Page 108 of Racing Hearts

“Do you really think I could do this all by myself or that I even wanted to? I had a job—not what I wanted in the long run, but I had a life until she came back into it. I’m betting she gave you the sob story, right? That I stalked and harassed her, even killed those boys when we were in class together.”

“Who are you talking about?”

“Clarissa Wright.” He spits the name as I go cold. “Don’t you see? This was all her plan, not mine. She wanted him. I simply got what I wanted as well, freedom from her while keeping Alice safe and sound. The fire? She started it. The flowers and everything, she sent them all. She was in the car, not me. You played right into her hands. We all did.”

I search his eyes, but all I see is the truth.

“She’s the crazy one, not me. I took the fall for her all those years ago out of guilt. It was my father’s suggestion since it was our fault her father got sick, and I might have flirted with her. I did everything they ordered. I smeared my name, ruining my future, and she dropped out and left us alone. That was the deal—until this year. She found out I liked a student. I don’t know how, but she threatened to kill her. She must have seen Evan with her, and when she met him for real, she came to me. She wanted him. She will stop at nothing to get what she wants. I knew she would kill Alice for even being near him—fuck, she killed those students for daring to touch him—so I did what I had to so I could protect the woman I love.”

“You’re sick.” I slam him into the bars and step back. “It’s a lie?—”

“No? Then where is he? She used me, used all of you—the fire, the school, me getting caught, I’m betting it was all her plan to get him alone and swoop in. She’ll have him, and you’re just the fool who was too slow to save your friend and boyfriend. You are just too fucking slow.”

Bones grabs me, and he and Skylar drag me back as I lunge at him.

He’s telling the truth. I can taste it.

He might be behind this, but he isn’t the only one, and if what he’s saying is true, then we walked right into her plan. We basically handed her what she wanted on a platter.

She has Evan.

“Alek, the officers aren’t back,” Alice whispers, and I glance over my shoulder, frowning. “They went to get their stuff from the back when you went outside. Why aren’t they back?”

The lights turn off, and his laughter rings out in the dark.

“I guess she’s keeping her end of the deal after all. She gets Evan, and I get Alice. It’s time to end this once and for all.”

We hear the buzz as the cell swings open.

He’s free.

FIFTY-ONE

“Alek.” Skylar tosses me something, and I catch it in the dark as red lights flicker on in the station. I grab Alice and start to back her to the front door, but something crashes there, so I turn, and we back toward the rear of the station, where the officers went.

“Anyone see him?” I hiss, keeping Lally and Alice behind me, but Lally darts away, using her phone’s flashlight as she grabs a phone from a desk and holds it like a weapon, winking at Alice.

“I’ve got you.”

Ignoring her for now, I strain my eyes, searching the darkness as his laughter comes again. “She’s mine, not yours, never yours. While we have our fun here, she will be having hers. There will be nothing left of your precious Evan when she’s through with him.”

Gritting my teeth against my panic, I move us closer toward the door, counting each step. His voice echoes around in front of us, like he’s trying to scare us. Alice whimpers, letting me know it’s working, but I refuse to give in. Evan is tough, one of the strongest people I know, so he’ll be okay.

He has to be okay. Right now, I need to focus on getting us out of here alive so I can rescue my boy.

“Ten steps,” Bones whispers, letting me know how far we are from the door since I can’t look back. Nodding in understanding, I startle when there’s another loud bang in front of us.

“You won’t survive this night. You know that, don’t you? I can’t let you. I can’t lose everything for nothing. Before dawn, Alice will be mine, and you will all be a tragic story—nothing more, nothing less. For some of you, I’m doing the world a favor by getting rid of you. You’re nothing,” he sneers, his voice slightly manic.

Whatever Clarissa did to him, it royally fucked him up. Either he was crazy before her or she made him that way. Regardless, it doesn’t matter. It’s clear he’s willing to do whatever it takes.

I can’t afford to be weak or I’ll lose someone else I care for.

“Five steps,” Bones whispers. “Three.”

“She is mine!” he yells.

Just as my hand touches the doorknob, two flashlight beams rush through the front of the station. “Hold your hands up!”

---