Behind her she heard the kitchen door fly open, heard the thunder of footfalls.
She leaped forward, hitting the stairs, racing down them. Into the yard. Avery glanced back. Buddy had gained on her, she saw. He called her name.
Headlights sliced across the dark road. Avery changed direction, running toward them, waving her arms wildly.
The white sedan pulled over. She grabbed the passenger door, yanked it open.
"Thank God! Can you giv-"
She bit the words back, a cry springing to her lips.
"Get in, Avery," Matt ordered. "Quickly, before it's too late."
She froze. Behind her, Buddy closed in.
She saw Matt had his gun. He motioned with it. "It wasn't Hunter," he said. "It was Dad. Come on, he's almost here."
She glanced back. Buddy was calling her name, going for his gun. She dived into the vehicle, yanking the door shut as she did.
Matt hit the autolock and floored the accelerator. The vehicle surged forward, fishtailing, tires squealing. Avery swiveled in her seat, craning her neck to see Buddy. He ran into the street, gave chase for a moment, then stopped.
She brought her shaking hands to her face, fighting hysteria. The urge to fall completely apart.
"Are you okay?"
She nodded, dropping her hands. "When did you…how did you find out-"
"About Dad?" He shook his head. "I love my dad. He's got a good heart, but he's weak. A total fuckup, Avery."
She didn't understand. "You're not making excuses for him, are you? He's a murderer, Matt."
Matt smiled. Oddly. Avery frowned, becoming suddenly aware of the closeness of the vehicle, that Matt kept one hand on his weapon, lying on the seat beside him.
The hair on the back of her neck prickled. "Aren't you going to put that away?"
He ignored her. "You were right to trust me, Avery. Dad's over-emotional. He means to do the right thing, but emotion gets in the way. It's what makes him weak."
Matt was in cahoots with his dad. One of The Seven. An accomplice to murder.
And she had gotten into the car with him. He had a gun.
She saw a stop sign ahead. She shifted slightly in her seat in an attempt to hide what she was about to do. As he slowed the sedan, she inched her hand toward the door handle, grasped it and yanked.
The door didn't budge. Matt laughed and eased through the intersection without stopping. "Childproof locks, Avery. How stupid do you think I am?"
"I don't know what you're talking about, Matt. I didn't__"
"Say good-night, Avery."
Before she realized his intention, he struck her in the temple with the butt of his gun. Pain jackknifed through her skull; in the next instant, she felt nothing at all.
CHAPTER 52
Avery came to slowly. She ached all over; her head throbbed. Moaning, she opened her eyes.
She lay on a bed, she realized. A bare mattress. She tried to sit up but found she couldn't. Her arms had been anchored above her head, wrists bound tightly. Her legs were tied to opposite bedposts.
Buddy, his confession. Matt picking her up. The gun.
Fear exploded inside her. Blinding, white hot. It stole her ability to think. To reason. With it came panic. She fought her restraints, tugging and twisting, getting nowhere.
She stopped, wrists and ankles burning, breath coming in trembling gasps. Tears choked her. She fought them as well. She would not give in. She would not lie down and die.
They would not get away with this. She wouldn 't let them.
In an attempt to center herself, Avery closed her eyes. She drew in as deep a breath as she could and expelled it slowly. Then repeated the process. She needed calm. Fear and panic bled her abil- ity to think. To reason. She needed to be able to do both if she was going to escape.
She opened her eyes, a semblance of calm restored. The only light in the room came from the open doorway to the right of the bed. The air was damp, heavy. It stank, the smell familiar, though she couldn't place it. The single window stood open. From outside came the sounds of insects, more dense than she was accustomed to.
He had taken her outside the city limits. She traveled her gaze over the room, taking in what she could from her prone position. Spare. Rough-hewn. A hunting cabin, she thought. At the edge of woods. Or along the bayou.
The same one Gwen had been lured to? Avery searched her memory. Gwen had said the junction of Highway 421 and No Name Road.
That would put her south of Cypress Springs. Not far from the old canning factory.
The sour smell, she realized. Of course. The same smell that rolled into town when the wind shifted to a northerly direction.
The stench of the burned-out factory.
Matt appeared in the doorway, a dark silhouette against the rectangle of light. "Rise and shine, beautiful."
"Untie me and I will."
She all but spat the words at him and he laughed. "Somebody wake up on the wrong side of the bed?"
"Bastard."
He sauntered across the room, humming the tune from the children's nursery rhyme "The Itsy-Bitsy Spider." He reached the bed, bent and tiptoed his fingers up her thigh in time with the tune. She saw he had his gun tucked into the waistband of his jeans.
His fingers made the juncture of her thighs and stilled-the tune died on his lips. He cocked his head and gazed at her, expression curiously blank. "I'm sorry it's come to this, Avery. I really am."
"Then let me go, you psycho prick."
"Such language. I'm disappointed in you."
He climbed onto the bed and straddled her, placing a hand on either side of her head. The position brought his pelvis into contact with hers. The butt of the gun pressed into her abdomen.
"You betrayed me, Avery. You betrayed us."
"Don't talk to me about betrayal. You killed my father!"
He laughed softly and trailed a finger down the curve of her cheek, then lower, across her collarbone to her breast. "You always were too smart for your own good. Too opinionated."
He bent and kissed her. Lightly at first, then deeply, forcing his tongue into her mouth.
Avery fought the urge to fight and instead lay frozen beneath him. Her lack of response seemed to frustrate him and he broke the contact.
As he did, she spit in his face. He jerked away, face flooding with angry color. Rearing back, he slapped her. Her head snapped to the side; she tasted blood and saw stars.
But she didn't cry out. She wouldn't give him the satisfaction.
"You know what?" He curled his fingers around the neck of the T-shirt Cherry had lent her. "For a smart girl you do some really stupid things."
He yanked the fabric so hard she came off the bed. The T-shirt gave, ripping from neck to belly button, revealing her naked breasts. He covered them with his hands, squeezing tightly. "Like pissing off the guy who holds your life in his hands. And now, your breasts as well."
He tightened his grip, pinching the nipples, twisting. She swallowed the whimper of pain that flew to her lips. He bent forward so that his face hovered just above hers. His stale breath stirred against her cheek.
Avery shuddered. If the eyes were the windows to the soul, he had none.
"You were supposed to be mine. I chose you. Not once, but twice. And you broke my heart. The first time by leaving. The second by giving yourself to my brother."
He laughed. "You look so surprised. How stupid do you think I am? I was suspicious that day at Tiller's Pond. Like a fool, I gave you the benefit of the doubt. After I found you at his place that morning, I knew."
She whimpered, thinking of Hunter. Of what she had gotten him into.
And what she had suspected him of.
Matt's mouth twisted into a thin line. "Did you think of me, Avery? While you fucked my brother? While you betrayed-" He bit the words back, though he shook with a rage so potent the bed quaked with it.
He could kill her now, this moment.