Page 119 of My Brother's Best Friend

A shiver coursed through my body.

She couldn’t … I hadn’t …

What if this really was her?

With everything going on in Redwood, I honestly wouldn’t put it past a dead person coming back to life. Hell, Poison had recorded themselves slashing off Principal Vaughn’s head and throwing it on the football field for all to see, and they hadn’t even gotten in trouble for it! Mrs. Dawson openly flirted with boys …

Who the hell knew what could happen in little old Redwood?

“Maddie?” Vera asked.

“No,” I whispered, though I didn’t even believe myself. “This can’t be her.”

“Then, who is it?”

“Are you guys coming?” Imani whisper-yelled to us, halfway up the sidewalk.

I shrugged at Vera. “I’m not sure?—”

Suddenly, the silence in the gated neighborhood was shattered by the sound of a gunshot. We all froze as the sound bounced off one mansion to the next to the next in a jarring symphony.

Birds flew from branches. Dogs began barking wildly across the street. Squirrels scampered up trees to find shelter. And we stood there like a bunch of deer waiting to be picked off by a hunter, one by one.

The air suddenly filled with the scent of gunpowder as the sound came a second time.

Or maybe it was a third. I thought my ears had stopped working because Vera’s mouth was wide open, her face scrunched up, as if she was screaming at me. Allie and Imani had fallen to the ground, and I finally caught the sight of a black Jeep driving past Nicole’s house with the back window rolled down just enough.

Another bullet whizzed through the air.

This time, it was aimed right at me.

CHAPTER73

MADDIE

Asharp pain pierced through my arm, and I fell to my knees behind the car, screaming at the top of my lungs. My front smacked hard against the ground, my wound oozing blood between my fingers.

I whimpered out in pain, clutching the hole in my arm and wanting comfort. “Vera!”

Lying on the cold concrete as the car continued down the road like nothing had happened, I rocked my head back and forth, tears streaming down my cheeks. Vera was right. We shouldn’t have come today.

“Vera,” I cried again, “call the police.”

When I didn’t get one of her frantic answers back, I used all my strength and rolled onto my back, finally able to see Allie crouching over Imani with blood splattered all over her face. Imani was clutching her abdomen with shaky fingers.

Another scream left my mouth. “Ver?—”

When my gaze landed on Vera lying still beside me with a blood-soaked shirt, I scrambled to my knees and crawled over to her, forgetting about all of my pain. Horror rushed through me, my heart pounding.

“No. No. No. No. No. No. No!” I shouted, placing my hands on her chest to find the wound. But the blood continued to pour out of her body from somewhere. My hands shook uncontrollably as I grasped her face. “V-V-Vera! Stay with me. Please, stay with me.”

While she wasn’t moving, her eyes were wide open and staring up at the white sky. I crawled closer to her so I could be in her field of vision and so Vera knew that someone was here for her. Because she wasn’t going to die.

I refused.

I fucking refused.

Tears sprang from my eyes. “Someone, call 911! Please! Nicole! Someone!” I screamed at the top of my lungs because I didn’t know if Allie could hear me.

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