Page 62 of The Engagement Party

“The notes. The lights going out. The Emily photos. All you.”Damn. Even if he did survive this trip the things Dylan knew or had stumbled over could steal Alex’s freedom and that thought took over every inch of extra space in his head. “And the dead bodies.”

Dylan took a dramatic little bow. “Most of that list, yes.”

“Most?” Cassie asked.

Mitch shook his head. “You’re insane.”

“Angry, not insane,” Dylan responded before turning to look at Ruthie. “And you should stop moving.”

Her skirt. Alex saw it now. It rode up higher on her leg. Alex had no idea what that meant, but a part of him believed the women might save them all. Ruthie and Sierra. Both of them. The outsiders. The ones with everything to lose because they’d had nothing to do with setting them on this path.

“Ruthie and Sierra weren’t at Bowdoin. Let them go,” Alex said, knowing the words would bounce right off their attacker.

“A good argument but not a persuasive one.” Dylan turned on the stool. The gun bobbled but stayed aimed in the direction of all of them. “All Sierra had to do at the garage was admit there was a dead body in the trunk and ask for help. When she didn’t she showed me that she’s as corrupted as the rest of you.”

“No. Please.” Mitch spoke through a voice laced with pain and guilt. “She only knows me.”

Dylan’s eyebrow rose. “Then you’re to blame for whatever happens to her.”

“You waited twelve years to exact revenge.” Sierra whistled. “That’s a hell of a long game.”

Not the direction Alex wanted them to go, but at least Dylan hadn’t started shooting.

“Years of tracking. Of feeding information to online chat groups. Of pressuring the police.” Dylan sighed. “I thought one of you would crack by now. There are some obvious weak spots in this group. At the very least, I thought the police would wake up and do their job. But nothing. It’s all fallen to me.”

“There’s nothing else to find,” Will said, speaking for the first time since the room’s calm imploded.

Dylan hummed. “That’s not quite true, is it? Reading your emails and listening to your phone calls, waiting to hear you slip up, has been enlightening.”

“Listening to...” Alex’s insides turned icy cold. “What are you talking about?”

“Dylan Richter, computer genius.” He nodded as if to congratulate himself on his self-designated title.

“You should work on your low self-esteem,” Mitch mumbled.

All the amusement vanished from Dylan’s face. “I see you’re still hiding behind that smart mouth to avoid dealing with sad things. This is going to be a rough few hours for you.”

Alex still couldn’t wrap his head around the piece of information Dylan had just dropped. “You couldn’t possibly have—”

“It’s so easy to get people to click on a link and let me in. Even careful people, like Mitch.” Dylan’s gaze switched to Cassie. “Disguise the malware as an invite to a legal conference.” That gaze zipped to Mitch. “A request for a bid on a hotel project.” Dylan’s attention landed on Will. “Porn.”

He’d been watching them. Following. Learning about them. Alex tried to remember if he’d messed up. If he’d said the wrong thing at the wrong time and admitted his role in the horrors that still haunted him.

“I did the same thing here.” Dylan pointed to the fire alarm then to a decorative model ship sitting on the fireplace mantel. “Watched. Listened in. Very interesting, by the way.”

“No.” Cassie shook her head. “You’re bluffing.”

“Should I recite the conversation you and your husband hadwith Will earlier right on that sectional?” No one said a word as Dylan continued. “Don’t doubt me, my skills, or my determination to see this through. I’ve been stalking your lives, learning your secrets.”

Alex stared at his wife, but she wouldn’t meet his gaze. She knew how much they stood to lose. How much they’d buried and what it had cost them.

“I made a promise not to let killers go free. Innocent people need someone to protect their memory. Someone who will make sure the guilty parties pay.” Dylan’s voice was softer now, less gleeful in the destruction he’d wrought but no less determined. The way he sprawled on that stool looked relaxed but his white-knuckle grip on his gun suggested otherwise. “Brendan’s parents are good people and you broke them.”

“They wouldn’t want you to kill us,” Cassie said.

Dylan’s eyes actually darkened. A lethal vibe bounced off him. “Don’t act like you’ve spent one second thinking about them or what you did to that family when you killed their only child.”

Alex didn’t like the glint in Dylan’s eye or how easy it was for him to ratchet his rage up and down. Alex fell back on stalling. Sierra’s arm moved easily now. She’d gotten loose. He bet everything on that and dragged Dylan’s attention away from her one more time. “How did you even get Jake and Tyler here? And why them?”

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