Don't Close Your Eyes (Don't Look Series Book 2), page 21
Viv screams uncontrollably in horror, her hands pressed to her ghostly cheeks. “Oh my God, Mom. What did you do? You just killed him! I can’t believe you—”
Her mom’s vicious slap brings Viv up short.
Stunned, my friend falls silent, her mouth open in a betrayed O. She presses back against the glass, heedless of the rising level of the floodwaters clawing at the transparent barrier.
Robert Baugh snorts, pleased. “Good. Now we can really talk.”
Any light, any hope I had buried deep down inside me dies when Ms. Miller meets his eyes. Lowering the steaming gun, she nods. “Okay, Bobby. Let’s talk.”
Chapter 32
The sluicing liquid climbs higher, eddying around my calves, up to Audrey’s elbows where she’s still on all fours. My eyes dart from her to the nearest desk and back. Trying to warn her without speaking to get to higher ground. Eyes widening in understanding, my sister, inches away from where Nate’s body floats in the rising tide. She clambers onto one of the desks and crouches, eyes never leaving the scene we’re playing out in the river’s grasping flow.
“I’ve wanted to say this to you for a long time,” Lydia says slowly, her arm gliding through the air until the gun is pointed directly at me. And the demon who has me in an iron hold. “You ruined my life, Bobby. You took my friends, my father, and even my mother from me. I knew it was only a matter of time before they figured out Mistress Maxine didn’t kill those girls. And then, they’d come after me. It took me a long time to realize you were so careful, back then. You didn’t leave any trace that it was you all along. I was the one who planted the evidence in Maxine’s house. I lured Yvette into the cemetery. You were so careful, I knew I could never expose you. So I waited, knowing that a monster like you would eventually come out of hiding. You can’t help it, can you?
“I built a new life, had a beautiful daughter. Do you have any idea how hard it is to live looking over your shoulder? Knowing eventually there will come a knock on the door when your time is up? I do. For the past twenty years, I waited for that knock. It was hell, living like that. I won’t go back to it. This ends tonight.” The barrel of the gun grows so large it blocks out the rest of my vision, leaving me staring down the steel tunnel into the lightless maw of death.
Robert Baugh shakes his head, his scratchy beard catching in my hair and making me recoil. It’s apparent in the taut cord of his voice that his patience is ebbing. “I’m afraid you don’t have a choice. The police think my simple brother was the Gemini Killer. And he’s dead. What do you think they’ll do when they find you here tonight, with all the bodies? You’re going to jail, Lydia, and they’ll never let you out.”
The hypnotizing current in his words is eerie, making my flesh cringe away from every point where he touches me. With renewed vigor propelled by fear, I claw and kick, trying to get free. If I can just—
His grip tightens on my hand, making the tiny bones grind together. “Patience, little one. Your turn is coming.”
My blood runs cold. We’re not going to get out of this.
Ms. Miller wails a strangled, wretched sound. The gun swings in her hand. “No! You can’t blame all of this on me. I’m the victim here. I didn’t kill anyone.”
“You killed Nate. Justin and Karen. You said so.” Audrey lobs the accusation at her, pushing to her full height on the desk to tower over us.
The devil chuckles, a full, molten, burning laugh. “Haven’t you realized it by now? This woman is an unapologetic liar. Now. Let’s stop pretending. You say you hate me, but I don’t think you do. You’re putting all of your shame and guilt about the deaths of those girls on me, and we both know that isn’t fair.”
Ms. Miller thrusts the gun through the misty air toward us. “It is fair. I’ll tell them. They’ll have to believe me when they find you here. I’m not letting you go this time.”
“Lydia, be reasonable. How about we strike a deal? You kill that one on the desk; I’ll kill this one, and then we’ll go. We can go somewhere far away, where no one will find us. You can stop looking over your shoulder. I promise.”
“Don’t believe him!” Audrey yells. “He won’t take you with him. He’ll kill you too. And Viv. Your daughter. If you agree to go with him, you’re killing her.”
“I’d stop talking if I were you.” Robert Baugh pushes my finger harder into his knife. Burrowing toward my bones. “Ready to lose your first finger, little monster?” The Gemini Killer’s taunt rips through me. I’m unable to stop the scream that shreds my throat as my worst nightmare in the flesh makes the first cut. My vision tunnels until all I can see is the blood welling on the knife’s edge.
I use all of the force in my body to fight, to pull away from that cruel blade, but it’s hard to think past the pain throbbing in my hand. Hot, thick blood seeps down my palm to my wrist, and drips into the black water.
“Want to watch me remove your sister’s fingers, one by one?” The absence of emotion in his voice makes Audrey go still. Her eyes are glued to the knife pressing into the bones in my half-severed pinky.
Viv shakes her head vigorously, mouthing “No” over and over. Her hands fly up to cover her eyes. She peeks out between two fingers, entire body shuddering.
I’m quaking too, from fear or adrenaline or the freezing waters climbing my calves, I don’t know. Lightning outside illuminates a boat drifting along the street past the building. Wait, that wasn’t lightning. Relief courses through me as I stare out the window, begging the boat to come back. Whoever’s in that boat might be able to help us, if they spot us grappling in the inky gloom. Maybe if we can distract Robert and Lydia, we can—”
“Lydia? Lydia, look at me. Do we have an agreement?”
“Yes.” Ms. Miller swings the gun to point at Audrey.
“Viv, move!” I yell. Something in Viv’s brain comprehends in that instant, because she lurches away from her mom toward the desk where Audrey’s standing. Thunder rumbles outside, drawing closer. Closer. Louder.
Viv’s mom screams, but I can’t make it out over the clamoring thunder. Light streams through the building’s floor to ceiling windows, blinding us. My eyes snap shut.
“What the—” The woman’s cry is cut off by a resounding crash. The building shakes. Glass shatters. Water floods into the room, jostling my body back against the Gemini Killer’s. We tip toward the inky black swirls. I try to steady myself, to keep from being sucked under the extended arms of the tidewaters, but the demon won’t let me go. The last thing I see before I hit the water is Audrey leaping toward the shallow bow of the fishing boat that just crashed into the building.
The icy water is a shock as it engulfs me, making my muscles sluggish and rigid. Something sharp pierces the side of my neck, slicing my skin. One hand flows up to touch it, just as Robert Baugh twists in the water. Strong, unyielding hands force me down deeper as he uses my weight for leverage to stand up. Then his hands are gone.
I surface, coughing and spluttering. Water clears my vision as I blink. The boat sits idling in a gaping hole in the front of the building, bobbing on the churning waters. Flashlight beams in my eyes make it impossible to see who’s driving it. But I don’t need to see the driver to recognize the boat. And Karen thought the idea of buying a boat was stupid. Panting, I wade toward it.
They’re alive. Ms. Miller was lying when she told us she’d killed them.
“How did you find us?” Audrey yells, beating me to the boat. She scrambles over the side.
“Trackers in all of your coats,” Karen barks. “Taryn, get over here. Hurry.”
I push through the water, dragging my legs along the floor, battling to stay upright. Something hits my kneecap and almost makes my leg buckle, but I keep moving.
“He’s getting away!” Audrey screams from somewhere behind the light.
I spin to see Robert Baugh clawing his way toward the back door. No. I’m not letting him escape. The water resists as I inch away from the boat, toward the Gemini Killer. Swinging my arms helps me gain ground. My fingers clench around a lamp that I swipe off one of the water-swept desks.
“Taryn, come back!” Karen orders.
I don’t listen. I struggle forward, determined to stop the Gemini Killer before he slithers out the back door. I have to do it. He can’t walk away from tonight.
“I can’t let him get away,” I snap, fighting through the waters up to my thighs.
“Come back! We’ll catch him. Just get over here.”
Images flash through my mind. Karen and Justin taking down Albert Baugh and arresting his brother, John. Driving us to the courthouse and making sure we got inside without being accosted by over-eager reporters. Dinners at the diner. Cake tasting. The visit to the vineyard. Their welcome presence in the back of the theater during hours upon hours of play practice. Every step of the way the two of them have been right beside us, whether Audrey and I were aware of it or not. Protecting us. Still, I can’t look away.
Robert Baugh reaches the back door, yanks the handle with force. It doesn’t budge. Another pull. Another. The door flies open, water rushing inside. The man yelps as he’s tugged under the surface. It churns in the doorway, shoving inside, waves rippling onward.
Blood rushes in my ears as I watch. A single breath. Two. Three.
The Gemini Killer doesn’t surface again.
Without any hesitation, I turn carefully in the frigid water, fighting the current as it shoves at my hips. Waves of murky liquid gush through the broken window, rocking the boat.
“We have to get out before the water gets too high,” Justin calls, hands clenching around the anchor’s chain as he pulls it up.
“Come on Taryn. Just a little farther.” Karen leans over the side, craning her arm toward my outstretched fingers. I inch closer, shuffling through the water.
Something large and slimy flicks past my leg, making me jump. “I think there’s something down there!” I squeal, flinging myself into Karen’s outstretched arm. Wrapping it around me, she tugs me over the side into the ski boat, ordering Justin to get us out of the building.
The boat rocks, knocking us to the floor. Clambering up, Karen uses a length of fishing pole to help push off so Justin can reverse the boat without slamming into one of the walls.
After we’re free, Karen grabs my hands, inspecting my finger that’s sliced to the bone. Taking a wad of gauze out of the first aid box on the bench seat, she presses it against my palm. “Are you hurt anywhere else?” Her hands glide over my arms and legs, checking for more injuries. When she’s satisfied, she orders Justin to get us out of here.
Audrey hands me a dry towel, and I cocoon myself inside the thick terry cloth at her feet. The boat’s engine rumbles as Justin slowly eases the vessel backward. It lists to one side, forcing Karen to scramble to the opposite edge for counterbalance. Outside, the storm lulls. Even the clouds are holding their breath to see if we’ll make it out of the building.
I exhale in relief when the boat putters out into the waters over the street. A gasp wrenches my jaw at the extent of the flood’s damage. Feet of water cover the street and sidewalk. The storefronts are flooded. With the power out, the downtown appears as an abandoned city overtaken by churning tides.
My teeth chatter so hard I’m not sure they’ll ever stop. Audrey wraps her arms around my shoulders and presses a cold cheek to mine. “I’m so glad you’re okay. Taryn, I don’t know what I would do if—”
“Me too,” I say fervently, wrapping one of my hands around hers. I’m a mess of cold and expended adrenaline, my body shivering as it tapers.
Justin maneuvers the boat toward our side of town. Karen slides out of the passenger seat and takes three careful steps to where we’re huddled in the back of the boat. “You did good, Taryn. Audrey. We’re so proud of you. And now you don’t have to worry about Robert Baugh anymore. Odds are he never resurfaced, but we’ll look around tomorrow, just in case.” She rubs my shoulder reassuringly before doing the same to Audrey and Viv.
“How far does the water go?” Ms. Miller asks in the dark. I’d forgotten she was with us, sitting in the opposite corner of the boat. She’s alone, crying silently as she stares at the devastation down Main street.
No one answers.
I glance between Viv and her mom, wondering if they’ll ever be able to get past all of the crap that was dragged out of the dark kicking and screaming tonight. If they’ll ever have a good relationship again. Watching Viv’s stiff lips and quivering chin, her sharp turn away when Ms. Miller shifts in her seat, I’m not so sure. A tear skids down my cheek, over the scar that begot all of this.
Chapter 33
Two Hours Later
Taryn
Temporary floodlights illuminate the high school as we approach on foot. Toward the center of town, the water got shallow enough that we couldn’t ride any farther in the boat, so we got out and walked. Karen led us to the school, keeping Ms. Miller in front of her the whole way, her hand on the woman’s cuffed arms.
As soon as we hit the parking lot, a deputy comes sprinting over from a tent they’ve set up near the gymnasium doors. Others come and go. “You found them,” Deputy Sykes says, smiling when he sees it’s us. Taking up his radio, he speaks into it. “Sheriff, Kelley? They found them.”
Lamb circumvents the table and walks toward us. His cowboy hat has been abandoned under the tent, and the man’s hair is in dire need of a comb.
I brace for a snide remark when the sheriff stops in front of us, looking like he’s had a long night. The older man surveys Audrey, Viv, and me before moving to assess Ms. Miller. “Anna. Can’t say I’m glad to see you again tonight.” He orders Deputy Sykes to take her to the temporary holding cells they’ve set up in the ag wing.
Karen thanks him, handing over custody of Viv’s mom to the deputy and filling the sheriff in on the night’s events. Immediately, someone is dispatched to the newspaper office to see if they can retrieve the bodies.
Once that’s done, Sheriff Lamb focuses on my twin and me. I take Audrey’s hand, ready for whatever dressing down he’s going to spew our way.
My jaw drops when Sheriff Lamb smiles. “It’s a relief to see you two in good shape. When I found out that you’d both gone AWOL this evening, I thought for sure that would be the end of you. Glad to be wrong for once.”
My face contorts in confusion.
“I thought you hated us,” Audrey stammers.
Sheriff Lamb has the audacity to chuckle. “I admit you’ve given me your fair share of headaches, but no. I don’t hate you. You weren’t my favorite people a few months ago, but the way I reckon it, none of the responsibility for this mess falls to you two. And I won’t hold being teenagers against you, seeing as I have one at home. I do know a thing or two about seventeen-year-old girls, despite everything.”
Karen chuffs into her palm.
Lamb lifts an eyebrow. The exchange makes me immediately curious about the sheriff’s daughter. I may have to do a little social media stalking later to see if I can find her. Without the actual stalking, of course.
“Why don’t you five go inside and warm up? We’ve got the generators up and running, so it’s almost toasty in there.”
We’re halfway between the tent and the parking lot when Audrey stops and turns abruptly. The sheriff meets her eyes when she calls his name. My twin shoots him a smile and a quick thank you, to which the man winks before turning away to talk to one of his deputies. Seeing him this affable is strangely okay.
Justin lags behind, letting us know he’s going to hand over the boat keys in case one of the emergency responders needs it.
When the rest of us step inside the school, mats on the ground have been set across the door frames to keep water from getting inside, but they haven’t been effective. Trails of muddy water streak the linoleum floor all the way down the hall. Emergency lights along the ceiling put spots in my vision as my eyes adjust to the brightness. Deputy Kelley comes marching toward us, a stern look on her face. “If I’m ever tasked with watching you two again, I’m using those toddler leashes. But I’m glad you’re both safe.”
With a tight smile, Kelley leads along the dirt-smeared corridor and ushers us inside the gymnasium, where people are huddled in groups all around the room. Some have only blankets and towels while others have backpacks and duffle bags clutched in their hands. Wrestling mats have been laid out in the far corner, and some of the elderly are using them to rest. A tiny girl in footie pajamas rolls a soccer ball toward an older boy, giggling when he nudges it back.
“We’re using the school as a temporary shelter during the flooding,” the deputy tells us as she leads us past the gym to one of the classrooms. “We thought you might like to keep these two separate from the crowds for a while, so we set aside this room for you. I’ll send in one of the doctors for your hand as soon as I find one that’s free.”
Karen thanks and dismisses the woman before turning to us. “I should be absolutely furious with you two.”
Audrey bites her lip but doesn’t retreat. She’s come a long way in the past few months. Where she used to be quiet and affable, she’s more likely to speak up. To defend herself. My chest puffs up with pride.
“Maybe you should be, but are you?” I cross my arms, calling Karen’s bluff.
Her shoulders lower as she shakes her head. “Yes.”
“Liar.”
Stomping over, she throws her arms around us. “You two are going to be the death of me.”
I can’t help the laugh that bubbles out of my chest. It’s a cocktail of slackened tension, relief, and pure happiness. We made it. We’re standing, mostly unscathed. There is no longer a bogeyman out there, waiting in the dark to attack when we eventually let our guards down. He drowned in the flood.
Chilled by that thought, I focus on how great it feels to be in a warm room, wrapped in a group hug with my twin sister and my favorite FBI agent.
Justin comes in, drops his still-dripping coat onto a chair, and grins. “It’s group hug time, eh?” He plows into us, making Audrey and me laugh as we’re squished between the two adults. “Viv, come on in.” Justin extends an arm. Viv hesitates a beat before she throws herself into the mix. Justin’s warm breath fans the crown of my head. “I’m so glad you girls are okay. You cut it pretty close tonight. I hate to admit it, but for a second there, I was afraid. Can’t say I enjoyed it much.”
