“Where’s Emily?” I asked.
“Emily does what I tell her.” It sounded like a mantra, like if he said it enough, it might be true.
“It was her, wasn’t it?” I needled, to keep him talking. “You made her help you. She was the one who called the hospital pretending to be me. The one who bailed Reece out of jail. She was the one who gave him the roofies and stole his apartment key when he passed out. That’s how you got into his apartment and took his phone.”
“She’ll never say a word. She’s in too deep. She was the one who put Reece’s phone in your backpack this morning at school. She cleared out the girls’ bathroom at the amusement park and watched the door while I marked Posie. She signed in to the hospital, pretending to be you. When this is over, the scholarship will be mine. Twenty-five thousand dollars. I can pay Emily back the bail money, and still have twenty grand. Not as much as your dad stole from us, but it’s a start. And the bonus is that it gets your boyfriend out of the picture before he can go to the cops.”
A knife twisted inside me. Gruesome images of Kylie and Marcia and Posie flashed in my head. “What are you going to do to him?”
“Me? I don’t plan to do anything. But you’re going to kill him,” he laughed. “Anh too.”
It was over. My name had been spelled out in symbols from the periodic table. The set-up was in place. Emily would be back any minute and put the next play in motion. I had to do it now, before anyone else got hurt, including her.
“TJ,” I said, fighting the quake in my voice. “Emily’s probably gone. You saw how freaked out she was. She probably called the cops. She’s probably already told them everything. She’s scared. They’ll know the truth.”
I could taste the conflict inside him. The doubt as he looked back in Emily’s direction. She wasn’t there. The gun dug into my temple.
“You don’t have to kill anyone else,” I said as steady as I could. “Take my backpack. There’s five thousand cash in it. It’s yours. Plus a ticket to California. You can leave. Run before the cops get here.” I jerked my backpack off my shoulder, ignoring his faltering hand and unzipping the pouch. I tossed it, green rolls spilling to the ground. The gun wavered.
“You’re wrong,” TJ said, jerking me hard to make a point. “It’s not just about the money. It’s about making you pay! My life meant something!”
“So does Anh’s,” I cried. “So does Reece’s. So does mine! You don’t get to decide whose life is expendable!”
“Did you forget? I’m not the killer? You are.” TJ swung his arms around me and locked my wrists in a painful grip. With cautious precision, he forced the gun into my hand, pressing my bare fingers into place. I struggled and kicked his shins as he leveled my arm at Reece. He was too close, too big, and too strong. If he pulled the trigger, everything I’d done to save Reece would be for nothing. I could taste his resolve settling back into place.
“Eventually they’ll solve the puzzle,” TJ said, his voice barely straining as he took control of the gun. “The indirect proof. They’ll put it all together. They’ll find Anh and Whelan. Your prints on the gun. They’ll find your suicide note.”
My vision blurred with hot tears. I stared down the barrel at Reece’s body, wondering how long the drugs worked. When he would wake. Would he open his eyes only to see me pull the trigger?
“Now I’ll take from you what your father took from me. Everything.” He leaned in close, sighting over my shoulder, straight to Reece’s chest. I locked my knees and pushed back against him, straining to raise my arms. My muscles burned and shook, but his aim was dead on. His finger tightened over mine. I turned my head away from Reece, and shut my eyes so I wouldn’t have to see him die.
I held my breath.
“Missing something?” A deep voice cut through the darkness. “I know I am.”
TJ startled, loosening my finger on the trigger.
“Step away from the girl, drop the gun, and put your hands where I can see them.”
My breath rushed out, relief flooding through me. Emily watched, tear-streaked and wide-eyed from a few yards away.
Lonny stood behind her.
He pushed Emily forward under the white mausoleum lights, revealing the tip of the knife at her throat.
TJ tensed, hesitated, his grip uncertain. “What the hell are you doing here?”
“Looks like I’m late to the party, Boswell. I came as soon as I got your message.” Lonny’s smile was wicked and terrifyingly eager. He teased a trickle of blood down Emily’s throat. She whimpered. TJ didn’t move.
“Maybe you didn’t hear me the first time, Wiles. I said step away from Leigh and drop the gun.”
Lonny’s smile twisted and Emily cried out.