AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Come back, Rhett.” But my whisper doesn’t carry that far. I check my watch. Since it took him a full minute to jog to the fire, I doubt his two-minute promise will work out. In reality, we should probably be around the rest of them for a little while. The last thing I want is to plow on too fast and let this fire fizzle out when there’s nothing there to support it. I need him in my life, and the kiss we shared only deepened that desire.
I move to stand, but my skin prickles in warning. I pause, hovering over the log, caught somewhere between sitting and standing. I don’t know what caught my ear, but all of my instincts scream to stay still. I wait, hearing nothing but the ocean waves and the fuzzy chatter from the fire. My heart holds steady, breathing quiet, I don’t move.
A rock clatters behind me. I stand, whirling to face the sound, but the darkness doesn’t betray anyone. I wait, hands up like Anderson taught me.
“Elizabeth.” The breathy voice slips on the wind like a forgotten memory. It doesn’t mean anything. It’s a common name. Any one of the girls Nick brought could have that name. The wind carried their voices more than once tonight. It could be happening again. It’s not even my name, not anymore. Not since I was a child. Only my grandmother called me by my full name. Everyone else called me—
“Eliza.”
My breath clogs in my throat. I tighten my hands to fists. I know that voice. He didn’t leave. Why did I think he would leave?
“Eliza.” The voice pops up to the right of me, but nothing is there when I spin to face him. It has to be a trick. I take a step left, but that’s what he wanted. An arm clenches around my waist, but the other clamps over my mouth, silencing my scream. I kick, I flail, I scratch and writhe against his strength, but I can’t stop the backward motion. My feet pedal, pressing into the soft sand, unable to gain traction as he drags me off to the darkest parts of the night. Underbrush, rocks, and discarded driftwood scratch against my dragging legs. The fire vanishes from my sight as he pulls me over the ridge into the next cove. The smell of him leaches into my nostrils, acrid sweat, cigarettes and cheap aftershave. Monroe hasn’t changed a bit, still the disgusting brute I remembered.
Gathering my wits and remembering my training, I dig my nails into his arm, dragging them across like talons until he throws me as hard as he can. I roll twice upon impact, but with Monroe still spitting hatred and curses in my direction, I have a couple seconds to gain my footing. The gun cocks and my time is up. I freeze in place, staring at Monroe and his gun.
“Don’t think about screaming, Eliza. I’ll get two shots off before they get here. You know that, don’t you?”
Knowing what he wants before he has to ask, I put my palms up. “Why are you here, Monroe?”
Anger flashes in his eyes. “I thought that was obvious. I want you, Eliza. You and that piece of hardware you stole. Your mother sent me to bring you back so you can face what you did.”
“I didn’t do anything.” I steel my jaw. “When I went back, there was no body. I imagined it all.”
Monroe takes a step toward me, so he won’t have to raise his voice and compete with the roar of the ocean. “Is that what you think? You think he’s alive?” Disgust pinches his lip up in a snarl. “He’s dead, Eliza, and we both know you did it.”
“No.” I can’t keep the tears back if it’s true. “There’s no report. It wasn’t in the news. It would have made the news. You’re lying!”
Monroe’s anger crests, rising until he can barely keep it contained. “Only you know what happened, and you ran like a coward. Now, it’s time for you to pay for your crimes.”
“It can’t. He can’t.” The words won’t form. The pain of his death is too much. I flatten a palm over my mouth, trying to keep my cries of anguish internal. If he’s right. If he’s not lying… I can’t deal. I can’t accept that reality. If I actually…
“You have to come back. Right now.”
“No,” I shake my head and step away from him. “I’m not going back. I live here now. This is my life.”
“With these people?” Monroe throws an arm in the direction of the bonfire. “They don’t know you. They don’t know what you’re capable of or how you could hurt them, do they?”
“I’m not like that. I don’t attack people. Anderson taught me to protect myself, that’s all.”
“Then what happened? What went wrong, because I doubt he deserved what you did to him, Eliza.” Monroe closes the distance but keeps the gun leveled on my heart. “Come with me now, or I’ll eliminate all of them. The old man. His old lady. Those cowboys. Everyone. There won’t be a trace left or a story to tell. You come now or their blood will be on your hands, Elizabeth.”
“Don’t come any closer, Monroe. I mean it.”
“Or what?” He shakes his head and eyes my figure like he could own me. “You think you could take me? You think you can take me before I get to all of them?”
A cold rage takes hold of my chest, blue flame igniting something primal inside me. Reason snaps like a discarded twig. Monroe can’t win. Not this time. Rhett is right, sometimes you have to do things scared.
Rhett
Carl’s brow furrows. The girls start counting Nick down on his latest escapade. The realization hits Carl like a solid wall and his eyes double in size with understanding.
“Sunny? You finally—”
“Yes,” I cut him off, “so, if you don’t mind. I want to go back to that.”
He shoves me harder than I think he means to. “Why did you come over here in the first place? Are you crazy?”
I glare and consider throttling him. “Because you two nimrods wouldn’t stop calling for me.”
