“My stepfather gave me the order to clean this up, and that’s what I’m going to do.” She rolls up her coat sleeves to her elbows and pushes her hair out of her face. “My stepbrother’s in jail. The future of Price Enterprises is at stake, and I’ve put too much into this company to see you take it down because of some misplaced loyalty to a girl who doesn’t even deserve it. I may have lost the guy”—she flicks her eyes to Eric—“but I’m not losing my career or my future because Conrad Price couldn’t control himself around some worthless little slut. This ends with you!”
I duck and throw my hands over my head as gunfire starts to go off all around me. It happens so fast that I don’t know where it’s all coming from. Splinters of wood ricochet off the walls of the cabin and land at my feet. Shep whines as he presses his body against me, trying to shield me from harm. He doesn’t leave my side as chaos erupts from seemingly every direction.
The ringing in my ears is intense. The gunshots sound so much louder indoors that it takes me a moment to realize that they’ve stopped. When I find the courage to lift my head, I see Ben standing in the doorway through the smoky haze, holding a gun, and Eric beside him with a rifle on his shoulder. Lauren and Tim are both lying facedown on the floor, a pool of blood forming between them.
I want to move, but I can’t. I think I’m in shock. I have to see if Tim’s okay, but my legs won’t support me. I watch dumbly as Ben hurries toward his brother, flipping him over. Tim coughs and sputters, choking as his lungs fill with blood.
There’s nothing anyone can do. Lauren must have gotten off multiple shots into his chest. Even if we call for help, the paramedics will never get here in time. We all watch speechless, knowing that Tim is dying in his brother’s arms.
“Hang in there, buddy. Okay?” Ben encourages him, resting his head on his lap. “You gotta come see me play at Penn State next fall. You hear me? If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t have had a chance at any of this. You were the one who always protected me from anyone who was out to get me. You were the best big brother a guy could have. You risked everything for me… Everything…”
The light in Tim’s eyes starts to fade as Will and Eric step forward. Within seconds, Tim’s frantic determination to breathe is replaced with that telltale expression of surrender. Ben starts to moan as Tim’s chest stops moving. He lowers his head onto his brother and utters a heartrending sob. Will bends down and places his arm around him, but he’s inconsolable, wailing in anguish.
I want to cry, too, but I can’t. I don’t feel a thing as I observe what’s unfolding right in front of me. I’m in some sort of trance, like if I let it in, it will consume me. I look blankly over at Lauren’s body, the bullet holes that tore through her ivory coat and straight through her heart. I don’t know who shot her, Eric or Ben, and I don’t want to know. I watch listlessly as Eric puts down Tim’s rifle, which he stored last night next to the door, never realizing he would have to use it this morning. I don’t know where Ben came from all of a sudden. Was he tailing them the whole way? Was Lauren going to kill us next? She finally snapped, but why did she have to take Tim with her? Things were finally starting to get back to normal between him and Eric, and now he’s gone. Gone forever. Just like Cassidy.
I rock up on my knees slowly, feeling numb. Eric’s there beside me before I can even stand up. I’m so dizzy as I cling to him for dear life, not wanting to let him go.
“Ivy, don’t move,” he whispers intently against my ear. “Wait here. I’m going to call an ambulance.”
“But it’s too late, Eric,” I argue, tightening my grip on him. “They’re already gone.”
“It’s not for them,” he says, gently, guiding me back onto the floor. “It’s for you.”
And that’s when I look down and see that I’m sitting in a puddle of my own blood. When I realize that it’s mine, my hands begin to shake before my whole body starts to tremble.
Oh God, the baby… Not the baby.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Eric
Somewhere in my consciousness, I perceive the cops going in and out of the hospital waiting room, but for the most part, I’m blind to their presence.
They’ve already questioned me about the incident, and I’ve told them everything I know. Things like double homicides just don’t happen around here. It’s too much to comprehend, and to think that it happened under my roof… I don’t ever want to step foot in that cabin again. Not after seeing the guy who was my best friend blown away before my eyes.