Page 105 of The Rowdy Ones

Alex scoffs at me. “Liar. I track his phone. He was here. Just a few hours ago.”

“Man, I’m not lying. He came to threaten me. Broke my sister’s cane. That’s it.”

He’s quiet for a beat. My mind spins around and around, searching for any idea of how to get away from him without dying. No ideas. Not one.

“Even if I believed you,” Alex barks out, “it doesn’t matter. I’m going to get rid of you once and fucking for all. He’s obsessed with you. That’s why they all look like you. I’ve been treating the symptoms when I need to get to the source. You’re the source, Rowdy. And when you’re finally gone, Evan will stop this shit.”

Lunatic.

Alex is batshit crazy.

People say I’m possessive with Destiny? Have they met Alex?

“If you’re fucking corpses, that means you’re a cheater too,” I goad, unable to stop myself.

This earns me another annoying kick to the back. Another fall to the ground. Another pain from another injury. This time a rock cuts my palm.

“They’re alive when I fuck them,” he snaps. “You will be too.”

I clean off my bloody hand in the snow and bore my gaze into him. “No one will ever do that shit to me again. Ever. Your psychotic boyfriend already took what he could. Maybe I allowed it when I was eighteen, but I’ll take every damn bullet in your gun before I allow you to do that to me.”

He sighs as if I’m bothering him. “I’ll fuck your cold, dead body then. Keep moving. You’re stalling. All it’s doing is prolonging the inevitable.”

I swivel around to face him and glower at him. “If the inevitable is to kill me, do it now. We’re far enough away. You won’t get caught.” I cock my head to the side. “You’re not Evan, are you? Do you like to toy with your victim first?”

Alex glares at me silently.

“You know those poor guys you killed? It was a waste. They meant nothing to Evan,” I continue against my better judgment. “I imagine he was thinking about me when he got laid.” I flash Alex a teasing smile that I know will set him off. “In fact, I bet Evan thinks of me when he fucks you—”

Bang!

The shot whizzes past my head and makes my ears ring. I don’t stop to check to see if it grazed me because I have one goal in mind.

Take Alex down.

He tries to shoot me again, but I’m faster, ducking low and hard. I can thank Wild for teaching me that football move when we were kids. My already aching shoulder flares with pain when it crashes into his ribcage. I tackle the crazy fucker into the snow.

Another loud bang has me jolting and trying to find his arms in the snow drift we’ve fallen into. Seconds race by as we struggle over the weapon. I’m stronger, but Alex is crazier. He wigs out, thrashing like a madman and screaming like a stuck pig. It’s creepy as hell.

I manage to get my hand on his, and my squeezing has him firing off another round. Thankfully, none of the shots thus far have made impact. We grapple in the cold snow, both of us asserting every bit of strength we possess.

And then it’s in my grip.

He scrambles away from me. By the time I get the gun righted and aimed at him, he’s disappearing into the white forest void. I fire the gun in his general direction but can’t tell if I missed or not. Rather than wasting bullets on a retreating, camouflaged psychopath, I hobble my cold, beat up body back toward the cabin.

I need warmth, Destiny, and a phone to call Will.

Hopefully, I make it back without dying from hypothermia first.

“Call the police!”Wild.

“Warm him up!”Uncle Atticus.

“I’m going to hunt down that motherfucker!”Rowdy.

Tons of commotion coming from the living room has me jolting upright in bed and Scout barking by my bedroom door. I’d only just fallen asleep, so I’m disoriented and confused by all the yelling. All I know for sure is Rowdy’s voice was one of them. After yanking on some pants, I find my new cane and then open the door. Scout bursts out of the room. I’m not as quick as my dog, but I’m hot on his tail.

“What’s going on?” I ask as anxiety claws at my throat. “Is everyone okay?”