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Chapter Sixty

ERIKA

L iam knew exactly where to put the knife. With that one stab wound, all the blood drains out of my husband’s face, and seconds later, he’s coughing it out. He’s dying. He’s dying quickly. So quickly that even if we called for an ambulance now, if that were possible, it would be too late.

“Erika,” Jason manages, choking on his own blood. “You…”

I stare down at him, waiting for his final words to me. Is he going to tell me he loves me one last time? I don’t think I could handle it if he did. I already feel like I can barely stand up.

“You bitch ,” he finishes. “After all I did for you…”

I flinch as if he hit me. Liam was right. Jason is not the man I thought he was. He’s sick. He’s crazy. And he’s done something horrible. He was planning to kill me, and the only reason I’m alive right now is because my son saved me.

Jason deserves this death.

I take a step forward, standing over him. I draw back my foot, and with all my strength, I kick him right in the ribs. It’s the last thing he feels before he loses consciousness.

I bury my face in my hands, wanting to cry but too stunned. Jason. Hannah. Gone. Is this really happening? I think I’m going to be sick.

“Mom.” That urgency is back in Liam’s voice, bursting into my haze. “Let’s go into the cabin. Maybe we can still save them.”

He tugs at my arm and I follow him without thinking. My legs move automatically, but my head won’t stop spinning. I’m terrified to see what’s inside there. If my daughter is lying dead on the ground in that cabin, I’m not sure I could go on after seeing that. It would destroy me.

We get inside the cabin, which is dark except for a flashlight lying on the ground. The flashlight provides just enough illumination to know there’s no one in here. But I hear voices. Muffled female voices.

“Hannah!” Liam yells. He drops to his knees and plants his palms on the ground. “Where are you?”

This time I hear the words more distinctly in my daughter’s voice: “Down here!”

There is apparently a trap door. There’s a ring of keys lying on the ground and Liam tries each one until the lock pops open. His hands are so steady—I’m amazed. How could he be so calm after what just happened? I don’t think I could hold a key, much less fit one into the lock. He swings the trap door open and shines the flashlight inside.

There they are. Hannah, her face tear-streaked, but completely alive. And Olivia. Also alive.

The relief I feel almost knocks me off my feet. Hannah is okay. My daughter is alive.

Thank God.