Total pages in book: 80
Estimated words: 75015 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 375(@200wpm)___ 300(@250wpm)___ 250(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 75015 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 375(@200wpm)___ 300(@250wpm)___ 250(@300wpm)
“About what?” I asked with a little less patience now.
“About the body,” she whispered.
My heartbeat slowed in rhythm. “The body?”
“Yes,” she said as my chest tightened. “Eve’s body.”
CHAPTER FORTY-SIX
“So, she’s . . .” My words failed me. My tongue felt heavier in my mouth, thick and swollen, like I could choke on it. “She’s dead?”
“Yes. But they didn’t kill her, Rose. I know they didn’t,” she pleaded. “My brothers would never do something like that.”
“Then why do they have her things? Why did they have her purse? Why is her laptop on your dining table right now?” I demanded, anger lacing my tone.
“I—I don’t know. Please,” she whimpered, throwing her hands up to calm me. “I really don’t know. But I’m telling you, they didn’t kill her.”
Kill. It was such a strong word. Someone killed Eve.
“How do you know they didn’t kill her?” I asked, eyes misting as I focused on her.
“Because I was up that night when she invited them over for dinner. I . . . snuck over and saw them through the window. They were all having a good time, and I was a little jealous because I don’t get invited to hang out or do anything. They had music playing. She even shared her ice cream with them, but they didn’t like it and laughed it off. Then they started doing stuff... you know? Stuff that I couldn’t really watch for long because it just felt wrong and nasty. But she was clearly liking what they were doing to her.”
The threesome. Right. I nodded, waiting for her to continue.
“I sat by the lake for a while with my feet in the water. I was on the dock near Twilight Oaks. It was getting late,” she went on, wringing her fingers together. “I heard Alex and Damian going home. I heard them laughing and had even heard Eve yell goodbye to them. It was quiet for a while and I knew they’d look for me soon, but I wasn’t ready to go home. I wanted to rinse that scene away, of what they were doing with her. Then I saw someone else pull up to Twilight Oaks. They were driving a red car.”
“Did you see what kind of car it was?” I asked.
“No. Just that it was red and looked really expensive.”
“Did you happen to see the person driving it?”
“Not really. I saw, like, a silhouette when I walked back to the main path. It was definitely a guy. I heard him knocking on the door as he called for her. I think she let him in because it got all quiet.” Rory’s face became pale, and her eyes bounced around, rehashing the details. “But then I heard screaming. Eve was screaming. I went there so I could get a closer look and see what was going on. I saw her run out the back door to the top of the hill. The guy caught her, threw her over his shoulder, and carried her back into the house. She was beating on his back and screaming for him to put her down. I—I couldn’t really see his features. But he was, like, average height maybe.” Rory’s throat bobbed as she shook her head.
“My phone rang, and Damian asked where I was. I went home after that, but I didn’t hear screaming anymore. I figured they’d worked out whatever the problem was. But the next day, Alex was supposed to clear up the house after Eve checked out and . . . he found her body right there. Right in the living room. I heard him rush back to the house and tell Damian and they both panicked.”
“Shit,” I whispered, squeezing my eyes shut. “So—w-what did he do? Where is her body now?”
“She’s—”
Rory’s bedroom door swung open. Alex appeared behind her just as she sucked in a sharp breath and twisted around.
“Alex,” she called.
Alex grimaced as he looked past her and right at me. “What the fuck are you doing here?” he barked.
“No! Alex, wait!” I heard Rory scream, but I was already running away.
I ran into the depths of the woods, trying to find the way back to my car but it was so dark, and it only got darker the deeper I went in.
“Rose! Get back here!” Alex hollered.
I veered to the right, refusing to stop until I made it to the safety of my vehicle. Instead, I was near Twilight Oaks. Way off track. The cottage was pitch black in the night, none of the lights were on inside or out.
“Damn it,” I hissed, just as I heard heavy footsteps closing in behind me.
I had two choices. One was to take the main path back and search for my car, but Alex would see me out in the open. He could catch me. I had no doubt he was much faster than me.