I struggle to swallow, needing her to keep her talking. To give me time to work out what to do next. “Then you came looking for me.”
“You weren’t hard to find. I watched you via Facebook and Instagram as you roamed aimlessly around the country after you dropped out. Then I had a Google alert set up to tell me if your name ever appeared online. Imagine my surprise when I read an article about a minor vehicle accident involving a young woman who’d arrived back in town to start back at school.”
I remember the article. It had been such a minor accident I was surprised it even made it into the paper. It was hardly newsworthy. Someone had rear-ended me after drinking a bottle of wine and falling asleep at the wheel. It was nothing more than a nudge. I mean, it could’ve been worse, but the truth was, it wasn’t. Yet somehow, it ended up in the paper and then online.
“That’s the moment I knew I was returning to college,” she says.
Riley smiles.
It’s evil and betrays all innocence.
My mind races to think back on our first meeting. How she accidentally bumped into me and knocked all the books out of my arms when I was on my way to the campus parking lot after class. How she’d insisted on buying me a drink because she was a klutz, and I looked like I was having a bad day.
I was having a bad day, and I was wondering why the hell I’d come back to college.
And had just met a psychopath, by the sounds of it.
“I thought you were my friend.” The words slip from my mouth and show my utter ignorance to the fact it was all fake on her side.
“Oh no, Bronte, I’m not your friend. I’m just a really good fucking actor.”
Despite her holding a gun and looking murderous, my heart feels the sudden loss of her friendship. It had been nothing, all built on a lie.
“What about Sebastian?”
Please don’t let Sebastian know about this.
I couldn’t bear the thought of him being in on this crazy plan.
“He’s just a stupid kid who made this whole thing a little more bearable. Honestly, if it weren’t for him, I would probably have killed you earlier.”
At the mention of killing me, my heart double kicks in my chest.
This is really happening.
She really plans on killing me.
She’s fucking crazy.
My mind frantically searches for what to say.
Keep her talking, keep her talking!
“What about Officer Johnson?”
She rolls her eyes because clearly, I’m too dumb to realize it already.
She sighs. “Every good assassin needs a patsy. Stupid jerk was too easy to set up. He was a fucking sleaze. Really, he made it way too simple. His DNA and fingerprints were all over my apartment. And once he was arrested, I placed a couple of calls to the local newspaper.” She uses her fingers as a pretend phone, then starts to recite what she said. “I’m so pleased they arrested that officer. He was so creepy and out of line when he stopped to help me change my tire.”
I’m astounded by the length she’s prepared to go to get her revenge.
“You’re insane,” I whisper.
A sinister smile creeps across her face. “You don’t know the half of it.”
Time is running out.
I can feel it.
Any second now she’s going to shoot me.
“Why are you doing this?”
“Because he’s dead and you’re not…” her lips widen into a more grotesque grin, “… yet.”
“You think killing me is going to make you feel better? You’re sick, Riley. You need help.”
Her smile vanishes. “See, that’s where you’re wrong, Bronte. Because killing you will bring an end to all of my suffering. You’ll both be gone, and I’ll finally be free to move forward with my life. Fall in love again. How was I supposed to move on when the very person who destroyed my chance at happiness with Rhys is still alive? What if she did it again? To me. To someone else. No. You have to go.”
“They’ll know it was you. Jack and the club, they won’t let this rest.”
“Oh, you don’t need to worry about that. I’ve covered my tracks too well for anyone to work out it was me. Although, I wasn’t planning on Officer Johnson turning up when he did, but that will make this all the more convincing. You see, once you’re dead, I’ll say I found you in a pool of blood. And that I saw Officer Johnson put the gun to his heart and shoot himself. It was a murder-suicide, Jack. I saw it with my own eyes.” She smiles but her eyes are dead, there is no emotion in them. Just a cold blackness where her evil resides. “Don’t worry about Jack. Oh, he’ll be devastated. Gutted, even. But I’ll make sure he’s looked after. He’ll want someone to hold him throughout his grief, and who better than his poor little wildflower’s best friend. I might even warm his bed. Get me a taste of that big cock you say he’s got.”