He shook his head, looked away, and walked back up the stairs.
He left, and she was alone. Except it was worse than that. She’d surrounded herself with monsters without even knowing. Now, she was face-to-face with the woman who orchestrated it all.
The door slammed behind him.
Chapter Thirty-Five
Emma
There was something satisfying about seeing Amelia trapped like that. As Everett left, Emma watched her twin with fascination. This moment was what she’d been waiting for all this time. This was most important to her.
Sure, she loved Everett to some extent. But he was weak and easily bought. She didn’t want someone who was so easily swayed by money. She couldn’t completely enjoy her life with Amelia on the streets. Now she wouldn’t have to worry about that. Now, Amelia was trapped here under her control for the rest of her life.
Which probably wouldn’t be too long. Emma did intend to kill her, of course. But it had taken months of preparation to get here, years of resentment, a lifetime of struggle. So, Emma wanted to enjoy this. She wanted to get to know her twin a little, wanted Amelia to get to know her.
They were safe here. Everett would make sure of that. And Emma couldn’t kill her twin until she had closure. She’d spent her whole life trying to shy away from tough things, always eluding happiness. She hoped that through this, she could finally find some measure of peace.
“Why?” Amelia repeated. She looked so lost and confused. It was nice. That was how Emma had felt far too often during her life. Amelia had been spared the worst of it, and she didn’t deserve it. It wasn’t fair for one twin to suffer alone. “I saved you.”
“No, you didn’t.” Emma laughed. She couldn’t help herself. She didn’t want Amelia to play hero any longer. It was horrible to watch her be praised for something she didn’t do. “I set up that kidnapping with Everett’s help. I knew that if you could find me, then you’d be hooked on this case. I’d have you right where I wanted you. I was in complete control this whole time.”
Emma watched with glee as emotions flickered on Amelia’s face, speeding by one by one. Confusion. Horror. “Then what about the other women?” Her voice lowered. “Your fingerprint…”
“Yes.” Emma smiled, but it wasn’t genuine. She hadn’t gotten as much satisfaction out of those murders as she hoped. Well, not as much out of one of them anyway. She almost regretted one of them. “They deserved it.”
“Anna was your friend!” The odd look Emma had noticed earlier on Amelia, a look of trying to understand, of something almost like empathy, was eradicated by disbelief, fury.
“Exactly! Was. She was my friend!” Emma tried to calm herself as her hands shook. She’d hoped that by killing Anna, it wouldn’t hurt anymore. That old wound still burned, though. “Or at least, I thought she was. Anna was the first person who ever betrayed me. I needed her so much. I loved her more than anyone in this world, and I would’ve done anything for her. Yet she...” Emma paused. She would not cry. Not here. Not now. Not in front of Amelia.
“She left me, just like that. She iced me out without explanation. She was the first to show me what it was like to be hurt by someone you trust. I could never forgive her for that, and she never apologized. Well, not until she saw me coming at her with the knife.”
The memory flashed through Emma’s brain and she winced to get away from it. A tiny, tiny, tiny part of her regretted it. But Anna deserved it, and once this was all over, Emma knew she’d finally have that closure she needed. She would forget about all of them.
“Emma.” Amelia’s eyes held so much horror. It looked like she was going to be sick. “You don’t understand. You know I have the flash drive. I’ve learned more about your father. I found pictures and…”
It looked like Amelia didn’t want to tell her what was on her mind. Emma almost didn’t want to know. The way Amelia looked right now…It was concerning, to say the least. The two locked eyes and Emma saw the truth within them.
“Anna left your life because your father raped her. She probably didn’t tell you because she didn’t want to hurt you.”
“That’s not true!” Emma raged, lunging at the glass so fast Amelia scurried backward.
With no weapon in hand, the glass wall stopped Emma. Her eyes flickered closed. When she reopened them, they were deadly.
“That’s not true,” she repeated. “Even he wouldn’t go that far.”
Would he? Emma had learned a lot of terrible things about her father over the years, and Everett had shown her the flash drive. She hadn’t seen Anna’s picture, but she hadn’t gone through the whole thing yet, and she had found more than she bargained for. Still, she couldn’t believe he would target her best friend, especially when they were so young.
“She would’ve told me.”
Amelia slowly approached her as Emma backed off, her mind abuzz. She couldn’t be right. But if she was…
A little voice taunted her. If Amelia was right, then Emma killed Anna for nothing. Worse, she killed her over her father’s horrible choices. All the pain she felt at her friend’s betrayal became brighter and sharper and twisted in on herself.
“Emma,” Amelia whispered. “I’m so sorry. But it’s true. I have proof if you look at the flash drive. Her pictures are there. You can even ask Everett. He’s seen it. I told him about it.”
“No!” She snapped, near tears because of this vicious liar, this woman she hated. “Everett would’ve told me!”
“He didn’t know until after her death. And maybe they both didn’t tell you because they cared. Anna didn’t tell you because she didn’t want to hurt you, or she was afraid of your father. Everett didn’t tell you because he knew you’d already killed Anna. He knew how much that information would hurt you, so he kept it from you.”
“You’re the one trying to hurt me! Making up lies to do so.” Emma wouldn’t let it into her brain. She couldn’t. There was just no way possible that this had happened. She couldn’t handle it. That control she’d worked so hard to gain was wavering right in front of her because of Amelia.
“I’m not,” Amelia said. Emma hated how convincing she sounded, how sure of herself. She surprised herself by having to wipe away tears. “I’m honestly not trying to hurt you. You are my sister. There must be some sort of bond there. One we can’t see right now, but maybe we could’ve in a different life.”
“Brett, he’s the one who hurt you. He did this, and I can help you get back at him. We can get help for you.”
“You do nothing!” Emma interrupted. “You never have. I’m the one who’s stuck with him because Emily chose you. Not me. She gave me to him! She spent time with me for a little while, then she left me to my own devices with him! You were the chosen one, the protected one. My only protector was my mother, the same woman Emily liked to torment with her presence! But see I’m doing the work you refuse to do. I’m the stronger daughter, the better daughter. She should’ve chosen me instead! All the victims, none of them were innocent. Isabella was having an affair with our father. Just like your trashy mother, hurting the only person who’s good in all of this!”
Emma was too distraught to really take note of Amelia’s horror, her helplessness. She was swept up in her own wave of pain, of revenge. A lifetime of hurt by one man who always managed to get away with it and a mother who didn’t want her.
“You’re hurting the wrong people,” Amelia said. “You’re trying to get to your father, but do you really think he cares about Isabella? He’s a narcissist. He’ll get a new lover after her. And look what happened with Anna. None of this is helping you, and it won’t. You can’t get revenge on my mother, so you’ve chosen me. But that still won’t soothe you. You can’t get revenge on a person who’s dead. Though I can see why you want to, the story isn’t all you think it is. Mom…she did love you, she just…”
“Enough!” Emma yelled, sending Amelia against the wall again. She was filled with hatred for her evil twin. This woman who didn’t have ha
lf the things Emma did, yet had still somehow been gifted with a better life. All because Emily chose her.
Emma needed her gone, all her secrets destroyed. She just couldn’t deal with the thought of her existing anymore.
“It’s not just about revenge against your mother. It’s you, for getting everything always. For your mother breaking my mother’s heart. For not doing a damn thing with that flash drive, even though the answers were right there in your hands. It’s your punishment for forcing me to do the dirty work of getting my father locked up instead. Your presence ruined my life. Ruined my mother. You ruin everything! And I need to start fresh. Take out all the rotten trash so Mom, Everett, and I can have a good life.”
“Emma, you can have a good life!” Amelia cried out as Emma turned away from her. “I’ll leave you alone, okay? You can get your revenge on Brett and that’s true justice. I have nothing to do with this. You have no idea how misplaced your anger is.”
Emma was no longer listening. She reached behind that painting of the girl in the cage. The girl that could easily be her, or Amelia, or any other young girl her father had hurt.
She would get her revenge on him. He would pay for everything he’d ever done, even to Amelia. He would receive the worst punishment in all of this. But first…
Emma’s fingers locked around that cold, steel handle. One she had made especially for this, with a turquoise stone settled right above the blade. She admired it as she pulled out the knife. That stone, their birthstone, a symbol of the connection she could never break. Until tonight.
She turned to Amelia and thought of Anna.
Chapter Thirty-Six
Amelia froze as Emma opened the glass door, knife in hand. She had realized as soon as Emma confessed to Anna’s murder that she was dealing with someone well beyond the realm of rationality.
Emma burst in, and things happened so fast her brain couldn’t register.
The next instant, she launched herself across the room, rocketing on a blistering explosion of mindless energy. She hit Emma with all her might, not knowing what she would do with her once she subdued her, how she would get the door open to get out of the basement.
She attacked her with wild abandon, hooking her elbow around her neck exactly the way she would any suspect. She didn’t care if she killed her.
She yanked her by the head. Emma bellowed, enraged, but she couldn’t get away from the grip Amelia had on her.
Instead, she wrenched her wrist out from Amelia’s grasp. She wound back her arm and in a split second it sailed toward Amelia’s nose. She couldn’t let go of her neck quickly enough to dodge.
Her face crashed into Emma’s eyebrow with a splintering blow. Stars burst in her brain, and she staggered from the impact. She lost her hold on her and stumbled into the wall.
Her mind took a few moments to reassert itself. When her vision cleared, she saw Emma pick up the knife and turn toward her.
The situation was spiraling out of control. She couldn’t stand here.
Fueled by the horror of hope being twisted, she vaulted off the wall. She tackled Emma around the ribs this time. She couldn’t think to do anything besides get her off balance long enough to get the knife from her.
The instant she hit her, the knife flew across the room.
With the last of her strength, Amelia scrambled on her hands and knees to where the knife had landed.
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Trent
Trent prepared himself for the confrontation as he got into his car, too angry to eat. His stomach was too twisted. Here he was, wasting his lunch break looking for her. And she was probably with Everett. Again. Being careless and stupid with that hotshot lawyer who didn’t even know her.
This unsettled him, even coming from her. Sure, it wasn’t super abnormal for her to be late for work. He’d come to expect it from her by now. But she never missed a day without calling out. In fact, since she’d been working there, she’d only taken one sick day, and that was after looking like death the day before.
Everett was messing with her mind lately, that much was clear. She was acting differently, and her head was elsewhere. He was a stupid distraction. But Trent didn’t think Amelia would go this far. No one could persuade her to take a day off work, especially when they were in the middle of a case she cared about more than any of the other detectives did.
So, what was the alternative? Trent debated as he drove to Amelia’s house. If she wasn’t at work and she hadn’t just taken the day off, what could have happened?
He stopped himself as his mind leapt to a million horrible thoughts. He was just overprotective of her, always had been. And there were those pesky feelings he couldn’t let out, especially not now. Still, he was well aware of them.
He had to be aware of them to keep himself in check. To make sure those feelings didn’t drive him to crossing a boundary, jumping to conclusions based off an unreasonable desire to protect her or keep her from finding love with anyone else.
Was he letting those feelings get the best of him now? Perhaps. But her house had been robbed, and even she was worried the killer would come after her. He saw it in her eyes whenever she talked about the case. She was terrified, so it only made sense that he would worry about her.
Would she see it that way? What would he say to her if she was there? What would he do if she wasn’t? She might be angry at him for checking up on her, and he was so tired of fighting with her lately.
But her house had already come into view, and he’d be more worried if he didn’t check in on her. Her anger would be worth the assurance of knowing she was safe.
Except her car wasn’t there. That puzzled him. He drove his car into the driveway regardless and parked it. He stared at the house. If she wasn’t here, then…
He clenched his fist as he thought of the alternative. Had she really missed work just to spend more time with Everett? Couldn’t she have at least called out? She had plenty of sick days. This was getting ridiculous.
He almost drove away right then and there. His lunch break wouldn’t last forever, and he didn’t want to waste his time on Amelia while she pursued another man. It was starting to hurt. His heart was taking a hit and yet…
Something nagged him to at least knock on the door. He didn’t know she wasn’t home. Perhaps her car was in the shop or something. Maybe that’s why she hadn’t shown up at work. What if something had happened to her?
No. Nothing bad could happen to her. He wouldn’t allow it.
He got out of the car and walked up to the door without allowing himself to think about it again. Weeks ago, this would’ve been normal, accepted. Just because things had changed now, didn’t mean they had to stay that way.
He knocked, waited a few minutes. Nothing. Knocked again. Texted her yet again. No reply from either end.
He knew where her mom always kept the spare key. If Amelia hadn’t changed it since she inherited the house, it wouldn’t be difficult for him to let himself in…
No. That’d be crossing a line. She’d be furious.
He started down the steps to his car, but something stopped him—the side of Amelia he’d seen when she was first kidnapped, angry at the world for not protecting her. Trent knew more than anyone how dangerous the world could be. How simple things could get overlooked, things that led to death. He’d rather her be angry than dead.
Grimacing, he found himself back on the front porch. He reached behind that purple bird feeder that was shaped like a hobbit hole. His fingers found a key. He knocked once more, then let himself in.
It looked like she had left in a hurry. Her purse and keys were gone, a good sign. But a mug of hot chocolate was still on the table, crusted over. A plate of crumbs remained. Beside it lay sheets of paper and a book. A notebook. A diary?
“Amelia?” Trent called out. He checked his phone again.
He glanced down at the papers. Saw bits about Emily. Brett. Amelia. Emma? Things written in a flurry, nearly illegible. He looked at the
diary yet again.
It would be a huge invasion of privacy. She would literally kill him, and she’d have a right to. But what if it held something important? It didn’t exactly look like hers, and she had been going through her mother’s things lately. What if it had insight into where Amelia was?
She hated him now anyway. He would only peek inside. He breathed a sigh of relief as he did so. The writing clearly wasn’t hers. But after reading just a few paragraphs, Trent’s concern skyrocketed.
He wanted to read everything Amelia’s mother had written, along with all the notes Amelia had taken. But there wasn’t time for that. Only time enough to realize that Amelia was in grave danger, and there was a chance Brett had his claws in her.
Trent checked his phone yet again. Nothing. He reached out to Brenda. She said they were planning to have drinks later, but Amelia hadn’t answered her back all day. Dread filled Trent’s soul.
Why didn’t she tell him about this diary? She clearly read it and it must’ve bothered her, so why didn’t she reach out to him? He could’ve helped her, been there for her. He could’ve kept her safe. Why was she icing him out lately?
Dread turned to anger. Everett. That’s why. She was turning to Everett for everything, forgetting the friends who had supported her throughout her entire life.
Had she told him about this? It hurt Trent to even consider that she might’ve told Everett and not him, not even Brenda, but he had to consider it. He sucked up his pride and tried calling Everett. With no answer from him, either.
Where was everyone? Did that mean she was with him? It was better him than Brett anyway. But it no longer mattered if she’d be angry at him for digging into her business. Trent needed to know where Amelia was. He needed to know she was safe, no matter what the consequences would be.
The Darkest Secrets Page 20
