Page 71 of Summer Ever After

Since the lockdown had just ended, the guests were still spilling from the buildings. She could hear voices and turned down the pathway towards the nearest building, the pool house. There would be people in the pools, at the outside bar and patio.

It was her best chance.

She burst into the open courtyard near the pool house, her hair sticking to her damp forehead as her lungs continued burning.

“Beth?” Kara called from the steps after seeing her. Worry filled her friend’s eyes. But before Beth could reach her, Ian caught up, his hand clamping hard on her shoulder.

He yanked her back and spun her around. The world slowed, voices gasped around them, and then his palm cracked across her cheek. The sound of it, sharp and brutal, echoed off the pool house walls.

Ian’s eyes were so focused on her, he didn’t even see the audience they had. Nor, she doubted, did he care any longer. He was beyond help. Beyond reason. Something had finally snapped in him. What? Why now?

Beth staggered back but didn’t fall. Fire lit her veins. For the first time, she didn’t cower. She shoved him with everything she had. She knew that there was no stopping him now. Nothing she could say or do would stop what was coming.

Once again, she seemed to catch him off balance. He stumbled back away from her just a step.

Then another shadow came out of nowhere and tackled Ian, sending them both toppling into the deep end of the pool.

She screamed and almost went in with them, if not for the arms that wrapped around her and pulled her to safety.

“I’ve got you,” Kara said as she held on. “We’ve got you,” she added, as they watched Aaron fighting Ian in the water, as gasps rippled through the crowd. Guests stood frozen, some with phones out, others with wide eyes.

Beth’s cheek throbbed, her chest heaved with every breath as she tried to recover from the sprint through the woods.

She screamed for Ian to stop, then yelled to Aaron to warn him that Ian had a gun. Only, neither man seemed to hear her. They didn’t stop wrestling one another, both of their heads sinking under water for long moments at a time.

At one point, the gun hovered above the water, firmly in Ian’s grip with Aaron’s hand grabbing for it. She screamed. Several people cried out as well or scrambled back, away from the edge of the water.

Two other people jumped into the water. They were only blurs since she couldn’t rip her eyes away from Aaron out of fear. Moments seemed to stretch on as several people fought to drag the fight out of the deep end to where they could finally control Ian.

Then, Aaron finally got his footing. Beth watched his arm jerk back, and his fist connected solidly with Ian’s nose. Ian’s head jerked back as blood splattered everywhere, filling the pool with a circle around the now-unconscious man.

Her heart seemed to finally beat as Brett surfaced from the water, holding the gun in his hands. He swam to the side and quickly removed all the bullets onto the side of the pool. Then he climbed out and helped haul the still-unconscious Ian out of the water.

Beth stood there, frozen in place. She had faced him, in front of everyone. Now he couldn’t hide behind his badge anymore. There was so much proof. This time, finally, he would pay.

She watched Aaron, Brett, and Dean haul Ian to the pool deck. All three of them were soaking wet and breathing heavily.

Then, suddenly, Aaron was there, his arms wrapping around her tightly, soaking her clothes and steadying her trembling body. His jaw was locked tight, fury in his eyes, but his hands on her were gentle. “You’re safe,” he whispered.

She stood there, eyes closed for so long that it wasn’t until she felt weightless that she realized he’d lifted her up into his arms. When her eyes opened again, he was setting her down on a lounge chair under an umbrella. He sat beside her, never letting her go.

For the next half an hour or so, the courtyard buzzed with voices, as people retold what had happened. Then the sound of handcuffs clicking shut jolted her out of her stupor.

“He’s being arrested?”

“Yeah.” Aaron hugged her. “We got his confession and his attack on tape. That’s how we found you. Brett saw you at the docks.” He closed his eyes and held onto her as she watched two deputies haul Ian away, dripping and cursing. His service weapon had been handed over as evidence, no doubt along with the tape of what he’d said at the docks.

She had known that the entire camp had cameras, but it hadn’t crossed her mind until Aaron had mentioned it.

“Beth, Aaron.” The chief of police nodded as he approached them as several other officers took witnesses statements. “We have proof that it was Ian who started the fire. Thanks to the security footage, we got a search warrant for his place and had the lab match accelerant in his garage to the fire. We had just issued a warrant for his arrest this morning. He must have gotten wind of it and came here.” He glanced around slowly. “Now, I guess, we have him on assault charges as well.” He turned back to Beth. “He won’t be walking away from this one.”

Beth wrapped her arms around herself, the welt on her cheek still stinging. The night air felt thick, heavy with the weight of everything that had just happened. But instead of fear, there was a strange, bone-deep relief. It was finally over. The shadows were gone.

Ian shouted her name from somewhere down the pathway as they hauled him towards the parking lot, like a curse. Oddly, the sound caused her to laugh.

Aaron slipped his arm around her shoulders, pulling her against his steady warmth. His shirt was damp from the pool, but she pressed into him anyway, needing the grounding. Burying her face into his chest, she let her entire body relax.

“I’ve got you,” Aaron murmured, his voice firm, as if he needed her to believe it.