Page 14 of Death Rydes Shotgun

I couldn’t prove it back then. But I’m not a helpless kid hiding in the shadows anymore.

The cops in this town were lazy, the evidence was washed away by the rain, and Harmony and her little circle of golden children walked away without a single scratch.

I watched the way her and her minions responded when Principal Banks informed everyone of Noah’s death. That’s why I’m convinced she played a role in what happened to Noah. I know it in my gut.

Despite that, I want total control over her. I want to strip away every defense, pin her under the weight of my presence, and dominate her until she belongs completely to me.

I’m going to break her, piece by piece, until she screams the truth into the dark.

“Is that right?” I lean back against the headrest, deliberately softening my posture just enough to let the immediate threat simmer down into a slow, suffocating burn. “We’ll see.”

Ahead, the highway opens up as we cross the official town limit of Blackwood. The towering pines give way to wooden fence posts adorned with corn husks and carved jack-o’-lanterns that every-fucking-body has posted up in their yards.

I hate this fucking time of year, and more specifically, this day.

“So…” Harmony’s voice is cautious as she tries to shift the territory back to safer ground. “We’re in town. Is there somewhere specific I can drop you off?”

I look out at the quiet streets, watching the faint glow of streetlights blink through the autumn mist. “Where are you headed?”

Taking in a slow, calculated breath, she answers, “The carnival. Near the center of town.”

Was that really where she was headed or has she changed her plans now that I’ve asked?

“That works. Drop me off there.”

She nods, focusing entirely on driving, her body leaning away from me toward the driver’s door as if inches of space would save her if I decided to act on my current intentions, instead of biding my time.

I want to play with her first. Just as she and her friends played with Noah.

As the BMW glides deeper into the heart of Blackwood, the old landmarks begin to pass by, dragging me violently backward in time.

Fifteen years ago, Halloween night didn’t start with a body in the ditch. It started with a frantic phone call.

I can still hear Noah’s voice echoing in my head—squeaky, terrified, and breathless over the static of my cheap flip phone.

He had called me from the bathroom of Blaire’s party, his words coming out in a fast, hysterical rush. “Ryder, man, you won’t believe it. I found something. I have proof of what Harmony’s been doing—what she’s been hiding. If I show people, it changes everything. She can’t look down on us anymore.”

I had gripped the phone in my cramped bedroom, my chest tightening with immediate dread.

I knew how ruthless Harmony and her friends were. I knew how they ruled the school, how they destroyed anyone who stood in their path.

“Noah, listen to me,” I had snapped, my voice trembling with desperation. “Don’t say a word. Don’t show anyone. Delete it and get out of there right now. You meet me at the carnival’s ferris wheel. Promise me you won’t say anything to her.”

He had promised. He had sworn he was leaving the party right then.

I stood at that ferris wheel, trying to avoid anyone I knew for three hours. With my hoodie up and my head down, desperately trying to keep anyone from seeing the fresh bruises my old man had just given me.

The clock in the town’s center ticked past midnight, then one in the morning, then two.

Noah never showed up.

When I finally walked home in the pre-dawn freezing rain, I saw the flashing red and blue lights bouncing off the pine trees two miles outside of town. I saw the yellow tape. I saw the shape of a sheet stretched over a body on the shoulder of the highway.

The police called it a hit-and-run. A tragic accident involving an unknown driver.

But I knew. I knew Noah had confronted her. In my gut, I knew the last thing he ever saw was Harmony Grove smiling down at him from behind a steering wheel.

And tonight, I plan on proving my suspicions.