Page 57 of Camera Stays On

“She’s in it! We need to get her out!” Mick’s screams brought us all back to reality. Looking around at everyone surrounding Mick and the chest, I stepped forward and reached for the lock. It was newer and required a key.

“This wasn’t on it before,” I said. I remembered playing with the simple latch last night. This had been added.

“Okay, well who has the key?” Mick pleaded.

I shook my head, panic fully setting in. “I don’t know. This isn’t my lock.”

Gavin pushed everyone back. “We’ll have to break it open.” He tried to lift it, but it didn’t budge. “I’m going to toss it.”

“Don’t! You’ll hurt her!” Andi cried out from behind us.

“We’ve got to get her out.” Sawyer stepped into the room, his tone somber. Gavin turned to look at him, waiting for direction. “Smash it open.”

Gavin, giving up on lifting it, urged everyone back. I grabbed Andi’s waist and tugged her to me as we all stepped aside. He pushed on the trunk until it started to move, a loud scraping sound filled the room as it slid across the table and finally tipped and fell to the floor. It exploded, and we stumbled back even more, covering our faces as wood and metal flew everywhere. The loud bang silenced us all, and once the dust and wood chips settled, we turned back to the floor.

Lux’s body lay in the remnants of the chest.

And then, Andi screamed.

Chapter 25

Andi

A SCREAM CAME from my throat, and once I realized it was me, I clamped my hands over my mouth and stumbled back as I stared at Lux—her skin ashen, her face almost a purple shade. Vomit covered her lips and chest, as if during the panic and realization she was locked in, she’d gotten sick. I stumbled back, horrified, and another scream came out of me.

Asher threw his arms around me. “Shh, it’s okay. Everything’s going to be okay.” Despite the soothing words, his tone told me otherwise.

“What the fuck do you mean? Nothing’s going to be okay. Lux is dead!” Mick shouted. He dropped to his knees and reached for the girl he’d been making out with just a few hours ago.

He began to sob, bringing her to his chest. “She ran out of air.”

There was a dead person here. Tears ran down my face as the realization hit me.

Bea turned around and started crying. Juliet kept blinking, as if trying hard not to panic. The men all had various emotions on their faces—tortured, anger, shock. It was Sawyer who broke the scene, going over to Lux and Mick and bending down. His Adam’s apple bobbed as he reached out.

“Are we sure she’s gone?” he whispered, placing two fingers on her neck, searching for a pulse. We waited, hoping for good news, despite knowing there wouldn’t be. Sawyer inhaled deeply and dropped back, leaning against the wall. He ran his hand through his hair and looked up at the ceiling, tears threatening to fall. “Well, fuck.”

“What are we supposed to do, Sawyer? What are we supposed to do?” Mick asked through choked sobs.

“I—I don’t know,” Sawyer answered.

“Call her family, and the police, I guess,” Darius said.

“No! We can’t call the police.” Sawyer snapped to Darius, eyes wide. “They’ll shut this down.”

“There’s no family to call, either.” Mick sniffled. “They all moved to Ireland last year. She told me that last night.”

“Okay, so no family and no police,” Sawyer repeated. “We have to...”

“You can’t be serious, Sawyer.” Asher shook his head. “We’re not doing this. We’re calling the authorities.”

Sawyer stood, his eyes narrowing to slits. He stalked over to his brother and pushed his chest against him, standing toe to toe.

“And what if I say we don’t?”

“I don’t care. It’s not an option.” Asher’s hands clenched into fists at his sides. “You’re asking us to cover up a murder.”

“Murder?” Sawyer scoffed.