Ben away from the hostages. I’m going to rush Ben, and you take down Jordan.”
“I can’t take Jordan. I just saw how easily he grabbed Hudson, and I’m practically identical in size. Kade, I can’t,” I whisper back.
“Yes, you can. We need to save them. Emmy’s out there.”
A lump rises in my throat.
“Emmy?” I question.
“Ben brought her,” Kade says.
Shit. Shit. Shit.
“On the count of three. You got this.”
I shake my head no. I can’t do this. I can’t.
“Yes. Max, now is your time to be the hero.” Kade grabs me by the shoulders and stares straight into my eyes. “You can do this.”
I nod.
I’m not a coward. I can save them. I can do this.
I take a deep breath and allow Kade to start the count down.
“One.” I nod
“Two.” Kade nods
“Three!”
Kade takes off first, and I follow. We rush into the room. Jordan’s eyes widen as I plow into him. I slam his body to the floor. His head makes a loud thump as it meets the hardwood. The surprise attack worked. I feel his panicked breath under the weight of my body. I clench my hands around his biceps to keep him locked on the ground. Jordan thrashes in an attempt to free himself.
But everything in the next moment happens so quickly.
A gun is fired.
I’m distracted by visions of me holding a gun in Cal’s house. The memories flicker through my mind and feel so real. I’m paralyzed with fear—the familiar noise that haunts me echoes through the cabin.
Jordan takes advantage of my distraction, and reality quickly brings me back to the room when he takes his moment and flips me around, reversing us. He has me pinned under his body, holding my arms above my head.
Have I been shot?
No, I don’t think so. I don’t feel anything wrong. But now I’m fearful of who might have been shot. In the corner of the room, an open cabinet with a spot for a missing rifle is left open. Who has the gun?
I manage to twist my head and a surge of panic shatters me.
Kade is face down on the floor. His arms are stretched above his head, and his legs are twisted and lifeless. Blood begins to soak its way through his tan coat. Kade is losing a lot of blood. I can’t tell if he’s still breathing. “Kade!” I scream. Kade doesn’t move.
Ben is standing over him with a hunting rifle.
“Kade!” I shout again, my voice bouncing off the cabin walls, shaking every cell inside of me.
Ben moves on from Kade now that he’s no longer a threat. He begins to circle Jordan and me with the gun in his hand.
Emmy. Where is she? I scan the room until I spot her body slumped on the couch. I can’t tell if she is alive.
Hudson’s eyes are wide with fear as he sits next to Jovie with his hands pinned behind his back. Jovie is frightened and looks like she might pass out. Ivy’s tied up next to me and appears to be in shock. I wish I could pull the tape from her mouth. I didn’t like her, but I never wanted to see this happen. I fear none of us are getting out of here alive. Kade was our best chance.
This has to be a nightmare. I squeeze my eyes tight, and when I reopen them, nothing has changed. The room is exactly the same.
Ben’s voice cuts through the cabin, and shivers run down my spine. “Max. This evening is not going as I hoped it would. I wanted an intimate gathering. Jordan ruined it for us, but you get the gist.”
“Look, it’s Jovie,” he says sadistically, pulling up her head up so I can get a better view.
“Ben, stop it,” I shout. “You’re hurting her.”
“The infamous Jovie. Max, she’s not who you think she is. She is just like the rest of the mindless girls you hate. Practically just like her sister. Void of any real connection and feelings. A fake bitch.”
“So what? That doesn’t mean she deserves to die.”
“Well, that’s your decision, but we will get to that in a bit. This is all for you, Max. Don’t you see that now?”
“What are you talking about, Ben?”
“I guess I should back the story up, but I think you’ll catch on quick. Years ago, I started a club for men in the town of Tillicum Valley. You know the place, Max.”
Oh, my God. No. No. No.
“See, it started with three founding members. My childhood friend Cal, my baby brother Mark, and myself. Do any of those names ring a bell?”
No. No. No. This can’t be happening.
“Ding, ding, Max. Think about it.” Ben double taps my forehead with the butt of the rifle. “Ringing any bells?”
Cal. My friend Cal. No.
“Cal came up with this brilliant idea—you’re going to love this.”
There is no way Ben knows Cal. No.
“He saw how one of his friends was being pushed around by a girl. And he thought it would be fun to mess with her and show his friend how bad she was for him. To show him that she couldn’t be trusted. And then once it ended, this guy would see how horrible this woman was to him, and a new member would join our club. Well, things didn’t go as planned. This friend went the wrong way and shot Cal. Can you believe that, Max?”
My skin is burning, and I’m dizzy. No, this can’t be true.
“But see, Max, I still thought Cal’s friend could be fixed. He just needed a little guidance. It wasn’t his fault that he shot Cal. It was the girl’s fault. She pushed him to his limits. But the guy up and left town, so we followed him. I really like Clear River. It’s a nice place to escape to. Wouldn’t you agree?”
“Is, is Cal, OK?” I find the words and the courage to ask.
“Ah, so you are starting to put things together,” Ben taunts.
“Cal, is here too?” I question.
“Oh, Cal. He’s doing better than ever. He’s a good little soldier, and he’s become quite the hacker since he was laid up for so long with a shotgun wound. It’s amazing what you can learn when all you have is time and a laptop. Do you know how easy it is to hack someone’s Socialite account, among many other things?”
Relief floods me. I didn’t kill Cal. He’s not dead, but I did shoot him. I feared the worst for years, but never could I have fathomed this outcome. They’ve been following me—my every move.
“Chrissy? Is she OK? Where is she?”
“Funny that you seem to care now. But she’s fine. She never left Tillicum Valley. She never came looking for you. If that’s what you wanted to know. Sorry to catfish you, Hudson,” Ben says with a laugh.
Hudson’s bloodshot eyes are filled with terror and tears.
This is all fun and games to Ben. He’s using real people as his playthings. He’s a bully who exploits people’s weaknesses to get what he needs for his own sick pleasure.
“It’s funny because if Chrissy only knew what you really did for her. . . You finally stopped being a coward, Max. Well, at least for a brief moment. You shot the guy to protect her, to fight for her, but she doesn’t even know what you did, because you didn’t go back. You ran like a pussy. Cal called me right away, not the police. I took him to the hospital, where he told them he shot himself in the leg, and the fools believed him. See, we weren’t done with you yet, Max. We knew this would be a longer game, and we were so excited to play it. See, I really hate unfinished business and the game of revenge is so much sweeter, especially when a hunt is involved.”
“You’re all sick!” I shout. Jordan presses his weight into my chest further, squeezing the air from my lungs.
“Once Cal finished rehab and could walk again with the assistance of a cane, Mark, Cal, and I moved to Clear River. You were easy to find, Max. We set up a new club that aimed to help men just like you. And Mark—you know my little brother Mark, the bartender?”
The cane at the bar; it was Cal’s. I bet he rushed out of there the second he saw my face. I bet Mark got a good laugh at my expense and to think I liked him. I’m going to be sick.
“Mark does an excellent job at keeping tabs on the members. He really took a fancy to Kade.”
“Why did you get Kade involved?” I ask.
“He was your boss and the only person you seemed to like in this town. We used him to get to you. Things didn’t go according to plan, so we improvised. Then Kade started to stray. We couldn’t have him lose focus. Not when we were so close to you. We needed Kade to stay in the game. We needed to keep him close, so we had a little fun with him.”
“Do you know how crazy you sound?”
“Those poor girls didn’t have to die. If only Kade had been loyal,” Ben continues with no remorse for his actions.
“You’re fucked in the head!” I scream at Ben.
Wait, is that Kade’s foot twitching? He’s still alive. Ben doesn’t seem to have noticed, which is good.
“I have this little dilemma. Your dream girl, Jovie, is here. I told you to be patient my friend, and look, didn’t I say I would help you get her? Once we cleaned her up, she’ll be good as new. But Emmy, your partner in crime, got in my way, so she’s here now as well. I know you care for her too.”
Ben’s smirk morphs into a villainous smile.
“Welcome to your finale, Max Jennings.”