He followed me out here. He must have seen me leave the house and then came after me. And because of the wind and the darkness, I didn’t even know he was behind me. Why didn’t I look behind me?
I take a step back. He doesn’t know how much I know. He thinks I’m still on his side. Maybe I could fake my way out of this
But then, by the dim light from the lone window in the shed, I see the look in his eyes.
“You lied to me,” I blurt out. “You killed Mack. You said you didn’t even know who he was.”
“Yeah, well.” Adam’s eyes never leave my face. “MacNeil deserved to die. He was fucking my wife.”
“You don’t know that.”
“Don’t tell me what I know.” Something glints in his right hand. Oh my God, it’s the gun. I thought he got rid of it—yet another thing he lied about. “Victoria was a slut. She fucked everyone. You don’t know what it was like to have a wife like that.”
I just shake my head.
“And then I found out she was pregnant.” He shakes his head. “I found the test stuffed in the bottom of the wastebasket in the bathroom. She didn’t tell me, and there’s only one reason why. Because it wasn’t mine.”
“That’s not true—”
“Don’t tell me what’s true!” Adam is shouting now, but the sound is swallowed by the wind. “She was going to leave me, to go raise that bastard child of hers. Do you know how people would’ve laughed at me if I let that happen? I had to get rid of her. Just like I got rid of my asshole parents.”
I just stand there, afraid to say anything else.
“Victoria got what she deserved.” A smile touches his lips. “And I have to thank you for helping me finish the job. I had wanted to do that since she came home, but it would’ve been suspicious. Thank you for taking the blame. Great performance, by the way.”
Another thought occurs to me. “What about Irina? Is she…” I point down at the trap door.
“Oh, that was a whole different mess.” He lets out a sigh. “Irina discovered what I did to Victoria. She was blackmailing me. At first, she just wanted to live in that house and for me to buy her a bunch of expensive clothes and shoes. But then she wanted more. A lot more.”
That huge walk-in closet of Victoria’s… I wonder how much of that clothing belonged to Irina. “So you killed her?”
“I didn’t have a choice, Sylvia.”
I stand there, my fingers growing numb from the cold. I’m trying to figure out how this is all going to end, and I don’t see any way that works out well for me. Adam has a gun. There’s no way I could make a run for it with all the snow. I’m trapped here.
Oh God, he’s going to kill me and put me in the room below the shed.
And nobody will ever know.
I raise my hands in the air. “I won’t tell anyone. I swear to you.”
He snorts. “You don’t think I’m dumb enough to believe that, do you?” Worth a try.
“I saved you,” I point out to him. “Victoria was going to kill you.” “Right. And now I’m going to save myself.”
He lifts the gun and points it straight at my face. I cover my face with my hands, as if my fingers would be any protection from a bullet. When Victoria aimed the very same gun, she missed. But she had shaky hands. Adam’s hands are completely steady and he’s had practice shooting. He won’t miss.
I remember how loud the gunshot was when Victoria shot the gun. I brace myself for the sound. It will be the last thing I ever hear.
Bang!
I jump at the loud noise. But it doesn’t sound like it did last time. It’s not as loud. And it was more like a clang than a bang.
I pull my fingers away from my face. Adam isn’t standing in front of me anymore. He’s on the floor, unconscious.
And Freddy is standing in the doorway, his dark hair plastered to his skull from the snow. And he’s holding a large shovel in his hand. I look up at his familiar face and almost burst into tears.
“Looks like you needed me after all,” he says. “And this time, I was here.”
