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He was never bright. His stupidity is what I have going for me in this situation.
“I can’t. It isn’t in a bank!” It isn’t hard to let my fear show in my voice but restraining my anger is tough. “I buried it.”
“Quit fucking with me.” He raises the gun to point at my head.
“I’m not! Please! The news said the banks could fail so I had it all converted to gold and silver coins. I only keep a couple thousand in the bank to pay bills. I can’t transfer anything,” I babble, throwing in a sob for good measure. His eyes brighten when I add, “I can take you to it. Just don’t hurt me or him.”
He stares at me for a moment. “Where is it?”
The rest of the plan forms in my head. I need to get him to follow me quickly. Arlow’s porch camera will have alerted, and he’ll see it as soon as he’s out of the shower. There’s a way to keep him out of this, keep him safe and end this threat permanently. “In the back field between two trees. I’ll take you there now.”
After another minute of consideration, he waves the gun at me. “Go. Lead the way. If you’re lying to me, bitch, I’ll leave your body in the woods for him to find before I kill him too.”
“I’m not lying. It’s there.”
My steps are hurried and the hair on my nape stands up as the gun is pointed at my back while he follows me to the rear of my cabin. “Stop!” he orders. “Where the fuck are you going?”
“I need a shovel. It’s buried deep,” I explain, gesturing to the shovel that’s on my back porch.
He nods his permission, and I grab it. I’ve complained about how heavy this shovel is and planned to get something easier to use, but I’m happy for the heft of it now. Better to knock his fucking head off his shoulders.
We start into the woods, the shadows wrapping around us as the weak winter sun rapidly descends below the horizon. He stays well behind me as if he’s afraid that I’ll suddenly turn and lunge for the gun. My heart races and adrenaline puts a metallic taste on my tongue.
Absolutely not, Calli. Hold it together. You can have a panic attack once you hear his skull crack at the bottom of that ravine. You can do this.
After worrying my whole life over what kind of person I am, one thing is clear. I’m capable of worse than I imagined. What’s the alternative? Let him continue to stalk me? Hope that I can get him arrested and then what? At best, he does a year or two and is right back at it. As long as he’s alive, I’m the one imprisoned.
The creek is low, the water icy as it penetrates my socks and shoes. For the first time since entering the woods, I look back. Carl splashes through and raises the gun at me again. The shovel is a comfortable weight in my hand. Dad taught me how to swing a baseball bat and I’m going to put that knowledge to use at the right moment.
A faint blue light flashes on the trail camera hidden in the bushes on the far bank of the creek. If Carl notices he doesn’t say anything, but I know that sent a notification to Arlow’s phone as well as mine.
This should look like an accident, an unfortunate fall from a trespasser if the body is ever found, but Arlow will know the truth. How will he see me once I’m a killer?
A light appears behind me as we exit the forest into the dark back field, chilling me to the bone with the fear that Arlow has found us.
“Turn around and fucking walk!” Carl barks when I look back to see he’s turned on a flashlight. “How much farther?”
Slowly, I raise my arm, letting my hand tremble. It’s not hard. I’m shaking like a leaf despite my determination to do this. “In that strip of forest. We’re almost there.”
The thick dead grass isn’t the easiest to trudge through, but I keep my speed, ignoring the burn in my legs and my breath heating in my throat.
We finally reach the last little strip of trees. A memory flashes through my mind of Silver warning me not to come out here at night because it’s hard to see the drop off. Standing in themidsummer heat, the sun beating down on us, I was so eager to get a fresh start here. Was that only five months ago? It feels like I’ve lived another lifetime.
I take him as close to the edge as I dare. I don’t want him to see it or me to end up going over it. The first thing is to get that damn gun away from him. “Here,” I announce, stopping between two random trees.
“Well, what the fuck are you waiting for? Dig.”
“Will you point your light at the ground? I can’t see anything.”
He complies, keeping the gun aimed at me with one hand and the phone pointed at the ground with the other. I stab the ground with the shovel and begin to dig. His stare is centered on the dirt, his eyes wide behind the mask. With every shovelful I shift, he inches a little closer. All of his attention is focused on the shallow hole as he waits for the treasure to be revealed.
The shovel dings off a rock, making a loud noise. “There it is,” I announce. “I felt it.”
He takes another step closer to me, dropping his arm enough so the gun isn’t pointed directly at me and cranes his neck to peer into the hole.
Knock the gun from his hand. Shove him over the cliff. Now, Calli. You can do this.
With a sudden step back, I bring the shovel up and swing as hard as I can. A loud clang echoes through the trees and the gun goes flying, disappearing into the shadows. He screams something indecipherable as his phone falls from his other hand, taking our only light with it.
