Page 70 of Hunter or Hunted

“J plus D,” Gwen said, pointing to the beads. “Junie plus Delilah equals best friends forever.” She sniffled and let out another calming breath. “She was wearing this when she died. We can ask Edwards if this was given back to the family, but it was on the shelf with the missing shoes. I think he took it off her when he killed her. A souvenir, I guess. He did it, Sebastian. He needs to pay for it.”

After my chat with him, I couldn’t disagree. “He had scratches or something on his wrist. Almost looked like a brush burn. If she’d had winter gloves on, she wouldn’t have had skin cells under her nails, but she might’ve left a mark like that.”

She swatted some dampness from her cheeks. “Is that all you got from him?”

Did she need that visual? Delilah struggling as he garroted her from behind, just how violent and painful it had been.

The thrashing. The clawing.

My stomach churned again.

No. She didn’t need that mental image.

“He said something,” I said. “It wasn’t an admission, but it was pretty close.”

Sniffling again, blowing out a few more calming breaths, her gaze turned out the window to the blue sky above. She shook her head. “I’m gonna cancel my flight. I’m doing it, Sebastian. I’m killing him before he ruins Ava too.”

“No, you⁠—”

“Don’t tell me no.” She snapped her head toward me, eyes as cold and furious as her voice. “Even if I show this to Edwards, it’s not enough. It’s not proof he killed her. Not in a courtroom. It’s only proof he saw her, and that won’t be enough to send him away. To keep him from doing this again. I have to kill him. I don’t care what anyone thinks. He deserves it. He⁠—”

“He does, and you deserve to live the life you’ve worked so hard to build.” I kept my tone deeper and certain. Unwavering. “I’m not saying we let him live. I’m saying we kill him right. We give it a couple weeks, maybe a couple months, and we craft a plan. A solid one. So that when they search for him, they don’t find us. So that we get away with it.”

The slightest bit, her eyes softened. “We?”

After that conversation with him, that smug look on his face, the way he talked about Ava, my blood was as hot as Gwen’s. The prick deserved everything we were gonna do to him.

“We.”

Another sniffle, and another swat at her tears. “What about the damage he’ll do to Ava in the meantime?”

“It won’t be much worse than the damage he’s already done,” I said. “I hate to make that risk versus cost decision, but if we get caught, we won’t be able to save the next Ava.”

Her eyes flicked between mine for a few heartbeats. “We’ll help the next Ava too?”

“If we have to,” I said.

She swallowed hard, surveying me. Waiting for my conditions, waiting for my rebuttal.

I didn’t give one.

I understood now. I’d seen it. And I couldn’t look away.

“I’ll cancel our flights,” I said. “We’ll get on the road when we leave the funeral. We can’t bring Samson on the plane. There can’t be any trace of us taking him. We’ll get home around the same time we would’ve landed. We’ll stop at my office, I’ll clean him up, we’ll get some sleep, and then we’ll start planning.” I took her cheek in my hand, thumbing away any dampness that remained beneath her eyes. “Let’s go say goodbye to your friend.”

23

GWEN

The funeral home had divided the viewing room in half. Delilah lay in her casket on one side, leaving a few yards of space for everyone to say their final goodbyes. All the friends and family I’d wanted to prod with questions sat in chairs or stood around on the other side, speaking quietly, consoling one another.

Those questions seemed pointless now. They’d tell me what I already knew. Evan was a piece of shit who’d already won over the people with any power.

He’d be gone soon.

I didn’t need to argue over their opinions of him.

I just needed to see her one last time.