"No!" Lilah cried out. "No!"

Buddy darted his gaze between the women. "It's not true! I didn't have anything to do with that. I couldn't! I-"

"You went in the middle of the night. He opened the door because he trusted you. You immobilized him with a stun gun. Then you carried him out to the garage, doused him with fuel and set him on fire!"

"No!" His face went white.

"Hunter had nothing to do with any of this. You set up your own son."

"No. You have to believe me!"

"I can't believe anything you say. Not now. Not ever again."

It all made sense now-Lilah's depression and addiction. Hunter's break with the family. Cherry's dedication to keeping the family together, to making them look happy and normal.

"No one needs to know, Avery." Buddy lowered his voice, tone soothing. "We're a family. We're your family. We love you."

Tears choked her. She shook her head. She had believed that once. Had thought of this family as an extension of her own. "It's over, Buddy."

"We're all you have left, Avery." He took a step toward her, forcing her backward. "Cypress Springs is your home."

He took another step. He had her cornered, she realized. Had backed her into a wall, the only way out through him. She tamped down her rising panic.

"I'll need those journals." He held out a hand. "Laurie called me. Told me you'd been there. That you'd left Lancaster a note."

"One of your many spies."

"She was worried about you."

"Right. Worried about me."

"We love you, Avery," Lilah whispered. "You're one of us."

"Yes," Cherry piped in. "Give Dad the journals and everything will be okay."

Avery moved her gaze between the three, heart racing, struggling to stay calm. To assess her options. Three against one. One of them the size of a tree and packing a gun. Lilah looked on the verge of falling apart. Cherry seemed stunned, her reactions wooden. The little focus she possessed seemed directed toward supporting her mother.

Only Buddy posed a threat to her escape. Immobilize him and she could make it. But how?

Her pepper spray! She hadn't taken it out of her purse.

"Come on, baby girl." He stretched his hand out. "You know we only want the best for you. It's all in the past. We'll be one big, happy family."

"A family," she repeated, voice shaking. "You're right." She reached into her handbag. Her fingers closed around the cylinder of spray. She drew the can out and lunged forward, shooting the spray directly into Buddy's eyes, blinding him.

With a cry, he stumbled backward, clawing at his eyes. Avery darted past him. Out of the kitchen, into the front hall. She heard Lilah and Cherry calling her back.

The front door was locked. She fumbled with the dead bolt; after what seemed a century, it slid back and she raced out onto the porch. She paused there, realizing she didn't have a vehicle.

Behind her she heard the kitchen door fly open, heard the thunder of footfalls.

She leaped forward, hitting the stairs, racing down them. Into the yard. Avery glanced back. Buddy had gained on her, she saw. He called her name.

Headlights sliced across the dark road. Avery changed direction, running toward them, waving her arms wildly.

The white sedan pulled over. She grabbed the passenger door, yanked it open.

"Thank God! Can you giv-"

She bit the words back, a cry springing to her lips.

"Get in, Avery," Matt ordered. "Quickly, before it's too late."

She froze. Behind her, Buddy closed in.

She saw Matt had his gun. He motioned with it. "It wasn't Hunter," he said. "It was Dad. Come on, he's almost here."

She glanced back. Buddy was calling her name, going for his gun. She dived into the vehicle, yanking the door shut as she did.

Matt hit the autolock and floored the accelerator. The vehicle surged forward, fishtailing, tires squealing. Avery swiveled in her seat, craning her neck to see Buddy. He ran into the street, gave chase for a moment, then stopped.

She brought her shaking hands to her face, fighting hysteria. The urge to fall completely apart.

"Are you okay?"

She nodded, dropping her hands. "When did you…how did you find out-"

"About Dad?" He shook his head. "I love my dad. He's got a good heart, but he's weak. A total fuckup, Avery."

She didn't understand. "You're not making excuses for him, are you? He's a murderer, Matt."

Matt smiled. Oddly. Avery frowned, becoming suddenly aware of the closeness of the vehicle, that Matt kept one hand on his weapon, lying on the seat beside him.

The hair on the back of her neck prickled. "Aren't you going to put that away?"

He ignored her. "You were right to trust me, Avery. Dad's over-emotional. He means to do the right thing, but emotion gets in the way. It's what makes him weak."

Matt was in cahoots with his dad. One of The Seven. An accomplice to murder.

And she had gotten into the car with him. He had a gun.

She saw a stop sign ahead. She shifted slightly in her seat in an attempt to hide what she was about to do. As he slowed the sedan, she inched her hand toward the door handle, grasped it and yanked.

The door didn't budge. Matt laughed and eased through the intersection without stopping. "Childproof locks, Avery. How stupid do you think I am?"

"I don't know what you're talking about, Matt. I didn't__"

"Say good-night, Avery."

Before she realized his intention, he struck her in the temple with the butt of his gun. Pain jackknifed through her skull; in the next instant, she felt nothing at all.

CHAPTER 52

Avery came to slowly. She ached all over; her head throbbed. Moaning, she opened her eyes.

She lay on a bed, she realized. A bare mattress. She tried to sit up but found she couldn't. Her arms had been anchored above her head, wrists bound tightly. Her legs were tied to opposite bedposts.

Buddy, his confession. Matt picking her up. The gun.

Fear exploded inside her. Blinding, white hot. It stole her ability to think. To reason. With it came panic. She fought her restraints, tugging and twisting, getting nowhere.

She stopped, wrists and ankles burning, breath coming in trembling gasps. Tears choked her. She fought them as well. She would not give in. She would not lie down and die.

They would not get away with this. She wouldn 't let them.

In an attempt to center herself, Avery closed her eyes. She drew in as deep a breath as she could and expelled it slowly. Then repeated the process. She needed calm. Fear and panic bled her abil- ity to think. To reason. She needed to be able to do both if she was going to escape.

She opened her eyes, a semblance of calm restored. The only light in the room came from the open doorway to the right of the bed. The air was damp, heavy. It stank, the smell familiar, though she couldn't place it. The single window stood open. From outside came the sounds of insects, more dense than she was accustomed to.

He had taken her outside the city limits. She traveled her gaze over the room, taking in what she could from her prone position. Spare. Rough-hewn. A hunting cabin, she thought. At the edge of woods. Or along the bayou.

The same one Gwen had been lured to? Avery searched her memory. Gwen had said the junction of Highway 421 and No Name Road.

That would put her south of Cypress Springs. Not far from the old canning factory.

The sour smell, she realized. Of course. The same smell that rolled into town when the wind shifted to a northerly direction.

The stench of the burned-out factory.

Matt appeared in the doorway, a dark silhouette against the rectangle of light. "Rise and shine, beautiful."

"Untie me and I will."

She all but spat the words at him and he laughed. "Somebody wake up on the wrong side of the bed?"