by K. C. Lynn
I’m breathless by the time we break apart. “Are you sure you don’t want to come in?”
“Nah. I think it’s better for all of us if I head to the gym. No need to cause World War Three,” he jokes halfheartedly, trying to lighten the moment.
“Well, it might happen anyway. My mother is not going to like what I have to say.”
Concern tightens his expression. “Maybe I should come in then.”
I can tell it’s the last thing he wants to do, and I don’t blame him, not after the way my mother has treated him. “No. I’ll be fine. You go ahead.”
“You sure?”
“Positive.”
“Okay. Text me when you’re done.”
Nodding, I reluctantly pry myself from his arms and hop out of the truck. The closer I get to the house, the more my heart longs to stay with him.
After climbing the front steps, I turn back and give him one more wave before opening the door. Upon entering, I’m met with resistance. I poke my head inside and find luggage blocking the door.
Confusion renders me momentarily before I step over the suitcase to get inside. “Mother?” I call but get no answer. “Richard? Are you guys here?”
Putting my purse down, I check the living room first. When I find it empty, I start for the kitchen and notice everything is eerily quiet. I come to a quick stop when I catch sight of a slender foot peeking around the corner of the island.
Dread seizes my chest when I recognize my mother’s nude heel. “Mom?” Panic sends me forward, a gasp fleeing me when I find her unconscious. Blood trickles down her face from the large gash at the corner of her forehead. Terror rattles around inside of me as I kneel next to her. “Mom, can you hear me?”
She lightly stirs, a painful moan pushing past her lips. “Alissa?”
“I’m here. Just hold on. I’ll get help.”
I’m about to retrieve my purse for my cellphone but she grabs my wrist, her fingers cold and clammy. “You need to get out of here. Quickly, before he finds you.” Her rushed words are weak, barely above a whisper.
“Who?” I ask, confused.
“I’m so sorry,” she cries. “I never knew. I had no idea. You have to believe me.”
“Mom, what on earth are you talking about?”
“It was Richard. Your car, Kenya. All of it. It’s been him all along,” she continues through pained sobs.
My mind reels at the information, and I begin to wonder if the bump on her head is making her hallucinate.
“You need to get out of here now, Alissa. Hurry, and get help.”
The urgency in her tone has me shoving to my feet, my knees weak and shaking. I take one step past my mother when I hear a spine-stiffening click. Every muscle in my body tenses, ice freezing in my veins. Turning, I find myself staring down the barrel of a gun, aimed right at my chest.
“You always did have the worst timing,” Richard says, his voice void of any emotion.
“No!” my mother cries. “Leave her alone, please!”
I stare into my stepfather’s cold, crazed eyes, unsure of the person looking back at me. “Why?” The one word is all I can manage through the betrayal thickening my throat.
“It was never supposed to come to this. If your boyfriend hadn’t fucked things up in Kenya, I could have gotten the money I needed and you would have been home safe.”
Why would he need money?
I’m about to speak the internal question but the front door opens and slams.
“Hey, it’s me,” Ryan’s voice booms through the deafening silence. “Anyone here?”
Richard’s eyes flare with panic and he lunges for me at the same time I attempt to escape. His hand snags my hair in a tight grip as he yanks me backward.
My mouth opens on a scream but he slams his sweaty hand over it with brutal force. “Shut up,” he hisses in my ear.
Panic thrashes through my veins as he presses the gun to my head and drags me back toward the patio door.
“Richard, stop, please!” my mother cries weakly, trying her best to stand.
“Helen?” Ryan appears in the kitchen and comes to a quick stop at the scene, his eyes widening in alarm. “Holy shit. Dad, what the fuck are you doing?”
“Son, I can’t explain right now, but I need you to trust me. I’m in serious trouble, and I need to get out of here.”
Ryan’s eyes shift from his father to me, and I silently plead for his help. “Okay, just calm down.” He tries to placate Richard, hands up in surrender. “Whatever it is, it can’t be that bad.”
“I never wanted this to happen.” Richard’s voice is filled with guilt, a hint of desperation lying within. “I didn’t have a choice. I had to save the company. I had to protect your future.”
“The company is fine, Dad. I’m fine,” Ryan assures him.
“No, it’s not. We lost it all,” he chokes out. “Years of building it from the ground up and it’s gone.”
It’s now that I realize he’d done this all for the sake of his company, my life completely worthless to him.
“Dad, just put the gun down and we’ll talk about it. We’ll make it right.”
“It’s too late. The cops will find out any minute if they haven’t already. I have to get out of here.” His arm tightens around me as he slides open the patio door.
“No!” my mom’s pleading cry fades as I’m thrust outside.
“Let go!” I struggle against his painful hold, fighting with everything I have. “Ryan, help me!”
He races out the back door after us, pleading for his father to stop, but there’s no reasoning with Richard, not right now.
My fear escalates to a whole other level when he heads for his seaplane parked at the dock.
Crying, I thrash harder in his arms, only to have the gun jammed against my head, hard enough to blur my vision.
The closer we get to the plane, the more my hope begins to fade. My thoughts stray to Christopher, my fear escalating at the thought of never seeing him again. Feeling helpless, I send up a silent prayer, my fate no longer in my hands.
CHAPTER 24
Christopher
The need to unleash this unrelenting guilt that continues to consume me is suffocating. Hopefully once I release it at the gym, I’ll be able to stop taking it out on everyone around me, especially the woman I love.
A girl I don’t deserve no matter how much I need her. Because of me, Billy will never get to hold Gina again, so why should I get to be happy when he’s buried in the cold, hard ground.
The ringing of my cellphone slices into my thoughts. Glancing down, I see it’s Cooper. “Yeah,” I answer, putting the phone against my ear.
“Tell me you didn’t take her to her mother’s yet!”
The urgency in his voice has my foot easing off the gas. “I dropped her off a few minutes ago. Why?”
“Turn back! It’s her stepfather. He paid Juarez.”
Dread snakes around my heart, gripping it in a tight fist. Slamming on my brakes, I pull a U-turn right in the middle of the lane.
Vehicles screech to a stop, horns blaring at me as they just miss the tail end of my truck.
“How far away are you?” Cooper asks, the siren of his cruiser sounding in the background.
“About five.”
“That’s closer than us. But we won’t be far behind you.”
Throwing down the phone, I punch the gas, fear fueling my speed. My head spins as I try to control the panic pounding in my ears.
I should have went with her like she wanted me to. Had I not been so caught up in my fucking head and desperate for escape, I would have. If anything has happened to her, I’ll never forgive myself.
Minutes later, I come roaring down their quiet street and find Ryan’s Mercedes parked in the driveway.
Motherfucker!
Fury pumps through my body as I grab the gun strapped beneath my steering column. I charge up the front steps and bust through the front door. “Alissa!”
“Not my
baby! Please!”
Gun trained, I follow the cry into the kitchen and find Helen on her knees, trying to stand. “Oh thank God.” Blood covers half her face as she points to the open patio door. “He has her. Hurry!”
I barrel out the back door and see them heading for the dock. Ryan follows close behind Richard, who has his arm banded around Alissa’s waist, dragging her as she fights against him.
My feet pound the hard earth, adrenaline spiking through my veins as I fight to catch up.
“Dad, come on. Don’t do this. You’re only going to make it worse.” Ryan’s pleading meets my ears as I reach the dock.
“Let her go. Now!” I order, taking aim.
Spinning around, Richard pulls her tighter against him, pointing a gun to her temple. “Drop it or she dies.”
“Christopher!” Alissa’s cry penetrates my hammering heart, terror dominating her expression.
My eyes shift to her for only a second, sending reassurance before I focus on Richard. “You have two options. You let her go now or I drive a bullet through your fucking skull!”
“No. Don’t,” Ryan shouts, stepping closer to his father. “Dad, just let her go. It’s not worth it.”
Richard’s determined gaze narrows, pointing straight at me. “This is your fault. If you had let things be in Kenya she would have remained unharmed. Instead, you had to be a fucking hero.” Resolve settles in his eyes, overshadowing the desperation. “Now her blood will be on your hands.”
“Dad, no!” Ryan rushes at him but I’m quicker.
I squeeze the trigger, confident in my aim.
Alissa’s scream pierces the air as she stumbles forward. Ryan catches his father as he falls to the ground, one hand moving to cover his wounded shoulder.
A sob rips from Alissa as she runs for me, her arms wrapping around my waist. “I was so scared I’d never see you again,” she cries, burying her head in my chest.
Remorse floods my veins as I hold her close. Had I been in the right frame of mind, I could have prevented this. Instead, I was lost in my guilt and it almost cost the girl I love her life.
What she said earlier is true—I’m destroying everyone around me.
CHAPTER 25
Alissa
A blanket is draped over my shoulders but its warmth does nothing to alleviate the chill in my bones. My father has his arms wrapped around my mother and me as we sit on the couch, watching the police confiscate Richard’s computer and any other evidence from his office.
“I’m so sorry. I’ve made a mess of everything.”
My mother’s soft cry is filled with remorse but I have no words to comfort her right now. My mind is still reeling from everything that has transpired and my heart is even more confused. How Richard could have done this I will never understand. My mother may have never intended for this to happen but she is responsible for bringing him into our lives, and I’m having a hard time swallowing that right now.
Ryan left with his father in the ambulance, overcome with grief. It’s clear he’s as shocked and hurt by this as we are.
“Why don’t you girls come home with me tonight?” my father suggests. “You shouldn’t be alone.” His compassion knows no bounds, even after what my mother has done, but I know he’s doing it more for my benefit than hers.
My mother accepts his offer but I remain silent. I’m unsure of anything right now.
A tingle of awareness whispers across my skin, settling warmth deep within me. Looking up, I find Christopher standing at the open doorway watching me.
He was dragged away to give his statement and before then he barely spoke a word. The darkness that has been looming over him the last few days is even more prominent now.
Keeping the blanket around my shoulders, I stand and head toward him. Every step I take closes the distance between us yet I’ve never felt further away from him.
“Hey.” The greeting is nothing more than a whisper, working its way past the sadness in my throat as I stop just in front of him.
His guilt-stricken eyes soften as he sweeps a piece of hair out of my face, the gentle brush of his fingers leaving a trail of warmth across my cheek. “How are you feeling?”
“I’m okay, thanks to you.”
He shoves his hands in his pockets, refusing to accept the acknowledgment. “And your mom?”
“She’s hanging in there. My dad offered for us to stay at his place for the night…” I trail off, waiting for him to be adamant once again that I am not leaving his side, but I don’t get my wish.
“That’s a good idea. The three of you should be together right now.”
I bite back the sting of his rejection and decide to lay it all out, here and now. “I don’t want to go home with them, Christopher. I want to stay with you.”
He breaks eye contact, his throat bobbing with a hard swallow. “Your family needs you right now, Lis.”
“I think you need me more.”
His eyes slide back to mine, and there’s so much conflict in them that it completely destroys me.
“Why does it feel like I’ve lost you again?” I ask, my breath hitching as I try to suppress my sorrow.
“Because I lost myself a long time ago.”
My eyes fall shut, despair gripping me. A heated curse flees him as he pulls me into his arms but they don’t bring me the comfort they usually do.
“Don’t do this. Please don’t do this to us again.”
Framing my wet cheeks, he tilts my face to his and takes my mouth in a devastating kiss. The finality of it has a sob shattering my chest. When he pulls back, my eyes remain closed, unable to bear what I will see reflecting back at me.
He rests his forehead on mine, his warm breath skimming across my cheeks. “I will love you until my last breath, Alissa. Nothing will ever change that.”
I’m numb as he walks away, leaving my world in shambles and my mangled heart bleeding on the front porch.
CHAPTER 26
Christopher
In the still of the night, shrouded in darkness, the monster rages on. I sit at my kitchen table and stare at the empty bottle of Jack. My blood is filled with its warmth but the cold, hard truth remains, forever ingrained in my soul.
Moonlight reflects off the dog tags that lie next to the sealed envelope, both of them taunting me about that fateful night.
The memory hurdles through me, gnawing at my conscience until I’m swept under and drowning into the black pool of despair. I’m unable to do anything but relive the hell I haven’t been able to escape…
My wrists are shackled behind me, muscles protruding from my skin, threatening to rip out of my body. I jerk on my chains, trying to pull them from the concrete, but they won’t give. The pain infiltrating my body is nothing compared to the gripping fear of what they’ve done to Billy.
It was supposed to be me first but he taunted them so they would take him instead. His screams of agony tortured me. They still echo inside my head and heart but his cries fell silent long ago.
It fuels my need to get out of here and find him. Gritting my teeth, I yank the chains harder, so fucking hard that I dislocate my shoulder. But the excruciating tear is worth it because I hurtle forward, landing on my face as I’m freed from the wall.
Adrenaline kicks in with a surge of hope. I breathe through the agonizing chaos of my body and struggle to my feet. My clammy forehead rests against the concrete but the coolness offers very little reprieve.
Grinding my teeth, I slam my torn shoulder against the wall, putting it back in place. A cry of agony hisses past my chapped lips.
I fight against the resistance of my aching body and step over my shackles, bringing my hands in front of me. Grabbing the heavy chain from the ground, I grip it in my hands, knowing it’s my only means of a weapon. Mine are long gone.
The hallway is dark and quiet. My steps are cautious as I come up to the first door and peek inside. A table with leather restraints sits in the middle of an empty room. Dread swims in my gut at the though
t of Billy strapped to one, remembering how loud his screams were.
A clanging noise reaches my ears as I continue down the dank hallway. With my back against the wall, I creep up to the third room, the sound growing louder. Gripping the chain tighter in my fist I step inside, ready for battle, and come to a hard stop.
The pungent smell hits my nostrils before I have a chance to focus on the scene before me. Nausea rolls through me, horror squeezing my heart in a tight vice, and it takes me a moment to understand what I’m seeing. My mind refusing to believe it.
My best friend hangs from the ceiling, a large metal hook piercing his back, his insides spilled over the floor. His legs have been cut off at the knees while salt covers the gaping wounds, not only to inflict pain but also to stop the bleeding.
Bile inches up my throat at the bloodbath. I drop to the ground, retching the acid that burns within me. The softest noise penetrates the roaring in my ears.
My head snaps up and I see what’s left of his mangled body jerking from where it hangs.
It can’t be.
Disbelief has me climbing to my feet. I step closer, unsure if what I’m seeing is real.
“Jesus, Billy?” The words leave my mouth on a rush, despite the grief strangling me.
His body is completely massacred but his heart remains beating. I watch his mouth move but nothing comes out.
Tears blur my vision, burning like fire as I move even closer and try to understand what he’s saying.
“F—f—finish it,” he manages through chattering teeth.
I shake my head, my mind scrambling for a way out of this, to save what’s left of him and take him home with me.
“Please,” he shoves out, his blood spattering across my face. “I’m fucking begging you. Do it!” The words rip from him, loud and powerful before they fade once again. “It hurts so fucking bad, Chris,” he sputters. “Do it, for me.”
The last of his words slam into me, sealing both of our fates. A gut-wrenching sob explodes from me as I try to find the strength to do the unthinkable.
