Nobody ever has to know that Hutch was the one pointing the gun at Quinten when Felicity arrived.

  Who knows? If I were in her shoes, I might have done the exact same thing. All I know for sure is that the world is now a better place without Quinten Parker in it.

  Felicity returns to Hutch, whose eyes stare blankly ahead. I can’t imagine what’s going through his mind right now. Yesterday he had a stable family, a loving relationship with his father, and what he’d hoped was a budding relationship with Mory. But all of that was shattered to pieces tonight. He’s been betrayed by a life that once seemed to be firmly on his side.

  Then there’s Mory. I don’t know how we’re going to navigate the coming days, after everything she’s gone through. It’s going to be difficult, but she’s here and she’s alive and that’s all that matters.

  When the medic steps away, I wrap my arms around her and she clings on to me like she did as a small girl.

  “I’m so sorry, Mom,” she sobs. “I’m so sorry for lying to you. This is all my fault!”

  Her words send a searing streak of fire through my chest.

  “Don’t you ever say that, Mory!” I grab her shoulders. “None of this was your fault. I don’t know what Quinten did to make you trust him, but everything he told you was a lie. Everything that happened tonight is because of him, not you.”

  What I don’t say is that I’m still stung by the lies she told everyone. But ultimately, I know that’s not what led us here. Quinten is. And thankfully, he’s out of her life forever now. Though I doubt that she and Hutch will ever be able to resurrect their friendship again after what’s happened.

  The gruesome scene has been cordoned off and is now shielded by white tents, but behind them I know there lies the body of a man who has destroyed many lives. And I came frighteningly close to losing my daughter at his hands tonight.

  I kiss Mory’s head and hold her tighter as heaving sobs shake her body. “It’s okay, baby. It’s all over now.”

  EPILOGUE

  MORY

  One Year Later

  I lean on the wooden railing of our newly-built deck and let the sunshine warm my face.

  Justin has been calling it ‘Mory’s Deck’ since I pitched in and helped him build it, but really, he did most of the work. Like ninety percent of it. But it was kind of a fun experience, and I think it made Mom happy that I got to know him a bit better during the process. Justin and Xavier spend a lot of time here now, and we even go to their house sometimes. It’s huge, like a cattle ranch but with no cows. Justin says he’s going to build a climbing wall out there this summer for the three boys, who are literally inseparable. Cameron, Xavier and Leo. We call them The Three Amigos.

  I take off my cardigan and the warmth instantly hits my shoulders. The sun sits in a cloudless sky, glowing brightly over our backyard as bursts of laughter and the smell of grilled burgers drift about the air.

  I watch Mom move from guest to guest, looking surprisingly comfortable in her unfamiliar role as hostess. She’s worked so hard on this house. On making it a home. It felt like it would never happen, but the renovations are finally complete and the inside space cleaned up pretty great. We no longer live amongst the chaos of mess and power tools. I used to dread people coming over, I’d cringe even at the thought of anyone seeing the inside of our house and I resented Mom for moving us here. But today, with the sun shining and the yard alive with neighbors and friends, I actually feel kind of proud of her. She worked really hard for this. She deserves to enjoy it.

  Felicity Parker is here with Leo. Hutch didn’t come, of course. He doesn’t really talk to me anymore. I think he’s said hi to me twice in total since that night at the cabin—once when he came to our house to bring Leo home and once when I went over to his house to collect Cameron. I don’t blame him for not wanting to talk to me.

  I’ve had a lot of time to think about what happened with Quinten and even if he hadn’t been a psycho murderer, I still made a huge mistake ever starting a relationship with him behind our families’ backs. I thought him being interested in me meant I was mature, a woman. But that’s not why he was seeing me. I don’t even know if he was ever really into me that way, or if it was all just a ruse to get me to his cabin to kill me like he did all those other girls. The police suspect he hid the photos in various locations around the house while it was abandoned for all those years, before my mom bought it, so as not to arouse suspicion if they were all found together one day. They’re probably right, one lone photo wouldn’t have anyone thinking much of it. Mom didn’t sense anything unusual about it until she found enough of them to start seeing a pattern.

  They found six bodies in total, buried deep in the woodland behind his cabin. Who knows? There could still be ones they missed. It’s not exactly easy to tell what killed a person whose body is that badly decomposed, but they said there’s enough evidence to suggest they were all strangled to death. Not a day goes by that I don’t think about how that could have been me, too, if Mom and Hutch and then Felicity hadn’t shown up when they did.

  A shiver runs through my body now, making me shake a little despite the blazing heat.

  They’ve identified all of the bodies they found, including Elle, who Justin held a funeral for at the start of this year. It was heartbreaking, but he told us it was healing for him, since he’d never gotten closure when he’d first had her declared legally dead.

  It’s strange to think how much has changed in the past year. Just a month ago, I turned eighteen. An adult. I keep having to remind myself of that, but the word still feels weird in my head. Especially since I just became a big sister again recently. Dad and Caitlyn welcomed little Mildred Rose a few months back, and even though I think that’s clearly an old lady’s name, I do think she’s pretty cute. Cam and I have flown to Arizona a couple of times since she was born and I have to admit, when I first met her I started bawling like a baby. Her toes… they’re just so tiny. I never thought I’d feel this way about getting a baby sister, but I can’t deny there’s something super special about her. Cameron is totally in love with his little sister too, of course.

  “Hi,” comes a voice from behind me and I startle at the sound.

  I turn around to see Hutch standing there, his blond hair glistening in the sunlight. “Hi,” I say quietly. “I didn’t think you’d come today.”

  Hutch scratches his shoulder, awkwardly. “Well, I’m here.”

  We’re both quiet for too long, and I don’t know what to say. I start to sweat under the heat before the silence becomes too much and the words I’ve wanted to say for so long burst from my mouth without me meaning them to. “Hutch, I’m so sorry for everything. I should never have done what I did. I never wanted you to get hurt and I’ll never forgive myself for it. I was just completely deluded, and I can’t believe I jeopardized our friendship like that when you mean so much to me and I⁠—”

  “Mory, slow down!” Hutch looks amused as he grabs my shoulders.

  My heart is drumming a hundred beats per second in my chest, and I’m nearly shaking as I slowly close my mouth, embarrassed. “I’m… I’m sorry, is what I’m trying to say.”

  “It’s okay.” A smile pulls at the side of his mouth. “Well, it’s not okay, it was actually super messed up. But it’s… the whole thing is complicated, and I don’t want to spend my whole life angry. I’m trying to move past everything that happened, for my mom and for Leo.”

  “I’m so sorry, Hutch,” I repeat.

  “You said that already.” He laughs.

  “I know.” I sigh. “But I just wish I could take it all away and go back to how we were before. You were my best friend. My only friend. I miss seeing you,” I admit.

  Although I’ve settled into Lonerock and there are a few people I hang out with around the place now, I’ve never felt more comfortable than when I was with Hutch. And despite what happened with Quinten, I’ve always thought Hutch was super cute. I’d even go as far as to say hot, now.

  “I’ve missed you, too.” Hutch leans his arms on the wooden railing beside me and looks into my eyes. “You know, I could actually do with your help with something.”

  I raise my eyebrows but try not to sound too excited. “Sure. What is it?”

  He smiles. “Well, I’ve got this project I’m working on. It’s like a small autonomous robot that can navigate through a maze, but I’m still trying to figure out how to make it so the ultrasonic sensors can detect obstacles without interference. I could really do with some help… What do you think?”

  I think I didn’t really understand anything he just said but he could ask me if I wanted to go pick up litter from the sidewalks and I would jump at the chance to do it beside him.

  “Sure.” I smile. “It’s a date.”

  RUBY

  I feel arms wrap around me from behind and I jump before Justin laughs and kisses my neck.

  “You can’t sneak up on a girl like that,” I complain, putting down the tongs and leaving the burgers to sizzle.

  I turn around and melt into Justin’s arms. “Pretty good party, right?”

  “It’s amazing, I’m so proud of you, Ruby. For everything.” He presses his forehead against mine.

  “I couldn’t have done all this without you. And thank you for keeping everyone entertained while I cook, I saw you out there schmoozing,” I say. “You and Harriet looked like you had a lot to talk about.”

  Justin pulls back sharply and stares at me, horrified.

  “What? What’s wrong?” I ask.

  “That was Harriet?” His face is twisted in dismay. “I thought it was Kendra. I was calling her Kendra! Oh my God.”

  I nearly double over laughing, watching his cheeks turn a deep shade of red. I quickly change the subject, hoping to ease his embarrassment.

  “Hey, are you seeing this?” I nod to where Mory stands with Hutch.

  They keep moving closer to each other as they talk, and it warms my heart to see them together again. I know how much she’s missed him this past year, she still talks about him all the time but she’s been resolute in giving him time and space to heal with his family.

  “Wow. There’s hope for those two after all. Love always wins.” Justin squeezes me once more before heading back into the crowd to entertain the guests.

  I plate up some burgers for my hungry neighbors and when it’s Benton Shepherd’s turn I stop and pull him aside. “Benton, I want to thank you again, for what you did. Especially after all the horrible things I accused you of. It really means a lot to us.”

  It turns out that Benton Shepherd is actually a pretty decent guy. After the cops concluded that Quinten had killed Elle, Benton had taken it upon himself to use the next community meeting to clear Justin’s name publicly. It also turns out that there was nothing nefarious about the delay in selling our house. He was never stringing the Desmonds along, in fact, he was jumping through hoops for years with the city planners to get this house cleared for sale. I still feel awful for all the things I said to Benton, and what I accused him of.

  “Water under the bridge!” He waves away my concerns with a hand before aiming his gleaming smile my way. “And I must say, Ruby, you’ve done amazing things with this place. It really looks great.”

  When Benton disappears into the crowd, I take some time to absorb the compliments I’ve been getting on my finished home and garden. I’m so proud of this place. When we first arrived here, it was old and outdated and the sheer amount of work it needed was so overwhelming that I doubted my sanity more than a few times for having taken on such a huge project. But I poured my heart and soul into this place and the work really shows. I do have to give a lot of credit to Justin, though. He stepped in and took on the task of helping to fix up this house without me ever having to ask.

  “Look at that.” Felicity appears at my side, nodding over at Justin. “Last year, not one person in this town would so much as speak a word to him. Now he’s the life of the party. He’s a good man. I just wish it hadn’t taken so long for our community to realize it.”

  “I’m a lucky woman.” I laugh.

  “He’s a lucky man, Ruby,” Felicity says, meaningfully.

  Felicity’s and my friendship has grown strong since that night a year ago. With the trauma that bonds us, as well as both of our boys being a part of The Three Amigos, we’ve spent a lot of time helping each other heal and been a shoulder for each other’s frustration and tears.

  “It’s so good to see those two talking again,” Felicity says of Mory and Hutch. “He still holds a candle for her.”

  “You never know, we could end up becoming mothers-in-law one day.” We both cackle like witches at this.

  “I’d better go wrangle the boys.” Felicity sighs. “They’ve been running around with toy swords all afternoon. They must be getting hungry by now.”

  I wave her off and watch as she attempts to herd the three wild children from their game to the food table, which is overflowing with salads, breads, and desserts that this amazing community has shown up at my door with. The boys dig in like they’ve been starved for months.

  The Three Amigos: Cameron, Xavier and Leo. Watching their boisterous, innocent play always evokes a bittersweet feeling for me. All three boys are so innocent. So clueless to the pain and suffering that has enveloped the rest of their families.

  Cameron still doesn’t know that his sister was kidnapped and nearly killed.

  Xavier already knows that his mom, Elle, has been dead since he was a baby but how can Justin explain to him that it turns out she was abducted and murdered by his own friend’s father.

  And Leo. God. My heart breaks for the boy who thought the sun rose and set for his father. He knows his dad passed away that night, but one day he will inevitably learn of the sick, vile things his father did before he died.

  There will come a day that all three friends will have to count on each other for support when they find out the truth about their pasts. But for now, I truly believe in the saying, let them be kids. The rest will come when it comes.

  I look around at my friends, my community, my family and I feel a sense of pride in having made a home here in Lonerock. We got off to a shaky start, but I truly believe that we belong here now.

  The only question left in my mind is whether I regret killing Bernice Fisher.

  Of course, I didn’t plan to kill the old bag that night, after the meeting. I only went to her house because I was upset with her for accusing Justin of killing his wife in front of the whole town. I was going to try to settle the air between us and explain why she was wrong about him. But she wouldn’t listen. She spat her angry words at me and told me I didn’t belong here. That she wouldn’t rest until Justin was thrown in jail for what he did to Elle. Her bony finger was in my face and I only meant to push her away from me, but that woman was about as light as a bag of feathers. Her tiny frame betrayed the weight of all the hatred sunken into her brittle bones. Her head hit the marble countertop, and blood began to stain her hair.

  “You… you tried to kill me!” she’d wheezed, clutching her head.

  “What? No I didn’t! I just pushed you lightly,” I protested.

  “No, you just tried to kill me! You want me dead. You’re no better than him. You and Justin belong together, you’re both sick in the head. I’m calling the police!”

  She began to get up, holding tight to the countertop, crawling along as she reached for the phone on the wall. I don’t know what happened then. It’s as though something primal came over me, an urge to protect my family. To protect Justin.

  Bernice Fisher made my life a living hell from the moment I moved into this house, and she wasn’t going to stop until she drove me away for good. If she’d called the cops, who would believe it was an accident that I pushed her that hard, especially after she’d just been cursing me out at the meeting?

  No. I couldn’t let her do it. I couldn’t let her continue to harass me, to accuse me of doing things I hadn’t done.

  It felt as though I was outside of my own body, looking down at myself as I took off my scarf and wrapped it around that nasty old woman’s neck. She shook and fought, but it took almost no effort to hold that scarf tight until her body went limp and her eyes glazed over. I strangled her. I strangled her just like Quinten strangled all those girls. And because of that eerie similarity, nobody will ever suspect that it was me who killed her.

  Quinten is gone now, and as far as anyone else knows, he took Bernice Fisher down with him.

  I watch as my guests laugh and mingle, enjoying the harmony of a warm day and good company, safe in the knowledge that the murderer who once lived among them is now dead and in the ground. And as much as I have struggled to come to terms with what I did, I know that this beautiful scene in my backyard today would never have happened if Bernice were still alive and living next door.

  So, do I regret what I did? No. I don’t think I do.

  I just want to enjoy this beautiful day with my new-found friends. My community. They never need to know that a killer still lives among them.

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  AUTHOR’S NOTE

  Thank you so much for picking up this book and joining Ruby in her journey, I hope you enjoyed reading it a fraction of how much I enjoyed writing it.

  If you liked Pretty Pictures, please consider taking a moment and leaving a review for it on Amazon or Goodreads, as this will help new readers discover my books.