When we hear the locks disengaging, both of us stop breathing at that moment. This is it, this is the moment of truth. When we walk into the gym, everything changes. Luke takes my hand in his, squeezing it.
“BOY! GIRL! Let’s go.”
We make our way up the wooden steps to the kitchen where the monster awaits with a knife in his hand. As always, I keep my head down, not wanting to give him any indication that something is about to happen. Luke quickly leads us around the corner to the gym; I only let out the breath I was holding when I hear the locks engage behind us.
Luke simply nods toward the chair where I normally sit, before heading over to the weights. We don’t normally talk to each other while we’re in here, both of us convinced that he could be listening at the door, so today is no different. The only thing that is different is the barbell that he brings me a few minutes later.
Over the next hour, while he’s working out, I test the weight of the barbell. I picture what is about to happen, what I’m going to do over and over again until I can’t imagine it ending in any other way but him lying on the floor. I can’t let myself consider that our plan won’t work. When Luke moves to the treadmill I know our time is almost up. With the barbell in my hand, I move further back but also closer to the door so that when it opens I’m in the right position.
When the locks disengage, I immediately look for Luke, my panicked gaze finding his calm one.
I love you, he mouths.
I love you too, I silently say back.
“Let’s go,” he orders stepping further into the room.
Just before he turns around, I raise the barbell up high and manage to bring it down with all the power I can muster onto the back of his neck. He immediately falls, and the knife goes sliding across the floor, but before I can try to get it, Luke kicks it away making sure that he can’t get to it.
“You FUCKING bastard!” Luke kicks him in the ribs, but the large man that has ruined both of our lives, doesn’t move.
For the first time, I look at him…really look at the man who made our worst nightmares become a reality. He’s big, though not as big as he always looked now that he’s lying on the floor. His long, jet black hair hangs just over his eyes, but I can tell they’re closed. Looking at him, there’s nothing that screams monster. Nothing that screams “run away,” if you were to pass him on the sidewalk. Nothing that gives away how truly fucked up this man really is.
“Em!” Luke screaming at me finally pulls my attention away from the still unconscious body.
“What?”
“Go to the kitchen, see if you can find any food that we can bring. Crackers, bread, peanut butter, anything—throw it into a bag.”
“But…what if…”
“Go, I’ll take care of him,” the anger in his eyes is like something I’ve never seen before, but I follow his orders anyway.
I quickly rummage through the kitchen cabinets, grabbing a few things before trying to hunt down a shopping bag to put everything in. I grab a couple of large knives from the block on the counter, in case we need them for protection from an animal… or something.
“You fucking ruined my life!” I walk back into the gym just in time to watch Luke bring down the barbell onto the man’s hand. A groan is the only indication that he’s even still alive. “You’re a fucking sick crazy bastard, you know that? You fucking took my childhood from me! You took everything from me! And you tried to take it from her too! You don’t deserve to live; I should kill you right now for what you did to both of us. I should find a way to make you die a slow painful death. I should kill you—”
“Luke,” I drop the bags on the floor and rush over to him. As much as I know he deserves it, Luke would never forgive himself if he actually killed him, “let’s go.”
“I can’t…I need to…”
“He’s not going anywhere. We can lock him in here. Even if he gets out, it’s not like he can call the cops and report us missing.”
“I want to kill him. I need to make sure he doesn’t do this to anyone else.”
“We’ll let the cops deal with him, they’ll make sure he doesn’t see the light of day again.”
“I don’t have much faith in cops, Em. They’ve never helped me before, why would they now? I could kill him. I should kill him, just to make sure he can’t…”
“My dad’s a detective, he’ll make sure he pays.”
“He is?”
“Yeah…he always told me that child abusers get what they deserve when they’re in jail. Even prisoners don’t respect men who hurt children. He will pay there for what he did to you, Luke.”
“What he did to us, Em, to us.”
“He’ll pay. I promise my dad will make sure he pays.”
“How? We don’t even know his name or where we are?”
“There’s a stack of bills on the counter, I grabbed one. We have his name and address—my dad WILL find him, I promise.”
“But…” He glances back at the bloodied man on the floor who for so long had controlled every aspect of life.
“Come on, let’s leave this nightmare behind once and for all.”
With my hand in his, I lead him out of the room, grabbing the knife that he used every day to threaten us with. When the door closes behind us, for the first time we’re the ones locking the door from the outside. Luke turns and leads me in the opposite direction of the front door, but I don’t question it knowing he must have a plan. What I don’t expect is for him to stop in a laundry room; on top of the dryer are clean, folded clothes.
“It’s not much, but it’ll help,” he hands me a long T-shirt before grabbing one for himself. He sorts through the piles before handing me a pair of sweatpants.
“What about you?”
“That’s the only pair, I’ll be fine in these.” He shrugs.
“But…”
“You can’t walk out in just a t-shirt and panties, Em. It’s bad enough we don’t have shoes or blankets. Take the fucking pants.”
“Okay…thanks.”
“Let’s get the hell out of here.”
Heading out a side door, I step outside for the first time since this entire nightmare began. I stop only for the briefest moments to feel the sun on my face and the slight breeze in my hair. Luke squeezes my hand before leading me away and into the woods behind the house.
Chapter 8
Luke
Ten Years Later
“How did it go?” Alec asks as soon as he answers the phone.
“Good, we got the kids,” I confirm even though he already knows this. He might not have physically been there with us last night, but he heard everything thanks to communication pieces we all wore. “But you know this.”
“Yeah. They were okay though, right?”
“Yup, a little shaken up, but I think it was more out of surprise than anything else. As soon as they spoke with their mother in the van, they calmed down. Everything went as planned.”
“Good.”
“We’re meeting to discuss the new case later today,” I remind him.
“I have it on my calendar, I’ll call in.”
“You know, you could—”
“I’ll call in. I have other things going on today.”
He doesn’t and we both know it. He hasn’t been to the office since the accident. Hell, I’m not sure if he’s even left his house since he was discharged from the rehab center. Every time I ask him to come in or even just go out for a drink, he has an excuse. I’ve thought about just dropping in, but I’m not convinced he would answer the door even if I did.
“How’s Sophie?”
“She’s…good, getting big. I’ll send you a picture I took yesterday of her.”
I’m a horrible godfather; not that I had any clue what I was doing when the stuck me with this title to begin with when she was born. When they first brought her home from the hospital, I made it a point to visit at least twice a week. Even though I had no idea what babies needed, I would stop at a store
beforehand and pick something from the baby aisle for her. Sometimes I lucked out and ended up with something age appropriate, while other times Alec’s wife, Dani, laughed and said they would put it away for her. Since the accident though, Alec has refused any of my attempts to come over to see Sophie. I’ve resorted to ordering baby items online and having them delivered directly. Alec will then send me a text thanking me for whatever it was I sent, but anytime I ask to stop by and see her he makes an excuse.
“I have a few interviews scheduled over the next few weeks with some of the guys you recommended. The timing couldn’t be better, the phone has been ringing off the hook with requests lately.”
“Good, they all came highly recommended. Their training and expertise is exactly what we need so we can grow.”
Alec and I had started a security company together when we both decided against re-enlisting in the Army almost four years ago. The first year we didn’t even break even because the upfront costs were significant, but thankfully we both had enough money to cover our losses. The small warehouse that we purchased doubled as both an office and our home back then. When we converted the one section to dorm-style living arrangements, it was with the idea that our staff might need a place to crash after coming in from a late assignment or if they were between assignments. Or, for some of the newer guys, until they find their own place. But for that first year, it was our home.
So much has happened in the last four years, but especially in the last year when our business boomed. Landing a security contract with a high profile politician finally got our name out there and ever since we’ve been turning away business because we can’t hire staff fast enough. That’s one area that Alec and I agree on—we will not lessen our expectations because of high demand.
When we first talked about starting the business together, we knew what we wanted. Dark Water Security was going to be the best of the best, which meant protection provided only by retired military personnel. As we grew and our name became more known around the area, so have people wanting to join our team. However, we’ve remained firm on our requirement about their background and everyone we consider must be recommended by someone either current or retired from the military.
“Good, there’s talk of a few rallies coming to the area next year that I’d like to throw our name in the ring for consideration.”
“With the elections coming up, I’m not surprised. We have enough backing that it should be a no-brainer, but let’s make sure we don’t limit ourselves to the political field,” he reminds me.
From the start, we’ve always had our separate roles. Even when he was here, I handled more of the day to day operations while Alec was in charge of the bigger picture. He handled advertising, recruiting, marketing, and the finances. I hadn’t realized just how much he was involved in all of that until the accident put him out of work for those couple of months.
“The bulk of our requests tend to be politically related, but we’re seeing some others come in which I’ve been assigning some of the newer guys to. Ones that are good to get their feet wet with.”
“Good, I did see that from the last assignment report you sent me.”
“Have you gotten anywhere with our new computer expert yet? You know Jose’s last day is Friday.”
“I know,” he groans. “I have someone in mind, she would be perfect for the position.”
“So, you keep saying,” I remind him. “It doesn’t sound like she wants the job, though.”
Ever since Jose submitted his notice a month ago, Alec has been telling me about this amazing computer expert woman he knows that he wants us to bring on. The problem? She won’t commit to coming in for an interview. I’ve given him more days and times that I’m available than I ever have for an interview. I even offered to call her myself to arrange a day and time, but there’s always some excuse. I’m not sure why he’s so hung up on hiring her if she can’t even decide if we’re worth her time for an interview.
“She wants the job,” he argues.
“Really? Did she decide on when she can come in for an interview?”
“Not yet, but she’s supposed to call me tonight with a date.”
“I’m sure you must have other candidates to consider.”
“I do, lots of them, in fact.”
“Then why are you so insistent on this one?”
“She’s the best; if you need information on anyone she’s the person you want. If anything exists, she’ll find it. Trust me, Emily is the perfect person for us.”
Emily.
Fuck…just like that, I’m back there. Even all these years later, just hearing her name takes me back to a time that I would like nothing more than to forget. It’s been ten years, but I could picture her just as well as I could the last time I saw her. I’ll never forget that day…
“DADDY!!!!!!!”
Em’s scream is so loud I can hear it even from down the hall. It’s been killing me not to see her, but the doctors and then later the cops, insisted we remain separate. At first, they said it was so we could be looked over and taken care of medically. Then the cops said it was “protocol.”.
We both tried to fight it, neither of us trusting anyone but each other. But when they threatened to sedate us if we didn’t cooperate, we both knew there was nothing we could do. So we’ve been separated for the last several hours and I have no idea what is going on with Emily. All the cops seem to be concerned about is getting our statements about what happened.
What happened…
I’ve told the story countless times. I don’t know what Em has told them, but there are some things that will stay locked away in that house. Things that I won’t—I can’t—tell anyone about. Things that only Em knows. Well, maybe others know because I have no idea what she told the cops.
Knock knock
“Yeah.”
When a large man with dark hair steps into the room, I Immediately sit up straighter on the bed and clutch the nurse call-button in my hand. It’s not much, but at least it would alert someone there’s a problem. The cops were supposed to be standing outside the room, making sure no one comes in. Making sure no one can find us here. What if he knows the cops? What if the cops had been to his house? What if they—
“Luke!” Em practically pushes the man out of the way and I immediately jump from the bed.
“Em,” I wrap my arms around her.
Closing my eyes, I can pretend that it’s just the two of us here and that nothing else exists. I can pretend that this won’t be the last time I see her, that this won’t be goodbye.
“Luke, I want you to meet my dad, James.”
“Son, I…” He offers his hand, which forces me to unravel one of my hands from Em. “I owe you my life. Emily told me how you took care of her, how you looked out for her all those months. I never gave up hope that she would be found, even month after month passed with no new leads. I knew she was out there, I just knew it. I can’t thank you enough for… everything you did. For getting her out of there, for bringing her back to me. For taking care of her for those seven months.”
Seven months?
“I…” I stare at him in disbelief. Had it really been seven months since Em was brought there?
“I’m taking her home, away from here…”
“Are you okay, Luke?” I look down only to find her sad blue eyes looking back at me. Glancing between her and stranger standing not far from us, I struggle with what’s happening. I knew all along that this moment would come; it was time for her to go home. I just don’t know what my life looks like any longer, especially without Em.
“Yeah, I’m good,” I lie. “They just have a few more questions for me, and then I’m sure they’ll find me some place to go.”
“I wish you could come with us.” She’s killing me, doesn’t she know that? I take a deep breath in, hoping to push any doubt away.
“I’m sorry, son. I tried, but…” For the first time I really glance at Em’s dad and I see where she got her stunn
ing blue eyes from. Even if she hadn’t told me he was a cop, I would have known just by looking at him. He stands there with authority, but also with a sense of unease. It’s as if he doesn’t know what to do or say, not that I can blame him. I don’t know that anything could prepare you for something like this.
“It’s okay.” I knew there was a strong possibility that I could be arrested for what I did.
“They have our contact information; when this is squared away have a social worker give me a call,” James says. “You’ll always have a place to stay with us. It’s the least I can do.”
“Thanks,” I mumble.
“I’ll see you soon, right?” Em begs me to reassure her.
“Yeah,” I lie.
“We’ll come back for you,” she promises.
“I love you,” I say, not caring if her father hears me.
“I love you, too.”
Chapter 9
Luke
“You still there?” Alec asks.
“Yeah, sorry. Got distracted reading an email,” I lie. “Just let me know when she wants to meet and I’ll arrange my schedule.”
“Will do.” I hear him typing away on his computer, while I just stare at mine. The memories of that day are still repeating over and over in my head. It’s been more than ten years, but I’ll never forget how she felt in my arms. I shake my head, knowing that Alec needs me to focus on our business and not on my shitty past.
“She better be worth jumping all these hoops for. I don’t know how a drama queen is going to fit in here.”
“She’s not a drama queen,” he laughs, a full, real laugh, something he hasn’t done in months. “Trust me, she prefers to stay as far away from drama as possible. She’s the type who prefers to remain in the shadows, away from any spotlight.”
“Yet, she can’t commit to a date for an interview?”
“Look, she…she has some issues, I’m not going to lie. BUT, she’s exactly what we need. She’s the one who’s helped us on the last few of our other cases.”
The other cases, aka the ones we do pro bono that very few people know about. The ones that only a handful of our most trusted employees ever take part in. The ones that give me the slightest feeling of redemption for what I did.
Luke (Dark Water Security Series Book 1) Page 6
