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T hough Victor had shot at the sheriff, he missed. James dodged the bullet just in time, then charged across the basement to tackle him. Both men slammed to the ground and a brawl ensued.

Another person clambered down the steps—Damian. He stopped at the last step, watching James and Victor scuffle and grunt. Then he looked at me. Then Gina.

“Get them out of here, Damian!” James shouted as he mounted Victor, reeled his arm back, and punched him in the face.

Damian hustled forward, dropping to one knee next to me to untie the rope.

He breathed hard, muttering incomprehensibly.

Damian was still working out the knots as Victor slammed James into the wall, making him hit the back of his head.

James crumpled from the blow and while he was disoriented, Victor whacked him across the face with a solid fist.

Both guns were on the ground and not too far away from where the two men were standing.

I moaned and Damian flicked his gaze up at me. I bobbed my head and darted my eyes to the guns. He peered over his shoulder just as Victor twisted around.

“Shit.” Damian sprang across the basement for one of the guns. He grabbed James’s and tried getting mine too, but Victor was faster.

I wriggled out of the remainder of rope just as Victor aimed the gun at Damian. James reached for Victor’s ankle and gave it a hard yank, which caused him to buckle and fall to one knee. The gun went off and a bullet pierced the ceiling.

Clearly pissed, Victor threw his foot back and kicked James square in the face, knocking him unconscious. Damian slapped the gun out of Victor’s hand and while they scrambled over one another to get it, I finally freed myself and sprang out of the chair.

I pulled the tape off my mouth while running to Gina. “Hey. Gina?” She looked loopy now. She was losing too much blood.

“Gina, can you hear me?”

“Emily,” she mumbled. “Please. Get Emily.”

“I’ll take you to her. Come on. I need you to stick with me.” I helped her up and she cried out as more blood dripped down her leg and accumulated on her foot.

Damian and Victor were squaring off now, tackling each other, slamming into the kayak, punching, kicking, grunting. Damian was making sure to kick or shove the guns farther and farther away so neither of them could reach them.

I could have left Gina and saved myself, but it was unlike me. I kept thinking about their daughter, how she’d need at least one of her parents to navigate this world. And it couldn’t be Victor. I had no doubt he’d have killed everyone here and run off with Emily.

With all my strength, I lifted Gina up and threw her arm over my shoulder. We went for the stairs, her stumbling, me huffing as I held most of her weight. My face was swollen, and blood was thick around my nose. Gina was a champ. She didn’t stop, not even when we made it to the kitchen.

“Mommy!” Emily screamed.

I looked toward the hallway where Emily was standing.

“Oh, Emily! Baby!” Gina hobbled toward her. It seemed she hadn’t been shot at all with how quickly she reached her.

“Gina, we need to get out of here right now,” I said.

“Yes—uh, my keys. My keys are right there. On the hook on the wall.”

I rushed to the hook she was pointing to and followed her to the garage. She slammed a bloody hand into the button to open the gate and hustled to the BMW.

“Alright. Come on, baby. Get in.” Gina’s voice wavered as she put Emily into her car seat. Her hands shook as she tried strapping her in.

“Here. Let me help.” I swapped places with her. “You get in the passenger seat.”

Gina swallowed then nodded, moving out of the way.

“Where’s Daddy?” Emily asked as I clicked the chest buckle into place.

“He’s . . . busy.” I forced a smile at her, clicking the bottom buckle in. “You’re okay.”

Gina was already in the passenger seat. I closed the door and push-started the car, ready to peel out. Before I could, I spotted a figure standing in the driveway behind the car.

Victor.

He stood in the way, holding my gun again.

He started to raise it and that’s when I slammed my foot down on the gas pedal.

Victor dodged to the left as I peeled out.

I switched gears, putting the car in drive and drifting off.

A gunshot went off. I gasped and ducked.

The car made a weird clunking noise and veered to the right.

I tried gaining control of the wheel, but the car seemed to have a mind of its own as it spun out of control.

Gina screamed. Then her side of the car slammed into a tree.

Emily began to cry.

He was going to end up killing us.

“Shit.” I pressed on the gas, but the car wouldn’t budge. “No! Come on!” I pressed again and could hear the car wheels rolling, the engine roaring, but the car didn’t budge.

“We’re stuck.” Gina squeezed her eyes shut. “Damn it, we’re stuck.”

I looked through the rearview mirror and spotted Victor trudging toward the car.

“Gina, get Emily out of here, find the keys to your husband’s car, and leave. Okay? I’ll lead him somewhere else, so he doesn’t try to hurt you just to get to Emily.”

“What?” she squealed.

“I don’t think he knows you two are in the car. He wouldn’t have shot otherwise. He’d never hurt Emily.”

“But he’ll kill you.” Gina panicked as she reached for me, but I was already climbing out of the car.

Yeah. He probably was going to kill me, but I’d rather it be me than her.

I closed the door before she could say anything else, shooting a quick glance at Emily, whose face was crumpled with worry and her eyes were full of tears. Then I made a run for it. Another gunshot pierced the air, striking a tree trunk.

I could hear Victor’s rapid, heavy steps behind me. On one hand, I was glad he was coming after me and not Gina. On the other, I wished that I loved running, like Eve. I wished I’d spent more time on the treadmill because this much exertion was foreign to me. Every limb in my body ached.

Regardless, the need to get away from Victor was what drove me. My adrenaline had spiked, and I refused to slow down. I ran through the dark woods, unsure which direction to go in. If I could make it back to Twilight Oaks, maybe I could find a place to hide long enough until Kennedy arrived.

I stumbled over a tree root but caught myself. Victor’s huffy breaths sounded closer, louder.

Owls hooted in the distance. The treetops swayed, rustling the leaves. Branches groaned with and creaked. My lungs felt like they were about to collapse. But I kept running until I spotted a light ahead. Twilight Oaks. I’d never been so happy to see that little cottage.

The front porch light was on. I hustled around the house and dashed through the backyard, but before I could reach it, another gunshot rang.

This time, the bullet grazed my upper arm.

I cried out and stumbled. Unable to catch myself, I fell.

I started to get up again, despite the burning of my arm, but someone clutched a handful of my braids and wrenched me back.

“You should’ve minded your own fucking business,” Victor growled as he pulled back hard enough to slam me on my back.

The breath whooshed out of my lungs. My ears started to ring. I coughed, trying to kick him away, but he stepped back just enough to glare down at me. His head swayed as he scoffed.

“You’re pathetic, Rose,” he spat out. “I see why Eve didn’t respect you.

What kind of woman allows the shit you did?

What kind of woman knows their friend fucked their husband and still looks for her?

You’re so damn desperate.” He leveled the barrel of the gun on me.

“Maybe this is what you want. You must have some kind of death wish. I’d hate my life too if I were you. ”

“Leave her alone!” a high-pitched voice screamed. Rory charged toward Victor with a shovel in hand. She gave it a swing, aiming for his head, but he caught it by the handle with his free hand.

I rolled over as Rory struggled to take the shovel back.

He hung on to the handle, grunting as he did.

Then, with a smirk, he released the handle and Rory tumbled backwards.

I pushed to a stand and started to run off, but Victor caught me, hooking an arm around my midsection and hauling me backward.

He slammed me down on the ground again and I yelped from the pain.

“All of you are pissing me off now!” He dragged me by the hood of my jacket, going down the hill that led to the lake.

Rory started to chase after us with the shovel again.

“No, Rory! Stop! He’ll hurt you too!” I fingered the zipper of my hoodie, ready to pull it down and escape the arms, but Victor stopped and slung me around to grip me by the back of my neck. I could smell lake water now, its fresh scent invading my senses.

My knees slammed into the cool water at the shoreline. Then Victor shoved my face forward and plunged my head under water.