Page 44 of The Engagement Party

“Grab it.” That’s all Mitch said then he fell back into position with Sierra.

“What are you talking about?” Sierra asked.

Ruthie wondered the same thing.

“Nothing. Just keep walking.” Mitch had his arm over Sierra’s shoulder and all but carried her across the lawn. “I’ve got you.”

Ruthie felt sick for Sierra. Her love for Mitch had snarled her in this mess. She’d disintegrated in an epic, unguarded way. The breakdown had provided a peek into her desperation. Letting others see her that way, so vulnerable, probably felt risky now that she was beginning to stabilize.

“You two keep this pace. We’ll get the door.” This time Will grabbed Ruthie’s hand close to her wrist. He walked at a faster clip, taking her along with him.

She jerked her arm, trying to break free. “Why are we running?”

“See the note on the door? That’s what Mitch meant.”

Ruthie saw it now. The small familiar square of paper tucked into the edge of the screen door flapped in the breeze. “The wind has been fierce. How could it stay on there?”

But she knew the answer to her own question—because it hadn’t been there long. Someone put it there with little worry of being caught by the two people in the house or the four of them outside.

“I think he’s afraid seeing another note will put Sierra over the edge,” Will whispered.

Uh-huh. “What about me?”

Will ripped it down. Mitch was talking to Sierra, keeping his side of an inane conversation so as to hold her focus. Reading the note made Ruthie wish someone would care enough to protect her from all of this.

Who’s next?

Another one?She crumpled the paper Will was holding. Balled it in her fist and mentally ran through everything she knew aboutthis weekend. Finding the notes here, like this, didn’t make sense, yet this was the fourth one.

Ruthie stared at it. It looked like all the others—same print and same paper—even though that wasn’t possible. The notes had more than one creator.

She knew because she didn’t write this one.

Chapter Thirty-Four

Alex

The door shot open and Will, Mitch, Sierra, and Ruthie walked in. Remnants of the storm clung to them. Each wore a grim expression as they shuffled lifeless and defeated inside. Dripping on the floor, leaves in their hair, soaked to the skin. Huddled together.

Alex tried not to move his head too much but what was all over Sierra’s pants? The red streaks and patches looked like blood.

What happened out there?

“Are you okay?” Cassie sounded like a concerned mother as she rushed to Sierra’s side. Whatever comfort she might have offered stopped when Sierra shrank back, as if trying to burrow into Mitch’s side.

Before Cassie could say anything, Mitch shook his head. He headed for the stairs without stopping. “I need to get her in the shower.”

Ruthie slipped past Cassie and walked up the steps on Sierra’s other side. “I’ll help.”

“We need to check the electrical panel,” Will said, calling after Ruthie.

“You do it.”

Three sets of footsteps clunked up the steps. Alex waited until they were out of sight to ask the next question. “Sierra looks like . . .” God, how did he even describe that look? Glassy-eyed and lost. Beaten up and resigned. “Was she attacked?”

Will grabbed one of the towels they’d gathered earlier. “No.”

Alex looked at Cassie. She was frowning, and assessing every move since the others had walked in the door.

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