Maxwell’s hands hit the toilet, his feet kick the back of my legs while I stand over him, but he’s not going to win. There’s no way any of us will let him walk out of this house. And what better way than to kill a man in his own urine? His body shudders one last time, and then he slumps against the toilet. I release him and take a step back.
“You okay?” I ask her, walking over to the sink. She has a cut on her forehead and a trail of smeared blood runs down her cheek along with a cut on her lip.
Lifting her chin, she nods. “I’ll be fine. Is Demi okay?”
I don’t answer because I’m not sure what to say at this point. I remove my shirt and tuck what little I can fit into the back of my jeans pocket, letting the rest hang out since it now has piss on it from him struggling. I go to turn her faucet on to wash my hands, but there’s no water. “Fuck.” I hiss.
“Maybe there are some bottles of water …”
“Fuck! Fuck” I shout, slamming my fists into the countertop, losing my fucking cool and interrupting her.
Cole turns to Austin. “Go downstairs.”
“I’m staying with …”
“Go downstairs, Austin,” he orders, interrupting her. Then he lowers his voice. “Shane and Bennett are down there with Demi. Shelby should be here by now. Check and see if she needs anything or if you can find any water.”
With that, she pulls away and exits the bathroom.
I turn around and look at the guy I just killed. Fucking Maxwell. He was a year older than us and David’s best friend. He’s on his knees, head in the toilet and arms out to his side. His shirt is missing and so are his jeans. All he’s wearing is his boxers.
He was gonna rape her! If he hadn’t already.
“Did he touch her?” I ask.
“She said no.” He growls, shoving his hands through his hair.
“Do you believe her?” Austin isn’t the kind of girl to tell you everything. She thinks she’s strong enough to deal with shit herself.
“Her shirt was still on, and her jeans weren’t undone. Doesn’t mean he didn’t touch her over them. But I’m gonna make her go to the hospital and have a full workup done,” he grinds out.
I’m not gonna argue that she may not allow that because Cole will find a way to make it happen. Instead, I say, “Help me get him downstairs.”
I take Maxwell’s arms, and he takes his feet. We carry the heavy bastard down the stairs and through the house to the living room, dropping him on the rug.
My sister is sitting next to Demi with her wrist in her hand and another at her neck. Becky still kneels on the floor while Shane holds the gun to her head. Austin is nowhere to be seen and neither is Bennett.
“Where is Austin?” Cole demands, looking around frantically.
“She and Bennett went to the kitchen to look for water.”
“Is she gonna be okay?” I ask my sister as she stands.
“Yes. She needs to be admitted, but she’s gonna be fine.”
I look around to see David still unconscious, now lying on his stomach with his hands cuffed behind his back. We’ve got to finish this. “I can’t go just yet.”
She nods understanding. “Help me get her to my car. I’ll take her in and stay with her.”
“Watch her,” I order Shane, referring to Becky.
“She’s not going anywhere,” he promises.
I lean down and pick up Demi in my arms and carry her out of the house to my sister’s car. “I’ll be up there as soon as I can.”
When I go to walk back inside, she grips my upper arm. “Deke?”
I turn to face her. “Don’t, Shelby.” I don’t have time to listen to her tell me not to hurt them. Not to kill them after what they were going to do. When will it end? When will this all stop? I have to make sure Demi is never in this situation again. And Austin too. We may be sharks, but we protect the people we love.
“Don’t get caught,” she says, surprising me. Then she turns and gets in her car, driving off.
I enter the house and make my way to the kitchen. Cole, Austin, and Bennett are all standing by the fridge. “You guys ready?” I ask.
Cole nods along with Bennett.
“What are we gonna do?” Austin asks with her arms crossed over her chest. She’s pissed and has every right to be. This was her best friend at one time.
Cole looks over at her, and I wait for him to tell her there is no we, but instead, he surprises me by telling her. “End it.”
DEKE
The five of us stand on top of the hill at the back of the cemetery behind the Lowes estate. The sun has officially set, making the night cold, but it’s stopped snowing once again. My shirt is still in my back pocket, but thankfully, Austin found cases of bottled water in the garage so I was able to wash the piss off me.
Maxwell’s body lies in a shallow grave that Cole and Bennett dug for him. David eventually woke up, but Cole placed tape over his mouth so we haven’t had to listen to him cuss us or beg for his life. At this point, it doesn’t matter.
Becky kneels on the ground next to Shane. He has his hand fisted in her hair so she can’t get up and run away. She hasn’t said one word. She sobs to herself. I’m pretty sure she’s officially broken. She has tried so many times to hurt the ones she loves that she’s just given up.
But she has always been good at pretending. So he holds a gun to her head with his free hand just in case.
Cole rips the tape off David’s face. He sucks in a deep breath. “You motherfuckers …”
“Why did you do it?” I ask. He never liked us, but the feeling was mutual.
His eyes go to Becky, and she bows her head in shame.
“Don’t tell me this was because I fucked her while you guys were dating.” Why else would he want to hurt Demi? He was always nice to her from what I remember. Becky talked about it all the time. How he would make her bring her around to hang out with them. She loved that I never forced us to be around her. Why would I? I didn’t like her then.
He snorts. “Like I gave a shit that you fucked her.”
Becky flinches at his words.
“Then why?” Cole demands, gripping his hair and yanking his head back.
He lets out rough laugh. “You guys really don’t know, do you?”
None of us answer him.
“Tell him, baby.”
She sobs with her head down.
“Tell him all the times you let him touch you and then came crawling to me about how awful they were.”
I tilt my head to the side.
“Or how we laughed when you told Cole you were pregnant, and he fucking believed you.” His laughter grows. “That he let you go …”
“What? You lied about being pregnant?” Austin snaps and turns to Cole. “Did you know this?”
“Doesn’t matter,” he answers.
“It does to fucking matter,” she snaps and walks over to Becky. She slaps her across the face so hard, it knocks her over into the snow. “You fucking bitch …” She jumps on top of her.
Cole wraps an arm around her waist and yanks her off her. She kicks her feet out before he sets her down. She’s breathing heavy and trying to push him away. “It doesn’t matter, sweetheart.”