“Ah—”
I grip his hand. With my other hand I’m still pressing my T-shirt into his wound. “It’ll be okay. You’ll be okay. You hear me? You’re going to be fine.”
I look back at Kendall, expecting to see her on her phone.
But she hasn’t moved.
“What are you doing?” I practically scream. “He needs help!”
“Keh—”
Jeremy’s trying to talk again.
“Kendall will call for help.” I squeeze his hand. My other hand is stained with his blood. “You’re going to be okay—”
But his head is thrashing back and forth.
“Jeremy, just hold on—”
“Addie.”
Kendall’s voice, coming from behind me.
“What are you doing?” I half scream. “Why aren’t you calling anyone?”
Her voice sounds funny, higher than usual. “There’s nothing you can do.”
A gasp comes from Jeremy.
His eyes roll back into his head.
And then they close.
“No,” I say firmly. “No.”
I say it like a prayer. I fumble for his wrist, press my ear to his heart, listening for a heartbeat, a sign of life, anything—
It’s there. Faint. But it’s there. He just passed out.
I rise, tears blurring my vision, stumble toward Kendall. I have no idea what’s wrong with her. In that moment, I don’t even care. I just want him to live.
“Give me your phone,” I order.
Her face is blank. “No.”
Kendall raises her hands slowly.
And brings her gun up to point at me.
I can’t comprehend what I’m seeing.
My hands are shaking at my sides. “Kendall, what— It wasn’t me! Even if it was Jeremy—we need to call 911, we need to get him help—”
“I’m the one in charge right now.” Her voice is calm. Her hands steady. “So I’m the one who says what we need to do. And right now, I need you to walk toward the ravine.”
It hits me all at once.
The person who did this knew Fiona. Knew Thatcher. Knows these woods. They have money. They have insider info on Seth’s and my investigation.
I stare at Kendall.
“It was you.”
44
My mind feels slow, like I’m in a dream.
Jeremy, dying on the ground in front of me.
Kendall, with the gun pointed at my face.
“Move,” she says softly.
I look from Jeremy to her. “Can you just— He had nothing to do with this—”
“I panicked.” She frowns at his still body. “But it’s too late now. I can’t have him telling people I shot him. Now move.”
I look back down—and register the handgun lying at his side. I freeze. If I could just—
