I’d done it before, so I knew exactly how dangerous it was. I no longer had the luxury of being a teenage idiot with no sense of mortality. I also couldn’t take my time. I’d have to free climb up that bastard as fast as I could.
What would I do once I got to the top? I didn’t think that far ahead. I was making this up as I went along. I wasn’t some action hero who’d grab her wrist as she went over the edge, saving her from falling. We’d both go down if it went that far.
So I’d have to make sure he didn’t have the chance to push her.
Thankfully, I knew the route and it wasn’t far out of my way. The trail was every bit as steep as I remembered. I dug my heels into the dry ground, but I slid down, displacing rocks and kicking up dust. I didn’t want to go all the way to the bottom. Just far enough that I could climb over and come up from behind Hayden.
I didn’t think about the danger or what my head would look like if I fell. I turned to face the cliff side, found a foothold, grabbed a small ledge of rock with one hand, and started to climb.
A rainbow glistened in the waterfall spray. The rocks were wet and slippery, every hand hold precarious. My brother Reese had almost fallen, right about where I was. Not over the deep pool we used to dive into, but over the deadly rocks below me.
That was a weird memory to have at that moment.
My teenage body had been more agile, but now I was more determined. I climbed as fast as I could while still making sure my feet were stable before shifting my weight. It felt painfully slow, but I knew only a few minutes had passed.
Finally, I got close enough to the top that I could hear their voices over the sound of the water. Hayden’s, at least. Audrey might have said something, but it was hard to tell.
My left foot slipped on the wet rock. I sucked in a breath and held on, my fingers and forearms aching with the effort. By some miracle, my right foot stayed put and I carefully found another toe hold.
Against my better judgment, I glanced down.
Bad idea.
I was high. Stupidly high and the safety of the pool was well to my right. If I went down here, I’d be hamburger.
So would Audrey, if he pushed her.
Resolve burned away all fear. Audrey was mine and I’d do whatever it took to protect her. If I died saving her, so be it. But I was taking that fucker down with me.
CHAPTER 41
Audrey
Facing the stark possibility of my death was different than I would have imagined. I was afraid. Sick to my stomach with it, in fact. But it was almost too surreal to process. Hayden’s murderous glare couldn’t be real. This couldn’t actually be happening.
But it was.
“You had to come back, didn’t you?” he said, his tone dripping with venom. “You couldn’t just move away and stay gone. You had to be as big a failure as I always knew you would be.”
I opened my mouth to reply, but he kept talking, his voice rising with every word.
“I was fine. I was normal, just living my life. I didn’t need to be a big fish in any size pond. I wasn’t you, I didn’t need to have people adore me. I had a good job and a decent life and I never thought about you. You left and it was like the weight of the world left my shoulders. I could finally fucking breathe. You didn’t even exist.”
His fury made my heart race.
“I left Pinecrest so I didn’t have to see the sperm donor and your bitch of a mother and everything was good. Do you know what I did when he died?”
I shook my head.
“Nothing. I didn’t celebrate and I certainly didn’t mourn. I just went to work because it didn’t fucking matter to me.”
“It seems like it matters to you now.”
“Because you should have stayed away. None of this is my fault. If you’d just stayed away like you were supposed to, I wouldn’t have had to do all this.” His eyes grew wilder by the second. “I was a normal guy before you moved back. I never hurt anyone. I never would have. You came back and you made me do it.”
“I didn’t make you do anything.”
“Yes, you did.” He stepped backward, closer to the edge. “I don’t know how you did it, but you broke me open. You unleashed the darkness that was always inside me. The sperm donor gave that to me, by the way. So it’s his fault too. But it would have stayed dormant if you hadn’t come back.”
“I didn’t know who you were, Hayden. I never knew.”
“Don’t pretend you would have cared.”
“You don’t understand. I always wanted a bro—”
“Don’t call me that!” Spittle flew from his lips. “Don’t fucking say that word. I’m not your brother.”
Max whined with fear. Hayden took another step back.
A part of me wanted to tell him that I’d never been our father’s golden child. That everything he’d seen had been for show. He hadn’t been throwing rocks at the house of a happy, perfect family. We’d been broken too, just in a different way.
But I had a feeling that wasn’t what he wanted to hear. And he wouldn’t believe me anyway.
“I’m sorry for what happened to you and I’m sorry he treated you like that. It isn’t right.”
“Too late now. What’s done is done.”
“Can you please move away from the edge? I don’t want you to fall.”
“Oh, no. That’s not what’s happening here.” His lips curled in a cruel smile. “I’m not going to end as the sad, pathetic bastard son of a crooked politician, throwing himself off a cliff because he can’t go on. We’re not out here because I’m suicidal.”
I swallowed hard. I already knew the answer, but I asked anyway. “Then why are we here?”
“I’ve thought about this long and hard, I want you to know that. I liked my life before you showed up. I’d finally found peace. I just want my life back.”
“You have your life. It doesn’t have anything to do with me.”
He shook his head, almost sadly. “No, I don’t. I was in control before, but I’m not now, and I won’t be if you’re here. I thought it would be enough to make you go away but that just leaves the door open for you to come back again. Besides, I’m smart enough to realize I don’t want to grapple with that mountain man you’ve been fucking.”
Josiah. His name ran through my mind, almost like a prayer. Tears sprang to my eyes at the thought of leaving him. There was no doubt in my mind Hayden wanted me dead and the pain that would cause Josiah was more horrible than the possibility of being murdered.
“He did me quite the favor by leaving you alone today. I thought I might have to wait longer for this opportunity. And if you’re wondering whether you’ll survive the fall, I can assure you, you won’t. It’s nothing but rocks at the bottom.” His lip curled again. “I’ve tested it.”
I didn’t want to know what poor creature, or creatures, he’d thrown off that cliff.
Could I outrun him? I was in flip-flops and probably had a broken toe. He was taller than me and undoubtedly faster. And would he push Max over the edge if I ran?
“So you’re just going to throw me over?”
He reached behind him and pulled a knife out of his back pocket. “After I kill your dog in front of you.”
“You’re crazy.”
“No, I’m thorough. Trust me, the suicide note is very convincing, as is the journal confessing all the mental health problems you tried to hide. And no one will find Max’s body. They’ll come to the conclusion that you jumped and your dumb dog ran off and probably got eaten by a cougar.” His eyes narrowed and he held up the knife. “If you run, I’ll kill him slowly—make sure it hurts.”
“Why are you telling me all this? Why didn’t you just do it?”
“I like seeing the fear in your eyes. It’s quite a rush. You unleashed the darkness, Audrey, and I don’t know if I’ll ever put it back.”
It felt like I was watching the birth of a serial killer. They’d say later that I’d been his first victim—the one who gave him a taste for it.
Maybe I would be. But I wasn’t going down without a fight.
Out of nowhere, Max spun around and barked. Hayden jerked the leash to turn him around, his face contorting in an ugly grimace.
“Fucking dog.”