Page 120 of A Forgotten Mistake

While driving, I muse, “I understand Sadie’s mask was torn, but why did she go outside without anything on and risk being identified at a murder scene?”

“I think she really was trying to get the dog. I wonder if it slipped out? Or maybe the dog was outside when she showed up?” Gabriel says. “We have to keep in mind this woman isn’t killing for the fun of it. Obviously, she’s going about everything the wrong way, but… it sounds like her sister was the only thing in her life. We’ve seen how far people will go for those they love. Hell… think of how far you’d go for me. It sounds like she practically raised Christa. And… it’s not like Christa died by accident… can you imagine goingyearsquestioning whether something else happened, running so many scenes through your head, and then when you finally figure out what happened, itwasn’t an accident… it wasn’t even some kids trying to cover up some freak accident. She was literally put in that position by people who caused her death and enjoyed it enough they recorded it.”

“If that happened to you, I would rip them apart piece by fucking piece. But I wouldn’t let them die. I’d make them suffer until they realized that death was the only option for them. Until they—” I notice Gabriel staring at me, eyebrows reaching for the sky. “I mean… I would… turn it in to the police first chance I got. Yes, definitely that one. One hundred percent that one.”

He snorts. “Wouldyou turn it in?” There’s more than a dash of sarcasm in that sentence.

“Yes… like… super… turn it in.” I grimace a bit. “I definitely wouldn’t… do anything else.”

“Liam, don’t even pretend… Honestly…” Gabriel seems to fall into thought for a second. “Like… I know I would turn it in to the police. I do know that… but if the police didn’t do anything about it, and I knew they were still out there hurting people… I wouldn’t be above stopping them in some other way… even if it was hard for me to do so, I’d probably do it.”

“Sadie removed Steven Wong’s eyes as a warning. My guess is she removed them and sent the tape of her doing so to one of the men. It was a clear warning to stop. And instead of stopping, it seems like they got more ballsy. They were trying to show her that they were unstoppable. They sure thought they were, but it’s apparent they’re not as she picks them off one by one.”

“I wonder if they were all still involved and active?” Gabriel asks as I turn when the GPS tells me to. “Obviously we know Cameron was, but were Mitch and Anthony? Abby seemed to trust Mitch. She wanted to protect him. Does she know what was happening or was she protecting one of the people who were involved in her friend’s death?”

“I think she knew,” I say. “I think she knew, and that’s why Sadie attacked her. She wanted her to take the fall for protecting Mitch. For not doing everything she could for her friend.”

“Whywouldshe protect Mitch?”

“I don’t know. I don’t know Mitch’s level of involvement. Did he chance upon it when he was younger and they had something big enough to force him to keep his mouth shut? Or was he still involved?”

Gabriel is quiet for a moment. “I just can’t fathom she’d protect someone like that, would she?”

“It’s hard to say. Abby hasn’t had much support in her life. She latches on to people who give her attention because she’s lacked it. So if Mitch gave her just the right attention, would she forgive him even if Sadie told her the truth?”

“But in the hospital, she was wary of you getting involved because she didn’t want you to get hurt. Speaking of getting hurt, why would Sadie have attacked you at the barn? I guess she might not have realized who you were. It was dark, and when she saw a figure, she might have thought it was Cameron.”

“She might have. Or maybe she saw how sexy you were and wanted to off me so she had a chance for herself.”

Gabriel scoffs. “Yes, I’m sure that’s exactly what happened. Damn, I feel dumb for not deducing that myself.”

I grin at him as I turn onto the road the lake house is on. “Please be careful and don’t do anything risky. Definitely don’t do anything I wouldn’t doandwould do. Basically, just sit in the car and hunker down. And if you need to use Donna as a shield, you have my explicit permission.”

“Donna isn’t even here!”

“I’ll call her to come, then,” I assure him. “Chris is coming. He looks just like Sadie. I hope someone doesn’t tase him instead of her, mistaking the two.”

“They look absolutely nothing alike. I’m not certain one could look any different.”

“I’m just warning you that if you see someone you think is Chris, you should tase himjust in case,” I say as I see a car in the driveway of the lake house. The lights are on and it’s obviously running. I park my car in a way that blocks it in and grab my gun as I quickly exit the vehicle. Gabriel is moving with me while more police cars fill in behind us.

Gabriel shouts for her to step out of the vehicle because we can’t quite tell if anyone isinthe vehicle with how dark it is. His flashlight hits the window and shines through, lighting up the interior and showing me that no one’s inside. But what’s caught my attention is a spiderweb crack through the window. There’s a clear bullet hole, and the blood splattered across the seat shows she was struck while inside the car.

Several other officers start moving toward the house as Gabriel alerts them of what we’ve found. Based on the trajectory of the shot, the person who pulled the trigger had to have been waiting on the porch. It’s dark, shadows offering protection to keep anyone from ever seeing them.

Seeing the blood smeared across the middle console, it’s apparent she slipped into the back seat and out the rear door.

“I believe she would have gone this way,” Gabriel says, and I smile when I realize he’s noted the same thing because he’s so smart. “I can’t fathom she’s in the house since the shooter was standing in that direction.”

“Let’s hurry,” I say as I start moving. I have to guess that the shooter is someone involved with Cameron and the others. Are they the person she’d sent the threat to? Did they figure out who she was and were waiting for her? They’d have absolutely no idea we’d be right on her trail, but it’s evident they were one step ahead of us. Or maybe they’d been watching Anthony’s houseand figured out who she was and had set up their trap while we had distracted her.

Gabriel keeps moving, checking his surroundings as we make our way closer to the neighboring house.

“This way, I see blood here,” he says as he slips through the open gate of a privacy fence that runs between the houses and leads out to where the beach meets the edge of the lake.

Gabriel steps carefully toward the end of the fence line, but if she ran through here with the gunman coming after her, she’d be out in the open. She’d lose the protection of the house unless she made it to the end of the privacy fence and slipped into the neighbor’s yard, but that would require her to run for quite a distance out in the open. Instead, she had likely moved to the left, using the house and trees for cover. I turn left and move along the back of the house as I hear people inside it, searching for her.

There’s a shed back here and seeing me go for it, Gabriel heads over to help.

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