RUIN: Psychological Enemies-to-Lovers Thriller

I snapped my attention to him. “A chapel. Right?”

“Yes. You could call it that.” He turned the steering wheel. “Long ago, when I spent time with my grandmother, she would bring me there. After she passed, I never saw that place again.”

“Interesting. I love churches.” I turned my view back to the front. My body shivered. I cleared my throat. “W-what does the church look like?”

“A big gray place. Lots of stone. There’s a cemetery in the back.”

“With a bench?”

“Yes.”

“And a house near it?”

Gary bobbed his head. “I think so. Did you go there too?”

“I think I did.” I shuddered. “Long ago. . .of course.”

“Then, we share something in common.”

“We do.”

The 4-wheeler splashed through muddy puddles.

I held on and tried not to look at the ground.

Dirty water splattered on the wheels.

It was hard to even look at the mud after what Cain and I had done. A shiver of pleasure ran through my body.

What the fuck is wrong with me? Stop it.

The 4-wheeler drove through a small stream.

“So, I’m wondering something.” I blinked and stared at Gary. “Do you happen to remember the name of your grandmother’s church?”

“I think it was called Sacred Heart.”

I tasted the word.

Sacred Heart.

We journeyed further through the forest. The rest of the ride was silent.

He sped up. “We’re almost there.”

I tightened my grip on the side.

We got to a wide trail.

Excitement hit me when I spotted the access road and a sign that read Glory 20 miles.

Once we hit the road, Gary sped up.

Holy shit! I’m getting the hell out of here!

Epilogue

Special Delivery

Cain

F

ive days passed.

I stood by the counter, sharpening my butcher knife.

Griff paced in my living room. “Look. She’s probably dead.”

West spread out the map of Glory onto my breakfast bar. “Noah didn’t find her, but he did end up at that old camp. People had been there. They may have helped her.”

Noah snored by the door.

“I say we pack our things and get out of here.” Griff walked to the bookshelf, turned around, and headed back. “I told you to kill her, Cain. I told you this was stupid.”

“You’ve been saying that all week.” West picked up a pen. “We need to be proactive, not reactive.”

Griff started walking around the coffee table. “The police are probably on their way! I bet she told them everything.”

“Phoenix wouldn’t say anything.” I pressed the blade of the butcher knife into the coarse side of my sharpener and then moved it back and forth. “She’s loyal.”

“To her friend.” Griff let out a delirious laugh. “She won’t be loyal to you, buddy.”

“Leave it alone.” West shook his head. “I can barely think. And sit down, Griff.”

“I’m not fucking sitting down anywhere. I’m about to get everyone and drive off. You two want to go to jail, then that’s fine, but—”

“You’re right.” I smoothed down the blade some more. “You and the kids should go. Take West too.”

“I’m not going anywhere.” West perused the map. “You’re always coming to our rescue, Cain. I’m staying to help you with this.”

“Well, I’m getting out of here.” Griff continued to circle the table. “I haven’t gotten any damn sleep in these past days. I keep thinking the police are going to storm through the house and yank us all out of beds—”

“Shut the fuck up, Griff.” West pulled out another map and straightened it.

“They’re coming.” Griff turned to us and hit his chest. “I feel it.”

“You feel your anxiety.” West snorted. “Man up.”

“Man up?” Griff’s voice went high-pitched. “How much of a man will I be in prison? Huh? I tell you I won’t be a man there. I’m too damn pretty!”

West let out a long breath and returned to the map.

I lifted my butcher knife, blew away some of the metallic dust, and put it on the side.

“We should leave,” Griff pleaded with us. “Are you two listening to me?”

“I’m doing my best to ignore you.” I grabbed another knife.

“It’s really hard to ignore him too.” West gestured to me. “Can we at least put some music on to drown him out?”

“I’m not listening to any music until she’s back with me.” I studied the blade.

West sighed again. “You two are seriously insane.”

“They’re coming.” Griff shook his fists in the air. “I’m telling you. She’s going to give us away and then—”

Someone knocked at the door.

Noah jumped up and barked.

We all froze.

The person knocked again.

Noah growled.

Griff whispered, “I told you.”

Noah barked again.

“Calm down, boy.” I put the knife away, grabbed my gun, and crept to the door.

Noah growled low.

West picked up his gun and followed.

“Damn it.” Griff grabbed his guns from the table. “At least we’ll go out in a blaze. We’ll be in the history books.”

I whispered, “Shut the fuck up.”

The person knocked again.

West went by the small stained glass window, peered out, and then sighed. “It’s the damn mailman.”

Pressure left my chest.