“You stupid asshole!” he shouted as Alex began to swing wildly again. “You stupid fucking asshole!”
Alex closed his eyes. Even if he managed, as he had hoped, to grab onto Everett before he fell onto any of the sandbags, what good would it have done? If Everett took his time killing him, maybe that would allow Kit to get reinforcements here to save Spooky and Chase. The more he thought about it, the more likely it seemed that Kit would try to reach the former soldiers who guarded his house-genuine soldiers, not boys playing dress-up like Everett-to help them. He had to keep his head until then and not put Spooky and Chase at risk.
Everett grabbed him roughly and brought the swinging to a halt again. Alex tried to prepare himself for what was to come, to put himself mentally far away. He thought of his last climb, of conquering the hardest part of it, of clinging by his fingertips and nearly nonexistent toeholds. Then he heard a chime and the steady rolling of the next silver ball, and was back in the tower.
But instead of threatening him with the knife, Everett started to set up the stepladder, carefully placing it on marks that Alex could now see beneath him. Everett wiped his hands nervously and again glanced at his watch. He grabbed one of the bell ropes, then looked undecided. It occurred to Alex that he had not planned to be alone when he did this. “Cameron was the rock climber,” he said.
Everett frowned, then climbed down, folded the ladder, and set it on the floor. He stood behind Alex and took hold of Alex’s belt at the back, placed a booted foot on the chain of the handcuffs, and pressed down, so that Alex’s already strained joints felt an even harder pull. His shoulders and elbows were on fire. Alex opened his mouth and exhaled hard, trying not to groan or make a sound that would distress Chase or Spooky. He heard the knife leave the sheaf again, and sweat began stinging his eyes. He felt the prick of the blade between his shoulders, a small, burning cut.
“A little deeper and you could spend the last hour of your life being paralyzed-you understand?” Everett said. “So don’t go talking to me about what I can and cannot do. I can do what I want.”
Alex felt a trickle of blood dampening the hair on the back of his head. He stayed silent.
Everett lifted his foot away and released his hold. He quickly made his way back over the sandbags. Alex tried but couldn’t see the pattern of his steps.
Everett suddenly seemed distracted, as if he had heard a noise. He frowned and pulled the gun out again. He aimed it directly at Alex as he moved nearer to the door and opened it. He stood on the threshold, listening.
Alex heard the same sound Everett must have heard a moment before. Gunfire.
53
Malibu, California
Thursday, May 22, 9:09 P.M.
“Hold it,” Ciara said.
Meghan stood still. She had heard it, too. A faint sound near the baseball dugout. Ciara had decided not to walk out into the open space between the baseball diamond and the woods until she searched among the buildings for any sign of Kit. They watched Everett take Alex into the bell tower, but otherwise hadn’t seen or heard anything. Until now.
Kit, don’t come any closer, Meghan thought.
Ciara waited and listened. She pushed Meghan ahead a little, then shouted, “Kit Logan!”
They heard another sound-this one just to their left. Ciara turned toward it, pointing the gun. Meghan launched herself at the other woman, knocking her over. The gun went off. Meghan landed sprawled over the upper half of Ciara’s body-Ciara was pinned beneath her, her head beneath Meghan’s shoulder, but she still had the gun. She was trying to point it back at Meghan but seemed to realize she wouldn’t be able to get a clear shot.
Meghan, her hands still cuffed behind her, struggled to remain on top of Ciara, who began trying to roll over. If she did, Meghan knew, she’d be able to shoot the gun, and there wouldn’t be much of anything she could do about it.
She heard a loud thud, the sound of someone jumping down from somewhere, and then there was another combatant adding his weight to hers and grabbing Ciara’s gun hand. Meghan couldn’t make out much in the darkness, but she knew it was a man. She saw him take hold of Ciara’s wrist and try to peel her fingers away from the weapon with the other hand. Not like that! Meghan wanted to shout.
Ciara pushed hard, and Meghan felt herself rolling off. Ciara struggled to aim the gun at her despite being kicked by both Meghan and the man. Suddenly, Ciara was free of Meghan. Ciara launched herself toward her male attacker as Meghan kicked out again, her foot connecting hard with Ciara’s knee, causing her to lose her balance.
The gun went off again.
She heard Ciara moan, then fall still.
“Meghan?”
Gabe. Meghan tried to make the loudest sound she could with the gag on.
“Sorry. Forgot you were gagged.”
He pushed Ciara over, leaving the gun behind, and hurried to free Meghan from the gag.
“Gabe! Oh, Gabe-is she dead?”
He nodded.
“You’re sure?”
He went back to the still form and felt for a pulse.
“Yes, she’s dead. I guess I’m really in trouble now.”
“No, no-get the handcuff key from her pants pocket. Hurry! We’ve got to help Kit and those kids.”
“I thought they said Kit was dead.”
“You heard that?”
He was searching for the key. He paused. “Meggie, is it true?”
“I don’t know. I think Detective Brandon wanted Everett to think that, but I don’t know if it’s true.” She swallowed hard. “I don’t want it to be.”
“Me neither.”
“We have to try to find Spooky and Alex’s nephew. Do you know where they’re being held?”
“No. But Everett was doing something in the bell tower earlier, and after he took Cameron in there, they had a big argument.”
“What were you doing in the office?”
He began searching the ground nearby. “Maybe the keys fell out of her pocket-oh, the office? I saw Everett and this one leave the building-sorry, Meggie-the door was closed, and I didn’t know you were in there. I wanted to get into the infirmary. I was looking for a blanket and some bandages. There’s a man Cameron shot-I took him to the stables after I tried to help Kit.”
“What man? And what do you mean, tried to help Kit?”
“Got them!” He found a key ring and held it up in triumph. “Wait-there’s another set, too.”
“She has Alex’s keys. We were supposed to wait in his car, but she drove me in here. Tell me about this man Cameron shot.”
“Cameron was hunting Kit with a rifle,” he said, moving behind her and releasing the lock. “He turned the lights on, and I came back here and turned them off-Kit can see better in the dark than a cat, Meggie. And he knows the woods. We used to hang out there to avoid Everett and Cameron and that group.”
She rubbed at her wrists. “Are you okay?”
“Me? You’re the one I’m worried about.”
“I’m all right.”
“The man who was shot-he’s unconscious, but someone bandaged his wound-maybe Kit or Alex. I didn’t want Everett to find him, because he’s an FBI agent. And it’s so weird-I think he used to go to school here.”
She had started to search the ground for the gun, but at this she looked up. “What?”
“Yeah. His name is Hamilton. I think he was a senior when I was a freshman. Anyway, I don’t like leaving him out there.”
“We’ve got to look for Spooky and Alex’s nephew,” she repeated, finding and picking up the gun. “And we’ve got to try to help Alex.” She paused and reached for a small, black object. Alex’s cell phone.
“We should call nine-one-one,” Gabe said.
She looked at him. “Oh, Gabe-”
“How can you even hesitate? It’s not just about me, now, Meghan. If I get caught, I get caught. But I’ll never forgive myself if anything happens to the others. And Agent Hamilton needs medical help.”