The second her door closed, Sophie said, ‘I give him less than three hours before he bounces you a message asking you out. Before the weekend’s over, he’s gonna be calling you his bae on Instagram. So, I guess this wasn’t a wasted trip after all.’

The second the words fell from her mouth, reality slammed back in with the force of a sledgehammer. Holly tried to shake the blanket of guilt that she’d enjoyed a brief moment where she’d forgotten that Jersey was missing, and she knew by the heavy silence and the way Sophie’s fingers flew to her mouth that her thoughts were currently traveling the same path as her own.

‘Your mom is going to find Jersey.’ Sophie’s voice was hushed with weak conviction. ‘And when she does, we’ll charm my cousin into forgiving us. We’ll be so clingy and understanding, she’ll be the one who gets sick of us, right?’

Holly started the engine and turned off the air-conditioner as a cold chill raced over her skin. ‘Right.’ She tried not to imagine what would happen if her mom didn’t find Jersey in time.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Thursday, May 23

Tears clogging her throat, and her heart knocking inside her chest, Jersey stared at the blood seeping through Rachel’s robe. Whereas her own back was a collection of colorful bruises, Rachel’s was a canvas of crisscrossed slashes and welts that were breaking open from their attempts at building a pyramid that would enable Katelyn to reach the window. ‘Maybe Rachel and I should trade places?’

Rachel gritted her teeth. ‘I can do this.’ Despite the conviction in her voice, her words were cloaked in a cloud of intense pain. Still, they’d tried again. But the second Jersey had placed her knee on Rachel’s back in an effort to complete the center of their pyramid, Rachel’s trembling arms had given out, and she’d collapsed to the ground, panting and gasping for air. After a few moments, she pushed herself to her knees. ‘Again,’ she’d insisted.

And they had – with the same results.

So now Jersey knelt before Rachel, grasping her hands tightly between her own. ‘It might be a little lopsided since I’m so much smaller than you, but let’s just try.’

Rachel bit her quivering bottom lip as her shimmering eyes strayed from Jersey’s concerned face to the others’ and then up to the window. ‘I can do this. This pain is only temporary, right?’

‘Are you sure?’ Jersey asked.

Rachel nodded. ‘This may be our only chance.’

‘Okay, let’s do this.’ Faye’s voice was full of urgency.

Determined, and ignoring the cries of their weak, battered bodies, they all nodded as Becca, Faye, and Rachel once again positioned themselves against the wall beneath the window, darting nervous looks to the door at the top of the stairs. The hammering from above continued, giving them hope that those sounds would mask any noise the window might make when Katelyn pried it open.

‘Here I go,’ Cheyenne whispered as she carefully planted one knee on Becca’s back. Time seemed to stand still as she waited for Becca to control her trembling arms.