Page 74 of The Engagement Party

The look of satisfaction on Dylan’s face had Ruthie bracing for the shocking news ahead. “What does that mean?”

“I’ve taken over every system. Alarm. Fire. Rigged the entire place with the cameras and microphones I needed then disconnected the alarm system, so no call will go out to any police or fire department. Also blocked your cell phones, just to be safe.” He shrugged. “I’ve even set up and paid for a series of reservations so the owners think the island will be occupied for the next month when really it’s just us. No one will come here or find the bodies for a very long time.”

That wasn’t possible. She remembered the light back-and-forth about renting the property. The charming messages from the woman she thought was the owner. Not Dylan’s style at all. “I was emailing—”

“A nice older woman? Yeah, still me.” Dylan smiled. “See, I needed to guarantee our privacy this weekend. I needed to buy time to bury the evidence and erase you all forever.”

He’d spent so much time cannibalizing her plan and creating a meticulous one of his own. He steered her to this house and controlled all communication about it. For every move she made to get the group there and box them in, Dylan was two to three moves ahead. He snuck into her computer and remembered their conversations then redrew her plans to suit his needs. It was amazing he hadn’t killed them all already, but she guessed the delay only added to his amusement. He enjoyed toying with them, watching them spin as they fought and devoured each other.

“You planned to burn down the house,” she said, looking for any way to put off the inevitable.

“It was a contingency plan that Sierra forced me into when she threw that knife.” His gaze lingered on Sierra. “Nice shot, by the way. It’s a shame it will be the only one you get.”

Tension swirled and danced around them like a living, breathing thing. The night crawled toward dawn, but the dark clouds and waning storm plunged them into what felt like never-ending blackness.

He was forcing her to take her gun out and kill him. Despite all the horrific things he’d done and how far over the edge he’d gone, every cell inside her balked at ending him and giving the rest of them an easy way out.

“Since I need your attention, I’ll resolve this problem, too.” He tapped against his phone again, never letting up on the threat to Alex. “The sprinklers will turn on and put out the fire. Still no call out, but fire remediation will begin. Again, genius.”

“More like demented.” Mitch shook his head.

Sierra joined him. “Sweet Jesus.”

“He’s not going to help you.” Dylan’s hold tightened around Alex’s neck. “So, who wants to start talking and save poor Alex here?”

“Please don’t.” The pleading in Cassie’s voice bordered on pain.

Dylan dug the barrel of the gun into the side of Alex’s head. “Wrong answer. Say goodbye to your husband.”

Chapter Fifty-Four

Sierra

“Stop. Just stop.” Cassie arms shook. She’d barely raised them and now they looked too heavy to hold as a wariness washed over her. “We don’t know any more about what happened to Brendan than you do.”

“Apparently she doesn’t care if you die.” Dylan said the words right into Alex’s ear.

Cassie stood up, or started to, but the fierce bleakness in Dylan’s eyes had her dropping down again. “I’m trying to explain.”

“Unless you have a revelation to make or guilty details to spill, you should stop talking.”

Sierra sifted through the thoughts bombarding her brain, searching for the right words to stop this madness, but nothing came to her. She wished she knew what really happened years ago. That would at least give her some leverage.

This time Ruthie tried. “Dylan, please listen to me.”

“If you plan on trying some sex thing, save it. Not in the mood.”

Ruthie closed her eyes as if even broaching that topic cost her something. “I’m trying to keep you from killing.”

“Too late.” Mitch whispered the comment, but the windshifted and carried it through the circle of desperate, panic-filled bodies.

“You’re not wrong.” Dylan stared at Mitch. “But, technically, Tyler was your fault.”

“How do you figure that?”

Stay calm. The words echoed in Sierra’s head. She needed Mitch to stay calm, to not match Dylan’s ire or shove him into a new round of threats.

“He was following you around, trying to get your attention. I kept tripping over him. At first, I figured he was looking for payback for your sending him to jail.” Dylan’s wide smile suggested he was enjoying every minute of this. “Imagine my surprise when I confronted him and he babbled about needing your forgiveness.”

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