That Night (39 page)

“What the fuck?”

The driver’s door opened and a man got out of the car.

It was Frank McKinney. I stared in shock.

“Shauna, get the diary,” he said.

How was he involved? Was he going to kill me? My heart started to race frantically. Could I make a run for it? I looked around. The trees were too far away. I’d be shot before I got a few feet. McKinney’s eyes met mine.

“What are you doing here?” I said.

“Like you don’t know.”

He obviously thought I knew more than I did. But what?

McKinney shifted his weight and I caught sight of the gun in a holster on his belt. It also looked like he was wearing a bulletproof vest underneath his windbreaker, his body bulky. I remembered the phone in my pocket. Could I try to call 911? Before I could do anything, Shauna motioned for me to step away from the truck. I moved to the side, keeping an eye on McKinney, who had his hand hovering near his gun as he watched me. Shauna searched under my seats, in the glove department. She found the diary, flipped through the pages, and laughed. She climbed out of the truck, threw the diary onto the ground.

“It’s empty.”

“The real diary isn’t here,” I said. “I’ve put it somewhere safe.”

Shauna looked enraged. “What do you mean, it’s not
here
?” She pointed her gun at me again. In the shadows, McKinney also looked furious.

“I knew you’d pull a stunt like this,” he said, and took a step closer. McKinney unsnapped his holster and brought out his gun. “Where is it?”

I couldn’t stop staring at the gun, the way he held it so casually, his thumb resting on the safety. They weren’t going to let me walk away from this, not now. I tried to focus my panicked thoughts. I had to buy myself some time, had to distract them. Shauna turned to look at her father, and I caught a flash of silver from her necklace. It reminded me of something, something I could use.

“I’ll tell you, when you tell me where my sister’s necklace is. She had a diamond pendant that disappeared the night she died. Like someone didn’t want her to have it anymore. Someone who was jealous.”

“She shouldn’t have had it!” Shauna’s voice was high and shrill. “It didn’t belong to her.”

My breath hitched in my throat. I was close to the truth, and for a moment I wanted to run from it, didn’t want to know.

“What happened to it?” I looked through the dark at McKinney, outlined in the headlights, wondering if he’d stop Shauna, but he was silent.

“I took it.” Her voice was triumphant.

McKinney spoke now. “Shauna…” But his voice wasn’t just warning her to be quiet, there was anger in there. Like he was upset with her for taking the necklace—and surprised. What was I missing?

Shauna spun around and faced her father, her voice thick with tears. “You said you were busy, always so fucking busy at the station, but you weren’t, not that summer—you were with
her
.”

Dread came over me as I finally connected all the pieces. That diamond necklace was too expensive for a teenage boy, too sophisticated.

It had been a gift from someone else.

“Shauna, control yourself.”

“Control
my
self? You’re the one who was screwing a teenager.”

“You
killed
her.” McKinney’s voice was furious.

There it was. I felt shattered, pulled into a million pieces. I wanted to run at Shauna, wanted to beat her down to the ground like she had Nicole. I started to move forward, then I saw the gun in McKinney’s hand.

Anger again from Shauna. “She deserved it. Coming to our house, pretending to be my friend … It was disgusting, Dad. She was younger than
me.
”

“It wasn’t like that.”

“What was it like, Dad? Tell me.”

“Shauna—”

“God, you were fucking my friend! It was sick and perverted, and—”

“Enough!” McKinney’s voice was a roar. “I made a mistake, and I’ve paid for it every damn day. I’m tired of cleaning up your messes.”

The rest of the picture unfolded before me.

“You knew all along,” I said. “You
knew
she killed my sister and you helped cover it up.”

“I had no choice.” His voice was stony.

“Of course you did, you asshole.” My chest was tight with anger, my hands clenched. “You lied. You let Ryan and me go to prison—for
years
.”

“You two would have ended up there eventually anyway.”

“Is that how you justify it to yourself? We were no good?”

“Stop wasting time. Where’s the fucking diary?” He raised his arm, the gun pointing straight at me.

I heard another car coming up from behind us. McKinney dropped his arm. I spun around, hand raised to flag down the driver, then stopped when I recognized the red car. It was Ashley.

Shauna gasped.

The car rocked to a stop, and the driver’s door flung open. Ashley climbed out, cell phone in hand. “Stop.” Her voice was high and panicked.

“What are you doing here?” Shauna demanded.

Ashley looked at me, her face stricken, then faced her mother. “I can’t let you hurt Toni.”

“Ashley, go home,” McKinney said.

“I know what you’re going to do. I filmed everything. I called 911. And they know there’s a video, but you can’t find it—I’ve hidden the camera.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. Give it to me.” Shauna started toward her daughter.

It was my chance.

I sprinted toward the lake and dove off the cliff, shots ringing out behind me as I crashed into the water, the cold snatching the breath from my lungs. I surfaced spluttering and disoriented in the dark, then saw the long beam of a flashlight shining down from the cliff. I sucked in some air and dove again, hearing more shots, muffled thrums as they struck the water around me.

Gasping for air, I popped back up just in time to see Ashley hit the water a few feet in front of me, near the old floating dock. Shots were still going off, one of them really close. I heard Ashley cry out, and from above, McKinney’s voice.

“Shauna, stop! Ashley’s down there.”

I swam closer to her, whispered, “Ashley, are you hurt?”

“I’ve been shot.” Her breaths were gasps. “My shoulder.”

“Can you make it to the dock?” At least we’d have some cover there.

“Maybe.” Her voice was high.

“I’m right behind you.”

In the moonlight, I could see Ashley trying to dog-paddle with one arm, but she kept going under, gasping and spluttering. She was almost to the dock. I noticed the beam of a flashlight coming down the hill, the light bobbing.

“We’re almost there,” I told her. “You can do it.”

“My arm…”

Then she went silent. She was underwater. I waited a moment, but she didn’t come back up. I sucked in a breath and dove down to where’d she’d been, feeling through the dark water for her. Nothing. Straining for breath, I swam deeper, closer to the dock, and felt something smooth. Her arm? She slipped from my grasp. I reached out, touched some fabric. I tugged her closer, gripped her arm, and pulled, but she was stuck on something under the dock. Would I hurt her if I tried again? I tightened my grip and yanked hard. This time she floated loose.

We rose to the surface. She was limp. I wrapped one arm under her chin and swam hard for the shore. I couldn’t see Shauna or McKinney, couldn’t see anything. They could already be waiting for me. But I had to risk it.

My feet touched the pebbled bottom, and I dragged Ashley the last few steps, my arms aching. I glanced down and saw her pale face in the moonlight. The shoulder of her shirt was dark. Blood? How much had she lost?

“Hang in there,” I whispered. I eased her down onto the beach and knelt to check her pulse. My hands were cold and wet so it was hard to tell. I put my ear by her mouth and couldn’t feel a breath. I was freezing and panting, but adrenaline was still pumping through my veins. I took off my shirt and pressed it against her shoulder, then started CPR while trying frantically to figure out what to do next. I didn’t want Ashley to die, but if I tried to alert Shauna and Frank so they could help her, they’d probably kill me. Before I could make a decision one way or another, I heard rustling noises.

Shauna burst through the bushes. “Get away from my daughter!”

“She’s hurt,” I said. “I’m trying to help—”

Shauna pushed me off Ashley and grabbed her in her arms. “Ashley! Oh, my God!”

McKinney came out of the bushes, dropped to his knees beside Shauna, and felt for Ashley’s pulse. “She’s not breathing. Lay her down.” Shauna started screaming her daughter’s name. McKinney pulled Ashley from her arms and laid her down on her back. He started giving her CPR. I should’ve run, but I was frozen by the image in front of me, McKinney bent over Ashley, her skin pale.

McKinney, panting like he was almost out of breath, said to Shauna, “You have to do chest compressions.” But Shauna was just staring down at Ashley now and crying, obviously in shock. I pushed Shauna out of the way, starting chest compressions while McKinney blew into Ashley’s mouth.

“Come on, Ashley,” he chanted. “Stay with us.”

I was crying too, my teeth chattering, the words,
Don’t die, you can’t die,
repeating in my head as I tried to focus on my task. Beside me Shauna was sobbing Ashley’s name, but then she yelled, “Get away from my daughter!” and tried to drag me off. I hit back with one of my elbows, making contact with her stomach. Shauna grunted from the blow, then there were just moans and sobs.

I didn’t know how long McKinney and I had been working together, but finally Ashley started to cough and splutter. McKinney rolled her onto her side, patting her on the back, and she coughed up some more water.

“Thank God,” he said.

Shauna shoved me out of the way and this time I let her. I got to my feet as she grabbed her daughter to her chest, rocking her back and forth. We were all covered with Ashley’s blood—my hands were sticky with it. McKinney was trying to comfort his daughter, his arm around her back. Shauna was saying, “I didn’t mean to hurt her. I didn’t. She should have stayed away.”

There was something in her voice, an odd disconnected quality that made me wonder who she was talking about, Ashley or Nicole. Frank was also staring at her. I took a step back, getting ready to make my escape. My foot came down on a branch. Shauna looked up at me, her face full of hate. “This is
your
fault.”

She stood, pulled her gun out of her coat pocket. I made a lunging dive and grabbed her around the waist. She fell, and I scrambled on top of her. We wrestled for the weapon, rolling around in the sand. Finally I felt the cold metal in my hands. I flipped Shauna onto her back, held her down with my arm across her throat, and pointed the gun at her head. My mind filled with rage, a loud roaring in my ears, screaming at me to kill her. Then, a solid blow to my left as McKinney tackled me, and I was thrown to the ground. I lost my grip on the gun and it disappeared into the water. McKinney hit me in the temple with his gun. The world dimmed for a second. I heard another man’s voice.

“Let her go!” Ryan.

Now the sounds of fighting, male grunts, fists hitting flesh. I flipped over, my vision blurry, but I could see McKinney and Ryan going at it, fighting for the gun as they rolled around in the dirt, their bodies close, almost in a hug. Shauna was trying to pull Ryan off. I stumbled to my feet, put my arm around her throat, and dragged her away. A shot rang out. Ryan groaned and clutched his side but managed to slam his head into McKinney’s nose. McKinney yelled as blood spurted. Now Ryan had the gun in his hand. He pressed it against McKinney’s forehead as he straddled his chest, his other hand gripping McKinney’s throat. McKinney was still, looking up at Ryan, his eyes desperate and pleading.

“You ruined our lives!” Ryan said.

I yelled, “Ryan, let him go.”

Shauna was also screaming. “No!”

Ryan didn’t even glance in our direction. His hand was shaking as he held the gun, his arm rigid and his face grim. One side of his body was covered in blood, a spreading darkness. He pressed the gun harder against McKinney’s forehead, grinding it against the bone. McKinney closed his eyes. The moment stretched out. Ryan suddenly lowered his hand.

“You’re not worth it, you piece of shit.”

He staggered to his feet, his body swaying and one hand pressed against his side, the gun hanging limp in his other hand.

The sound of sirens filled the air. I felt a moment of relief, followed by more fear. Who were they going to believe? Cars were pulling up, headlights blinding, colored lights flashing. Voices shouted as flashlights beamed into my face. “Get down. Get down now!”

I dropped to my knees, placed my hands on the back of my head. They came at me, forced me to the ground, grinding my face into the sand. My mouth was filled with it, and I tried to spit it out. One of them was kneeling on my back, pushing my breath out as he wrenched my arms behind me and slapped on the cuffs. Then I was being lifted to my feet. I saw them rush at Shauna and Ryan, telling them to get on the ground. Shauna was fighting, refusing to leave her daughter.

They were patting me down, and one of them found the knife. The cruiser was pulled around and I was shoved in the back. I could hear more sirens now and saw ambulances. I hoped Ryan was getting help. The officer sitting in the front was talking into his radio.

“Frank McKinney and his daughter attacked me,” I said. “They shot Ryan—and Ashley.”

“We’re taking you back to the station,” the officer said over his shoulder. “We’ll sort it out from there.

“I want to talk to Sergeant Hicks.”

The officer didn’t answer.

*   *   *

At the station I was locked into a jail cell, still shivering until someone finally brought me a jumpsuit and blanket. I refused to put on the jumpsuit. I didn’t care how wet I was, I wasn’t wearing that suit. Not yet. I sat in there for hours, and no one would answer my questions about Ryan or tell me whether Ashley had pulled through. Finally, I was taken back to an interview room. Doug Hicks came in.

I watched him warily, wondering what McKinney might have already told him. I hoped Ashley had been telling the truth about the video. I hoped she was okay.