“I’m such an idiot.” He laughed. “I should have given you all more credit.” He was angry now. “Take over my plans with some of your own. Embarrass me, is that it? Or is he getting back at me?”
“Back at you for what?”
“You must know.”
“I don’t.”
“I should have known he’d never let that go. His shortsightedness has reached a new level.”
“What happened?”
“Just kids being kids. Kids are cruel though, aren’t they? Nothing a little growing up can’t fix. We’re only human, right?”
“Stefan, you’re scaring me. Just tell me what happened between you two.”
“I’d hate to tarnish your cute little image of him.”
“Trust me. His image is shattered. Stefan, I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“I bet Trevor is having a good time with this.” He had a snarl she hadn’t seen before. It was violent. “I wouldn’t have expected you to go along with something like this though. Why?”
He was inching closer now, closing the distance. “Just stay back.”
“I thought we had an honest connection. I thought we were friends.”
“We are friends, I just—” He was close enough now. She tried to give him an exaggerated look to let him know something was up, that she needed to tell him something important. There were eyes and ears on them, and she couldn’t speak the truth. But he was too blinded by rage.
“What do you see in him anyway?”
It was a good question, but not at that time.
“Give me something. So he’s attractive. But how long is that enough for? Especially for someone like you. You’ve got too much depth for that. I know that’s a fact.”
Her hand was on the counter. She was ready to grab the gun.
“I saw the way you looked at me. More than once, whenever I spoke. You liked what I had to say. You don’t like what Trevor has to say.”
He hovered over top of her, his eyes wild and fierce.
“I can’t tell you…” They were the wrong words, confirming his delirious allegations. “What exactly do you think I’m behind?”
“I think you don’t know exactly what you’re behind.”
“What does that mean? Let’s lose the code-speak, Stefan.”
He grinned and shook his head. “A rouse to squander my intentions. Humiliation is a powerful thing, especially for him… But no. That’s not it. He’ll have you believe that’s it, but it isn’t. You’re thinking this is a playful prank… I’ve seen his behavior. I saw the blood. Where is he, Erin? Where is he?” He shouted the second time. “I’ll tell you. He’s murdering Skye and Ashton and it’ll all come crumbling down on me. An easy frame job while you two ride off into the sunset. You’ll be convinced it was all my doing…” He shook his head. “I’ve been so foolish. Tell me I’m wrong.”
“I can’t tell you anything until you tell me what happened between you two.”
Something clicked. His eyes deadened as he looked past her shoulder at the gun on the table, her hand stretched out next to it. He lunged at her, wrapping his hand around her throat, squeezing tightly, but not enough to strangle her. She reached for the gun. It was too far, just out of her grasp.
“There’s nothing to even tell. You don’t want to be a part of this, but for some sick reason, you think you do. You don’t want to hurt me though, do you? No, you don’t want to hurt anyone. You’re a kind person.” He tilted his head to the side and searched her eyes.
She stopped reaching for the gun and wrapped her hands gently around his wrists. “I’m in trouble,” she whispered.
He kissed her roughly on the mouth. His tongue, the taste of tequila, his hands all over her… Skye… She pushed Stefan back, grabbed the gun, and pointed it at him.
“What? I thought I was a good kisser. Or does everyone think that about themselves?” He looked deranged, menacing. He was insane. He glanced at the gun and bent at the knees.
“Don’t,” she blurted.
He lunged at her once more. She fired. Her ears were ringing. She had pointed away from his head and chest. It shouldn’t have hit him. Did it?
The gun had more kick than she expected. It was louder than anticipated. She held the pistol up again and fired another round high and to the left, hitting the floor. She then knelt down and whispered as softly as possible, while examining the blood flowing from his shoulder. “Keep your eyes closed. I’ll be back for you.” He grimaced and obeyed her commands.
Knees completely wobbly with each step, she made her way down the staircase toward the surveillance room. Each step she took felt like she was walking on ice. The surveillance door was closed. She stood to the side to avoid any possible gunfire and swung the door open, spinning around with her gun raised. There was nobody.
Erin gave herself a moment to let her nerves return to a dull roar before taking a peek at some of the surveillance, expecting her leg to vibrate with a text at any second, calling her out on her staged performance. She took the opportunity to explore the technology in front of her to find some answers that weren’t coming from anyone’s lying lips. The majority of the unraveling had happened within the past twenty-four hours, and most questions started outside the walls of the bunker, or at least that was where she needed to begin her search.
She began scrolling through the latest drone footage. There were two different drones actually, and it appeared that one covered the east the other the west side. She accelerated the rewind, but it was a touch too fast as she fumbled to put it back to the prior speed. In doing so, she saw activity around the villa. It appeared that the drones were operating based on movement—unless a manual override took place. She stopped the video and fast-forwarded slightly before stopping it again. It was Trevor walking into the villa hours ago. The sun will be coming up soon. Then two hours of footage later, the drone shifted back onto the island. There came Stefan, staggering out of the bunker with a gun. Up ahead, someone walked in the distance, though it was difficult to make out whom. Suddenly, he stopped and looked at the ground, again, difficult to see because of how dark it was. He knelt down and touched the sand. He had spotted blood. Stefan told me there was blood. That he was following someone. Dragging someone else. But from what she could see, there was no dragging—just a dark figure, with what appeared to be a hood, moving quickly through the trees.
The drone flew back to the villa. It remained at a distance, but it was close enough to film Trevor leaving the villa. He walked with broken, inconsistent steps, almost as though he was drunk. The drone closed the gap, the lamppost on the dock giving her a better visual. In his hand was a black gun, and there was blood all over his shirt. She stepped out of the room and back up the stairs with her gun in hand. Her phone vibrated, stopping her halfway up. Another text. “Bury him. Northeast corner. The cross along the edge will suffice. A fresh grave is required.”
A fresh grave? As in there are existing graves there?
If Stefan had understood her when she shot him, maybe he’d hang on long enough for a fake burial. She continued up the stairs, preparing the best instructions to whisper to him, planning how she would approach his body to make it look like she assumed him to be dead. Erin turned the corner and stopped. Only blood smeared across the floor remained. He was gone. Another text came in. “You lied.”
“Please!” she shouted, looking around at the ceiling frantically to get their attention. “Take me instead!” Another text. “Not how this works.”
“Then give me time!” Her voice was hoarse. “I’ll find him. Let me bring him to you! Yeah, you can finish the job!”