I made a sudden dive to the right as her gun went off, rolling on the ground, waiting for an explosion of pain, but none came. Then someone came flying through the trees. He tackled Eileen from behind. She fell forward, the gun flying out of her hand.
Drake smashed her head into the ground.
I scrambled to my feet. Then I ran over and picked up the gun, pointing it at them as they wrestled for control. I'd never even held a gun before, but I would pull the trigger if I needed to do that to save Drake's life, to save my own.
But I didn't need to shoot. Eileen was no match for Drake. He had her pinned face-down in the dirt, holding one arm behind her as he put a hard knee in the middle of her back. She twisted to get free, screaming like a trapped wild animal.
Drake looked at me with concern. "Are you all right?"
"Yes." I lowered the gun. "How did you find me?"
"I ran into Kelsey and Dillon at the cabin."
"Wait! Eileen said Dillon was dead."
"He's alive. He was shot in the shoulder. I don't think it's life-threatening."
"And Kelsey was with him?" I asked. "She went back to the cabin? I told her not to move. She never listens to me."
"She said you saved her life. I didn't take time to get the whole story. She told me you were in trouble and Eileen was going to kill you. I was afraid I wasn't going to get to you in time."
I drew in a shaky breath at his words. There was so much adrenaline running through me I hadn't had time to register just how close I'd come to dying. I couldn't let myself do that now. I had to tell him at least part of the story, the most important part.
"Drake, Eileen killed Melanie. It wasn't Gage. It was Eileen."
His face paled. "Why? Why would she do that?" He turned his attention to Eileen. "Why would you do that?"
"Because that bitch was pregnant," Eileen shouted.
"Shut up!" Drake pressed his knee harder on Eileen's back. "What the hell did you do to my sister?"
"I poisoned her with tea and threw her in the ocean," Eileen said, twisting her face to the right so she could show Drake how much she didn't care.
Drew pulled her arm up behind her back, and she yelped in pain.
"You killed her?" he asked in shock. "Because she was pregnant?"
"With Gage's child," Eileen said.
"That's impossible." He looked at me. "Did you know?"
I shook my head. "I had no idea, Drake. I swear it. I didn't know Melanie had sex with anyone, much less Gage. She never told me."
He turned back to Eileen. "You didn't have to kill her."
"She was going to ruin everything for my son, for my family."
Drake suddenly jumped up, dragging Eileen to her feet. He put his arm around her neck as he moved toward the edge of the cliff.
"What are you doing?" I shouted. Even though I knew exactly what he was going to do.
"She threw my sister into the ocean. She can see what that feels like."
I saw the murderous rage in his eyes. "Don't, Drake. You can't kill her."
"I can kill her. I can get justice for Melanie."
"That's not justice, it's murder."
"Go ahead," Eileen gasped. "Do it. Kill me. You know you want to."
"Please, Drake, don't," I begged. "You'll go to jail for her crimes."
"I don't care what happens to me. She killed my sister."
"Well, I care what happens to you. And Melanie would not want you to do this. She would not want your parents to lose another child. She would not want them to have to visit you in jail."
Doubt entered his gaze. "They'll be okay. I might not be free physically, but mentally I'll finally be able to let go."
"It's too easy," I argued. "Eileen needs to sit in a prison cell. She needs to see the pain her family and her kids will go through because of what she did. She needs to feel the shame, the embarrassment. Her family, her name, everything she loved so much, will slowly be destroyed right in front of her. That's the revenge, Drake. Watching her secrets get revealed one by one. The humiliation will kill her more slowly. All the ugliness of her pretty life will be revealed. The whole world will know who she really is. Her sons will hate her. Her husband will turn away. Her friends will act like they never knew her."
"No," Eileen cried. "Kill me now." She struggled again, pushing them both closer to the edge.
More fear ran through me. "Drake, let her go. She's going to take you over the side with her."
"No, she's not." He dragged Eileen away from the edge. "You're right. She needs to suffer, the way we all suffered. I want her to live every day for the rest of her life in the kind of pain she put us all through."
A rush of movement caught my eye, and I was relieved to see Ben and another deputy come crashing through the trees with guns drawn. Thank God!
Ben took in the scene with a sharp eye. "Everyone all right?"
"It was Eileen," Drake told Ben. "She killed Melanie."
"That's what Kelsey said." Ben's gaze hardened on Eileen. "Did you also kill my father?"
Eileen's answer was to spit on the ground. The refined woman I'd known was really just a mean alley cat. She might have married her way into a different life and become a different woman, but this was who she really was.
"She killed your dad, Ben," I said, answering for her. "And she shot Dillon, too."
Ben's eyes filled with rage, his entire body stiffening, but he fought for control. In the end, he just motioned to the deputy next to him. "Take her into custody."
"Let me die," Eileen begged, but no one was listening to her.
Drake released her into the custody of the deputy, who quickly handcuffed her. Eileen sank to the ground, refusing to move.
"We can drag you out of here," Ben told her. "It would actually be my pleasure to do that."
"Just shoot me. Pay me back for what I did to your father."
"Oh, I'll pay you back, but it won't be with a bullet." Ben walked over to her, grabbed her arm, and yanked her to her feet. Then he turned to us. "I want to hear the entire story. But I need to get her out of here. Kelsey and Dillon are both on their way to the medical center. Your parents and your sister are on their way there, too, Willow."
I blew out a breath of relief. "Thank you."
"Don't thank me. It looks like you and Drake did the heavy lifting."
"It was all Willow," Drake said. "I just came in at the end."
"Meet me down at the station."
"We will," Drake promised.
As Ben and the deputy moved Eileen toward the trees, Drake came over to me. He put his hands on my shoulders, giving me a long, searching look. I could see dozens of emotions in his dark-blue gaze, but there was one missing now—uncertainty. He had no more questions. But there was still anger and sadness. I didn't think those would go away soon. I'd gotten my sister back, but Drake had not. He would never see Melanie again, and neither would I.
Tears filled my eyes. "I'm sorry," I whispered. "I wish the truth could have brought her home."