Oh my God.

Did he do it?

Did he kill Carly?

Why would he kill her if she was pregnant with the kid that he obviously wanted?

Unless Carly didn’t want the baby.

My head is spinning with questions and possibilities. Grace starts to wake up beside me, and I know one thing for sure, I need to get us the hell out of here.

I start to look around the room for anything I can use as a weapon or an escape route. There is a window. I get up trying to open it quietly. It’s old and even with my slow motion it’s creaking. I’m praying he doesn’t hear the noise and check on us. I get it about halfway open and decide I can’t chance opening it anymore

“Grace, come here,” I whisper to her. “We are going to get out of here, but we have to be quiet okay?” She nods. Thank God there is only one floor to this cabin. It should be easy to climb out. “You are going to climb out first and then wait right there for me.” She looks between me and the window. I can tell by the look in her eyes that she is scared. “It will be okay, I promise.”

I help her up, and she is able to get out. When it comes to my turn, I try to be mindful of my head. It’s still hurting, but my nap helped me some. At least I have my mobility back.

I climb out of the window, and once my feet hit the ground I grab Grace’s hand and we run. I can only go so fast because I’m not at one hundred percent.

“Nina, my feet hurt.” I look down, and she has no shoes on. There is no way I can pick her up, though. I’m not stable enough for that.

“I know, baby, we just have to keep going okay. We have to get home.” She takes a deep breath and nods. We continue then I hear it.

“Carly!” Shit. It’s him. He will definitely catch us. I look around, and that’s when I see it. The tree from my dream. The one Carly and I hid in. I run to it

“Grace, climb in there.” I follow her in. Space is tight, and Grace has to sit on my lap, but we are in it. If Camden looks he’ll see my shoes, but since they are brown I hope they blend in. I think this is why Carly showed me this tree. She wanted to show me an escape option.

“Carly, get out here. I will not lose you and Cindy again!” His voice echoes around us. And Grace trembles. I hold her tight, shushing her. If she makes any noise, he will find us.

“Nina!” Jake! He’s here! His voice is panicked.

Do they know about Camden? I don’t know where anyone is so I can’t just go running out there.

“Grace!” Mason’s voice screams.

I cover her mouth muffling her answer. Shaking my head, I whisper to her, “We don’t know where the bad man is, Grace, we can’t go out there.”

I put my finger in front of my mouth letting her know to keep quiet. If they get closer, then I will call out. Their voices are too far away right now. A pair of feet stomps in front of our hiding spot. It’s him. I know.

“You can’t hide from me.”

“Freeze!” I hear a voice I don’t recognize right away.

“Where are Nina and Grace?” Jake yells.

I can hear Camden laughing. “I have no idea. Why would I want Nina? I’m looking for Carly and Cindy.”

Please figure out that he means us. The voices are all around us, but I can’t pinpoint who is closest to us.

“Put the gun down, Camden!” It’s Ryan. Thank God.

“Why? Are you going to put yours down? I need to find Carly before she gets away again.”

“Who the fuck is Carly? Where is my daughter, you crazy motherfucker?” It’s Mason again. His voice sounds strained.

“Camden, Carly died years ago. Now where are Nina and Grace?” Jake is close to me I think. It’s so hard to tell.

“Carly didn’t die. Neither did my daughter. They were just with me. Carly, you get out here, or one of them will die!” No!

“Nina, stay where you are, babe.” Jake is pleading. I can hear the worry in his voice.

“Carly you have five seconds!” Grace is shaking.

“Five”

What do I do?

“Four”

He is crazy enough to shoot one of them.

“3Three”

I can’t let him hurt Jake.

“Two”

Carly, please protect me.

I move Grace to the side, signaling for her to stay put then I crawl out of the tree. I’m in the middle of them. Camden on one side, Jake, Ryan, and Mason on the other.

“Nina! Come to me!” I take one step toward Jake.

I hear Camden cocking the gun, and I freeze.

“Don’t you fucking move!” I look behind me and Camden looks completely unglued. His eyes are wild, and he is running his hands through his hair. “Where is my daughter, you bitch?”

“Camden, you are sick. I’m not Carly; I’m Nina.” My voice is calm. I’m trying to convince him of this fact. To make him remember that we lost Carly.

“I want my daughter!” He waves the gun toward me. “Show me where the fuck she is, or you die.”

“Camden, we will find your daughter. Just put the gun down.” Ryan is trying to talk him down.

“You will not touch my daughter ever again, you goddamn psycho!” Mason yells, his voice surrounding us.

“Daddy!” Grace runs out of the tree.

No! She runs straight for Mason as a loud bang sounds. I scream as I see Mason fall to the ground right before Grace gets to him. I make a run to get her when I hear one more bang. Camden falls to my right. I look over to where Jake and Ryan are. They are okay, and I breathe a sigh of relief. Both of them run to where I am holding Grace back from an unmoving Mason.

I scream as another bang sounds, and I look up to see Jake falling backward. Jake’s mouth opens in an O as a moan escapes his mouth. In the next second, he completely disappears from my sight.

“No!” I run to where he was. He fell down a hill. I slide down and land next to him. “Jake!”

He looks up at me. Blood is pooling around him. “I love you.”

“No, don’t you do this to me. Don’t you dare leave me. I love you so much. I’ve wanted to tell you for the longest time. I was just scared. You can’t leave me. You have to stay here.” I’m pleading with him now. Tears falling freely, marking small drops on his shirt.

He looks up at me. “You’ll be okay, Sparky.”

His eyes close and a gut wrenching scream rips through me. “Ryan!” He climbs down the hill, but he is alone. “Where is Grace?”

“The EMTs just got here. She’s with them.” I see medics coming down the hill.

“You have to save him!” I’m pleading with them. “Please! Please! Help him!”

Ryan’s arms wrap around me. “Nina, move away. You have to let them work.” I struggle against him I need to be with him. The medics examine him and begin CPR. Then they stop. They look at one another and shake their head.

“There’s no pulse, Detective.”

“No!” I break free of Ryan and collapse on top of Jake. My hands grip him trying to keep him here with me. He can’t leave me.

I can’t survive this.

Chapter Twenty Seven

Nina

“Hey, babe! Mason is here, you sure you’re okay hanging out with the monster tonight?” I jolt awake, tears streaming down my face. Jake? He is standing in front of me. I jump up and into his arms my hold so tight praying that this isn’t a dream. “Hey, what’s wrong?”

I can’t answer him. I don’t want to find out that this isn’t real. He sits down with me on the couch. My entire body is shaking as I cling to the man I thought I lost.

“Babe, talk to me. You’re scaring me.”

I pull back and look at him. “I love you.” My mouth crushes to his as I still hold onto the hope that this is real.

When he pulls away from me, he looks shocked. “I love you too. I have wanted to tell you for a while. Can you please tell me what’s going on now?”

“You can’t leave. Something is going to happen. You have to stay here. Call Ryan. We are going to need him.” I tell him about my dream, about Camden, about all of my suspicions.

“Babe, you had a nightmare, it’s okay.” He rubs my back to comfort me.