Chapter 8
Elena makes it to a gas station.
Borrows a phone.
Calls Richard.
He answers on the first ring.
“Elena? Thank God. Where are you? Lila is gone.”
Elena’s blood turns to slush.
“What?”
“Lila,” Richard says. His voice is breaking. “She left a note. Said she was going to find Julian. To ‘get the truth.’ She took the Jeep. She left an hour ago.”
No.
God, no.
“Richard, listen to me,” Elena says. “Julian is at the lake house. He has a gun. He just shot at me. Lila is walking straight into a trap.”
“I’m on my way,” Richard says. “I called the police. They’re sending units. Elena—do not go back there. Do you hear me? Wait for the police.”
“Too late,” Elena says. She’s already running back to her car. “I’m halfway there. Richard—Vivian has proof. Recordings. Of everything. We need to get her and Noah out too. And whatever you do—don’t let the police go in shooting. Vivian is sick. Noah is just a kid.”
She hangs up.
Drops the phone.
Peels out of the gas station.
She drives like a woman possessed.
Fifteen minutes to the lake house.
She makes it in eight.
The Jeep is already there.
Parked crookedly in the drive.
Lila is inside.
Elena skids to a stop.
Jumps out.
Doesn’t even think.
Runs to the front door.
It’s open.
She bursts in.
The scene inside stops her cold.
Julian has Lila by the arm.
He’s holding the gun to her temple.
Lila is crying.
Terrified.
Vivian is on her knees.
Bleeding from a cut on her forehead.
The recorder is crushed under Julian’s boot.
Noah is in the corner.
Tied to a chair.
Gagged.
Sobbing.
“Elena,” Julian says. He smiles. “Perfect timing. The whole family is here now. Just like old times.”
“Let her go,” Elena says.
Her hands are up.
Her voice is steady.
Somehow.
“Or what?” Julian says. He presses the gun harder into Lila’s skin. Lila whimpers. “You’ll bite me again?”
“Julian, please,” Vivian begs. “She’s just a kid. She’s your kid. Let her go. Take me. Do whatever you want with me. Just let them go.”
Julian laughs.
“Now you want to be a mother?” he says. “Where was this when you were recording me? Huh? When you were planning to send me to prison for the rest of my life?”
He kicks Vivian in the stomach.
Hard.
She screams.
Folds over.
“STOP!” Lila screams. She struggles. “Stop hurting her!”
Julian backhands Lila.
She goes quiet.
Dazed.
“Now now,” Julian says. “Is that any way to talk to your father?”
He looks at Elena.
“Tell her, Elena,” he says. “Tell her the truth. Tell her who her real parents are. Tell her how we all lied to her for sixteen years.”
Elena looks at Lila.
Lila’s eyes are huge.
Scared.
Confused.
“She knows,” Elena says. “She found the letter.”
Julian’s face lights up.
“Perfect,” he says. “Then we can skip the introductions. Lila, honey—look at me.”
Lila doesn’t.
“LOOK AT ME!” he roars.
She flinches.
Looks.
“I’m your father,” he says. Soft now. Gentle. “And that woman on the floor? That’s your mother. Not Elena. Vivian. Elena is just the woman who raised you. The woman who helped lie to you. All of us did. For sixteen years. But it’s over now. You’re coming with me. We’re going to be a family. You. Me. Noah. The way it should have been.”
Lila stares at him.
Then—
She spits in his face.
“I’d rather die,” she says.
Julian’s face twists.
He raises the gun.
Elena moves.
She launches herself at him.
They go down in a heap.
The gun goes off.
*BAM.*
The bullet hits the ceiling.
Plaster rains down.
Elena punches him.
In the face.
Again and again.
He’s stronger.
He rolls her over.
Pins her.
His hands around her throat.
Squeezing.
Elena gasps.
Her vision tunnels.
This is it, she thinks.
This is how I die.
*CRACK.*
Julian goes limp.
Collapses on top of her.
Elena shoves him off.
Sits up.
Gasping.
Vivian stands over him.
Holding a heavy iron lamp.
Blood dripping from it.
She drops it.
It clatters on the floor.
“Go,” Vivian says. She’s swaying. “Take the kids. Go. Now.”
Elena doesn’t argue.
She cuts Noah free.
Pulls the gag off.
He hugs her tight.
Sobbing.
Elena holds him for half a second.
Then grabs Lila.
Lila is still dazed.
But she follows.
“Vivian—” Elena says.
“GO!” Vivian screams.
Elena runs.
Noah in one hand.
Lila in the other.
Out the door.
To the cars.
She shoves them into the back of her SUV.
Jumps in the driver’s seat.
Spins the tires.
They’re halfway down the drive when Lila screams.
“Mom! Look!”
Elena looks in the rearview.
Vivian is on the porch.
Julian is behind her.
He’s awake.
Bleeding.
He has the gun again.
He puts it to the back of Vivian’s head.
Elena slams on the brakes.
“NO!” she screams.
She throws the car into park.
Opens the door.
Julian sees her.
Smiles.
“Elena!” he shouts. “One more step and I blow her brains out!”
Elena freezes.
“Get in the car,” Vivian shouts. Her voice is strong. Steady. “Take the kids! GO!”
“Shut up,” Julian says.
He hits her with the gun.
She stumbles.
Catches herself on the railing.
“Here’s what’s going to happen,” Julian shouts. “You’re going to take the kids and you’re going to drive away. And you’re never going to come back. You’re going to let me have the money. Let me have my life. And in return—Vivian gets to live another day. Maybe two. If you’re lucky.”
Elena looks at Vivian.
Vivian is shaking her head.
*Don’t do it.*
Her eyes say.
*Let me go.*
Elena looks at the kids in the backseat.
Noah is screaming for his mother.
Lila is holding him.
Crying.
Elena has a choice.
Two people she loves.
And she can only save one.
“Elena!” Julian shouts. “I’m not going to ask again. Get in the car and leave. Or I kill her right now.”
He cocks the gun.
*CLICK.*
Loud in the quiet night.
Vivian closes her eyes.
Elena makes her choice.
She gets back in the car.
Slams the door.
“Mom, no!” Lila screams. “We can’t leave her!”
Elena puts the car in drive.
Her face is stone.
“We’re not leaving,” she says.
She floors it.
Straight at the house.
Straight at Julian and Vivian.
“MOM!” Lila screams.
Julian’s eyes widen.
He doesn’t move.
He can’t believe it.
Fifty feet.
Thirty.
Twenty.
Vivian understands.
She drops.
Ducks under the railing.
*NOW.*
Elena yanks the wheel hard left.
The SUV skids.
Sideways.
The passenger mirror slams into Julian.
He goes flying.
The gun goes off twice.
*BAM. BAM.*
Bullets hit the side of the car.
Elena doesn’t stop.
She spins the wheel back.
Slams on the brakes.
The car skids to a stop ten yards past the porch.
She throws it into park.
Jumps out.
Vivian is already up.
Running toward her.
Julian is on the ground.
Groaning.
The gun is ten feet away.
“Get in the car!” Elena shouts.
Vivian doesn’t need to be told twice.
She climbs into the front seat.
Elena jumps in.
Slams the door.
Peels out.
Tires screaming.
In the rearview—
Julian is sitting up.
Staring after them.
Holding his side.
He doesn’t get up.
He doesn’t chase.
He just stares.
And smiles.
Elena drives for twenty minutes before anyone speaks.
Noah has cried himself to sleep in Lila’s arms.
Lila is staring out the window.
Vivian is in the front seat.
Holding her stomach.
Breathing hard.
“Are you okay?” Elena asks her.
Vivian nods.
Doesn’t look at her.
“You could have killed me,” she says.
Elena almost smiles.
“You would have done the same for me.”
Vivian is quiet for a long time.
Then—
“Yeah,” she says. “I would have.”
They drive in silence.
Somewhere.
Anywhere.
Away from Julian.
Away from the lake house.
Away from the past.
Elena’s phone is broken.
Richard is probably losing his mind.
The police are probably swarming the lake house by now.
But Julian won’t be there.
Elena knows him.
He’s gone.
Disappeared again.
Like he did twelve years ago.
But this time—
He’s not running.
He’s planning.
May you like
And next time—
He won’t miss.
