Absolution (Sacrificial Duet Book 2)

by Riley Ashby

  I jabbed a finger in his direction, stopping short of jamming in him the chest. Still, he grabbed my wrists to hold me back. “Don’t you fucking say that. My mom shouldn’t have had to come save me. That was your fucking job, Meyer. And you failed.”

  There, now he was angry. He tried to tighten his grip on my wrists but I twisted and jerked away, leaving the bathroom with my hair still wet and tangled. He was hot on my heels, grabbing me and throwing me onto the bed. I braced myself for his weight, but he turned to his bag instead of climbing on top of me. When he turned back, he held in his hands the same rope he’d used to tie me to the foot of his bed when he first brought me to his home.

  “No,” I said, towels falling from my body as I tried to climb off the far side of the bed, but he was already on me, holding me against the mattress. I struggled, but he didn’t give me any leeway like he did before. This time, he held me still while he wound the cord over my wrists, then secured them to the headboard. I had enough rope that I could move around a little bit, but not enough mobility in my hands to work the knot.

  “You’re not going anywhere,” he sighed, averting his eyes. He didn’t sound happy about it as he climbed off me and returned to the bathroom.

  “Let me the fuck up, Meyer!” He’d left me enough length that I could move around on the bed, but no further. I kicked like a child, sending the blankets to the floor.

  “You need to get your head on straight. I just got you back. I’m not letting you walk back into the lion’s den. You still don’t understand what’s kind of danger he presents, especially now that he has her.”

  I sat up as much as I could to see him in the bathroom, but he came out a moment later completely naked before diving into the small bag he’d brought in from the car. He raised an eyebrow at the pile of sheets on the ground as he pulled on a hair of boxers.

  “Seriously? I didn’t pin you for the tantrum-throwing type.”

  “You tied me to the bed!” I jerked at the bonds but it only pulled them tighter.

  “Stop!” He sat next to me and grabbed my wrists, rubbing at the skin that had already started to ache. “You don’t need to hurt yourself any more.”

  I paused at the concern his his voice, the same tone I heard the night Anita tried to drown me. He bit his lip as he held my hands in his, dipping his head to plant a kiss on each of my thumbs.

  “I’m not doing this to hurt you, Maddie. You’re not thinking clearly, you’re stressed out, you just suffered the biggest trauma of your life and you’re acting kind of irrational. And if you go back there it won’t matter what fucking deal we struck, he’ll lock you both up…” He trailed off as he fought to gain control over his voice, looking away briefly before kissing my hands again, the ragged nails that had torn away as I scratched at his father’s grip on my body.

  I couldn’t help but soften at his words. He was so clearly distressed, eyes roaming over my wounds and lingering too long on the cut on my stomach. The bandages had come off in the shower, and since it wasn’t bleeding and didn’t seem to need stitches I hadn’t bothered to look for anything to replace them. His fingers touched the wound, running along the length of it as if trying to seal it.

  “This may scar,” he said softly. “You’ll have to look at it forever.”

  I maneuvered my hands to grab his. “It’s not a big deal. I have other scars.”

  “The one on your back.” He looked away from my stomach to meet my eyes. “I touched the night…” He closed his eyes and swallowed.

  “I had cancer.”

  His eyes flew open. “What?”

  My hands squeezed his fingers as I smiled. “They removed it all. I got lucky, catching it early. But I have to be careful spending time in the sun.”

  He cursed and tore his hands from mine, running them through his hair, face in anguish. “I took you outside without sunscreen. And you were burned when I came back after that week I was hiding.”

  “Babe, it’s fine.” I should have been more diplomatic about this, but I didn’t expect him to be so distressed. “It’s been a long time since then. I go to the doctor regularly.”

  “I can’t stand something else taking you away from me.” He leapt off the bed and snatched up the sheets, pulling them over me before sliding onto the mattress next to me and pulling me against his chest. “This is too many times, Maddie, we’ve almost been separated.”

  “I told you, it was nothing. And you didn’t even know about it until now.”

  “That makes it worse.” His head pressed into the back of my neck, against my wet hair. “I wasn’t there with you. I let you suffer alone, again.”

  The surgery to remove that mole had been two weeks after I first learned about Meyer and Conrad Schaf. I wouldn’t have wanted him there with me even if he’d known.

  “Promise me you won’t go outside without protection from now on. You need to be careful.”

  I grabbed his hand from where it wrapped around my waist and kissed his fingers. “I promise.”

  His arms held me so tight against his chest it was hard for me to breathe, but I didn’t protest. I shouldn’t have reminded him of my mortality. He was still reeling from the guilt of leaving me, of almost destroying us. I knew that. It was why he’d tie me to the bed if it meant keeping me from going back and putting my freedom, my life, at risk once more. But I could convince him that it didn’t make sense to either of us to lose Eva. He was a master negotiator. I just had to convince him to get in front of his father again, give him the courage to stand up to him, and we could get her back. I knew it.

  I would have thought after being unconscious for most of the afternoon that I wouldn’t want to sleep, but the warmth of the bed and the feel of Meyer’s body pressed against my back and the sense of security he instilled deep in my bones was more potent than any drug, and before long I was in a deep sleep. I probably would have slept the entire night if it weren’t for the drunk couple arguing the entire way down the hall, then pausing outside our door to yell at each other a bit more before continuing to their room and slamming the door. I yawned and blinked in the dark, adjusting to the light, and thinking it was strange that Meyer had rolled away and let me go. But when I looked over my shoulder, his side of the bed was empty.

  My hands were still bound, fingers swollen as they reached for the light, and I squinted around the room as my pupils sought to adapt once more, but he wasn’t anywhere in the room. The door to the bathroom was wide open. Leaning to his side of the bed, I found it completely cold, no remnant of his modest body heat to be found. A piece of paper lay folded on his pillow. I picked it up with trembling hands, simultaneously hoping it would and wouldn’t say what I thought it did. Because if he succeeded, I’d have my mother back. But if he didn’t, I’d lose them both.

  Maddie -

  The cleaning staff will get you eventually, but I’ll try to be back before then. Please stay here. The only way I can bear to do this is knowing that you’ll be safe, far away, and out of his reach. But I know what it’s like to live without a mother, and I don’t want that for you. I love you far too much. But maybe more importantly, I also love her.

  It’s like you said. She’s my mother too.

  I love you so goddamn much.

  - Meyer

  Meyer

  Leaving her behind—again—was almost more than I could bear. I promised her I wouldn’t leave, then broke that oath the second she fell asleep. Left her without food, without even a glass of water. I set a mental note to call the motel as soon as Eva was safe, and prayed no one discovered her before then. Maybe she would sleep through the night. If she didn’t, someone was sure to find her long before I could get back, certainly before housekeeping came by in the morning. It was already late afternoon, and I didn’t know how long this process was going to take. I picked up the pace a little as I hopped into the car and tore off down the highway.

  I didn’t stop. At some point my phone rang, and when I checked the caller ID I recognized the phone number
for the hotel.

  Shit. She was loose. Would they call the police? She would almost certainly tell them not to, but would they listen to the naked woman they’d just found tied to a bed with bruises and cuts all over every inch of her body? If they called the police she’d be stuck there for hours more, probably taken down to the station so they could close the missing person’s report. I could hope for that, but then the cops might end up at Conrad’s door anyway. No matter how much money he’d thrown at them over the years, it couldn’t buy away the obvious abuse she’d endured.

  And the moment Conrad saw the red and blue lights flashing in his driveway, he’d slit Eva’s throat.

  I floored the gas.

  *

  I parked the car on a side road, killed the engine, and pulled my jacket tighter around my shoulders. It was cold enough now that even I felt the chill deep in my lungs. I pulled out the burner phone again, checking for missed calls, even though I knew she wouldn't be calling me. She didn't even have her own phone. My finger hovered over the keypad, and once again I held back the desire to dial the motel and find out what had happened to her. I couldn't even bring myself to listen to the numerous voicemails left on the phone. With the deadly sense of finality, I snapped the phone into two and tossed the pieces in opposite directions. I opened the trunk of the car, pulled out the folding ladder I had stolen from the side of a random house on the way down here, and propped it up against the wall surrounding my father's property. Then I began to climb.

  I had to hop a little bit to reach the top of the wall, but was able to pull myself up and over without too much trouble. I was thankful for the sleep I had been able to steal before I snuck out of the hotel room, leaving Madeleine tied up like I used to those first days she and I were together. It had restored some of my strength. Unfortunately, it had also given my overworked muscles time to lock up and become sore. I grimaced as I landed on the other side of the wall in a squat, my abs and glutes smarting from the impact. I grimaced as I wrapped a hand around my waist, giving myself a few precious seconds to breathe through the pain before I stood up straight. At least I was here. Step one complete. Peering into the dense brush before me, I was reminded of just how far I still had to go. With a deep breath, I thrust my hands among the branches and plunged into the wood.

  My innate sense of direction kept me on the right track, and the constant movements meant my blood stayed warm despite the chill. I even started sweating at one point, but I didn't dare take off my jacket. The sun was heading down in the sky too quickly, and it would be night soon. I needed to get to my house before then.

  By the time I found the lake where Madeleine used to take Her Majesty for picnics, I was slightly behind the schedule I'd set for myself. In the clear, I hustled toward the house but slowed as I passed the stable. Once she knew her mother was safe, Madeleine would want to know how her horse was doing. I could get close to the beast if it meant being able to bring her an update.

  The staff I'd hired had continued doing their jobs while Madeleine and I were otherwise occupied. Conrad probably never noticed them coming through the service entrance, given that so much hired help came and went every day. Still, the horse snickered as soon as she saw me, rearing up slightly on both legs as if asking where her mistress was.

  "I'm sorry," I said, extending my hand tentatively as I inched closer to the stall. "I'll get her back here soon."

  Her Majesty nuzzled her snout in my palm briefly before snorting and turning around in her small enclosure. Bringing home this animal had shown too much of my hand to Madeline, but in the end it was a crucial catalyst to bringing us together. I’d let her have this generous gift, hadn’t sent it back, hadn’t had it killed just to spite her. At the time I was in denial about why I let her keep the beast, but it was clear now. Because I couldn’t say I love you with words, I indulged her, even if only a little.

  There was a bulletin board on the wall behind me, with a stack of paper and a pen sitting on a clipboard just below it. I scribbled a quick note to the caretakers to make sure they took her out of the stall the next day for some exercise, then tapped it to the board and waved nervously at the horse (before chastising myself for waving at a fucking horse), then left the barn.

  I’d always locked the door to my house, even knowing Conrad had a key, but after Shawn was murdered I lost all illusion that I was safe as long as my father was alive and didn’t even bother closing the garage door when I got in my car to drive to his house the other night. Leaves swirled over the concrete floor and gathered in corners, driven by the wind. It didn’t matter. We were never coming back here. Cracking open the door, I paused to listen for a few moments in case anyone had been planted here to wait for me. But the house felt empty. I swung open the door the rest of the way and stepped inside.

  There was only one thing I needed before I headed to the main house. I walked quickly up the stairs, taking them two at a time, and jogged down the hallway. The one item untouched in my bedroom was taped to the bottom of my bedframe. I rarely touched it anymore, especially since I decided to attempt suicide in a bloodless fashion in order to spare Maddie the sight. I dropped to my knees and felt underneath the bed, but the only thing my hand met was the empty gun holster.

  “Looking for this?”

  I stood slowly, Anita coming into view over the top of the bed as I did so. She stood in the doorway, leaning against the frame as if to chat casually, but held my unlicensed firearm between two fingers in her left hand.

  “You’re going to blow your foot off with that if you’re not careful,” I said, keeping my voice light as if it hadn’t given me the surprise of my life to hear her voice.

  “I know how to use a gun, Meyer.” She rolled her eyes and switched it to her right hand, putting her finger on the trigger but pointing the muzzle at the ground. “A girl has to know how to protect herself.”

  “I don’t think it’s you who needs protection.”

  She smiled wide, her teeth like fangs. “I’m glad you’re here, actually. I’ve been so fucking bored hiding in your basement. And what was up with that two-day bender you went on?”

  A couple steps closer. “You don’t know about Shawn?”

  She frowned. “What about Shawn? That’s close enough.” She lifted the gun slightly, and I stopped about six feet away.

  “Conrad killed him. Or maybe it was Joshua, I’m not sure. Regardless, Dad gave the order.”

  She sighed and had the good grace to look a little sad. “That’s too bad. He was my fall guy for all this. Sooner or later, Daddy would have turned him over as the one responsible.” The gun waved wildly as she threw up her hands. I stepped forward while she was looking at the ceiling. “Now I have to come up with something else.”

  She and our father really did share a brain. “Conrad has already figured it out.”

  “Oh?”

  “He made it look like Shawn committed suicide.” My stomach turned to a rock as images rose to my mind, unbidden, of my best friend cut open and bleeding out in my car. “I cleaned up the body, but one of his buddies is already talking to the police, greasing palms, convincing anyone with a modicum of power that he killed himself out of fear that he’d end up in federal prison for the rest of his life.” The marks around his neck and his defensive wounds would be written out of the autopsy after a generous donation to the Medical Examiner’s bank account. Anyone would look the other way for that kind of money, and even if they wouldn’t, they wouldn’t say no to the threats that followed.

  She sighed in relief. “Oh, well, thank God for that.”

  I took a step forward, ignoring the glare she gave me as she raised the gun to the level of my chest. I had to get close enough to her that when I finally snapped and tackled her, she wouldn’t have enough time to pull the trigger.

  “He really liked you.” I couldn’t count how many times I’d warned Shawn of my sister’s psychopathic tendencies, but he’d always brushed them off. “You don’t know her like I do,” he’d say. Wit
h him, she put on a mask that she never bothered to wear around anyone else. He fell for it so hard it killed him.

  Her smirk took up her entire face. “I know. That’s why this worked so well.”

  “How the hell did you get contacts with terrorists?”

  “I don’t just sit around painting my nails all day at work. I learned computer code.” She smiled wider and raised one eyebrow. “Then I got onto the Dark Web.”

  “You sound like a Bond villain.”

  “I know, right?” She chuckled. “Your girlfriend said the same thing right before I smashed her head into the dock. You two are so cute.”

  “How did you become like this?”

  “How did you not? I’ve watched you get your ass kicked more times than I could count over the years, and you’re still a total wuss.”

  “Being kind is not a weakness, Anita.” I coughed a little at my words. Was I kind? Certainly no one had ever used those words to describe me before. “At least I’m not a fucking sociopath.”

  “Well.” She pulled the trigger. “I guess we’ll see who comes out on top.”

  I froze, waiting for the sound of a gunshot or the pain of a bullet wound to spread through my chest. But there was nothing, not a sound besides the click of the gun as Anita fired at me again and again.

  Move. Now. I lunged forward, catching her around the waist and driving her into the wall on the other side of the hallway, savoring the whoosh of air from her lungs as one of her ribs cracked next to my ear. While she was still surprised, I threw her to the ground and wrapped my arm around her neck. She clawed at my arm, but I couldn’t even feel her nails in my skin.

  “You murdered my best friend,” I growled.

  “Wasn’t…” she gagged, trying desperately to breathe.

  “I could smell your fucking perfume in the car, you cunt!” I had been too far out of my mind to register it at the time. I thought it was just leftover from another time she’d been in there. But I hadn’t noticed it earlier, with Maddie, or when Shawn and I were in there together. If she caught him off guard and braced herself against the back of the car, she would have been able to leverage herself against the seat. How she snuck into the car, I’d never know. And I didn’t much fucking care.