The moment Aria Bennett reached for the door handle inside the tiger enclosure, I knew I was about to watch the woman who murdered me make the same deadly mistake all over again.
Chapter 2
The sound of the sliding door opening seemed impossibly loud.
Hot afternoon air swept into the van, carrying the scent of grass and damp earth. For half a second, nobody moved. Aria stood outside with her phone raised, smiling toward the camera as though she had just stepped onto a television set.
Then everyone started shouting.
“Aria, get back in!” Ethan yelled.
“Are you out of your mind?” Ryan shouted.
Daniel reached toward the controls, his face turning white.
“Don’t unlock anything else!” I cried. “Call the park. Keep every other door closed.”
My voice startled him badly enough that he froze.
I immediately called the emergency number and put the dispatcher on speaker.
“We’re in the main tiger viewing area,” I said. “A passenger has exited our vehicle. There’s a tiger approximately twenty yards away.”
The woman on the phone didn’t hesitate.
“Do not leave your vehicle. Do not open any additional doors. Our response team is coming.”
I repeated those instructions aloud.
Outside, Aria ignored the shouting.
“Hey, sweetheart,” she called toward the tiger. “Come here, beautiful. I’m not going to hurt you.”
She crouched slightly and pulled the feather wand from her tote. Its bright purple and yellow feathers fluttered in the breeze.
On her livestream, thousands of people were watching.
“I’ve always believed animals sense what’s in your heart,” she continued, holding her phone high. “They understand peaceful intentions better than humans do.”
The tiger lifted its head.
Aria giggled.
“See? She’s listening.”
“That’s not listening,” I whispered.
Aria opened the treat package.
The tiger rose.
Its powerful shoulders rolled beneath its striped coat as it stepped away from the tree. It was magnificent, almost beautiful enough to make someone forget how dangerous it was.
Almost.
Aria tossed a handful of treats into the grass.
“Come on, honey. Just a little closer.”
The tiger stopped.
Aria made a kissing sound.
“Here, kitty.”
Maya Collins, sitting behind me, began to cry.
“She’s going to get herself killed.”
Ethan held his phone with both hands, trying to reach the park office even though the emergency dispatcher was already connected.
“Where are they?” he demanded. “Why aren’t they here?”
The dispatcher spoke firmly.
“Sir, please stay inside your vehicle. Our team has your location.”
Outside, Aria was growing impatient.
She shook the feather wand.
“Come on. Don’t embarrass me in front of everybody.”
Then she threw another treat toward the animal.
The tiger’s attention sharpened.
Its head lowered.
Its body shifted forward.
I recognized that movement.
I had seen it once before, seconds before my life ended.
“Aria,” I called through the closed window, “get back in your own door. Right now.”
She turned toward me with a furious expression.
“Stop trying to ruin my video!”
The tiger took another step.
Aria turned back.
Her smile faltered.
“Easy, baby.”
Another step.
“That’s close enough.”
The tiger continued advancing.
For the first time, Aria’s camera dipped.
Her followers could no longer see her carefully practiced smile. They could see only shaking grass, the edge of her sweater, and the tiger approaching.
“Okay,” she whispered. “Okay, we’re done.”
She started backing away.
The tiger quickened its pace.
Aria dropped the feather wand.
Then she screamed.
The sound was so raw that Ryan flinched backward into his seat.
“RUN!” somebody shouted.
Aria spun and fled.
She could have gone straight back through the sliding door on her side. It was still open, only a few steps behind her.
Instead, she ran around the rear of the van.
Straight toward me.
Exactly as she had before.
I felt the blood drain from my face.
Daniel saw her coming and closed the open sliding door from the driver’s controls.
“She’s coming around!” he shouted.
Aria threw herself against my window.
“Emma! Open the door!”
Her face was distorted with terror.
“Please! Please, help me!”
My hands shook so badly I had to press them against my knees.
“Go back to your own side!” Daniel yelled.
But Aria wasn’t listening.
She grabbed my door handle and pulled.
Once.
Twice.
Again.
“Emma, you monster! Open it!”
I looked into her eyes.
The same desperation was there.
The same anger.
In my previous life, I had mistaken it for a plea for help. Now I recognized how quickly terror had turned into the willingness to sacrifice someone else.
“Emma!” Ethan shouted. “Can’t you open it just enough?”
“No.”
“She’s going to die!”
“The dispatcher said to keep the doors closed.”
“She’s your coworker!”
“And there are six people in this van!”
Ethan fell silent.
The dispatcher spoke again.
“Do not open that door. Emergency personnel are approaching your location.”
Aria heard the voice through the glass.
Her expression twisted.
“You locked me out on purpose!” she screamed. “You want me dead!”
I couldn’t hear every word clearly, but I understood enough.
She pounded against the window until her palms reddened.
Then she looked over her shoulder.
The tiger was nearly upon her.
Aria tried to run again.
She made it only a few steps.
The animal lunged, knocking her into the grass.
Maya screamed.
Ryan turned away.
Ethan covered his mouth, his eyes filling with tears.
I sat motionless, staring through the window.
For one terrible instant, the world seemed to overlap with the memory of my own death. I could almost feel Aria’s fingers digging into my wrist. I could almost smell the dirt beneath my face.
But this time, I was inside the van.
And my door was closed.
A patrol vehicle came racing around the curve.
Then another.
Warning sirens pierced the afternoon air.
Park rangers approached in specialized response vehicles, using loud deterrent alarms and powerful streams of water to drive the tiger away.
The animal retreated several feet, then turned back toward Aria.
A ranger deployed a tranquilizer dart while another vehicle moved into position.
Nobody inside our van spoke.
We listened to the warnings, the engines, and the terrible sounds coming from the grass.
Eventually, the tiger withdrew far enough for trained personnel to reach Aria.
She was still alive.
That knowledge should have comforted me. Instead, I sat shaking uncontrollably, unable to stop staring at the spot where she had fallen.
The dispatcher remained on the line until a ranger guided our van toward the secure exit.
When Daniel finally parked in the designated safety area, he slumped over the steering wheel.
Maya stumbled out and sobbed against Ryan’s shoulder.
Ethan hurried toward me.
“Emma, give me your phone.”
I looked up.
“What?”
“Your phone. You recorded everything, didn’t you?”
“Yes.”
He held out his hand.
“We need to manage this carefully. If that footage gets out, it’ll destroy the agency’s reputation.”
I stared at him.
A woman had just been carried away with life-threatening injuries. Six employees had narrowly escaped an even greater disaster.
And our manager was worried about publicity.
“I’m giving the recording to the police,” I said.
Ethan’s face tightened.
“Don’t be difficult. We’re all going to have to explain what happened. You don’t want to make things worse.”
“Explain what happened, then.”
He lowered his voice.
“Aria panicked. Everybody panicked. There isn’t any reason to make someone look worse than they already do.”
A memory struck me.
In my previous life, after my death, Ethan had persuaded the surviving coworkers to describe the incident as a tragic accident.
Aria had told investigators that I’d opened my door, lost my balance, and fallen outside.
No one had contradicted her.
My parents had buried me believing I had died trying to rescue a frightened friend.
I stood up slowly.
“You’re right about one thing, Ethan. Everyone needs to explain what happened.”
I held up my phone.
“But this time, they’re going to tell the truth.”
