You Will Suffer

by Alexandra Ivy

  “I did.” Tia glanced toward the silent Paula. “And I’ll admit that after some research I was deeply disappointed when I discovered she was in jail.” She heaved a dramatic sigh, clearly relishing the fact that she was the center of attention. Strange. Ever since Ellie had known the woman, Tia had always tried to fade into the background. “It meant that my parents had been right. My real mother was a loser who chose her drugs over her own daughter.”

  Ellie grimaced. “They said that?”

  “That was one of the nicer things they said about her.” She paused, drawing in a deep breath. The muscle beside her eye continued to tick. “It wasn’t until a year ago I finally decided that I had to meet her. After all, she’d been in jail for years. She had to be clean and sober by now.”

  “I couldn’t believe when the guards told me that my daughter was there to see me.” Paula broke into the conversation, beaming like any proud mother. It made Ellie’s stomach curl with revulsion. “It was the best day of my life.”

  “And mine,” Tia agreed, waving a silencing hand in her mother’s direction. This was her moment of glory. “She told me everything. About the clinic and how she’d tried to rescue us. And how those bastards had thrown her in jail to hide their disgusting”—her lips curled as she sought the appropriate word—“business.”

  Ellie shuddered. She couldn’t imagine the earthquake that had shaken Tia when she learned the truth. Not only had she been kidnapped when she was barely more than a baby, but the people who’d pretended to be her parents had forced her real mother into prostitution and then sent her to jail to keep her mouth shut.

  That would be enough to screw with anyone’s head.

  Perhaps it wasn’t surprising that she’d gone batshit crazy.

  The realization sent a violent surge of adrenaline through Ellie’s body. Tia was going to kill them all. She could read it in her cold, demented eyes. And she intended to inflict as much pain as humanly possible.

  Ellie had to escape. But how? She was trapped in the basement with no hope that a rescue was on the way.

  What she needed was a weapon.

  “But you didn’t tell anyone what you discovered?” she asked, in the hope of keeping Tia distracted as she covertly glanced toward Paula.

  The older woman was gazing in blatant rapture at her daughter, the prod held loosely in her hand. She was too far away for Ellie to risk making a grab for it. She had to hope the woman would step closer.

  Tia shook her head, unaware of Ellie’s distraction. “I had a better idea.”

  It took a second for Ellie to realize what Tia meant. “Bringing your mother to Curry?”

  “Yes,” Tia eagerly agreed. “She wanted justice.”

  “What did you want?”

  Tia arched a brow, as if wondering whether Ellie was being deliberately stupid.

  “I wanted revenge.”

  Ellie stiffened. She’d assumed when she’d been talking to Paula that the older woman had been responsible for the murders. Hadn’t she confessed to them? Ellie thought back. There had been some hedging when it came to discussing the deaths. Had she been trying to cover her daughter’s involvement in the crimes?

  “You helped her kill all those people?”

  “Help?” Tia laughed. The sound echoed eerily through the room, just like something out of a horror show. “I was the one to kill them. Except for Barb. I suppose you could say my mother scared the life out of her.” There was another insane burst of laughter.

  Ellie stared at Tia. It was easy to accept that Paula Raye was responsible for the deaths. She was a stranger who’d mysteriously appeared in town. None of them could have suspected the truth about her, or her past.

  But Tia . . .

  She’d been in Curry for her entire life. She’d gone to school with Daniel and Mandy. She’d attended church. She’d been a member of the community. How could no one have sensed her violent instability?

  “It was you,” she muttered, not sure what else to say.

  Tia preened, proud of her accomplishments. “Odd, isn’t it? My mother is the convicted felon, but she couldn’t bring herself to actually do the deed. But I could. In fact, I relished it. Killing is another of my hidden talents.” She abruptly reached into the large handbag she had slung over her shoulder, bringing out a knife. “See?”

  The air was squeezed from Ellie’s lungs. Tia held up the weapon to reveal the six-inch blade coated in a wet, sticky substance.

  Blood.

  Fresh blood.

  Ellie flinched at the sickening memory of seeing the dead body stuffed in the back of Larry Harper’s car. It’d been slashed with a viciousness that made it look like a wild animal had attacked him.

  “Dr. Booker,” she muttered.

  Tia gave a slow nod. “I made him cry. And then beg. And then I sliced him into tiny bits.”

  She slashed the knife through the air, mimicking how she’d murdered the doctor.

  Ellie grimaced. “God.”

  Clearly pleased by Ellie’s horror, Tia gave one last slash with the knife.

  “I just finished with Neville Morse.”

  It was Paula who responded to the chilling announcement. “He’s dead?”

  “As a doornail,” Tia assured her mother before she wrinkled her nose. “Whatever that means.”

  Ellie abruptly slumped to one side, allowing her hands to dangle over the arm of the chair. It wasn’t just anguish that made her go limp, although she felt like she’d endured one horrifying shock after another. But Paula had taken an unconscious step forward. She was close enough that a desperate lunge might allow Ellie to grab the cattle prod.

  Knowing that she had to keep Tia distracted until she’d summoned the courage to make her move, Ellie glanced sideways, meeting Tia’s fevered gaze.

  “Why did you kill Daniel and Mandy?”

  “That’s obvious,” she said. “Their parents needed to suffer as my mother suffered. They took me away from her, so I took away their children. They didn’t suffer.” She shrugged, indifferent to their deaths. “I meant for you to die after Mandy, but since your father was ultimately responsible for Hopewell Clinic, as well as sending my mother to jail, I wanted something special. What better revenge than forcing him to watch as the life drains out of you?” She used the knife to point at the wooden crosses. “When Mother moved into this place and I found these on the wall, I realized that it would be the perfect setting for my ultimate sacrifice. Everything is perfect.”

  “Tia—” Ellie started to plead for her life. She wasn’t too proud to beg.

  “Shut up,” Tia snapped, a volatile anger darkening her face. “I don’t like to be interrupted. My parents were always doing that. As if what I had to say wasn’t important. That won’t happen again. Never, ever again.”

  With a jerky motion, she turned to glare at Ellie’s father. The older man had remained silent since Tia had entered the basement. Had he suspected that she was the one responsible for the killing spree? Or was he just a coward who was hoping that the younger woman wouldn’t notice he was strapped to the cross?

  Now he paled as Tia moved to press the knife against his neck. “I have one question, old man. Why did you burn the place down?”

  Colin tilted back his head, futilely trying to escape the sharp edge that was slicing deep enough to cause tiny beads of blood to drip down his throat. There was no doubting that Tia meant business.

  “The reporter showed up,” he stammered. His early arrogance had been shattered, leaving behind a pathetic shell of a man. “She demanded to know where Paula was. We explained that she’d been sent back to jail, but it was obvious she was suspicious of the place and what was happening there. I couldn’t have her poking around, so I made the executive decision to burn the place and walk away.”

  Tia made a sound of disgust. “Just like the coward you are.”

  Ellie could see Tia’s muscles tighten as she prepared to slice Colin’s throat. Before she could halt the impulse, she was crying out. />
  “ No.”

  Tia froze, caught between her bloodlust and the need to complete her demented plans.

  “You’re right,” Tia at last muttered, lowering the knife to turn and glare at Ellie. “First my dear father. And then you. And last, the monster responsible for destroying all our lives.”

  Great. She’d saved her father, but she was second on the list of people to die.

  She leaned farther to the side. Time was running out. She was going to do something. Soon.

  “And then what?” she pressed.

  “Mother and I leave this godforsaken place and start over.” Tia waved the knife, sending droplets of blood spraying through the air. “Together.”

  Tia appeared to be on edge, as if resisting the urge to slice Colin Guthrie’s throat was causing her extreme distress. Ellie sensed that she was about to snap. The question was, did she push the crazy woman over the edge, or try to soothe her?

  Ellie decided on the push.

  She didn’t want either woman thinking clearly when she attempted her escape.

  “They’ll know you were responsible,” Ellie warned. “You’ll be fugitives for the rest of your lives. Or more likely, you’ll be captured and face the death penalty.”

  Tia’s eyes darkened, but she managed to curl her lips into a confident smile.

  “Do you think I’m stupid? I’ve already thought about that.” She stretched out her arm to show a deep gash just above her wrist. “I trashed my room and left behind smears of my blood. That idiotic sheriff will assume that I was taken by the same person who killed everyone else.”

  Ellie hid her grimace. Tia wasn’t wrong. Gary Clark would eagerly leap to the wrong conclusion. Clearly, however, she hadn’t realized that Nate wasn’t so easily fooled.

  Not that Ellie was about to point out the danger. If Tia and Paula managed to kill her and escape, she didn’t want them going after Nate.

  Instead, she glanced toward the silent Paula. “And your mother?”

  “She already has a new identity ready to go.” Tia glanced toward Paula with a wry expression. “The bonus of spending your life behind bars means she knows lots of people who are capable of making her disappear.” She turned back to Ellie, who remained slumped, pretending to be defeated. “Plus, I intend to release the photos as soon as we’re out of here. The scandal will keep people too occupied to worry about me or my mother.”

  A groan of panic was wrenched from Colin’s lips. Almost as if the fear of being exposed was worse than the fear of death.

  And for a man with his bloated ego, it probably was. What could be more devastating than the thought of being smeared as a disgusting pervert who sold sex like a common pimp? His career would be gone. His reputation. And probably his membership to the country club.

  Everything that mattered to him.

  “You have the camera? After all these years?” Ellie demanded.

  Paula stepped toward her daughter, unaware that she’d just moved closer to Ellie.

  “I grabbed a small backpack before leaving the clinic so I could stuff in a few clothes for my daughter,” she said. Did she need to remind everyone that she’d been the one who’d actually had the guts to try and destroy Hopewell Clinic? Or was it just a subtle reminder to her daughter that she had her uses? After all, Tia was a ruthless killer. Who knew when she might decide Paula should be punished like the others? “I also put the camera in there, and when I realized that I’d been followed to the spot where I was supposed to meet the reporter, I dropped the backpack in a dried-up well.”

  Tia touched her handbag. “I retrieved it after my mother told me where she’d hidden it. Then tonight, I decided to dump Neville’s body in the same well. It seemed like poetic justice.”

  Ellie couldn’t think about Tia dragging a mutilated Neville to the well and tossing him in. That would be a nightmare she would add to the others. Assuming she got out of there.

  “It will never work, Tia.” She focused on taunting Tia. “You aren’t nearly as clever as you think you are. One of Paula’s criminal friends will turn you in. Or you’ll be caught on video and they’ll realize you aren’t dead. The authorities will figure it out and you’ll be strapped in an electric chair alongside your mother.”

  Ellie had a talent for swaying juries. She could pluck the perfect words and phrases to tug at people’s hearts when she was in a courtroom. Right now, she was babbling like an imbecile. Not that she was going to be too hard on herself. It was nothing less than a miracle that she could speak at all.

  She was scared out of her mind.

  Thankfully, it didn’t take skill to aggravate Tia. The mere implication she wasn’t some criminal genius had her eyes widening as she lifted the knife over her head.

  “I told you to shut up,” she hissed.

  Ellie tensed her muscles. Crap. She’d wanted to annoy the woman, but she hadn’t intended to provoke her into attacking her. Not yet.

  But even as Tia started to move forward, she abruptly pivoted on her heel and lurched toward Ruben Chambers.

  “You shouldn’t make her angry,” Paula muttered, her gaze riveted to the gruesome sight of her daughter lifting the knife and stabbing it directly into the center of Ruben’s heart.

  Ellie sharply turned her head, trying to block out the sound of the knife being pulled out of the man’s chest and then shoved back in.

  There was nothing she could do for the mayor. He’d sealed his fate when he’d stolen Paula’s baby and raised her to become a cold-blooded killer.

  But she could save herself. And potentially her father.

  Clenching her teeth, she gathered every ounce of her strength and lunged out of the chair.

  Her movements were stiff and awkward, and the handcuffs kept her from spreading her arms. But she had surprise on her side. Plus the added distraction of Tia slicing Ruben to death like a crazed maniac.

  Paula didn’t stand a chance as Ellie snatched the prod from her loose grip. A second later she had it pressed against the older woman’s lower back. There was a faint buzzing sound, then Paula parted her lips and screamed before she tumbled to the ground, her eyes rolled back in her head and her body twitching.

  * * *

  Nate had arrived at the house not long after Tia had arrived. Leashing his surprise at the sight of the younger woman, he’d cautiously followed her into the house.

  Unfortunately, there’d been no way to enter the basement without revealing his presence before he could get down there. And without knowing if Tia was armed, he’d been forced to retreat long enough to make a call to the sheriff’s office, along with his friend in the FBI, and demand they get there ASAP. He wasn’t going to risk getting Ellie killed because he wanted to play hero.

  Then he’d gone back into the house and crouched at the top of the stairs with his gun in his hand. If things started heading south he wasn’t going to have a choice. He would have to go down there.

  He’d listened to Tia boasting about her kills, and he realized that Paula was actually her mother, but he didn’t try to process what he was hearing. He’d been with the FBI long enough to know that when he was in the middle of a mission it was dangerous to let himself be distracted by emotions. Later he would sort out why they’d started killing the citizens of Curry. Right now, he was single-mindedly focused on keeping Ellie alive.

  He was still squatting at the top of the staircase when he heard the scream.

  His primitive brain didn’t try to process if the sound came from Ellie, or one of the other women. It just urged him into action.

  Holding the gun over his head, he leaped down the stairs, taking them four at a time. He hit the cement floor and scurried toward a broken armchair that had been shoved in the corner. It wasn’t exactly bulletproof, but it was the best he could do. And thankfully, no one seemed to notice his impulsive entrance into the basement.

  Forcing himself to take in slow, deep breaths, he glanced around the chair. Adrenaline was the enemy when he needed to shoot with
accuracy. But even as he tried to remain calm, his heart stopped at the sight of Tia racing toward Ellie with a huge knife in her hand.

  Rising to his feet, he prepared to squeeze the trigger. He hesitated. Dammit. He couldn’t get a clear shot. Not from this angle.

  Tia was screaming a stream of curses, swinging the knife at Ellie at the same time the smaller woman was fending her off with a thin pole. Nate circled around the stairs, trying to move as silently as possible.

  It wasn’t silent enough.

  Either he made some noise, or Tia simply had a premonition that there was someone else in the basement. With astonishing speed she was darting toward Colin Guthrie, who was hanging on a wooden cross. She pressed the knife to his neck as she scanned the darkness for some sign of the intruder.

  “Stay back or I’ll kill him.”

  Nate ignored the woman, stepping forward to hold out his hand.

  “Ellie.”

  Making a strangled sound, Ellie limped toward him, her hands cuffed together and what he realized was a cattle prod held tightly in her fingers. There were tears openly streaming down her cheeks, but she kept her head held high.

  Her courage made his heart swell with pride.

  “I mean it,” Tia screeched, clearly realizing that she’d lost the upper hand. “I’ll slice his throat.”

  Ellie stepped into Nate’s waiting arms, leaning her head against his chest.

  “Then do it,” she told Tia. “I don’t care what happens to him.”

  Tia blinked in shock. Clearly she’d never considered the idea of failure. Now she floundered at how to force Ellie to continue playing her sick game.

  “You don’t mean that,” she desperately rasped. “He’s your father.”

  Ellie gave a pained shake of her head. “No, he’s a stranger. The man I thought was my father never existed,” she rasped. “Do whatever you want.”

  “No, this time I win.” Unable to accept defeat, Tia released a harsh cry. Then, clearly out of her mind, she leaped over her unconscious mother and charged toward them. “I win.”

  “Stop or I’ll shoot,” Nate commanded, pushing Ellie behind him. Tia continued forward, her face twisted into an expression of pure hatred. “Stop or I’ll shoot,” he repeated in a loud voice.