Chapter 24

Chloe

After I saw those knives, I immediately ran back to my car and called the station, letting them know what I found. I run my hand through my hair and am startled when there's a knock on my window. Frowning, I roll it down and laugh when I see Stacie. She just glares and opens the door, sliding into the passenger seat.

"Please do come in,"I say, sarcastically. "What's up?"

"What the hell is going on? Beca won't answer any of my calls or texts and nobody will tell me what happened." Shaking, I answer.

"Beca was kidnapped,"I whisper and Stacie lets out a trembling breath.

"Why are you here?"Stacie says quietly.

"I can't talk about it. Police business. How did you know I would be here?"

"I live right down the street and saw your car. Now, I am going to ask again and you will give me an answer. If you don't, I will knock the mother-fucking shit out of you. Beca is my best friend and I would do anything for her, even hurt the girl she's dating. Now, why are you here?" I stare at Stacie for a second longer, actually scared by her before answering.

"I'm pretty sure Aubrey took her and so I went in and found some knives that have Swanson on them. So I'm pretty sure that Liam Posen killed Ashley Swanson and then Aubrey killed Aaron. Aubrey kidnapped Beca because out of guilt, Liam killed himself and Aubrey blames her for it. Which is stupid because Liam tried raping Beca but Aubrey is crazy so it's okay. I also think that somebody killed Liam Posen and made it look like a suicide….. I think." Now it's Stacie's turn to stare as she takes in what I said.

"Holy shit, that's crazy. So where is Aubrey?" I shrug and Stacie glares at me. "Well, why aren't you looking?"

"I don't know where to start."

"How about with the piece of land she owns."

"What are you talking about?" Stacie sighs like I should know and gets her phone out.

"A few weeks ago she bought some land a few miles away. Sometimes I drive around to help get some ideas for a book and I drove by the farm. There was a sold sign posted and Aubrey's car was there. Here." Stacie hands her phone to me and I see a picture of the farm. There's a tiny cottage and several yards behind it is a barn.

"Thank you so much,"I cry and hand Stacie's phone back to her. We stare at each other until she asks me what.

"You're not coming with."

"Uh, yes I am,"Stacie demands. "You can't stop me so just quit wasting time and go." Nodding, I speed towards the farm. I sigh when I see how dark it's starting to get.

"Shouldn't you call for some backup?"Stacie asks as we get closer.

"Yeah,"I say and call it in. "They'll send some out soon."

"They told you to wait right?"

"Yeah,"I shrug. "But it might be too late by then." She makes a noise of approval and we continue in silence until we pull up to the farm. When I spot John's car by the barn, I drive around the cottage and go directly to it. Stacie and I get out just in time to see John drop a shovel and turn around. My hands are shaking so bad at the reasons he would have to be carrying a shovel, but I push the fear away and go into cop mode.

"Now what the hell are you doing here, John?"I call out, surprised when I'm able to keep my voice level.

"Just doing some gardening,"John throws back some lame excuse and I put my hand on my gun as a precaution.

"Come on, I'm not that stupid and you know it. What are you doing here?"

"He's with me,"Aubrey shouts, coming up to stand by John's side. "I just bought this land and John is helping me fill up some holes in the field. There are some pretty big ones." I shudder at the double meaning to that.

"What the hell did you do to my best friend, you bitch?"Stacie screams and starts to move forward. I hold her back, gesturing to the gun that John has in his holster. She blanches and takes a step backward.

"Whatever are you talking about?"Aubrey asks, putting on a huge, creepy smile.

"I know that you took her,"I yell. "I know exactly what happened that night and that you took Beca because you think she killed your father!"

"Don't you dare talk about him!"

"I know that he tried raping Beca and then killed Ashley Swanson. You helped him by killing Aaron and then he killed himself." Aubrey puts her hands to her ears and screams which only makes me talk louder. "Aubrey, I don't think he killed himself!" She stops and moves her hands, looking at me.

"What?" Her voice sounds so small in that moment, almost like a little kids.

"I think that somebody killed your father. Why? I don't know."

"Stop with this nonsense,"John laughs nervously and I notice as he subtly reaches for his gun. "No one killed or kidnapped anybody." Drawing my gun, I point it at him and shove Stacie behind me.

"Where is she?"I growl and John just sighs. He takes his gun out and turns to Aubrey.

"Ashley was my sister and she didn't deserve to die. Your father did though." Aubrey gasps, tears streaming down her face. "So did Beca."

"What?"Stacie screams and John laughs.

"Don't worry, I didn't kill her. Aubrey did. I'm just here to clean up after her." My heart shatters and there's a roaring sound in my ears. Beca's dead. I'm too late.

John raises his gun and points it at Aubrey. "I'm sorry baby girl, but this has to be done." Suddenly, it's like I'm in the crash again as everything moves in slow motion. His finger starts to push down on the trigger. Stacie screams and I start to run even though I know I won't make it in time. I focus on John as the gun goes off and someone rams into Aubrey. Then, everything goes silent.

I run faster, finally reaching John and the gun goes off again as I tackle him to the ground. There's a burning pain in my shoulder as he rolls over on top of me and we fight over the gun. Mine had gotten lost when I tackled him. When I'm sure it's not pointed at me, I pull the trigger. I roll him over, keeping to gun pointed at him as his body goes limp. His lifeless eyes stare up at me, blood pooling out of his mouth. My shoulder feels like it's on fire and I realize that I'm shot. Just my luck.

Shaking my head and the pain away, I run over to where Aubrey and some else lay on the ground. Stacie catches up to me and I crouch down next to Aubrey as she goes to the other person. Aubrey is gasping for breath as blood blossoms across her shirt. I guess she did get shot after all. I turn my attention over to the other figure on the ground. The person sits up slowly and I gasp at who it is. Beca.

"Oh my god,"Stacie cries, throwing her arms around her. Beca gasps and my eyes tear up at the sight of her. Her face is bruised and cut open and I can tell it's her because of those startling, grey eyes.

"Beca?"I croak, trying to swallow the lump in my throat. "Baby, are you alright?"

"Yeah,"she replies, voice hoarse. "You're not though." She crawls out of Stacie's embrace and over to me.

"It's just a scrape."

"I heard the gun go off and it definitely doesn't look like a scrape. You're really dumb if you think I'm stupid enough to believe you." I laugh, loving how even in a situation like this, she can make me laugh.

"What do we do now?"Stacie whispers, coming to sit next to us.

"We wait until backup arrives. Then, it will all go to hell as we try to explain everything."

"It'll be alright,"Beca says weakly and I grab her hand, shocked at how cold it is.

"Beca, are you okay?" Beca nods but her eyes start to roll back into her head and she falls backward. Stacie screams and I gasp when I spot Beca's blood soaked shirt. How did I not notice before?

"There's no pulse!"Stacie cries and I start CPR ignoring the searing pain in my arm. I don't even stop when everything starts to spin.

"Stacie?"I breathe out and she answers. "Do you know how to do CPR?"

"Yeah, why?" I grab her hand with my clammy one and have her take over.

"I'm going to-"I start before black starts clouding my vision.

"Dammit,"I hear Stacie shout before I pass out.