Those Girls (37 page)

“Maybe he would. We have to at least try.”

“He could report us.”

I shook my head. “I don’t think he would.”

She took a breath and stood up. “Fine.”

*   *   *

We found Owen working at the bar. I looked around, saw a few people nursing their drinks.

“Hey,” I said. “Have a minute?”

“Sure.”

“Could we talk to you in private?”

Wiping his hands on a towel, he gave me a curious look. Then he called to the waitress at the other end of the bar. “Cover for me.”

We went into his office and he closed the door. Pulling out the chair from behind his desk, he sat. “What’s going on? Did you find them?”

“We’re not sure,” I said. “Look.” I took a breath. “I know you don’t really know us, but we need your help.”

“Okay,” he said slowly.

I glanced at Dallas, who was watching me. I turned back to Owen. “Could we borrow a gun?”

He sat straight. “What?”

“Gavin came by our hotel last night and threatened us. We know the girls are out at the ranch, but the cops can’t get a search warrant.”

“How do you know the girls are there?” He was frowning.

“We found two cars covered by tarps in their garage and we heard thudding sounds from inside the house.”

“And you need a gun because…?”

I debated lying. We could tell him we just needed it for protection, but I didn’t think he’d believe me. “We’re going out there and getting our girls back.”

“We won’t say you gave us a gun,” Dallas said. “We’ll say we stole it.”

He was shaking his head. “Sorry. No. You’re going to get killed.”

I leaned forward. “We are going with or without your help. But if you give us that gun, we might walk out of it alive.”

“Your dad helped us once,” Dallas said. “Remember?”

“We don’t know if the girls are okay. We don’t—” My voice broke and I turned away, trying to get my emotions under control.

“Shit,” Owen said. “Meet me out back in ten minutes, by the silver truck.”

*   *   *

He came out carrying a hockey bag, looked around before walking over to where we had parked under the shadow of a tree. He had his keys out, put them in the door of his truck with his back to us, dropped the bag on the ground, and reached in like he was getting something from behind the seat. “Put the bag in your car,” he said.

Dallas looked around and quickly put it in the backseat.

“It’s unregistered.” He turned around and met my eyes. “Good luck.”

CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

S
KYLAR

“What the hell do you mean, change of
plan
s?” Gavin said.

“We can’t move the girls—and you can’t keep them here.”

“So what are you saying?”

“We have to kill them, bury their bodies on the property, get rid of any sign of them before the cops descend on this place.” Brian said the words so casually that it took a moment for my brain to comprehend what I was hearing. Then it hit. I looked at Crystal, knew she’d get what I was thinking.

Should we go for it now
?

She shook her head, just a slight movement. She wanted to wait, but I felt desperate, time slipping away. We had to do something soon.

“Cops need a search warrant,” Gavin said. He took the last drag of his smoke and ground it out on top of the stereo speaker.

“They might be getting one,” Brian said. “You were seen at the bar with her, you idiot. And we don’t know what those other bitches saw today.”

“I told you the cars are covered with a tarp.”

“You caused this, you clean it up.” Brian took a handgun out from behind his back and handed it to Gavin. Blood roared through my head.

I looked at Crystal, who nodded. This was it—we had to go for it. I was about to pull my wrists apart when Gavin hit Brian across the head with the gun, the crack echoing in the room.

Brian stumbled back, his hand to his head. Then he rushed forward and tackled Gavin, slamming him into the closet door behind him.

Locked in a hold, they fell to the floor, rolling around and punching each other. They were partly behind the bed. I could hear grunts, boots against wood, heavy breathing as they struggled. My hands were undone. I looked at Crystal. She was reaching for her rope. I glanced at the open door. Could we make it?

I tried to pull my rope free from the post, but it was caught somehow. I looked at the men, terrified one of them would notice.

They’d moved away from the bed. Brian was on top of Gavin, hitting him in the face, loud smacks over and over. Suddenly there was a shot. The room exploded with the noise, making my ears ring. I couldn’t tell who’d been hit.

I gave my rope another yank. Crystal was beside me now, trying to help.

Brian rolled off Gavin and leaned against the dresser, clutching at his stomach—a bloom of red. He looked stunned, then his body slumped to the side.

“Shit,” Gavin said.

Finally my rope came free. I took off for the door, Crystal following. From the corner of my eye I saw Gavin getting up, gun still in his hand.

“What the fuck!” he yelled.

We were at the door. Now running down the stairs. I heard Crystal stumble behind me and reached behind, felt for her hand, pulling her along.

“I can’t keep up, I’m holding you back.”

“Come on!” I yelled. “We’re almost there.”

We were at the bottom. I heard Gavin trip and fall at the top of the stairs, heard his body hit hard. I prayed it would buy us some extra time.

We ran through the kitchen, heading to the front door. I let go of Crystal’s hand and wrestled with the front door handle, got it open. I glanced over my shoulder to see how close Gavin was and saw that Crystal had stepped back.

I reached for her hand. “Let’s go!”

She pulled her hand free and pushed me out the door. “Run, Skylar!”

“What are you doing—” She slammed the door shut. I pounded on it, heard the lock sliding into place. “Crystal!” I screamed.

“Get out of here!” she yelled.

I ran to the living room window, could just make out her naked form grabbing a knife from the kitchen counter, then I saw Gavin emerging from the bottom of the stairs, the gun still in his hands.

“Crystal!” I yelled, slamming my hands on the glass. I looked around, but there wasn’t anything I could use to break the window.

I turned back just in time to see Crystal run at Gavin. They were struggling over the knife, his hand gripping her wrist. I had to help her.

I raced to the back of the house.

CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

J
AMIE

Dallas sped around the corners, almost losing control of the car a couple of times. She slowed down after we nearly hit someone passing on a motorbike coming toward us in the opposite lane. I braced one hand against the dashboard, the other tightly wrapped around the rifle.

We roared up Gavin’s driveway. I was sitting forward in the seat, ready to jump out and run. Dallas pulled her gun out from her waistband with one hand.

Gavin’s truck was in front of the house, an ATV parked beside it. Was it Brian’s? We came to a stop, the car skidding on the dirt. Through my open window I could hear screaming.

“Where’s that coming from?” Dallas said.

“Sounds like the back of the house!” We jumped out of the car and started running. Dallas led the way, holding her gun out in front of her. I had the rifle against my shoulder. We kept to the edge of the house, ducking below the windows. When we came around the side, Skylar was standing on the porch, throwing her body at the door.

“Crystal!” I heard her scream.

“Skylar!” I shouted.

She spun around, and I gasped at the sight of my daughter, the rope around her neck, the stained shirt, the boxer shorts, the tape stuck to her wrists. Her face was streaked with tears and her eyes looked frantic.

“Crystal’s inside,” she cried out, then started sobbing hysterically.

“Where are they?” I said, running up the steps with Dallas.

“Gavin shot Crystal,” she said, crying so hard I could barely make out the words. “I saw through the bathroom window. I saw her fall.”

The air rushed out of my body. “Is she okay?”

“I don’t know,” she said between sobs. “She stabbed Gavin. I think he’s dead.”

Dallas grabbed Skylar’s shoulders. “Where’s Brian?”

Skylar looked like she was in shock, her face ghostly white, her body shaking violently. “He was upstairs—Gavin shot him.”

I put my arms around her, held her close. “It’s going to be okay.”

Dallas leapt off the porch and grabbed a big rock, then ran up and smashed the bathroom window. She reached in, unlocked it, then slid it up and climbed inside. I tried to hold Skylar back but she wrenched out of my arms and clambered after Dallas through the window. I followed behind.

I’d just stepped onto the bathroom floor when I heard a scream, then Dallas shrieking, “No, no, no!”

I rushed out of the bathroom, found Skylar and Dallas in the kitchen on their knees by Crystal. She was naked, a thick rope around her neck, her skin a myriad of bruises. Her chest was covered in blood.

Dallas was holding her body in her arms, cradling her. Skylar was on the other side of Crystal, her hands over her mouth and her eyes stunned.

“Oh, God.” I dropped to my knees beside them. I gripped Crystal’s hand, horrified by the raw skin around her wrists, the tape stuck to her flesh.

“Crystal, sweet Jesus, what did they do to you?” I moaned, feeling for her pulse, my fingers pressing desperately, praying.

“CPR. We have to do CPR.” I tried to pull her out of Dallas’s arms.

We tugged over her for a moment, me crying and Dallas yelling, “It’s too late!” I thought of every minute we’d spent in town, every second we’d wasted. We should’ve gotten here sooner. We could have saved her.

“We have to
try
,” I screamed back, my throat so choked with tears I thought I’d strangle on them. I ripped my shirt off, pressed it against the wound on Crystal’s chest, crying even harder as it turned bright red.

Dallas let go and I lay Crystal down, bent her head back, started blowing in her mouth. Dallas began chest compressions. I knew Crystal was gone, could feel her mouth turning cold underneath mine, but I couldn’t let go, couldn’t stop breathing for her.
Crystal, no, please, come back
.
We need you.

Dallas stopped the compressions. She wrapped her arms around me, tried tugging me away. I fought back.

“No!”

I hit my hand down on Crystal’s chest, screamed in her face. “No!”

“Stop,” Dallas said, her voice anguished. “Stop.”

She grabbed me harder, pulling me away. I collapsed backward into her arms, my body wrenching with gasping sobs. “Oh, no,” I said. “No, no, no, no.”

I could feel Dallas’s body shaking behind me. I turned to Skylar, reaching for her. She was rocking back and forth, her head bowed, hands to her face. Her body sagged sideways, leaned into mine. Dallas encircled both of us in her arms, her face pressed between ours, my tears wetting her cheek.

Crystal was lying in front of us. I didn’t like her hand resting alone on the floor. I held it, so she was still with us, so she wasn’t left out. It was always all of us. I didn’t know what the world looked like without her in it. She was our light, our dancing light.

I glanced to my left, barely able to see through my tears. Gavin was lying on the floor a couple of feet away, a knife sticking out of his chest.

“She locked me out,” Skylar said. “Why did she lock me out?”

I was helpless to explain, couldn’t take my eyes off Crystal, her beautiful face. I heard a noise and turned toward the front door, saw someone stumble out.

“Dallas!” I said. “Brian just went out the front!”

She let go of us and got to her feet, her shirt covered in Crystal’s blood and her face enraged. She ran to the door, the gun in her hand. Now I could hear a motorbike and the faint sound of sirens, coming closer.

I picked up the rifle, following her. Dallas was almost out the front door. I stepped onto the porch. Brian was in the driveway, trying to get onto his ATV, his body bent over, a trail of blood behind him. It looked like he was fumbling for keys. A motorbike was coming up the driveway. The rider skidded sideways and fell next to the ATV. He got to his feet and ripped off his helmet. It was Riley. He ran for his dad. Dallas let off a shot aimed at Brian’s back, but he turned at the last minute and she hit the ATV. Brian grabbed his son by his shirt and dragged him toward the motorbike, using him as a shield.

“Dad! Stop!” Riley yelled as he tried to pull away.

Brian threw his son down onto the ground, picked up the motorbike, and started it up, fishtailing as he roared down the driveway.

I aimed at the tires, but missed.

The sirens were getting closer. Dallas took another shot. The bike swerved, and Brian tumbled to the ground, the motorbike’s engine still whining.

Now Riley was running toward him, and cop cars were racing up the driveway, swerving to avoid Brian and Riley. They pulled up in front of the house. An officer got out, saw us holding guns, and drew his.

“Everyone get down!”

CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

S
KYLAR

I pressed my forehead against the cool glass window, looking out at the highway, the big trucks passing our car. I was trying not to think about Crystal but I kept seeing flashes of her face, the blood on her chest, her head lolling to the side.

Mom was holding my hand in the backseat. I could feel her looking at me once in a while, could feel her concern, all her emotions pressing into me. She’d asked if I wanted to talk, her eyes serious and sad, her mouth trembling when she looked at the bandages on my wrists, her hands patting and touching and stroking my skin like she had to keep feeling me to believe I was alive.

“Not yet,” I’d said. I felt like I was swimming underwater and if I opened my mouth it would fill up and I’d drown. I kept getting flashes of images, but they were foggy, surreal, like I was having a horrible nightmare I kept waiting to wake up from, but it just went on and on.