One By One by Freida McFadden(63)

I frown. “Noah?”

Noah drops his face into his hands. “I’m so sorry, Claire. I told you there was a woman that I…”

My mouth falls open. I finally get it. Lindsay, my best friend, was the woman he kissed. I was screwing around with his best friend, so this was the ultimate revenge. But he never went through with it.

“He used me.” The smile drops off Lindsay’s face as she hits him in the back of the head with her gun. He flinches but doesn’t make a sound. “He tried to use me to get back at you for the disgusting thing you did with Jack.” She grimaces. “Both of you are horrible people.”

“Lindsay,” Noah murmurs, “that’s not what happened…”

“Shut the fuck up, Noah,” she snaps. She turns back to look at me. “You had it all. You had a great life with a perfect husband. If I knew you were going to screw it up, I never would’ve bothered to get rid of Ted.”

“Ted…” It takes me a moment to realize what she’s talking about. Ted—my boyfriend during my sophomore year. The one who drowned over the summer. “Oh my God, Lindsay, you didn’t…”

Her eyes widen. “He deserved it. He was an awful person, Claire. He would have betrayed you again and again. I had to do it to save you.”

I cover my mouth, unable to believe what I’m hearing. Lindsay killed Ted all those years ago. Because of me.

I had no idea what she was capable of.

But now I know. She’s got a gun in her hand and it’s clear she intends to use it. She’s going to kill us. I’m never going to make it home. I’m never going to see Emma and Aiden again. They’re going to grow up without us.

My eyes meet Noah’s for a split second. This might be one of the last times I see him. Last night with him… It was wonderful. I made a terrible mistake when I slept with Jack. I should never have done it. I should have tried to work things out with Noah first.

And now I’m paying the ultimate price.

“Lindsay,” Noah says quietly. “You’re making a big mistake. You don’t want to do this. You’ll go to jail for the rest of your life.”

“No, I don’t think she will,” Warner speaks up. I had nearly forgotten he was standing behind me until I hear his baritone. “We’ve got the perfect alibi. I’d really love for you to hear it.”

I feel sick. I don’t want to hear anything this man has to say, but maybe if he keeps talking, we can figure out a way to get out of this.

“So here’s what we’ll tell the police…” He nods at Noah. “Noah here discovered his wife was cheating on him with his best friend. He flew into a horrible, jealous rage. Then… he killed everyone in the room, including himself. Fortunately, Lindsay and I were out for a walk when it happened, and we came back just in time to see the carnage.”

Noah’s face blanches. “You’re not really…”

Lindsay cocks her head to the side. “Sad, isn’t it? Your children will grow up without parents and also thinking their father was a crazy murderer.” She shrugs. “But what’s the difference? It’s not like either of you cared about the fact that you were ripping apart your family. Emma begged you to stay home, but you came here anyway.”

I flinch at the memory of Emma’s small face looking up at me, pleading with me not to go on this trip. If only I had listened to her. I could be with my children right now...

Noah’s right hand balls into a fist. He looks like he wants to hit one or both of them. At this point, maybe he should. They’re going to kill us anyway. We may as well go out swinging.

“There’s only one little detail,” Lindsay says.

She raises the gun and points it directly at Noah’s skull. I squeeze my eyes shut just as I hear a gunshot. No. No. This isn’t happening.

I’m terrified to open my eyes and discover my husband lying on the sofa, a bullet hole in his head. I crack them open, and Noah is still sitting up. It doesn’t appear he’s been shot in the head. He looks fine.

Then I hear a gurgling sound coming from the ground. I look down—Warner on the ground, gripping his neck, which is gushing blood. I stare down at him, my heart pounding. What just happened?

“I am so sorry, sweetie.” Lindsay is standing over him, her brows knitted together. “But your story was just too complicated. And the police have your fingerprints on file. I just couldn’t take the risk of being associated with you.”

Warner coughs up blood. He looks like he’s trying to say something, but he can’t.

“Two people can’t keep a secret,” she says. “Not unless one of them is dead. It’s just a fact. I always work alone.”

I watch in horror as Warner’s eyes roll up in their sockets. He’s dead. She just killed him.

“So,” Lindsay says briskly. She seems utterly unconcerned that she just killed a man, and that chills me. Who is this woman? I thought I knew her better than anyone else. “Here’s the deal. I met Warner on a dating site, and my bad, he turned out to be a psychopath. He killed all of us, but I managed to survive by playing dead.” She smiles benevolently. “That’s your gift if you behave yourselves and don’t try anything funny.”

Try anything funny? What am I supposed to do? She’s got the gun. Of course, Warner dropped his rifle on the ground, but Lindsay knows better than anyone that I would have no idea what to do with that thing. I doubt Noah does either. Except…