by Boone, Lisa
“I’m surprised you let Jamie live as long as he did. You certainly took out Paul fast enough,” Madison said.
“Too risky. Paul was easier. The fool didn’t even see me coming.”
“Why did you kill him?”
“He snuck up on me and pulled my door open when I was sitting outside your apartment.” He chuckled. “He wanted me to be a witness, but unfortunately, he recognized me from the office. I had to kill him then. Shame too. I was planning on pinning your murder on him.”
Sarah, to everyone’s surprise, suddenly rammed her head back against Alex’s jaw while simultaneously twisting his wrist around.
The knife clattered to the floor as Alex yelped in pain.
“Sarah move!” Madison yelled bringing the gun up and pointing it at Alex.
Sarah dropped Alex’s wrist and started to run, but Alex was too fast for her. He grabbed her by the hair and brought her back towards his chest, making sure to keep her between him and Madison. Holding her in a chokehold, he backed up against the wall until she stopped struggling.
“Are you going to behave yourself now?” he asked, panting.
Sarah let out a squeak as she tapped against his arms.
“Good girl,” he said, releasing his arm enough to let her breathe. He brought them both down to a kneeling position, then picked up the knife off the floor and slowly rose to his feet, dragging Sarah up with him. He moved his hand to grip her jaw before pressing the blade closer to her neck, causing a small nick. A thin streak of red dripped from Sarah’s neck to her sweater.
“Now look at what you made me do,” Alex said.
Desperate to take his attention off Sarah, Madison took a step forward.
Alex swung his gaze back to Madison.
“How did you know we were here? I don’t believe that story about Keith.”
Alex snarled. “When you sent me off for your coat like I was your freaking servant, I went down to the parking deck and put a GPS tracker on your car. I was afraid something like this might happen. I had intended to kill you at the party just like I did Laura, only this time, I was going to take my time. I had a special room picked out on the third floor of our office building. I had Gina rent it out for me. It was all ready for us but…Well, that’s okay. I actually like this place more. It’s more intimate. Nearest neighbors are miles from here. No, this is much better. We have all night together girls.”
“No, we don’t, Alex,” Madison said. “The police are on their way.”
He laughed seemingly without a care in the world as he pushed Sarah forward. Using the knife, he motioned for Madison to back up.
Madison felt her back hit the swinging door to the living room. “We called them. They’ll be here any minute.”
Holding on to the back of Sarah’s neck, Alex pushed her forward with the tip of the knife against her spine. “You didn’t recognize her voice, did you?”
Madison felt her blood run cold. “Whose voice?”
“The voice of the dispatcher you spoke to.”
Sarah’s eyes widened. “I spoke to the dispatcher.”
“Oh,” Alex said, “you never met Gina. Well, you’ll get to meet her later tonight. She’s stationed by the road just in case any late night visitors suddenly arrive.” He looked around the living room. When they passed the door to the bathroom, he banged his fist against it, shouting at the dog to be quiet.
“That’s not going to do much good,” Madison said, putting the couch between her and Alex. She held her gun out in front of her. She knew it wouldn’t do much good, not with Sarah in front of Alex, but she wasn’t about to relinquish their only weapon.
Sarah took a step forward, but he jerked her back, choosing to stay between the grandfather clock and a bookshelf.
“How did Gina intercept our call?” Madison asked.
“You know, I’m really glad I killed that Derek and took over his life. I’ve learned so much since working at your law firm. Keith had me researching privacy law for a couple of months. It was quite the eye-opener what you can do now to track people.” He laughed. “I know how to get into your computer, although I always knew how to do that, but now I know how to cover my tracks a little better. Can access it any time I wish. I can track phones, cars, people… even your little dog. See, even if I had lost you tonight, I could always have found sweet Sarah here. She always has that mutt with her. No,” he said with a small shake of his head, “you were never going to get away from me. I’ve been with you every step of the way. I even followed you to that old busybody’s bed and breakfast and then to Aunt Allison’s inn. Not to mention, I’ve been in and out of your apartment like a ghost for months.” His face took on a dreamy expression. “I watched you sleep one night. There was a part of me that hoped you’d wake up. Wake up and see me standing over you.”
Madison suppressed a shudder that went through her body as he smiled at her.
“But that would have been premature. As fun as it would have been it would have ended things too quickly.” He bit his lip. “I wanted to wait until tonight. Happy New Year, by the way.”
“You waited to kill me because of that stupid book?” Madison spat out angrily.
“Why not? Think of this as a homage to my brother. Laura’s death was what ultimately brought us all together and since I had already made up my mind to take my time with you, the whole New Year’s Eve countdown thing Todd dreamed up seemed fitting. Obviously, I decided to put my own little spin on it. You know, I’ve enjoyed this. I have to say, this is the best life I’ve ever stolen.”
“So, you killed the real Derek and assumed his identity. What made you think we would hire you? We weren’t even planning to hire another paralegal this summer.”
“No, but when I showed Nicole a video of her committing adultery with a federal judge, the windows of opportunity suddenly flew open. She didn’t like it, but since Derek had an excellent resume and all I wanted was a job in her firm, she grudgingly created a position for me. Although, had I known how quickly and easily you’d fall for that detective, I would have killed him and taken over his life instead.”
“Speaking of which,” Madison said, “he should be appearing soon. Escape now while you have the chance.”
“I hope he does show up. It’ll be easier to pin your murder on him if he is here.” He looked over his shoulder for a second before turning back to face Madison. “No, now don’t you worry about Ethan, Madison. He’s not going to interrupt us. If you think he’s going to save you like he did at the inn, think again. You know, I bet you didn’t know that I was in the room right next to you two when you stayed at my aunt’s inn. Heard old Roger tell you about Winters.” He scowled. “Some friend Winters turned out to be. Going to sell me out for a thousand bucks.” He released out a long-suffering sigh. “Oh well. I learned a long time ago, you can’t trust anyone.”
“Apparently, not even your own family,” Madison said.
His eyes narrowed. “What do you mean by that?”
“Todd had you committed after you killed Laura.”
“Shut up!” He pointed the knife at Madison. “Don’t you talk about my brother.”
“He was afraid of you.”
“Todd loved me. He told me you were on to me. The only reason he sent me away was because he was just trying to protect me.”
“On to you? I wasn’t on to you. I didn’t even know you existed.”
“You’re lying. Gina told me the truth about you.”
“She was in love with Todd. Of course, she’d back up his lies.”
“Just shut up. I don’t want to hear you talk anymore. I know the truth. The only thing that matters here is that you killed the one person who ever cared about me.”
“I didn’t kill Todd. I was nowhere near him when he died.”
“You put him in jail. You are responsible for everything that happened to him after that.”
“His own actions put him in jail.”
He pursed his lips together in a tight angry line.
“I shouldn’t have agreed to go away. I should have stayed. I should have just killed you then. I wanted to, but Todd was in love with you, so I walked away.” He blew out his breath. “Todd saved your life and you didn’t even know it. Well, he’s not here to protect you anymore. No one’s here to protect you. We’re going to have all night and all day to spend together.” He started to say more, but snapped his mouth shut. He cocked his head to the side before scowling at the bathroom door, yelling at the top of his voice for Rory to, “Shut up!”
Madison tightened her grip on the gun.
A movement to her right caught her attention.
She glanced toward the darkened mudroom in the corner of the room for a moment before turning her attention back to Alex who was still yelling at Rory.
A tiny flash of light out of the corner of her eye brought her attention back to the mudroom. A small glimmer of hope began to form in her mind as she narrowed her eyes, searching for any sign of movement in the dark alcove.
“Madison!” Alex looked at her in annoyance when her attention returned to him. “Am I boring you? What are you looking at?”
“Nothing.”
He looked doubtful for a moment, but then shook his head in disbelief. “Nope, not falling for it. Now, I want you to put the gun down. If you don’t—”
“I like what you did with Ethan’s office. It was really well done.”
“Flattery?” He tilted his head to the side as a bemused smile lit up his face. “Interesting tactic.”
“Credit where credit is due. The picture of your brother and Ethan was a nice touch,” she said through gritted teeth.
“I thought so. A little Photoshop work. Took twenty minutes. Ethan’s quite photogenic, even when he was a teenager.” He rubbed his hand along his jaw. “I wasn’t. My face was a mess. No one could stand to look at me. Girls hated me.” He grinned. “But now look at me.”
Madison glanced back toward the mudroom. One of the dark shadows against the wall suddenly moved closer to the light.
She felt a sudden surge of relief fill her as Ethan silently crept forward. Her joy must have registered on her face though, because he shook his head sternly as he lifted a finger to his lips.
“Look at me!” Alex shouted.
Madison’s gaze flew back to Alex.
“What is over there that you want me to see so desperately? Do you have a trap set for me? Am I supposed to go over there to investigate?”
“No,” she said quickly. “I’m just nervous. I don’t know what to do.”
“Well, that’s a shame. Hey, I know what you can do. You can put the gun down. If you don’t, I’m going to add a few more scars to Sarah’s face.”
“I just—”
“No! No more talking. Put it down.”
She glanced over at Ethan who nodded. He then motioned for her to put the gun on the floor and kick it over to him.
“Don’t make me tell you again,” Alex said, yanking Sarah back against him and pressing the knife to her cheek.
“Okay,” Madison said bending forward. “You win.”
“No, don’t put the gun on the floor. Just put it on the end table near the chair.” When she hesitated, he jerked on Sarah’s hair causing her to scream out in pain.”
Madison hurried toward the end table and set the gun down.
“Good,” Alex said pushing Sarah away from him.
Finally free, Sarah ran to Madison and threw herself into her arms.
Alex pushed away from the wall and strolled over to the end table. He retrieved the gun and stuck it in the waistband of his trousers. “Now, this is how it’s going to play out—” He stopped suddenly, throwing a glance over his shoulder.
Her heart hammering in her chest, Madison followed his gaze toward the mudroom.
Ethan must have stepped back into the shadows, she thought, nervously gnawing on her lip. She wrapped her arm around Sarah’s waist and dragged her back toward the fireplace, making sure to make as much noise as she could in an attempt to draw Alex’s attention away from the mudroom. If she could distract him, perhaps Ethan could sneak up behind him.
Alex turned back around. “Where do you think you’re going?”
Madison picked up a poker near the fireplace. “I’m just not going to stand here and let you hurt us.”
He started to smile, but then turned his attention back to the mudroom. Clearly debating what to do, he looked from the mudroom to Madison, and back again before reaching behind his back and taking hold of the gun once again.
“You’re just going to leave us here?” Madison asked. “We’ll run.”
Alex stopped. “Go ahead. You’re not going to get very far in this weather,” he said before disappearing into the shadows, a gun in one hand and a knife in another.
Sarah pulled on her sister’s arms. “Come on. Let’s go.”
“You go.”
“What? I’m not leaving you here.”
They froze as a gun went off. Less than a second later, Alex and Ethan burst into the living room. They fell to the floor, grappling over a knife. It slid from their hands to the other side of the room.
Sarah and Madison backed into a corner as the men rose to their feet, trading blow after blow. They stayed together as one unit just trying to get out of the way, as the men fought one another.
When Ethan threw Alex against the window, causing him to crash through, Madison grabbed Sarah’s hand and ran toward the opposite side of the room just as Alex came barreling back into the living room, throwing Ethan down on the ground in front of their feet. She and Sarah hurriedly backed up, looking for an alternate way out as the men made it to their feet again.
With a roar, Alex pulled a long shard of glass out of his arm and dropped it to the floor before driving Ethan into the wall. He slammed his fists into Ethan’s stomach until he doubled over in pain.
Thinking he had his opponent down, Alex backed up a step, giving Ethan enough room to drive the heel of his hand up and under Alex’s jaw.
Alex’s head snapped back. When his head came back forward, he looked around in a daze.
Taking no chances with the other man, Ethan grabbed Alex’s arm, swinging him around and slamming his head into the wall.
Alex fell to the floor. He lay there in a heap, his neck at an unnatural angle and his face covered in blood.
Ethan, his fists still clenched and breathing heavily, stared down at the other man. When Alex made no move to stand up, Ethan slowly unclenched his fists.
Madison, tears streaming down her face, stood helplessly in the center of the room next to Sarah, and watched as Ethan searched for the weapons they had lost during the fight.
Sarah broke away from her and ran to the bathroom. She bent down and cradled the puppy in her arms as she looked around the room in a sort of helpless shock. She glanced down at the remains of the TV set. “Grandpa’s going to be furious.”
Madison merely nodded as she continued to watch Ethan. When his eyes finally made contact with hers, she quickly turned away. She couldn’t bear to see the rejection in his eyes. She should have trusted him. She should have believed him. She turned to watch as he kicked over a piece of the Grandfather clock that had fallen to the floor in the fight and retrieved the gun.
He glanced back at her as he put the gun in the back of his waistband.
“Ethan,” she began, trying her best to hold her emotions in check, “I’m so sorry. I know—” Her voice broke and she buried her face into her hands as she sobbed uncontrollably
Suddenly, he was there crushing her to his chest. He gently removed her hands from her face before wiping her tears away.
“I’m so sorry,” she whispered into his chest as he gently cradled her head. “I’m so sorry I didn’t trust you, Ethan. I’m so sorry.”
He gently tipped her head back before bending his own and kissing her. “It’s okay. Everything’s okay now.”
Madison clutched at his back and held on tightly, afraid to let him go. Out of the side
of her eyes, she watched as Sarah carefully picked her way through the remains of the living room furniture, still looking around in utter disbelief.
She started to reach out her hand to her sister when she felt Ethan tense in her arms. In one fluid motion, he reached around his back and brought out his gun.
He had barely gotten the weapon past his hip when the crack of a rifle rang through the air.
She turned around, surprised to find Alex standing up only a few feet from Sarah with a jagged piece of glass firmly clutched in his hand.
Ethan started to push Madison behind him, but then stopped and stared as blood began to pour out of Alex’s head.
Alex stared at them blankly for a moment before falling back against the wall.
Shocked, they all turned to look outside. Ethan was the first to react. He knelt next to Alex and felt for the other man’s pulse. He grabbed the edge of one of the curtains lying on the floor and flipped it over Alex’s body.
“Who did you bring with you?” Madison asked, nodding toward the backyard.
“I didn’t bring anyone with me,” Ethan said. “I figure it must be Jamie who shot him.”
Sarah shook her head. “Derek—I mean, Alex, told us that he killed Jamie.”
“Shot him in the back near his car,” Madison clarified.
Ethan looked confused as he stood back up and wrapped his arms around Madison’s waist. “I didn’t see Jamie’s body out there. I saw some blood on the snow, but no body.”
A hopeful smile lit up Sarah’s face. She hurried toward them and pressed Rory into their arms before turning around and racing towards the kitchen door.
“Sarah!” Madison called out as she started after her sister.
Ethan pulled her back into his embrace, leaving enough room for Rory to cuddle up between them. “Let her go. If Jamie’s hurt, he’s going to need her help.”