“Silas,” said Kat slowly, like he was a wild animal. “This isn’t you. You’re my friend. You’re a good guy.”
“I’m well aware that I’m just your friend.”
Kat realized her misstep. Emma, for her part, was completely still. Kat met her gaze and said, “Don’t be afraid, Emma.”
“Don’t talk to her!” Silas pulled the girl up harder, making Emma cry out. “Say one more word, and she’s dead.”
Kat had been tip-toeing toward them, but she stopped in her tracks. She put her hands up. “We can talk about this. There’s no reason for violence. Do you want to lose everything? Your job, your reputation?” Kat tried to appeal to Silas’s logical side—if he even still had one.
He scoffed at her words. “This isn’t my fault. It’s yours. Can’t you see that? I tried to warn you in so many ways. But you wouldn’t listen, so I had to take drastic measures. If you’d just listened to me…” His expression turned anguished. “I tried my best. I really did.”
Strangely, Kat believed him. In his mind, he’d tried to warn her away from Gavin. The irony was now that the man she should’ve been warned against was not Gavin Danvers.
“I’m sorry I didn’t listen,” she lied. “I should have.” She inhaled deeply, the pain of her next words splitting her heart open. “We’re not together anymore, Gavin and I. It’s over. You were right all along. He wasn’t the man for me.”
Emma’s eyes widened, and Kat could see tears forming in her eyes. When she opened her mouth to speak, Kat gave a tiny shake of her head. Emma bit her lip.
“I told you. I told you he’d hurt you.” Silas looked crazed now. “You had another option, Kat. You had me.”
Right then, Gavin burst through the trees, his breath heaving from his chest. Upon seeing her father, Emma immediately started to struggle, like a cat trying to free itself. Silas raised a hand to strike her.
Kat didn’t think: she just ran toward them. She pushed Silas so hard that he lost hold of Emma, almost stumbling to the ground. Emma fell to her hands and knees in the dirt.
“Run, Emma!” Kat screamed as she grappled with Silas.
Gavin shouted something. Kat heard footsteps. And then she felt cold metal against her temple. When she realized what it was, it took all her strength not to scream herself hoarse.
“All those emails, comments,” whispered Silas, “but you still went to Gavin fucking Danvers’s arms.”
Kat couldn’t breathe. Suddenly, like a puzzle coming together, she realized that Silas wasn’t just a rejected would-be lover: he was also the same person who’d been threatening her for weeks.
“It was you,” she breathed. “It was you.”
“You finally figured it out. Good job.” Silas smiled, but there was no joy in it. “Took you long enough, though. I always thought you were smarter than that.”
“Don’t hurt her.” Kat looked up to see Gavin with his hands up. “Let her go. You don’t want to do this.” Gavin took a step forward.
“Don’t move,” Silas said harshly to Gavin. “Or I’ll blow her brains out from here to Sunday.”
Chapter Eighteen
Gavin heard the yells and ran as fast as his feet could carry him. How had Kat managed to get so far ahead of him? Fear coalesced in his gut that he’d lost her in the woods.
But he soon heard voices and went toward the sounds. Even then, it felt like an eternity before he arrived in the clearing where Kat had stopped. But the sight in front of him instantly arrested him: Silas Fraser holding Emma captive. Gavin was still far enough away that Silas hadn’t heard him approach.
Before Gavin could react to the tableau in front of him, Kat launched herself at Silas, screaming at Emma to run for it. A moment later, Gavin caught his daughter in his arms and breathed in her sweet scent.
But he didn’t have time to be relieved. Silas now had a gun to Kat’s temple. Gavin’s heart almost burst out of his chest at the horrifying sight.
Turning to Emma, he said, “I need you to get out of here and get help. Can you do that?” He handed her his flashlight. “Keep the river on your left and it’ll take you straight to people looking for you.”
“But what about you?”
“I’ll be okay. I love you, baby.” He hugged her close and wrapped her fingers around the flashlight. “Now run.”
Emma hesitated, but only for a second. She took off, running like the wind. He only hoped she’d find help in time.
“Let her go,” Gavin called, announcing his presence.
Silas’s head shot up, and he flashed his own light in Gavin’s direction. “Oh good. Everyone’s here.”
“Don’t do this.” Gavin’s voice was a croak, raspy with fear.
Silas scoffed. “I’m tired of everyone doing what you want. I tried my best to get Kat to come to me for help, but she went to you, didn’t she? Stupid bitch.”
He yanked Kat closer, and Gavin saw her eyes widen. But she didn’t cry out. She stood still as a statue, barely trembling, and he only loved her more for it. When had he ever deserved a woman as brave and caring as Kat?
“Take me instead,” Gavin insisted. “If you want to hurt someone, hurt me.”
“No!” Kat lurched toward him, but Silas only pressed the gun harder to her temple. “Don’t do this, Gavin.”
Silas rolled his eyes. “As touching as this is, I’m not here for you. I’m here for her. I always have been. Tracking you online, too.”
Kat looked at Silas with horror, and Gavin realized with a jolt that Silas was the one who’d been terrorizing her for these past weeks.
“Ah, I see you know what I’m talking about. Yes, I was the one sending all of those emails and comments. When I realized Kat was obsessed with you, I thought I could get her to come to me in her terror. I could
