red and blue lights. Sirens are wailing and we’re out of time. In no time the police will get here, and Liam might be…
“He isn’t in here!” she shouts, her voice filled with terror and shock.
“What?” I stop, my eyes widening, heart stopping in my chest.
“Liam!” she gasps the name, clutching her chest as if she’s in physical pain. “He isn’t in the car. Oh my God, Julian, where is he?”
She carefully walks to the edge of the cliff, then peers to the bottom but I know she can’t see a damn thing. It’s pitch darkness out there and the only sound we can hear is the hissing of the blaze from the car and the crushing of the waves on the rocks below.
But no. Liam couldn’t have been thrown over the cliff. Especially since he had his seatbelt on. I saw him. I start looking around then, driven by an urgency that I can’t explain.
If Liam isn’t in the car, then it means he snapped himself out of that seatbelt. I start running back toward the track, backtracking from the moment the pop happened to right before my car burst into flames.
“What are you doing?” Mia shouts behind me, but I ignore her. All I can think is it doesn’t end like this for my brother. My heart is thundering so hard in my chest, I feel like I’m going to give myself a heart attack.
“Liam!” I start shouting. “Where are you, buddy?”
He has to be here. He wouldn’t have fallen over the cliff. God, he has to be here somewhere. He’s a smart, intelligent fool. He has to be alright.
Mia runs behind me, just as Cole pulls up in his car.
“Liam!” I shout again. “Come on, dude, say something. Anything!”
“Shh.” Mia suddenly shushes me.
“What the fuck? You don’t tell me to shh!” I almost walk over to her and snap her neck, but she shoots me a deadly look, her entire body still and coiled tight as if she’s listening for something.
“Shut up for a second, I think I hear something.”
Ahh fuck it, I start jogging around, looking for my brother, then I hear a loud gasp.
“Oh my God, Julian!” Mia shouts, crouching by a bush. “He’s here!”
Cole and I race over there just in time to see Liam’s eyes flutter closed, but he mutters something before that.
“Bomb.”
And then he loses consciousness.
“No, wake up, dude!” I start but he doesn’t budge. His body is covered in bruises and scratches, evidence that he dove out of the car before it exploded. He might have broken bones right now, but he’s fucking alive!
That’s all that matters. He’s not burning alive in that car, taking his last breath. And it’s all because of her.
“Help me get him to the car. We need to get him to the hospital.” Mia rushes to say but I grab her arm roughly before she touches him.
“Don’t you dare touch my brother!” I growl, hating her with everything in me.
“Julian—”
“You did this!” I accuse, tightening my grip around her delicate arm. “You wanted him dead.”
“No, that’s not…” There’s a pained look on her face, but I ignore it. She’s been an amazing actress all evening, but she was planning this all along. How could I have been so stupid? How could I be so blind?
“Shut up!”
“Julian, calm down.” Cole rushes to break us apart. He pushes me back, but I start for her again. She hurt my brother; I know she did. “We need to get Liam out of here, man. They’re coming and we can’t be here!”
“Julian,” she starts, her voice trembling. “I didn’t do this. Please believe me.”
I stare at her then look away. I can’t bear to look at her right now, knowing that tonight she tried to murder my brother. This is the fourth time she’s messed up my life by hurting my family. First Aiden, then kissing Liam, then her fucking aunt/mother and now this?
Not this time.
“You’re done!” I growl at her, not caring about the stupid tears streaming down her face. “You’re so fucking done. I’m going to bury your ass!”
“J,” Cole chides, pushing me away. “Not now!”
“Fuck!”
I’ll get her for what she did here. Right now, I need to get Liam out of here. The sirens grow louder, the flashes brighter.
“Help me get him to the car.” I rush to my brother’s side. Cole crouches on the other side, then we both make a grab for Liam.