“Why don’t you go inside, pour yourself a little drink, and take a load off for a minute before we continue this adventure?” He laughs and I grip the steering wheel. “There’s no need to hurry, is there?”
“Cut the shit, Rhett.” I groan and lean my head back against the headrest. “I’m alone. Now tell me where to go.”
“Sounds like someone is eager to get this reunion started.” He pauses for a minute and I can feel him smiling through the other end of the phone. “Remember that toy store Dad used to take us to—the one that closed down? Drive there and wait for my call. You have ten minutes.”
He hangs up the phone before I can respond. I glance at the clock on my dashboard again and hope that I don’t get caught in the traffic.
I pull away from the curb and head to the toy store. I arrive with a minute to spare. I lean back in my seat and look over at the building. The windows are boarded up and a “for sale” sign hangs above the door. Frank’s Toy Store was a place we used to go to every Sunday with our father. We’d sit and watch the huge train display that was laid throughout the entire store. The store closed down about twelve years ago when the owner had a heart attack, and the building has been abandoned ever since.
I anxiously await Rhett’s call. Minutes pass by and the silence is deafening. The longer I sit here and wait, the more nervous I get. I breathe slowly, willing myself to keep calm. I can’t let fear consume me.
My phone rings again and I nearly jump out of my seat.
I hit the speaker button. “The supermarket on Vine Street. Ten minutes.” His voice slices through the air. I wait for the sound of him hanging up but there’s nothing but his slow breathing. I sit there not saying anything. “You’ve got nine minutes now.”
”Quit the games,” I say. “Where are you?”
“But I was having fun sending you on a wild goose chase.” He laughs. Leave it to my brother to find this all amusing. “However, all good things must come to an end.” I’m sure there is a double meaning to what he just said. “You know the old warehouse off Mill Road?”
“Yes.”
“Good,” he says flatly. “You have fifteen minutes.”
Rhett hangs up the phone before I have a chance to protest.
The warehouse is on the other side of town. It’ll take me at least a half an hour to get there. I press the gas pedal to the floorboard and peel out, speeding through the city. The deadline looms as I pull onto the old dirt road. The abandoned warehouse sits at the end of the long bumpy track. Dust kicks up as I speed down the road. I slow down as the deteriorating building comes into view.
I stop in front of the building, glancing at the time on my dashboard. Seventeen minutes…I’m two minutes late. One of the doors on the building slides open and two men wearing ski masks and carrying rifles step out. As they near the car, I remember the listening device in my pocket, and shove my hand in it to activate it. I hope they don’t search me. If they find the device or the tracking mechanism, I’m screwed.
And if I’m screwed, then Lily has no hope.
I open the car door and climb out just as the first man rounds the front of my car. He’s built like a tank and moves like one, too. He heads toward me and pats me down. I hold my breath, hoping that he doesn’t find what he’s looking for. He steps back and eyes me curiously, then jerks his head toward the open door. I nod and walk past him.
He shoves me with his rifle as I pass.
The empty room is lit by randomly placed flood lights. I stop and blink for a few seconds to adjust to the brightness. The air is thick with the bitter smell of mildew. It makes my stomach churn. I look around the room. The walls are slowly crumbling away, and a dust-covered pile of junk takes up one of the far corners. There’s a large hole in one side of the ceiling and sunlight fights against the lights in the room.
“Keep walking.” One of the men nudges with me with his gun again. I stumble, regain my balance, and move forward.
“It might be helpful to know exactly where I’m going,” I say loudly. My voice echoes off the walls. “There’s nothing in here. Where’s my brother?”
“Just keep walking,” one of the men says.
I continue across the floor and find that the backside of the building is lit by a lone standing lamp off to the side that provides just enough light to see a door hanging off its hinges. I look over my shoulders to the men behind me, and they nod to the door. I walk over to it, open it carefully, and walk into a brightly lit room.
The interior is much like the main part of the warehouse, though it seems to have survived the abandonment better than the rest of the building. I see two chairs up against the wall.
“Sit down.”
“Where’s Rhett?”
“He has some matters to attend to with that whore of his.”
My anger ignites, and I turn to face two rifles pointing at my head. “If he so much as hurts one hair on her body, I will make sure each and every one of you suffer.”
“Have you forgotten who holds the gun and who has nothing but his fists?” Rhett’s voice slices through me. The men step aside and reveal my brother. “I admire your bravado though. Don’t worry…the bitch is safe for the time being.”
“Where is she?” I say as my body tenses.
It’s been a long time since I’ve seen my brother face to face. He doesn’t seem to have changed one bit. We share the same dark hair and dark eyes, thanks to our father. His face has the same hardness it always has.
“She’ll be joining us shortly. In the meantime, why don’t you have a seat? We can catch up while we wait. I’d love to hear all about what life has been like these last eight years.”
“I prefer to stand.”
“Fine.” He laughs. “Have it your way.”
“What the hell do you want?”
He clears his throat. The door to the office opens again, and Lily is shoved through.
As far as I can see, she appears to be all right. She’s wearing a pair of raggedy jeans and a torn shirt, all courtesy of my brother. The man who shoved her pushes her down onto her knees next to Rhett and leaves.
My brother reaches over, grabs a handful of her blonde hair and yanks her head toward him.
She lets out a small cry and my fists clench. I take a step toward them.
“Ah-ah-ah.” My brother shakes his head and grips her hair tighter. “I suggest you don’t do that.”
I look between my brother and Lily. Tears are forming in her eyes, and I can tell he’s hurting her. I foolishly think I might be able to get to the gun in the holster strapped to his shoulder and kill him before they even realize what’s going on inside the room.
I take another small step, and my brother pulls on her hair again.
Her cry freezes me in place.
I can feel my heart pounding in my chest.
“So, who wants to start off this little powwow?” Rhett stares at me with his dark eyes, then glances toward Lily. “Little brother?” I say nothing. “I’ll take that as a no. What about you, Lily? Care to explain why we are here?”
“I told you I don’t have any idea what you want.” She hisses at him and tries to pull from his grasp. Her movement only tightens his hold and she winces again.
“Well, I guess that leaves me, then. I’ll make it utterly clear: we’re here because of the two of you.” He pauses for a moment and stares me down. “You took something from me, Reid…something I treasured more than my own life. You helped yourself to the one person who wasn’t yours for the taking. You broke the sacred bond that brothers share.”
“You didn’t love her,” I reply flatly.
He yanks her head back, and she lets out a loud sob. “I loved her more than anything…before you ruined it.”
“You didn’t love her, Rhett; you possessed her. And you abused her, too.”
“You don’t know what you’re talking about.” His eyes dart between Lily and me.
“I saw the bruises, Rhett.” I take a step toward him.
I keep talking, hoping to throw him off balance again. “You loved having power and control over her. You liked making her think she was garbage, unworthy of anyone’s love. You tried to break her spirit…but you couldn’t. That’s why she’s still here. She’s smarter than you, and stronger than you. More worthy than you of being loved by someone else.”
“Enough!” he shouts. He pulls his hand out and presses a small hand gun to Lily’s temple. “She isn’t the only reason we’re here.” He presses the gun harder against her temple and Lily releases a small whimper. “Bring him in.”
The door opens and a small boy comes in. He’s the spitting image of the woman held at gun point just a few feet away. “Ollie,” I say. My stomach twists into a knot.
I watch Lily fight against Rhett’s grip. The cry she releases as soon as Ollie comes into view shatters my heart.
Tears stream down Ollie’s face and his body shakes.
“Hello, Ollie…so happy you can join us today.”
“You pull your own son into your twisted shit?” I bellow. “What the hell is wrong with you?”
“I haven’t pulled my son into anything,” he says stoically. I have no idea what he’s talking about. His eyes drift between me and Ollie… me and Ollie.
Me…and Ollie.
Rhett smiles that blood-chilling smile of his. “I’ve pulled your son into it, though.”
CHAPTER THIRTY
WHAT RHETT IS IMPLYING IS IMPOSSIBLE. Lily would have told me, and I would have stopped at nothing to make sure they were safe. Rhett can’t possibly be telling the truth. He’s trying to rattle me, to get me off my guard. “My son?” I ask. Lily refuses to look at me now.
“Yes, brother…Ollie is your son. Not mine.”
I can’t seem to organize my thoughts, can’t seem to find any words. I stare at Lily, willing her to look at me and deny what he is saying. To give me some sort of sign that it isn’t true. Ollie isn’t my son…he can’t be.
Rhett smirks. “You had no idea, did you?” I say nothing. “This just keeps getting better and better.”
“Lily?” My voice barely breaks a whisper. “Is it true?”
She refuses to acknowledge me.
“Look at me, damn it!” My body starts to shake. “You look at me and you tell me the truth.”
Lily finally meets my gaze. Her face is pale and streaked with tears. “Yes.” She sobs. “Ollie is your son, not Rhett’s.”
I look at Ollie. An entirely different range of emotions fill me now. “And how long have you known?” I start toward her but Rhett points the gun at me.
She sniffs. “I figured it out shortly after he was born. I wasn’t sure who his father was,” she says softly. “So I had him tested.”
“And that night of the house fire,” Rhett chimes in, “was the night I discovered the truth. I suspected you two were having an affair, but I didn’t know he was your son until that night. To get away from the hell she knew she had coming for her, she faked their death and tried to blame me.” Rhett borders on something I’ve never seen in him before: out of control. “So you see, when I say you took everything from me, I really mean everything. It wasn’t enough that you stole my wife…you took my son, too. Which is why we’re here today.”
“Why?” I ask Lily. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
She averts her gaze and takes a deep breath.
“I had to keep it a secret.” Her voice is so soft I almost can’t hear her. “If you knew, you would have tried to take us out of there.”
She’s right. I would have.
“We would have been in more danger leaving than staying,” she says. “Rhett never laid a hand Ollie. We were safer living with the devil.”
Rhett laughs and pulls on her hair again. “The devil? I’ll take that as a compliment. Well, now that the cat is out of the bag, let’s get to point of this happy little family reunion.” He shifts his focus to me. “You took something from me and now it’s my turn to return the favor. Before you leave today—”
I look at him and raise an eyebrow.
“Yes, you will be walking out of here unharmed, but before you can leave, you have a tough choice you have to make. Only one of them is going to leave here with you. Choose wisely, little brother.” I have no idea what he even means now. “Be quick about it, or I’ll make the choice for you.”
Ollie cries out as he realizes what my brother means.
I look at Lily, her face blank, and no more tears are falling. She stares at me, telling me silently the decision I have to make. “It’s going to be okay, Ollie,” Lily manages to say in a soft, calm voice. “Mommy loves you, remember that.” She looks at me and nods. She’s telling me to choose him. She’s telling me to let her die and to let him live.
“And if I say no?” I ask him.
“They both die.”
“You can’t force me to choose,” I rage. “I won’t choose!”
“Fine, then,” Rhett says calmly. “I’ll choose for you.” He pulls the gun away from Lily’s head and aims it toward Ollie.
I watch him slowly move his finger toward the trigger and Lily screams at him. “You bastard.” She throws her head back in attempt to hit him without much success.
“No!” I shout. My eyes blur with tears and I wipe them away. I look at Lily, crying softly to herself, and my heart breaks watching the confusion and terror in Ollie.
I can’t let either of them get hurt. I have to distract him. “Rhett.” My brother looks at me. “Let them go. It’s me you really want.”
He pushes the gun against Lily’s temple. I stand and hold my hands in the air. He pulls on Lily’s hair, she screams out in pain, and he waves his gun towards me. “Not another step,” he says roughly.
I ignore him. Taking another step, he continues to point the gun at me. He throws Lily to the side, and she scrambles over to Ollie. She pulls him into her arms and turns away from us. She’s using her body as a shield.
I take another step.
“Choose, Reid.” His voice is filled with panic. I take another step. I keep moving forward, one little step at a time. I see the doubt in his eyes. He didn’t believe I’d stand up to him, and it’s throwing him off. Which is exactly what I want. He looks back to Lily and Ollie. “Get back!” he shouts at me.
“Let them go and I’ll back off.” I glance over to them. Lily looks over her shoulder and tears fill her eyes.
Rhett pulls the gun from my direction and aims it toward the two of them. He pulls the hammer back, it clicks into place, and the sound sets a montage of memories off in my mind. I remember the first time my brother introduced me to Lily, his new wife, and how beautiful I thought she was. The connection I felt the moment I looked into her big, blue eyes. Fast forward to a few years later, when I finally learned what it was like to feel her soft lips against mine. I remember the first time I told her I loved her. It was in the hospital when Ollie was born, we were alone and watching him sleep. The scene from the house fire flashes in my mind and I remember the pain I felt when I thought I had lost them. Which reminds me of where I am now. My vision clears and I’m brought back to the room. My brother is still holding the gun to them and shouting at me to choose.
“Me!” I yell at him. “Take me.”
“That isn’t a choice.” He turns his full attention to them.
I seize the moment to jump and I throw myself onto his back. A sound of gunfire echoes throughout the small room but I continue my assault. Another shot fires, puncturing the ceiling, and a cloud of dust falls on top of us. Rhett throws me off and points the gun at me. I sweep his legs out from under him with mine. He falls to the ground. I pin him to the floor, holding the hand with the gun down with one hand, and my knee pinning his other arm. I put as much weight as I can on him.
I punch him. Again and again.
I pull my hand back, preparing to hit again, when a scream comes from Ollie, and I hesitate.
“Mom!”
His voice is shaking.
I look over and see him leaning over her. She’s lying on the floor and clutching her stomach. Her face is as pale as porcelain. Blood pools around them. Her eyes and body are seemingly lifeless. I realize then she’s been shot.
Rhett takes advantage of my hesitation, and bucks me off of him. He swipes the blood off his face, and raises his arm toward me. I scramble back on my hands and feet a few inches and bump into a chair. “As soon as I’m through with you, I’m going to go take care of that boy of yours.” His voice is lace with acid.
I grab the chair with my hand and throw it. The chair misses. Rhett chuckles. His finger starts to move towards the trigger and it seems as time slows down. A loud bang fills the air. I roll away but it isn’t quick enough. A searing hot pain radiates from my side. I instinctively reach down, and wince. The pain is excruciating. I bite my lip to keep from crying out. The sweet taste of metallic hits my tongue and I realize I am biting hard enough that it cut my lip open. I pull my hand away from the pain and see it covered in a thick, crimson fluid.
Rhett laughs as he stalks towards me. I try to crawl away. He grabs my foot and flips me to my back. He applies pressure to the wound with the weight of his foot and I scream out in pain. He aims the gun at my face. He pulls the trigger…
Bang! The door slams open. Another bangs open and the sound of a larger caliber gun rings in my ears. A dark stain bleeds from Rhett’s chest. He looks down at me, smiling, and then collapses to the floor just a few feet away. He doesn’t move. His empty gaze stares into mine. I turn my head.
Before I can blink, I’m surrounded by a group of men wearing tactical gear and bolstering rifles. One steps over me and walks toward Lily. As he bends down, another man says something to Ollie and pulls him away. I watch him fight against the man, trying to get back to his mother, and it breaks my heart. Ollie finally stops fighting and lets the man walk him away from her. He hangs his head low, his body visibly shaking, and he refuses to meet my gaze as they pass by. I look back to Lily. Someone kneels in front of me but I can’t focus on what he’s saying. I nudge him away with my arm just in time to see the man hunching down by Lily pull his hand from his neck. Our eyes meet and he shakes his head.
If I Say No (Say Something #2) Page 19
