Page 131 of Raise Hell

“And if I refuse?”

“Then you won’t make it to tomorrow.”

Wheels have been turning in my head since he showed up at my door. Fear has slowed things down, but it hasn’t stopped the neurons from firing.

“It was you who ran me off the road that day and pointed the gun at me. You’ve been following me around since I got here, wearing that stupid skeleton mask.”

He glares at me. “At first I thought I was going crazy when you came back. After everything that happened, there wasn’t any way it could be true. I saw what happened to you. But you looked so much the same. When I saw how differently you acted, I figured it was just for show. Eventually, you would come back to me.”

Sick realization dawns. “You’re the one from her journal.”

He shifts in his seat. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“The mysterious boy led me to the Havoc House in the first place.”

“You have no proof of that,” he bites out.

It only takes a second for me to put two and two together and make a fucking mess.

“You took pages out of her journal, any that mentioned you by name. I always suspected there had to be some missing. It didn’t make sense that there were dozens of entries about this guy with no mention of a name.” I glance over at him, meeting his glare. “It was you. Just admit it.”

He doesn’t answer, but the look on his face is answer enough.

“Why not just get rid of the journal completely?”

His voice is a practical growl. “Olivia wrote in that thing all the time. If anyone figured out her most recent journal was missing, they might have gone looking for it.”

I’ve managed to get him talking, but now is the time for the million-dollar question.

“Why did you attack her?”

“I didn’t attack her!” he explodes.

“You hurt her.”

The gun barrel pokes painfully against my temple, and I force myself to keep my gaze trained on the road. “I would never hurt her. I loved her.”

“I guess you and I have that in common. I’m her sister, remember,” I point out calmly, trying to tamp down on my fear. “If you didn’t kill her, then who did?”

Vaughn blows out a hard rush of air. “I don’t know.”

“Then what happened?”

“Havoc House happened,” he snaps.

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“It means you have no idea how much trouble both of us will be in if you don’t do exactly what I say.”

He knows who did this.

My hands squeeze so hard on the steering wheel that my fingers ache. “The doctors say that Olivia might not ever wake up. Even if she does, she won’t be the same. My parents need to know what happened to her. I need to know what happened to her.”

“No more talking,” he snaps.

I shut my mouth on an angry retort.

Headlights shine in the rearview mirror. I first noticed them when we got about halfway down the hill, but I didn’t want to let myself get too excited. More importantly, I don’t want to spook Vaughn when he has a gun pointed at my head.

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