Page 115 of Whispers of You
I stared at her, no words coming. My brain was still trying to compute what was happening.
She grinned then. “Payback’s a bitch, isn’t it?”
“Payback?” I croaked. What had I ever done to her?
The smile slipped from Amber’s lips. “You all just kept right on living like nothing had even happened. None of you appreciated how lucky you were.Noneof you know what it’s like to lose everything.”
Icy claws of dread dug into my chest. “You’re the shooter.”
The grin was back now. “Uh-uh-uh. Joe’s the shooter. They found the rifle in his trunk.”
“You framed him.”
She studied the gun in her hand, examining it as one might take in freshly painted nails. “It’s only fair.”
“Fair?” I choked.
Anger blazed in Amber’s eyes. “They haven’t paid. Not nearly enough.”
My heart hammered in my chest. “Who hasn’t paid?”
Keep her talking.That was all I could think. I had to keep her talking until help arrived. Because someone would know I was gone. Grae would call Holt when I didn’t show up for lunch, and he would check the cameras. He’d know that Amber had me.
The rage in her face only intensified at my question. “None of you! The survivors. Randy and Paul. Who the hell do you think?”
“I’ve paid, Amber. Over and over again. Excruciating pain. Months of grueling rehab. Endless nightmares.”
Her grip on her gun tightened. “My brotherdied. I was always supposed to protect him, and those assholes stole him from me!”
“And they’re in prison for the rest of their lives. They’ll never breathe freely again. They’re paying.”
“It’s not enough!” Amber screamed. “They need to hurt like I do. This was the only way.” A feral smile played at her lips. “Paul’s parents were too easy to pick off. Muggings happen all the time in Seattle. They never should’ve run away to the big city in shame.”
Nausea swept through me. Paul’s parents had been destroyed by their son’s actions in a way that I knew they would never be the same. But that hadn’t been enough for Amber.
“Randy was harder. He doesn’t give a damn about his parents. Those wastes of space do more damage alive than dead. I had to get creative. Joe was all Randy ever cared about, so he has to pay for the crime.”
There was movement at the door, the sun streaming in behind a large figure I couldn’t quite make out. Relief swept through me. Help.
But then the figure spoke. “But you almost ruined everything when you played Rambo outside the police station.”
The voice was familiar. Too familiar.
He stepped inside the falling down barn, the light shifting around him and revealing a face I’d seen almost every day for all my life.
“Jude?” I croaked.
“Hey, Little Williams.”
Amber sent a scowl in his direction. “I wasn’t going to lose my chance to give this bitch a little payback. She almost cost me my job.”
A muscle along Jude’s jaw fluttered in a staccato rhythm. “Andyoualmost fucked our entire plan.”
Redness crept up her throat. “Without me, you wouldn’t have had access to the police department like you needed. You wouldn’t have known where they were searching. Who their suspects were.”
“Except I don’t have access because you got yourself suspended. Your temper only hurts you, Amber.”
She flushed even deeper. “I got suspended because ofher—”
