Page 93 of To the Grave

You spoiled little cunt.

What the actual fuck?

I felt so young. So young and sostupid.

You won’t need your bags where you’re going.

Obviously Gray was some kind of psycho rapist. He hadn’t liked me at all. He’d just planned to use me, to hurt me, and probably even worse.

I thought about the girls that had gone missing over the past few years. Was Gray Cantwell a serial killer? My brain tried to compute the data, snagged on the fact that Gray and his dad had only been in Blackwell Falls for a few months, and finally gave up when I hit a ditch of gathering rainwater at the base of the road leading to my mom’s old house.

Water sprayed up the passenger side window and onto the windshield, temporarily blocking my view before the wipers cleared the glass. I wasn’t a very experienced driver, had never driven in anything close to the storm bearing down on Blackwell Falls. I needed to focus on getting to the house in one piece.

I would worry about the rest when I got there.

Chapter 66

Daisy

Isat between Otis’ legs on the couch, his thighs against my own, his chest against my back. The house looked eerie and beautiful in the candlelight, the fire casting moving shadows across the room as the cold crept in. The power had been off for more than an hour, the residual heat from the boiler almost gone as rain beat on the roof of the house, and I’d pulled a blanket over us to keep in the heat.

I looked at my phone. Still no word from Wolf and Jace. My last three text messages hadn’t delivered. It was no surprise since the Wi-Fi was down, but it still made me nervous. We were completely cut off from the rest of the world. Even worse, we were cut off from Jace and Wolf. I hoped they would opt to stay put, get a hotel for the night rather than risk driving in the storm.

“They’ll be okay, doll.”

I craned my neck to look at Otis. “My last three messages haven’t delivered.”

“That’s because of us, not them,” he said, kissing the top of my head. “They can take care of themselves.”

I’d no sooner leaned back against him, trying to relax, when a bang sounded from the front of the house.

I sat up, my pulse racing. It took me a second to realize someone was banging on the front door.

Otis got up. “Stay here.”

“But— ”

“Stay here, doll.”

This time his voice was a command.

Chapter 67

Otis

Istopped at the console table next to the front door and removed the gun Jace had taped to the bottom. There were more guns in the house — not that Daisy knew that — but this one was handy, and handy was in order when someone was banging on your front door like a maniac while a storm practically blew the roof off.

The peephole wasn’t much help. The porch lights were out along with all the other lights in the house, and I made a silent vow to get a generator installed — I’d pay for it myself if I had to — as soon as the storm passed so Daisy would never be in this position again.

Finally I gave up and opened the door, gun in hand.

A girl fell over the threshold into the house. She was soaking wet and sobbing, her words unintelligible as she clung to me.

It wasn’t until she looked up at me that I realized it was Daisy’s sister.

Chapter 68

Daisy

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