Stolen Course (Wrecked and Ruined #2)

“No, Sarah. You loved her. It’s past tense now. She is fucking dead, remember?” I spit out the words as I watch her flinch with each syllable.

I need someone to pay for what happened to Manda, and I don’t give two shits if it is her best friend. I need something to make me feel again. I’ve been so numb over the last few months, and I don’t care if doing this will make me feel like an asshole. At least I’ll feel something. I was already pissed at Sarah, but when she showed up here tonight, asking for something of Manda’s? Well, she may as well have thrown herself into the lion’s den. I’m not usually a cruel man, but I can definitely make an exception for the woman who killed the love of my life.

“You are one selfish bitch, Sarah. Not three months ago, you killed the only woman I have ever loved. She was my fucking life and you murdered her!” I roar so loud my voice actually breaks. “Then you show up on my doorstep, asking for her most prized possession? And you’re delusional enough to think that begging will actually make me to give it to you? If it were up to me, you would be rotting in a jail cell right now, but as it stands, you are prancing around town, while Manda is buried six feet under.” That admission hits me hard as my mind flashes to an image of Manda in a casket. I stumble over my words, trying to erase the image that can’t be unseen. “You need to really listen to me right now. I will spend the rest of my life trying to prove that you were drunk and driving the car that night. And when I do, I am going to take everything from you—the same way you did me.”

“I don’t have anything left for you to take.” Her chin begins to quiver as tears openly flow from her blue eyes.

“Oh, I think you do. Now get the fuck out of my house,” I say, staring down at the floor with my hands securely on my hips. I can’t look at her without my rage bubbling over.

“Please, Caleb. I need something, I’m dying here without her.” She all but crawls across the floor to my feet.

It catches me off guard to see this devastated side of Sarah. I almost feel sorry for her for a split second, but just as quickly as that feeling passed over me, it disappears.

“Get out!”

“Please,” she whispers, still holding my leg.

I look down and lose whatever calm I thought I had. “You want her necklace?” I ask, and she immediately perks up. The tears still run down her face, but for the first time since she arrived, she appears to have some glimmer of hope.

I walk to my bedroom and pull Manda’s necklace off her nightstand. It’s been there since they handed me her belongings at the hospital. I stomp back into the den, where Sarah is standing, trying to collect herself. She is rubbing her fingers under her eyes where her eye makeup is running down her cheeks. My mind jumps to the million times I’ve watched Sarah and Manda swipe the makeup away after hours of drinking and dancing.

“Are you drunk right now?” I pause, edging toward the door.

“What? No!” she screams.

“You sure?” I ask again, pulling open the front door.

“I’ll never drink again,” she solemnly swears, but it does nothing to quell the flame burning inside me.

“Sarah, I’m going to destroy you the same way you did me, even if it’s the last thing I do in this life. Now get out,” I repeat as I extend my hand, showing her Manda’s half of the necklace.

Her eyes light before her whole face crumbles in despair. She rushes toward me, ready to claim her reward. But as far as I’m concerned, there will never be a reward for her. I turn just as quickly and sling my arm as hard as I can toward my front yard. Her eyes go wide while trying to track the necklace’s trajectory, but the darkness cloaks everything.

“No!” she screams, rushing outside.

I slam the door behind her and move toward the window to watch her scramble. She frantically starts searching the grass, collapsing to the ground for a better view. I watch with a sick sense of triumph as she pulls her cell phone out of her pocket for extra light. I smile to myself before walking back to the door, casually flipping off the outside lights and heading for bed.

I stay awake for hours, constantly looking out my window. Sarah must have combed every inch of that yard, and I took great pleasure in watching her look. By the time she finally relents, her knees are covered in mud and her face is streaked with tears.

Five hours after she pulled into my driveway, Sarah pulls out of it.

Thirty seconds after she leaves, I reach into my pocket, pull out Manda’s necklace, and gently place it back on her nightstand. Right where it should be.