“You’re a monster!”
“That’s right,” he snarled. “I am. And don’t you fucking forget it. You’re going to keep paying me or I’m going to destroy you like I destroyed her.”
“You already killed my mother, Rhys. What else can you take from me?”
“You’d be surprised.” He grinned. “There’s no one I wouldn’t touch to get what I want. How about your three perfect cousins? Or that artist boyfriend? I’d hate for things to go badly for them.”
“They’re too smart for your bullshit, Rhys. Especially after I tell everyone the truth.”
Rhys only laughed. “I’ve gotta admire your optimism, Liv.”
She glared at him.
“Don’t you even want to know how I got your mother hooked? How I got her in my bed in the first place?”
Olivia was shaking. She always thought she wanted to know the truth, but now, she couldn’t bring herself to ask. Besides, she couldn’t trust anything that came out of Rhys’s mouth.
“Well since we’re being so honest about the past, I’ll tell you. It was you, Liv. Stella’s darling daughter. I told your mother I was gonna fuck you and break your pathetic little virgin heart. And the only way to stop me was if Stella slept with me instead. Of course she didn’t know I’d already stolen your v-card.” He laughed. “But how could she? You wouldn’t dare share my secrets because I made you feel special. You wanted to keep me all to yourself. Selfish.”
Rhys sneered, but then shrugged, like they were having a casual conversation. “So, mommy-dearest agreed. The plan was only to screw her once so I’d have enough to blackmail her for a big pay off. But I had no idea she was a recovering junkie. I convinced her to do a line or two with me to take the edge off before we got down to business. And once she was high . . . well you know how she was.”
Olivia’s eyes were watering uncontrollably.
This couldn’t be true.
Rhys was just messing with her.
“Ya know, you really should thank me. Stella needed a release. She was relieved to have someone to confide in. She hated being scrutinized just because she was a Crain. She couldn’t cut loose, just be herself. I think she was really unhappy. She told me a lot of dark stuff about the crazy Crain clan.”
Olivia’s heart was squeezing so hard she couldn’t breathe. This was so much worse than she’d ever known.
“So, anyway, I think you’re going to have to keep paying me. I’d hate to have to exploit more members of your family. Poor little Olivia. Everyone just wants to protect you. I’m sure your cousins will be just as desperate to come to your rescue. We already know your boyfriend is.”
“Fuck you, Rhys. This is not my fault. And you’re the one who needs help if you think otherwise.”
“Get over yourself, Olivia. Your family’s a train wreck and your mother was looking to escape. I just gave her what she wanted. Yes, I sold her drugs. Yes, I blackmailed her to stay quiet about it. But I didn’t force the blow up her nose or the pills down her throat. And as far as the sex, well she begged me for that, just like I’m gonna make you beg,” Rhys snarled, his face dangerously close to Olivia’s as his hand slithered up her thigh.
“I won’t beg you for anything,” Olivia hissed, kneeing him in the groin.
But Rhys was fast, he’d anticipated the move and protected himself. Olivia didn’t have time to get away. Rhys was on top of her in a flash, slamming her against the kitchen counter.
“Help!” she screamed, grappling for anything she could use as a weapon. She overturned the drying rack, sending dishes and silverware clattered across the counter. “Help,” she cried again.
Rhys’s laughter rumbled through the kitchen. “There’s no one here to help you, Olivia. But keep it up. Screaming is such a turn on,” he said pinning her hips to the counter. Rhys put his mouth next to her ear and grabbed her ass as he spoke softly. “What do you say we revisit our favorite tree out back? You won’t have to be quiet this time. You can scream as loud as you want. And Olivia . . . I’m good at making girls scream.”
Olivia’s mind was reeling. Where the hell were the agents? She glanced at the clock behind Rhys. It was 3:18. It only took ten minutes to get from the housekeeper’s cottage to her grandparents’ house. They should be here by now. They’d gotten everything they needed. Rhys had confessed, now she just had to fend him off until the FBI arrived.
What if something had gone wrong?
What if they weren’t coming?
Rhys seemed to be done talking and he was so much stronger than she was. He lifted Olivia off her feet and throttled her against the kitchen cabinets. Her head hit the wood with a crack and she saw bright spots for a moment. He held her in place with a large hand around her throat while his other roved possessively over her body.
“Beg me to stop, Olivia.” Rhys was panting, his face pressed against hers. “All you have to say is please and you can feel pleasure instead of pain,” he whispered snaking his hand under her shirt to roughly grope her breast.
“Stop!” She kicked at him, but he didn’t budge. His grip on her throat tightened.
“Say, please.”
Fight surged from some unknown reserve in Olivia. She refused to give up. She glanced at the clock again—3:20.
Just a little bit longer.
She had to survive—for her mother, for her father, for Gran. Olivia refused to let Rhys win. She wanted to be there to see him arrested. To finally see justice served, but she couldn’t get enough air. Her vision was tunneling. She felt faint as Rhys squeezed tighter and dark spots danced on the edges of her world.
She could say it if it meant surviving. That was the only thing that mattered. The agents would be here soon. She had to believe they would. Or this was where she’d die—in her grandparent’s kitchen, at the hands of her mother’s murderer.
“Please,” she croaked, her voice barely audible.
The grip on her throat loosened. “What’s that?” Rhys purred.
Olivia’s hands scrambled on the counter as she tried to support her weight and catch her breath. Something cool and sharp met her palm as Rhys put his mouth on her ear and whispered. “Beg me, Olivia.”
“You first,” she hissed. Then she swiftly gripped the blade and thrust it into Rhys’s side, all the way to the hilt.
Chapter 38
Alex
“You’re free to go,” the officer said unlocking Alex’s cell.
Alex was on his feet in an instant. He had no idea what stroke of luck was springing him from jail, but he wasn’t going to wait around to question it. He glanced at the clock as he waited for the officer to process him out—4:36. It’d been five hours since he’d last seen Olivia.
A lot could happen in five hours—too much.
Alex’s only thought was getting to Olivia as he stormed through the precinct lobby. At first, he didn’t hear the man calling his name. Or maybe he didn’t want to. But either way, a broad shouldered man with sandy blond hair and a worried expression stopped him at the door.
“Alex Tine? I’m David Crowley.”
“I’m sorry, but I can’t talk now,” Alex said stepping around the man.
“Olivia sent me.”
The words stopped Alex in his tracks. He turned back to face David. “Where is she?” he growled, so aggressively the man took a step back.
“Not here,” David said, nervously nodding to the officers watching them.
Alex frowned, but followed David from the lobby. They walked down the street to a black Toyota 4runner and David got in. Alex opened the passenger door but stayed on the street.
“Where is she?” Alex asked again.
“Olivia sent me to bail you out and give you a ride wherever you want to go.”
“I need to see her.”
David looked at the clock on his dash—4:42. “I don’t know if that’s possible.”
“What do you mean? Did something happen? Is she okay?” Alex was nearing panic. He’d had a bad feeling in the pit of
his stomach for hours and David was making it worse—he knew something.
“Look,” Alex pressed. “I know I don’t know you and I already owe you for bailing me out, but I’ve been worried sick that something bad is gonna happen to her.”
David looked guiltily away from Alex.
“Shit! Something happened, didn’t it?”
“I don’t know. She’s supposed to call me at 5:00, but I’ve got a bad feeling, too.”
“Where is she, David?” Alex roared.
“She’s at the cottage,” David swallowed hard and continued. “And Rhys Hudson is there, too.”
Alex’s heart dropped “Officer Hudson?”
David nodded.
“Take me to her, now!” Alex demanded getting into the 4runner.
David glanced at the clock again. “She said not to bring you there until after 5:00?”
“Why?”
“She’s setting Rhys up.”
“What?”
“I don’t know all the details. I just know she wanted to be gone before you got there.”
Gone?
There was no way in hell Alex was going to let that happen. He had to see Olivia. He had to know she was okay.
Alex spoke with deadly calm. “David, I don’t care if I have to throw you out of this car and drive myself, but I’m gonna get to the house before 5:00, or die trying.”
“That’s impossible. It’s a thirty minute drive in good conditions and the roads are still shit from the storm.”
Alex gave David a look that would’ve sent criminals scurrying.
“Die trying it is,” David said, buckling his seatbelt and turning the 4runner toward the mountains.
Chapter 39
Olivia
The paramedic stood and patted Olivia on the shoulder. “Okay, Miss Crain, you’re cleared.”
“Thank you.” Olivia stood and shrugged the blanket off her shoulders. She was wearing a set of blue scrubs since her clothes had been soaked with Rhys’s blood.
Even though the paramedics had cleaned his blood away while assessing her injuries, she still felt its presence. Olivia wanted to take a scalding hot shower to burn away the traces of Rhys’s touch. She wished she could wash away everything that had happened today.
Well maybe not everything.
Rhys wouldn’t be bothering her anymore.
Olivia glanced at the clock. There would be time to shower in New York. But she needed to leave now. If David had held up his end of the deal, Alex would be bursting into the cottage at any moment. And she needed to be gone before that happened. Because if she was still there when Alex arrived . . . if she let him pull her into his arms, she knew she would never leave. She was barely strong enough to leave without having to face him. Her heart twisted at the thought of never seeing him again, but she knew leaving now was the best thing she could do for Alex.
Grabbing the last of her luggage, Olivia turned to give the cottage one last look. The cozy kitchen she loved had been turned into a crime scene. She watched as federal agents cuffed Rhys to a stretcher before wheeling him out.
The FBI had burst into the cottage moments after Olivia stabbed Rhys. Even with the knife she’d jammed in his side, he’d been about to overpower her. But thanks to her grandmother’s brilliant plan to give the FBI access to the house’s security cameras, they’d caught every word of Rhys’s confession. And to Olivia’s relief, she hadn’t hit any vital organs when she stabbed Rhys. She hated him for what he’d done to her family, but she didn’t want to carry his death on her conscience. Thankfully, the paramedics assured Olivia that Rhys would make a full recovery and spend a long life behind bars.
Olivia approached the special agent in charge. “Agent Carson, if you don’t need me for anything else, I’m going to head back to New York.”
“That’s fine, we know how to reach you. Say hello to Cassidy and Thomas for me,” he added with a weathered smile.
“You know my grandparents?” she asked taken aback.
“My parents do. Gene and Silvia Carson.”
“Of course! I hear them talk about Gene and Silvia all the time,” Olivia replied.
“Cassidy and Thomas have been great friends to my parents, so when Cassidy called me I jumped at the chance to repay the favor.”
Olivia couldn’t help but smile. Her grandparents had come through. They never ceased to amaze her. “Thank you,” Olivia replied. “This has really been a huge help, for my entire family.”
Agent Carson gave her a salute and turned back to work the scene. And with one final look, Olivia left the Carter Ridge house behind and boarded the waiting helicopter her grandparents had asked Agent Carson to arrange.
The helicopter was preparing for take off when Olivia saw Alex burst through the back door. Two agents held him back to keep him clear of the whirling propellers. Even over the roar of the engine, Olivia could hear Alex screaming her name. The look on his face was pure anguish and it shattered her more than she’d anticipated. After the day she’d had, she didn’t think she could hurt any more. But she was wrong—tears burst from Olivia as she pressed her hand against the cold glass window of the helicopter.
The pilot motioned for her to put her headphones on and when she did she heard his calm voice boom in her ears. “We’re prepared for take off, Miss Crain.”
Olivia nodded and the pilot gave her a thumbs up, before the helicopter lifted smoothly into the air. She watched as the agents let go of Alex. He ran into the clearing the helicopter had been in moments before and fell to his knees, face lifted toward the sky. She couldn’t hear him, but she knew the words he spoke, because she longed to speak them too. Her heart splintered as she watched his perfect mouth soundlessly shape the words, “I love you.”
Chapter 40
Alex
Alex couldn’t believe it. He’d lost her. He’d raced up the mountain chancing death at every turn for nothing.
When they arrived, Alex thought he was hallucinating the scene in front of the cottage. Ambulances, EMTs and SWAT vehicles jammed the driveway, lights flashing. Alex was out of the 4runner before it stopped moving, skidding to a halt when he saw a stretcher being wheeled out the front door.
After recognizing it was Rhys cuffed to the stretcher, Alex found his breath again and sprinted toward the house. He should’ve been relieved. He’d been expecting to see Olivia lying under the blanket, but he couldn’t relax until he knew for certain she was safe.
Alex had been detained briefly at the front door but after David spoke calmly to some of the agents, they were both let through. David said something about finding the agent in charge, but Alex was only half listening. His eyes searched frantically for Olivia, but she was nowhere in sight.
The kitchen looked like a crime scene and when Alex spotted smears of blood near the sink he thought his heart had stopped. He couldn’t catch his breath. He worried he might be going into shock as a strange whirring sound filled his mind, blocking out his ability to think.
David was suddenly at his side. “We missed her. She’s already on the helicopter.”
Helicopter!
That explained the whump-whump-whump that rattled the house. It had to be close. Maybe she hadn’t left yet. That was the thought that entered Alex’s mind before he darted out the back door to see Olivia’s tear-streaked face through the bubbled glass of the helicopter’s passenger window.
He’d wanted to run to her, to cling to the landing skid as it took off, but two burly FBI agents wisely held him back. Alex had screamed Olivia’s name like a madman—over and over until his voice was cracked and hoarse.
When the helicopter was safely in the air the agents finally let him go, but there was nothing he could do. Olivia was floating away from him as easily as the ghostly mist of the Smoky Mountains.
Alex had sunk to his knees in defeat and bellowed over the roar of the thumping blades as they lifted her higher. His heart split open as the undeniable truth poured from him as he screamed, “I love you,” to the s
ky.
He was still on his knees when David approached. An older, stern-faced agent accompanied him. He wore a dark field jacket emblazoned with FBI on the chest.
“Alex, this is Special Agent, Jack Carson.”
Alex stared between David and Agent Carson, not sure what to do or say. Agent Carson reached a hand out to Alex and helped him to his feet.
“It seems you’ve had quite a day, Mr. Tine,” Agent Carson remarked. “I’m sure you have a lot on your mind right now, but we’d appreciate a few minutes of your time regarding the investigation.”
“Investigation?” Alex murmured in a dazed tone.
“Yes, into Officer Rhys Hudson’s involvement in assault and extortion of the Crain family.”
Alex blinked in confusion. “I wasn’t aware, but I’ll help in anyway I can. Just please, can you tell me where Olivia is headed? I need to speak to her.”
“We’ll get to that,” Agent Carson replied. A light mist had started to fall. “Let’s get you inside,” he said, steering Alex and David back toward the cottage.
Alex spent the next hour sipping black coffee and reciting his account of Officer Hudson’s uninvited visit to the cottage earlier that day, along with the disturbing things he’d said to Alex on the ride to the police station. Alex had a hard time believing it was still the same day. It hadn’t even been twenty-four hours since he’d been in bed with Olivia, convinced he’d found heaven. Yesterday, he’d been painting as she played her cello in nothing but his t-shirt. Alex’s mind wandered back to the painting and his chest caved—it was all he had left of her now.
“Is there anything else?” Agent Carson was asking.
“No. I’ve told you everything.”
“Thank you for your cooperation, son. We’ll be out of your hair momentarily.” Agent Carson gave Alex a tired half-smile and handed him a business card. “Get in touch if you think of anything else,” he said getting up stiffly from the kitchen table.
Retreat Again (The Retreat Series Book 2) Page 15
