“Why are you following me?” Aimee stopped several feet away as Sophie hoisted her things on the roof of the car and fished for her keys. She unlocked the trunk and gently settled her things inside. She slammed the lid closed and turned to face the girl watching her. “What do you want?”
Aimee was staring at her, eyes narrowed calculatingly. “You put on a good act, but I can see through it.”
Sophie raised an eyebrow. “Excuse me?”
Long arms folded over the beige coat. She looked like she was ready to go to a board meeting, not some dingy bar and grill. She wore black slacks with a pair of killer black heels. Her hair was left down her back in pale curls that glinted in the fading light. Side by side, she and Jamie looked like a powerhouse couple ready to take on the corporate world. Sophie felt severely underdressed in her jeans and sneakers.
“I know Spencer,” Aimee said, practically rolling her eyes. “The real Spencer, not the punker wannabe you’ve met. The real Spencer is a shy, awkward, uncertain little boy with self-esteem issues. He’s weak and boring. So this game he’s playing, pretending to be the bad boy, is bullshit.”
The keys cut into Sophie’s palm as her hands balled at her sides. “What do you care? You left him.”
Aimee’s shoulder gave a delicate shrug. “Because it annoys me, him trying so hard to be what I wanted two years ago. He’s the guy you know because of me. He’s only doing this to get my attention.”
“Wow,” Sophie said. “Someone is full of herself.”
Her sharp laugh cut through the air like a razorblade. “Honey, for as long as I can remember, Spencer has wanted to be like Jamie. He used to worship the ground his older brother walked on. But he could never quite pull it off. You know why? Because Spencer doesn’t have it in him to be a leader, to be in charge. I wanted a strong man, someone to take care of me and protect me. Spencer was weak, like a slobbering, annoying puppy, always following me around, begging for even a piece of my time.”
“You were his best friend!” The fury was barely concealed in those five words.
“When we were children, but I never wanted him, not the way I wanted Jamie. I put up with Spencer because I felt sorry for him. I figured since I couldn’t get Jamie, why not go for second best?”
“Spencer is not second best!” The growl left her before she could stop herself.
“Says you.” Aimee smirked coldly. “But that’s only because you have never had Jamie. You got stuck with the loser. My sloppy seconds.” Her lips bowed to show small, white teeth. “I taught him everything he knows, so the next time he has his hands on you, remember that I’m the one that broke him in and taught him that trick.”
Anger surged and boiled through her veins, becoming a toxic poison that ravaged her core. She wanted nothing more than to wipe that grin off that pretty face, to smash her fist into it and break it into a million pieces. She wanted the evil creature standing in front of her to suffer for the way she’d made Spencer suffer. She wanted her to hurt.
“I could have had Jamie,” Sophie hissed, stiff lips curling into a hard, glacial smirk. Okay so that wasn’t entirely true, but the way Aimee’s color washed out of her face … it was worth it.
“You’re lying!”
Sophie arched a brow. “Just yesterday. He offered to buy me drinks. Ask him.”
“You’re lying!” Crimson fury replaced the sickly white. “Jamie would never betray me!”
“Maybe he’s getting tired of being with a spoiled, selfish little brat and wanted something better.”
“Ahh!”
Sophie never saw the attack coming until the sting burned across her cheek. She stumbled back into the car, her hand flying up to cradle her injuries.
“Did you just claw me?” she exclaimed, outraged.
Aimee no longer looked like an untouchable force, but a furious woman about to commit murder. Her hair blew wildly in the wind, giving her an almost demonic appearance. Her eyes glinted with rage. She panted, snarling through her bared teeth.
“I’ll kill you,” Aimee hissed. “If you go near Jamie, I’ll kill you!”
Sophie pushed off the car, watching the girl closely. “I don’t want him, you psycho! You two belong together.”
“He’s mine!” Aimee said, either ignoring or not hearing Sophie. “I won’t let you take him.”
Without taking her eyes off Aimee, Sophie yanked open the driver’s side door. “You have problems! Stay away from me and Spencer.”
Aimee didn’t move, not even when Sophie pulled out of the parking lot and raced home.
Sophie pulled into her driveway and willed herself to calm down. She pulled the visor down with shaking fingers and examined the marks on her face. Four jagged gashes marred her face, trickling blood down her cheek. The area around it was swollen and red and throbbed like nobodies business, but they weren’t deep. Not that that made them any less noticeable.
With an agitated sigh, she reached into the glove compartment with one hand and unearthed a crumpled piece of tissue while digging out her phone with the other. She wiped at the blood while the phone rang in her ear.
“Hello?” Spencer picked up on the third ring.
“Hey! It’s me. Listen, I just realized I still have a ton of homework I need to finish. Can I see you tomorrow?” It wasn’t a complete lie. She just wasn’t sure she could face him like this, especially knowing how much it would upset him. Plus Jamie’s car was still in the driveway and she really, really didn’t want to see him.
“Yeah. Everything okay?”
Sophie nodded, snapping the visor back into place. “Fine. I just have a test tomorrow and I really need to study.”
“Okay. Goodnight.”
Sophie sighed. “Night.”
She hung up and dropped her head back against the headrest. She closed her eyes, completely missing the sleek, black truck that rolled to a stop across the street.
She covered the marks with about ten pounds of makeup and hair before venturing downstairs the next morning. She kept her head down as she greeted her parents in the kitchen and grabbed a granola from the cupboard. Her father peered at her oddly from over his paper, but made no comment, no doubt chalking it up to strange teenage hormones. Her mother was going over bills at the island and didn’t notice Sophie’s odd behavior.
“There’s been another disappearance,” her father said, setting his coffee mug down.
Her mother set a stack of unopened envelopes down. “Another one?”
“Sixth one in four months,” her father sighed, shaking his head slowly. He folded the paper and tossed it down. “There’s no connection between them, only that they’re teenage girls. Police have no leads.”
“How horrible for the parents. I know I … ” Her mother trailed off, pressing her lips together and looking away.
He rubbed a hand over his face. “I do not like the look of things.”
Sophie glanced between them. “What? What’s happening?”
Her father gestured to the paper. “Some maniac is going around kidnapping girls all over B.C. and the police are nowhere near catching him.”
She remembered hearing something about that, but news of the bigger cities didn’t really penetrate the safety bubble of her small town, because most of the outside world didn’t know River Port even existed. Nevertheless, this had filtered through. Some guy was taking young girls. No one knew what he did with them or if they were alive, but once he had them, they vanished.
Sophie shuddered.
“Sophie? Are you listening to me?”
She blinked, focusing on her father’s face. “What?”
“I said, I don’t want you wandering around by yourself.”
Sophie frowned. “Where do I go? I don’t go anywhere.”
He rose out of his seat. “Doesn’t matter. You stay in a group. I don’t want you anywhere alone, especially with everything that’s been happening. I’ll feel better if you—”
A soft knock issued on the front door. The thre
e of them exchanged glances before her father put up a hand, telling them to stay put while he went to answer. Sophie hesitated a second before following him.
Her father opened the front door. “Spencer? Are you here for Sophie?”
Sophie moved closer and Spencer’s gaze darted to her from over her father’s shoulder. The tension already in his face intensified, brimmed with hesitation, guilt, apology and anger. The parade of emotions had her inching closer before he broke the connection and focused on her father. “No, sir. I need to talk with you. In private. Now. Please.”
Sophie opened her mouth to protest, but Spencer was leading her father down the porch steps. She tried to listen, but they were walking further and further down the driveway until she would need bat ears to hear them. They both turned towards the garage and her father’s face went ashen.
“What’s happening?” Her mother appeared at her side.
“I don’t know.” Sophie started towards them only to have her father intercept, practically tackling her as he grabbed her shoulders and shoved her back towards the house.
“Get back in the house!”
“What?” She was pushed through the door, narrowly colliding with her mother.
“Ben, what—?”
Her father’s eyes were wide and a bit wild. “Call the police, Mary.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chaos unfurled as police trampled through the house, asking questions, putting things into evidence bags and asking more questions. Three uniformed officers stood inside the house with Sophie and her mother while a small army stomped over the porch and through the yard. Sophie stood in the doorway, forbidden to go further than that, and watched Spencer talk to a police officer. His gaze lifted and met hers and she was struck again by the wave of emotions rolling off him. He finished speaking to the officer and started towards her.
“Sophie?” A female police officer appeared at Sophie’s side. “Can you think of anyone that would want to hurt you?”
Sophie watched as Spencer drew closer, climbed the steps and joined her. Her hand instantly sought his and was met halfway. Their fingers interlocked.
“You okay?” he asked.
“What’s going on?” she demanded. “What’s out there?”
Spencer opened his mouth, but the police officer interrupted him. “Sophie? Is there anyone that wants to harm you?”
Sophie sighed, turning to her. “I don’t know. I don’t think so.”
“What happened to your face?”
Sophie had forgotten about the scratches. Her hand flew up to her cheek even as Spencer turned her.
“What’s wrong with your face?”
She tried to jerk free. “Nothing!” But it was too late.
His eyes widened, darkened. His face hardened. “Who did this?”
“It’s nothing—”
“Who?” he snarled.
“Sophie?” Drawn by the commotion, possibly by the murder in Spencer’s eyes, her mother appeared at her other side, so Sophie was in the center of a triangle.
“I got into a fight,” she muttered, seeing no other way.
“What?” her mother exclaimed, horrified.
“Not a real fight!”
“With who?” the officer asked.
Sophie’s gaze darted to Spencer. “Aimee.”
The fingers around her upper arm tightened. “Aimee did this to you?” he half growled.
“I kind of provoked her.”
He shook his head. “She had no right to touch you!”
“Sophie, I need you to tell me what happened,” the officer said, looking like she was losing her patience.
Sophie hesitated, realizing just how much she would have to reveal. It wasn’t just what Aimee did or her encounter with the witch. She would have to tell the officer why, which would bring up Jamie and what happened at the school. She just knew it would kill Spencer to know his brother had yet again tried to stab him in the back. She almost wanted to say she couldn’t remember or make something up. She wanted to run. But so many eyes were watching her now, waiting.
“It happened right after we got off the phone,” she began slowly, talking to Spencer. “I went to get my order and she was there, I guess waiting for Jamie. She followed me to the car and started saying some really horrible things—”
“What kind of things?” the officer asked.
Sophie hesitated, her bottom lip caught between her teeth.
“It’s okay,” Spencer murmured, brushing her knuckles with his thumb.
She couldn’t look at him as she retold everything, but she felt the reassuring pressure of his fingers around her hand. When she finished, she raised her eyes to his, barely containing the tears clinging to her lashes.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I should have told you. I wasn’t hiding it. I just … it wasn’t important.”
He opened his mouth to say something, but the officer cut him off. “Is there or has there ever been anything between you and this Jamie person?”
“What? No!” Sophie turned to Spencer, her eyes wide and filled with urgency. “No! Spencer, I promise. I—”
He touched her injured face lightly. “Shh,” was all he said.
The police officer asked several more questions, got Aimee’s address from Spencer, talked with Sophie’s mother and then left, taking the other two with her. Sophie turned to Spencer as her mother followed the officers outside.
“Spencer—”
“Shh,” he said again, pulling her into him and kissing her deeply, turning her knees to liquid and her mind to mush. “I’m going to see if they need anything else,” he said when he finally broke away. “You should stay here.”
She grabbed him before he could leave her alone in the house. “What’s out there, Spencer? What’s going on? Is … is it another bag?”
He shook his head. “Your dad made me promise not to say anything.”
“Seriously?” She pulled away from him. “Spencer!”
“Sophie—”
She marched past him, ignoring his attempt to take her hand. On the porch, talking to the female police officer, her mother looked up, but even she wasn’t fast enough to stop her when she charged down the path leading down to the driveway and the garage. Her father looked up just as she rounded the corner and came to a skidding halt.
“Sophie, get back in the house—”
But it was too late. She’d seen it. It was hard not to. The bright crimson red contrasted horribly with the violent white of the garage door. It trickled down the surface to pool and weave down the driveway. But it was the words, the two horrible words that bolted her feet to the concrete, kept her rooted even when Spencer came up behind her and pulled her into his arms. His hands pressed her face into his shoulder and she let him, too numb to resist.
“Breathe,” he murmured quietly into her temple. “Breathe, Sophie.”
It took her several seconds of irrational debating before she realized she really wasn’t breathing. Air rushed in and out of her lungs in a choked wheeze, followed by another and another until she was hyperventilating. She was only vaguely aware of Spencer shoving her to the ground and forcing her head between her knees.
“Breathe, Sophie!” He was next to her, rubbing her back, his voice urgent.
“Who … who … !” was all she could choke out between broken sobs.
“Sophie!” Her father’s large hands replaced Spencer’s. She was gathered up into his arms and hurried into the house. She was vaguely aware of her mom’s high pitched fussing as she was settled onto the sofa. “Sophie?”
Somewhere in the background, someone asked if an ambulance was needed. Her father said something that quieted the inquiry.
“Sophie?”
“Who?” she croaked, focusing on her father. “Who … ?”
His sad brown eyes met hers. “Easy, baby. Just relax, okay? The police will find them.”
“What do they want?” She tried to feel shame in the terror coating each word, but it
was hard to when she couldn’t even control her breathing.
“I don’t know.” He took her trembling hands and tried to rub feeling back into the cold digits. “But we’ll sort this out. I won’t let anything happen to you or your mother.”
It would have been easier to just blindly believe the impossible beauty he promised with such conviction. But it was false. He couldn’t stop what was happening. No one would. Whoever was doing this wanted something and they weren’t going to stop.
The cushion beside her dipped, sending her teetering into a warm chest. Strong arms banded around her. Sophie gave herself into them, burrowing in deep and pressing her face into the curve between Spencer’s neck and shoulder. His fingers smoothed through her hair, drawing the strands away from her tear streaked cheeks.
“It’s going to be okay,” he murmured into her temple.
She shook her head. “It’s not.”
Her father’s fingers slipped from hers and she felt rather than saw him pull away. A moment later, his voice filtered through from a short distance. There was concern in his tone, but unwavering determination. Sophie didn’t look up to see who he was talking to or what about.
“Someone out there wants something from me,” she whispered. “And I don’t know why.”
Spencer shook his head. His hand slipped beneath her chin, forcing her face up until she was staring into his murderous expression. “They won’t touch you, even if I have to camp on your doorstep! I won’t let them near you.”
In her pocket, her phone buzzed. Still cuddled in Spencer’s arms, she dug the phone out and checked the text message.
It was from Lauren. “Hey! Where r u?”
Swiping her eyes with the back of her hand, Sophie typed back. “Home w/Spencer. Something happened.”
No sooner had she hit send when the phone chirped loudly, signaling an incoming call. She didn’t have to see the caller ID to know who it was.
Games of Fire Page 28
