“No, no, no, no, DON’T!” she pleaded but he lowered the flame to her arm regardless watching as it blazed a trail through her thin blouse to strike the skin beneath. She wheezed and cried, screamed and struggled trying to escape the excruciating pain.
“Magnificent. I just knew your pale skin would be a sight to behold and I was right. I was right,” he repeated.
Autumn was a blubbering mess. The pain was unbearable, unlike anything she’d ever felt before. She looked him dead in the eye. “You fucking cocksucker. You,” she gasped as another wave of pain washed over her. “You think you’ll break me? You won’t. I’m stronger than you, you fuck.”
He raised his eyebrows at her. “I knew you would be my greatest victory. You know why? Because I will break you. And I’ll enjoy every second of it.” Autumn knew without a doubt that he meant every word. Her mind raced with options of how the fuck to get free. She didn’t want to die there at the hands of this psycho.
He dropped the blow torch to the ground with a clatter and removed something from his waistband. Autumn had a flash of something metal and a split second to wonder what the fuck he was up to now.
He raised the machete and brought it down across her other arm, delighting in the blood that pooled under the white fabric.
“Motherfucker!” Autumn yelled out at the searing pain. She swung her body back and forth, wildly thinking that she could maybe swing herself right off the damn hook holding her up in the air. He brought the machete down over and over, eventually switching back to the blow torch to set her curdling blood to flames.
Autumn was barely conscious when he checked his watch and disappointedly realized that he had to stop and get moving or he would miss his window for the next step. He reached up and unhooked her hands, letting her fall to the floor. “That was fun, wasn’t it? Time for phase two.” Autumn let out a whimpered plea before passing out.
When she came to for the second time, he was just dragging her out of a vehicle. She had no energy to even lift her head, but she forced herself to move, to take in her surroundings. They were heading into the town’s movie theater, through the back entrance by the looks of it. She’d ducked out that back exit door to have a steamy make out session with more than one date so she knew the area well.
Taking her bound hands in both of his, he dragged her down the dimly lit hallway, ignoring her muffled screams of protest from behind the gag stuffed in her mouth. Her small frame made the tedious task an easy one for him, his hulking size practically dwarfed her.
Whistling as he walked, he could barely contain his excited anticipation of what was to come. His backpack pumped between his shoulder blades, a steady thud, thud, thud as he followed the corridor to his destination.
Thinking back on how they thwarted his last attempt with this woman caused his blood to boil. They thought they could outsmart him? Beat him at his own game? The insult of feeling like a failure had been a hard pill to swallow. He would make them pay. Make them suffer until the last measly breath left their bodies. They’d be begging for mercy and he would relish in their pain.
Pushing open the steel door to the boiler room, he leaned down and effortlessly threw a wriggling Autumn over his shoulder. She weighed no more than a feather, he ducked to avoid her kicking feet and after a few steps into the steam filled room, he dumped her back down to the floor. Hate filled eyes stared back at him as she struggled to make it to her knees to crawl away.
“Can’t have you doing that,” he admonished. “I’ve put way too much planning into this, it may be a bit ahead of schedule, but those assholes need a reminder of who I am. What I can do. That I’m in control,” his breathing was escalated as he spat out his words.
Tugging the bottom of his mask tighter around his face, he opened his backpack and took out the materials he needed. He really didn’t need the mask anymore, it wasn’t like she would be able to talk after he was finished. However, processes were in place for a reason and he followed instructions to a T.
He bent down in front of her, ignoring the pleading in her eyes and the streams of tears rolling down her face. He slipped the contraption over her head, fastening it at her back. With a few pushes of buttons, everything was set. The timer clicked on, waiting for him to input the countdown.
“Please. Please let me go. I don’t want to die here. I don’t want to die!” Autumn yelled after successfully getting the gag out of her mouth. Thoughts of her sister, of her life flashed before her, causing the tears to flow harder. This couldn’t be it. This couldn’t be how her life was going to end. She fought and struggled against the injustice, furious that she’d been unable to find a way to get away from him.
He ignored her and sat back on his heels, considering. “Hmmm. What do you think? Thirty minutes into the show? Do you think that will make a big enough impact?” Autumn didn’t answer him of course, how could she respond to a question like that. He gave it another moment of thought and then decided that thirty minutes after the curtain rose would have to do. The urgency flowing through his veins to make this happen wouldn’t permit him to set the timer for longer than that. Typing the numbers in, he grinned at the loud beep, beep, indicating that the countdown was set.
She was becoming hysterical, thrashing around, trying to buck herself into the air. He chuckled at her as he unbound her hands. “What do you suppose that will do? You can’t fly, can you? If you can, you might prove more useful alive…but I think you’re just desperate.”
He roughly wound her hands around a steel pipe, snapping a set of handcuffs into place. Looking deep into her eyes, he delighted in the terror reflected back at him. She immediately clanged her hands against the pipes, desperate to make enough noise to be heard.
“Don’t leave me here! Please, please don’t leave me here! Noooo!”
“You’re all set here, be seeing you,” he gave her a pat on the head and then strolled out the door. It took him half the time to exit the theater without the added weight of Autumn dragging behind him. Removing his mask before he stepped out the door, he pulled up his hood and expertly avoided the security cameras. Pausing to light a cigarette, he stared up at the building. It truly was going to be a magnificent display once the flames claimed it. Lightheaded and giddy, he disappeared into the crowd to find a suitable place to watch the events unfold.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Aubrey finally finished cataloguing the final book in the library and gave a silent cheer. Everything was now in order for her to re-open the library and with a little luck West and the boys would have some solid answers soon that would help apprehend the killer. Things would go back to normal. Well, as normal as they could. She was still unsure where things stood with her and West on a personal level and Nora was dealing with more than any of them realized with Gabe. His violent reaction the previous night scared her. She didn’t want Nora or the children around him without someone there that could protect her the way Theo did.
She hadn’t heard from West since their rendezvous in the library but she wasn’t worried. Much. She knew he was going back on shift and contact with him was usually limited when he was working as he stayed in the fire house for twenty-four hours.
Her cell phone rang, causing her to jump. She laughed out loud at herself and snagged it out of her bag, smiling when she saw her sister’s work number flash on the screen.
“Hey, sis, what’s up?” she answered.
“Aubrey? It’s Dr. Booth. I’m sorry to bother you, but have you heard from Autumn? She left a few hours ago during a procedure and she hasn’t returned. I wondered if she maybe was feeling unwell and went home? I just wanted to check on her.” It was Autumn’s boss calling, not her.
“Oh, that’s strange and not like her at all. She would normally check in and let me know if something was wrong or she was feeling sick. I’ll try and call her, thanks for letting me know and I’m sorry. If you need, I can come and help out at the office until we find her,” she offered.
“No, we’re good here. It was
a quiet day for appointments. If you could just let me know that she’s okay after you track her down; that would be great,” the doctor replied.
“Of course. I’ll call you back shortly.” Aubrey hung up the phone and dialed Autumn’s number. After a few rings it went to voicemail. “You heard the beep, you know what to do, peeps.”
“Autumn, it’s me. Your office just called and said you disappeared? Call me back and let me know what happened.”
A sinking feeling formed in her stomach and she quickly dialed home. After speaking to Greta and learning that she wasn’t there, she called Autumn’s landline and was again met with voicemail. Something wasn’t right, she could feel it.
She headed out the front of the library and looked around the town square. Her senses were alive with anticipation and…fear? She was suddenly terrified for some reason. More scared than she’d been when she was trapped in the fire. Her feet carried her forward and her phone was in her hand again. Autumn. Her sister was in trouble, she could feel it. Tears were already coating her cheeks when West answered his phone.
“Aubrey? Are you okay?”
“W–W—West, it’s Autumn. Something’s wrong, I can feel it. I think she’s in trouble. She’s scared and I don’t know where she is. I know I sound crazy but please believe me, she’s in danger. Can you—” An explosion knocked her off her feet, throwing her several yards from where she stood. Her phone slipped out of her hands like a bar of soap and she hit the ground hard. The force of the blast left behind a ringing in her ears and Aubrey rolled to the side, shaking her head and trying to get her bearings.
Sitting up, she looked across the street. “Jesus,” she breathed. The entire movie theater was gone. Blown to smithereens. A large cloud of black smoke billowed out from where it had once stood. “It’s Wednesday. It’s Wednesday,” she whispered. Wednesday was half price matinees at the theater and quite often, they filled the place.
“Oh my God.” Sirens wailed in the distance as she gained her feet and ran towards the building. “Autumn! Autumn!” she screamed as she raced to the site of the explosion. She knew. She just knew that her sister was inside. A part of her heart was bleeding. Ripped in half and left in shreds on the floor. Autumn was gone. She was gone, she’d been in that building when it blew up. Every fiber of her being was telling her it was the truth. Her sister was dead. Gone. She began to sob. Big huge gulping sobs that robbed her of her breath and stole the last parts of her soul. Her sister. Her twin. When she got close to the building and took in the blocks of concrete strewn about, the carnage was unbelievable. She passed a dead man and cried all the more, a severed arm lay a few feet away from that and the sight of it had her stomach revolting. She bent over and vomited. Her head spun and her vision grayed. A small burst of hope bloomed in her when she saw someone stumble out from the rubble. “Autumn!” she yelled. She raced over to the victim, wishing and praying that it was her sister. When she got close she realized it was Jenny, the clerk from the drugstore.
She took her arm and helped her to the side, away from the wreckage. “Aubrey!” Someone yelled her name behind her. Turning, she was swept up into West’s strong arms.
“Are you alright? Were you inside? Are you hurt?” he pulled back to look her over, searching for injuries.
“Autumn. Find Autumn, West, please. Please find my sister,” she babbled.
“What? She was inside? Are you sure? What the fuck was she doing in there? Look, I’ll take care of it, please—just move away from the building and let us get in there. I need to look for survivors.” West was horrified at the blank look in Aubrey’s eyes. It was as though she’d already checked out. Accepted the fact that her sister was dead. He hoped like hell that wasn’t the case.
Aubrey nodded jerkily and moved back several yards. Watching in a daze as two more firetrucks arrived alongside three ambulances. West was barking orders that she didn’t even hear, organizing the men to get ready to enter the blast site. She stood frozen in her spot, willing her sister to emerge. She wanted to see her smiling face as she teased and laughed about how stupid Aubrey was to be worried.
She had no idea how long she stood there, not moving a muscle, staring as the firefighters combated the fire and the paramedics worked to provide care to everyone that had been injured. Some were being loaded up and wheeled away in black leather body bags while others were deposited on stretchers and raced off to the local hospital.
West never emerged. She kept her eyes glued to the spot where she last saw him, but even as other firefighters came out, either carrying equipment or a victim; he was nowhere to be seen.
“Aubrey! Aubrey? Can you hear me?” Someone was talking to her, saying her name over and over but it sounded as though it was coming through a tunnel. Automatically, she angled her body towards the voice, her eyes glassy and unfocused.
Nora pulled her into her arms, holding her tightly. “Were you hurt? Did you see what happened? We saw it on the news. I left the kids with Greta and rushed right down here. Theo is coming with Brady and Sam,” she explained, looking for any sign of recognition in Aubrey’s eyes. When she didn’t reply or even acknowledge that she’d heard the words, Nora began to really worry. This was bad. She was standing there like a robot.
“Do you want me to call Autumn? Maybe we can help somehow. Gather blankets or food.” At the mention of Autumn’s name, Aubrey burst into tears. She fell to the ground and wrapped her arms around herself, rocking back and forth as the sobs wracked through her body.
Nora dropped down beside her and threw her arms around her shoulders, drawing her head onto her chest. “Shhh, shhh. It’s okay. What happened here, Aubrey? Tell me what happened so I can help.”
“Aut—Autum—Autumn is in—inside,” she stammered out. The words physically hurt her to say. She forced them from the deepest part of her, feeling the burn as they clawed up her throat and out into the world. Her sister was dead. Her sister was dead. Her sister was dead.
“What?! What do you mean Autumn was inside? How? She was at work!” Nora was in shock. Surely Aubrey had made a mistake. There was no reason that Autumn would have been in that theater in the middle of the work day. Unless…
“Aubrey. Aubrey, look at me,” she waited until her cousin raised dull green eyes to hers. “How do you know she was inside? Did someone take her in there?” Please let her be wrong. Please, please don’t let what she was thinking be the truth.
“I just know,” she whispered. “He got her, Nora. He missed with me and he took my sister instead. I just know. I just know,” she rambled.
They both watched as West finally surfaced from the hell that had become their town center, covered in dust, ash, blood and grime. He was leading a team of men and after giving them orders, he waved over a few paramedics and the Chief M.E. who had been on the scene for quite some time.
After speaking to them, he held up a hand for them to wait and then headed over to where they were huddled.
“Nora.” He nodded at her. Crouching down, he put his hand on Aubrey’s knee. “We haven’t found her yet. We did find something in the basement, but I need some help to figure out exactly what we’re dealing with before I can give you any concrete answers. I think you should try calling her again, see if you can get her on the phone,” West spoke carefully and clearly.
Aubrey nodded in response but made no move to reach for her phone. He tugged her forward into his arms and let himself breathe in the scent of her. In a world that had turned to destruction and chaos, she was the light, the beacon of hope for the rest of them. He prayed to God that they found her sister in one piece even though the likelihood of that was slim if what he’d seen in the basement was any indication.
His eyes met Nora’s over the top of Aubrey’s head. A silent conversation passed between them and he watched as the realization of what he didn’t want to say sunk in for her. Tears pooled and spilled over as sorrow filled her eyes.
“I’ve got to get back,” he said, reluctant to leave them.
“It’s bad,” he said, not bothering to sugar coat it. “I could use your help searching the rubble for any other survivors if you’re up for it. We are specifically looking for one person at the moment.”
They agreed immediately, heading to the firetruck to pull on some gear. West turned to rejoin the search, stopping when Theo called out to him.
“West, who are we looking for?”
His face was set in a grim line as he answered. “Autumn.”
* * *
Sheriff Brady James sank heavily into the chair in West’s living room. The weight of the destruction he had just waded through was like lead sitting on his shoulders.
The mayhem.
The loss.
The devastation.
This killer. This sadistic son of a bitch…the lengths he was willing to go to were astonishing.
Brady swiped his arm across his forehead, wiping away the cold sweat that was forming at reliving the crime scene.
This case was threatening to break them all. To shatter any semblance of a life they had managed to build.
They would be lucky if everyone made it out of this one alive.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
The search for survivors from the bomb went well into the wee hours of the night. After coaxing Aubrey for what seemed like forever, Nora was finally able to get her to leave the scene and head home. There had been no word from Autumn and with each passing second, it became more and more real that she had been trapped in the theater when the blast occurred. Aubrey was a shell. She moved and spoke, but there was no life inside her. She knew without a doubt that Autumn had died that day, she knew it the moment it happened. A piece of her had died right along with her, blown to bits, eviscerated along with every part of the building. There was nothing left to do now but wait to hear the official word from West.
Denouement (The Darkness Series Book 3) Page 15
