“I’m sure. Go get her, tiger.” She pushed him toward Mackenzie and then watched as the two of them danced. They made such a cute couple.
Alone, Sloan walked up the steps to the balcony area. The exit doors were to the right. As she walked out, Darcy strutted inside wearing a very revealing dark purple dress with strategic cutouts. Both stopped. Both stared at each other. Neither said a word. Darcy snubbed her nose up and walked into the dance with Tanner on her arm. Suited Sloan just fine. She had other places she wanted to be. Like with Aaron.
The sounds of the dance faded as Sloan walked back down the sidewalk and to the dimly lit parking lot. She had to smile, though. Aaron couldn’t get into the school. She knew that had made him so mad. And it probably killed him that he had to ask Sloan for help.
She got to the bottom of the sidewalk and made her way to the right, next to the school, looking for Aaron’s car. It was the same direction he’d come up before, so she knew it had to be there somewhere. He needed to jump out and get her attention, though, because she wasn’t seeing his dark blue Mustang.
Finally, after searching for about five minutes, she saw it. It sat toward the front of the parking lot, and she couldn’t image why she’d missed it in the first place. “Aaron?” she yelled into the darkness. “Hello?”
“Hello?” she mumbled walking to the driver’s side. She looked in, but didn’t see anyone inside. “Aaron?”
A thud from the trunk made her jump.
What the…
“Hello, Sloan.” A male voice called from the shadowy side of the building. She knew that voice. She knew it!
“Great night for a stroll, isn’t it?” He walked out of the shadows so she could see him. Tall. Dark. Dressed in a tux. “Or a fall.”
“It’s not you,” she whispered. It couldn’t be.
“It is. Surprised?” He strolled closer and waved a long-stemmed red rose in the air. “Your final rose, sweetheart. Ready to go?”
“I’m not going anywhere with you.”
Boyd Lawrence. Walking toward her. Not in a wheelchair. Not with help or with a walker. Walking toward her. Gliding in fact.
“You can walk.”
“Duh. Obviously.”
“Your physical therapist?”
“Thinks I can’t walk. They all do. They all bought it, but Sloan, when I woke up in that hospital. In the intensive care unit. The ICU…”
Good gracious, he’d told her who he was all along. She’d known it, but she’d never actually believed it. She’d put him in the ICU. He’d given her a clue, and she’d just ignored it. Stupid!
“When I woke up, I knew you’d put me there. And you needed to pay.”
“You put you there when you attacked me.”
“I attacked you because you were being a little witch.” He didn’t raise his voice, which scared her. He was too calm. Too collected. She wasn’t any of those. “Nice touch getting Detective Morgan here, by the way. I had to change my plans a little to get you alone. It’s okay. Aaron provided a great opportunity.”
“Where is he? Did you hurt him?” Sloan’s legs shook, but she refused to let her voice shiver. This guy had hurt her more than anyone ever had the right to hurt another person, and she wanted it to stop.
“He’s coming with us.” Boyd patted Aaron’s Mustang. “Coming to the Fall.”
“What fall?” She yelled despite herself. She was so sick of hearing about the Fall. “Where am I supposed to be falling?”
“You’ll see.” He opened the driver’s side door for her. “Get in and slide over.”
“I don’t think so. I’m not going anywhere with you.”
Boyd grinned, tossed the rose in the front seat, and reached inside his jacket pocket. When his hand emerged, it held a gun. “Don’t make me ask again.”
Sloan held her breath, her mind racing. She didn’t want to go anywhere with him. She wasn’t sure what he had planned for her, but she could guarantee it wouldn’t be fun.
“Or, I could just walk right back here and shoot the trunk. Maybe I’ll hit Aaron’s spleen, maybe his heart. It’s a crapshoot, right?”
“Stop.” Sloan blocked him from going toward the back of the car. “I’ll get in. Okay?”
“Good girl.” He grinned and backed up so she could crawl inside.
Sloan saw no other way out. This was it. It was time to fall.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
“WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS?” IT was probably the most stupid question ever. Sloan knew exactly why he was doing it, but she needed to keep him talking. Keep him driving. She had a bad feeling about what would happen if he stopped. The gun lying on his lap was a big clue. The fact that he’d told her what would happen was a bigger one.
She was going to die.
He laughed humorlessly and pushed the gas pedal harder. “You aren’t that stupid, Sloan. You know what’s going on. I tried to warn you. You can’t say I didn’t. Gave you plenty of opportunities. I tried to get you to drop it, but you wouldn’t.”
“I will now. I promise. I’ll go back and tell them everything.” Anything to keep him talking.