~
Kelsey sat in the corner of the padded room and waited for Hugh to return. Sweat moistened her skin, and the bodice of her dress was twisted and bunched uncomfortably. She pulled her legs up to her chest and rested her head on her knees.
Would Hugh be safe? Would he manage what she’d asked of him?
A creak at the door sent her thoughts scurrying. Someone entered, shut it. She strained to hear soft footsteps cross the room, listening for the shuffle of slippers.
“Hugh?”
“My, you’re looking lovely tonight.”
She knew that voice. It sent icy chills over her body, and her perspiration turned frigid. It had been ages since she’d heard it, and the tone had deepened. There was maturity in it along with something she hadn’t expected. Confidence.
She swallowed. “What are you doing here, Ethan?”
“So you remember me.” He spoke with a smile she could hear but not see. Pleasure oozed through his words. “I knew you would. How could you possibly forget someone so…influential?”
“Is that what you call it?”
Taking her captive when she’d tried to break up with him was one way to influence someone’s life. It sure had wreaked havoc on hers. Not to mention she’d practically gone underground—moving out of state and changing her name.
“You’ve influenced me, too.” His voice settled, near and on her level. There was a faint scuff, and she guessed he sat on the floor in front of her. She wondered how badly it would hurt if she tried to head-butt him. Would it give her a concussion? She might have tried anyway, but she sensed he was just out of reach.
He continued, smooth and unperturbed. “I didn’t know it for the longest time. How much you’d gotten to me.”
“Glad I was so memorable,” she said through clenched teeth.
“I was…disappointed when you left.”
“Disappointed? Really? Were you disappointed that after a week trapped in your disgusting bedroom I finally managed to wrestle out of the duct tape—thanks to my own saliva, tears, and sweat? I had to wrap a sheet around my foot and kick the window until it broke! I couldn’t walk right for days. Not to mention the painful rings left around my wrists and ankles.”
“You have to admit, reversing the doorknob was quite ingenious…for an eighteen-year-old.”
“More like insecure. A childish boy terrified his girlfriend will leave him.”
Ethan ignored her. “I threw myself into other things for a while. Other women.”
She cringed at the thought of him keeping others the way he’d kept her. How had he managed to evade the authorities?
“But that only worked for so long,” he continued. “I tired of them easily, and taking care of the bodies is such a pain.”
Her eyes widened. “You killed them?”
“It’s not as bad as you think. It gets easier after the first time.”
Jade had been right—Ethan really had morphed into something much worse. “What happened to the guy I dated back in high school?” she said, to herself as much as to him.
“You mean the unsure, dependent kid seeking reassurance?”
“That’s not what I meant at all. That Ethan was intelligent…perceptive…incredibly attractive…”
“I haven’t changed so much.”
“You have! What happened to the boy I used to know?”
“He grew up.”
“Why are you doing this—taking your anger out on all these women? Is this because of how your mom treated you?”
“This isn’t about her,” Ethan said in a rush through clenched teeth. He drew in a breath and composed himself once again. “I’m not angry. This is so much bigger than that.”
Kelsey had worked with some screwed up kids, many of them dealing with neglect issues similar to Ethan’s. She knew enough about his past to remember his mother’s psychological issues, and he’d briefly mentioned some of the phobias that had caused her behavior. Kelsey knew about the devastation of children whose parents couldn’t show love, whether or not they were abusive. But she also knew not to write them off—that recovery was possible.
When she’d met Ethan back in Florida, he’d been like one of those kids. A boy who only needed a little affection and some affirmation.
“Whatever it is, you can change,” she said.
“You always wanted to change me, even back then. But I’ve changed on my own—without your help.”
“Into a monster!”
“What others see as frightening, I see as incredibly rewarding. And this time I’ll be the one changing you. Before you know it, you’ll beg for what you used to resist.”
“You pretty much killed that desire the moment you tied me up. And you screwed with Jade the same way you screwed with me. You’re going to pay for what you’ve done.”
“The impostor? I see you two have made friends. I thought she was appetizing for a while, but that was before I saw through her weak façade and realized she was merely a fix. She wasn’t special, not like you are.”
“But she escaped.” Surely that set Jade apart. Kelsey wondered if any of his other prisoners had gotten away.
“She did once, but she won’t this time.”
Kelsey froze. “What does that mean?” She remembered seeing Jade dancing with that strange guy. Was he somehow working with Ethan?
“It means I’ll be taking care of her shortly. Then you and I can get back to where we left off ten years ago.”
“No! You can’t.”
“Oh, but I can, my darling.”
“I’m not your darling.”
“That’s not really for you to decide. You forget that I’m the one in charge here.”
“Fine. You have me, but don’t hurt Jade.”
“She’s not important. It’s you and I who are meant to be together.”
“You’re delusional.”
His voice lowered, but she could still make out every word as crisply as if he were inches from her face. “That’s where you’re wrong. You and I had a great thing together. All that time we were so happy. Everything was perfect.”
Kelsey thought of the years they’d dated before he went psycho on her. She had been happy at first, that was the sick part of all of this. But she’d also been fifteen and clueless. A hot guy needed her—and she’d thought she could help him. She’d been so wrong.
“Until you had to screw it all up.” His voice tightened, and she heard the restrained anger there, the hint that he could fly off the handle at any moment. He might not intend to kill her, but she had no doubt he was capable of it.
“You should have known it was a bad idea. We weren’t meant to be apart, Kelsey. There’s no doubt in my mind that you’ve been just as tormented these past ten years as I have. Whether you admit it or not. You need me, and you’ll never be fulfilled until we’re together again.”
“Please.” Sarcasm dripped through her tone. “Don’t do all this for my benefit.”
“You can talk all you want, but I know the truth.” Ethan’s smile was back, his composure regained. “I know I drove you crazy with passion—no pun intended. Although you do look nice in that jacket. If only I’d had one back then…. But I know that every part of you is mad with desire for me—except for maybe the tiny part of your brain that does the talking.”
“Oh, I’m mad, and it has nothing to do with desire.”
“Don’t worry. I’m going to give you everything you need. I have a cozy little home planned for us—out in the middle of nowhere where we’ll have all the privacy we could ever want.”
Kelsey blinked. He wanted to lock her away as his lifetime prisoner? Moments from her captivity flashed in her mind, and she began to tremble.
His voice lowered to a smooth, sultry tone. “Don’t worry. I will exceed your every expectation.”
She was trying to compose a reply when suddenly his mouth was on hers. She twisted and yanked away, spluttering at the taste his lips left behind. Wine and cake. She doubted she’d ever be
able to enjoy chocolate again.
He didn’t let her off so easily, though. Undeterred, his lips found her again, grazing the side of her cheek, then down her neck as she tried to squirm away.
“Get off me!” she yelled.
He pulled back a little, but she could still smell the alcohol on his breath when he spoke. “I know you’ll come around with time. I can be very persuasive.”
Kelsey took advantage of that moment to draw her head back and crash it forward. But he must’ve dodged her blow, because her forehead hit nothing—only open air until the chain behind her arms yanked her back.
Ethan’s soft chuckle told her two things—that he now stood above her and that he’d seen her try to hurt him.
“We have to leave now,” he said. “But don’t worry. You and I will have plenty of time to get closer.”
There was a soft tap on the door. Hope spiked in Kelsey. Maybe it was the guards, armed and ready to take Ethan out.
There was a gentle click. A man stood in the hall with a flashlight in hand trained on the ground. She couldn’t see his face.
“Perfect timing, for once,” Ethan muttered as he turned to the figure. “I’m finished. Take her to the truck.”
Kelsey’s hopes drained away. He was working with someone.
It wasn’t until the man crossed the room and knelt before her that he allowed the light to touch his face. When it did, she saw the face of the same man who’d grabbed Gwendolyn back in the children’s ward. The one who had been dancing with Jade.
Then she sank into the cold waters of his ice-gray eyes.
When she came to, the first thing Kelsey noticed was a change in her surroundings. Somehow she’d gotten from the isolation room into the back of a truck. She sat against one of the padded quilts that covered the walls, and in addition to the straitjacket, her legs were now bound with duct tape. The only source of illumination was a flashlight beam that danced from the hand of a man who strode away from her. It wasn’t Ethan.
“Are you okay?” The hushed voice nearby made her jump.
Kelsey turned. “Jade!” She was bound, too, and bleeding from a gash on her chest. Then Kelsey saw a body lying close, blood pooled around the midsection of what looked like a woman’s figure in a fancy gown. She gasped, recognizing her as one of the guests from the gala. Fear clamped her throat, and she scooted away, nearly falling on top of Jade. “Oh my god! Is she dead?”
“Shhh,” Jade said.
“What happened?”
Jade opened her mouth to answer, but her eyes followed the man’s path to the far end of the truck. Kelsey saw two sets of legs beneath the beam of light. The man with the flashlight spoke low, and she heard Ethan’s cool voice answer. “It’s time to leave.”
Kelsey wanted to ask Jade what was going on—how she’d gotten here, but Ethan’s words stopped her cold.
“I’ll be just a moment. Wait for me outside.”
~
The boy was obviously having a hard time—he might even be having a panic attack. But Logan couldn’t think about that right now. He had to stop the killer and get that woman back safely.
The kid had said it was Kelsey, and he seemed confident, but Logan wasn’t so sure. Maybe Ethan and his buddy had found Kelsey, but maybe they’d found someone else first. Ethan had mistaken Jade for Kelsey at one point, and it seemed plausible that this kid could have too, especially considering how dark it was down here.
He couldn’t shake the possibility that it might be Jade. She wasn’t answering her phone, and that concerned him more than a little.
He crept down the hall, using his phone light to make sure he didn’t trip. He made it to the exterior door, pressed the bar as quietly as he could, and eased it open.
A dim glow from a streetlamp trickled down over the rear of the truck, highlighting its back doors. The bloody handprint was gone, but he was sure he hadn’t imagined it. Logan knew the man had used this door and that he had to be in the truck.
He snuck up behind the truck doors and listened. There was rustling inside, and he heard low, male voices but couldn’t make out any of the conversation.
Logan halted a moment, debating. With his super strength gone, this felt a little insane. He had the advantage of surprise, but what if they were armed? In Carlsbad, Chloe had been cut with a knife, and in Denver, Alex had been shot. He needed a weapon.
He glanced around the truck, scanning for anything useful. There was only crumbling asphalt. Walking the length of the building, he continued to search. If only there was a loose brick, a spare hubcap, anything.
He inspected the wooden privacy fence then the tool shed that butted up to it. A padlock secured the doors, and when Logan pulled on it, it wouldn’t budge. Under his breath, he cursed his lack of super strength for the umpteenth time. What he would give for even a garden hoe right now.
He rounded the shed, checking the other side. He found a spigot but no hose. There was a slight gap on this side between the fence and the shed. Leaning closer, he peered into the gap and saw what looked like a loose board. He pulled on it, and it budged. He tried again, putting more of his weight into it, and it slid outward. He had to wiggle the last few inches to slip it out from behind the shed.
He surveyed the board. It was broken, but maybe four feet long. One end was flat and the other was splintered off at an angle, providing a sharp tip that could do some damage. He gripped it tighter in his hands and headed back to the truck.
Holding the board in his right hand, Logan stepped up onto the loading dock and pulled at the latch with his left. It didn’t give way. He yanked harder, jerking the truck with his weight. The door opened with the screeching of metal. Logan leapt onto the lip.
The interior was dark, and it took a moment for his eyes to adjust. A face appeared at the door. It belonged to a short, wiry man with red, frizzy hair and bulging eyes. He didn’t speak, only stared at Logan.
Logan faltered, not sure whether to attack or interrogate the man. He couldn’t make out anything in the darkness behind. He stared at the man’s eyes and realized that this must be the “bad man” the teen had mentioned. What had he said? “Bad man has bad eyes” or some other such nonsense? This man’s eyes were definitely predominant, and a little strange. He must be the one who’d taken Kelsey.
“Logan!” Jade called from inside the truck. “Stop him!”
“Put down the board.” When the man spoke, his voice sent a soothing calm through Logan, whose own sense of purpose faded. A moment later Logan couldn’t remember why he’d needed it. Or why he was even here. He dropped the board. It reverberated on the concrete with a clatter.
The man stepped to the side, clearing the doorway. “Now get inside.”
Logan climbed into the truck.
~
“Get him in here, and shut that door!” Ethan balled his hands into fists. Just what they needed. Another complication.
Nicodemus ushered the man into the truck, reaching for the duct tape. “Hold out your arms.”
The man obeyed, and Nicodemus taped him up.
Finally Nicodemus closed the door, allowing Ethan’s vision to thrive once again.
Ethan surveyed the man.
“Take him to the back, by the girls.”
Nicodemus flicked on his the light but kept most of the glow muffled into his shirt.
Ethan recognized the latest prisoner as one of his captives from Carlsbad. This was the guy who’d ripped out a handful of Ethan’s hair. A cold fury froze his insides at the audacity of the impostor and this guy. They thought they could stop him from his goal. But they’d soon find out different.
Nicodemus shoved the man, making him fall beside the impostor at the back of the truck. He asked for the man’s cell phone before binding his feet. His ability would last several minutes before the effects wore off and their newest captive woke from the trance, confused.
Meanwhile, Ethan had to decide the best way to kill all these unexpected guests, and he thought he had the perfe
ct idea. A few canisters of gas and an open flame could take care of the truck easily once they were a ways out of town.
He imagined a fiery explosion and smiled.
Why not end their lives and cover the tracks all in one fell swoop?
Other than the impostor, of course. He wanted to make her suffer a little first.
Fear clamped Kelsey’s stomach into knots, and a wave of panic threatened to overtake her. Her emotions had never felt so out of control, as if they were driving her and she was merely along for the ride. She was usually so clear-headed during stressful times. Even when she’d been Ethan’s prisoner ten years ago, she’d endured more anger and frustration than anything else. He’d never truly frightened her.
Until now.
She couldn’t see much inside the truck, but she could make out the shadows of the two men keeping them captive. The accomplice walked the man Jade had called Logan to the back of the truck and sat him on Kelsey’s right, just beyond Jade. Logan obeyed, not protesting even when their captor bound his hands and feet with duct tape.
Why didn’t he try to fight or scramble away?
The kidnapper trained the flashlight on his own face, its beam washing him out and making his pale eyes look like bulging moons in a hopeless, dark sky. He kept his gaze locked on his prisoner as he worked, despite only having one free hand. His fingers trembled as he peeled a long strip of tape and bit it off with his teeth. She wasn’t sure if his shakiness was due to a substance addiction something else. If she hadn’t known better, she might think he was every bit as afraid as she was.
Kelsey struggled within her own restraints again, but she could do little more than wriggle like a worm. Jade’s fearful eyes were fixed on Logan.
The man with the flashlight finished his task and returned to the far end of the truck.
“Logan! Logan!” Jade hissed the name, rocking on her hips until she managed to bump him with her shoulder. It was too dark for Kelsey to see his face, but she guessed he still wore the placid expression.
Protector: The Flawed Series Book Three Page 20
