Page 75 of The Engagement Party

Mitch’s jaw clenched. “That was never going to happen.”

“That’s what I told him. I know only too well that you can’t forgive someone for killing the person you love most. For smashing your family into pieces and sucking every ounce of love out of your parents. For destroying your hope and your future. For turning your life into an endless battle to gain leverage then lower the boom, even though you know engaging in a slaughter won’t ease the screaming in your brain.” Dylan’s eerie words echoed over the island.

Mitch nodded. “Agreed.”

Sierra hated all of this.

“See? Look how much we have in common.” The singsong cadence of Dylan’s voice had returned. An amused, almost inhuman sound.

Sierra close her eyes on a new punch of despair. She needed Mitch not to be lured in or let his mind travel to a place wherehe grouped his life and his behavior with Dylan’s, but she had no way of shoring up Mitch’s self-esteem right now.

“Tyler was my test case. His guilt had been established. He killed your dad. He didn’t deserve sympathy. I killed him and planted him in the car, waiting for you all to arrive so I could unlock the garage and you could find him.” Dylan’s grip on Alex eased up while he talked.

“But Tyler had nothing to do with you.” Sierra shifted her weight as she looked for a vulnerable spot to lunge at Dylan, to knock him off-balance just long enough for the others to attack him, which was a thing she hoped they’d know to do, and for Ruthie to finally pull out that damn gun.

Inviting his attention was a risk and made her a target but killing her wouldn’t give him the satisfaction he craved. Sierra was betting on the fact that every vicious act on this island was about settling an old score that didn’t concern her except in the most tangential ways.

“Tyler served a purpose. And Mitch isn’t exactly sad the guy is gone. Are you, Mitch?” Dylan kept on baiting. “I figured if everyone on the internet was wrong about you being a murderer then killing Tyler would be sort of an apology for stoking so much online anger at you.”

A few seconds of silence passed. The rustling of the trees and hissing of the fire as the sprinklers finished their work provided background, but no one said a word.

Finally, Mitch whistled. “You really are insane.”

“Stop throwing that word around.” Some of Dylan’s amusement faded, and his arm tightened against Alex’s throat again. “Back to your friend here. Anyone want to save him?”

Cassie’s voice softened. “You have the wrong guy.”

“Then tell me who therightguy is. I promise to give him a nicer death than your buddy Jake got. What a fucking mess he was. Damn. I thought he’d crack but he kept saying he couldn’t tell me what happened.”

Poke. Poke. Poke. Sierra could hear Dylan chip away at the group’s collective resolve. The dark energy bouncing around them ratcheted up. The stakes could not be higher as Dylan dropped one verbal bomb after the other.

“Couldn’t. That’s the word he used.” Dylan shook his head. “As if I was giving him a choice. I admit his obstinance ticked me off after I went to all the trouble to lure him here. Hence the overkill.”

“How did you get him to come here?” Mitch asked.

Dylan shrugged. “More fake emails. I made you sound very desperate. He came, thinking he needed to save you. That’s a thing with your friends, isn’t it? They all baby you.”

The memory of the shed and that body swamped Sierra. Jake had come to help, which made his ending even worse. She doubted Mitch would ever get over the role he unwittingly played in his friend’s death.

“Listen to me.” Cassie’s voice rose, getting stronger now. “There’s nothing to tell. There’s no piece of information that will magically make you feel better.”

“You done? Because I know you set up Brendan and killed him.” Dylan’s gaze traveled around the group. “One of you. Some of you. All of you. The details. Now.”

Patience expired. Dylan didn’t say the words, but his affect changed. A lethal, there-are-no-limits vibe pulsed off of him. He was ready to kill again.

Verbal gymnastics. Trying to outwit Dylan wasn’t going towork. The harder they tried to avoid the inevitable showdown, the quicker it would come.

Sierra needed Ruthie to fire that gun.

She tried to silently signal Ruthie to flash it, shoot it, threaten with it, anything to even the playing field or at least make Dylan see that he was not the only one with power here. Maybe there was a bond between Dylan and Ruthie because she seemed reluctant to take him down.

“You have five seconds.” Dylan delivered the ultimatum to Will in a lifeless voice that promised bloodshed.

Ruthie, please.Sierra willed the other woman to look at her, but Ruthie stayed entranced by the scene unfolding in front of her.

“Okay, wait.” Will held up his hands in surrender. “The police said—”

“Four.”

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