“He wants you but…me? I’ve served my purpose,” Aubrey said, her tone laced with bitterness and despair. “I was the bait and now he doesn’t need me anymore. You shouldn’t have given in and climbed in the car. You should have run when you had the chance. I’m dead either way.”
Gigi swung around and grabbed her sister by the forearms and gave her a little shake. “Stop that shit. Just stop it. No one is going to die here. We’re going to get out. And as for leaving you, think again. We may not have seen each other in years but you’re my sister and I wouldn’t leave you with that monster for anything in the world. Do you understand me? We’ve got to stay calm and work together.”
Aubrey’s eyes were bright with unshed tears but she bravely nodded her head. “I understand. Together. We can figure this out, right? There has to be a way out of here.”
The sound of the door at the top of the stairs made both of them look up where Alan was descending the steps a cynical smile on his face. He’d changed in the last few years. When she’d met him she’d thought he was boyishly handsome but now his jaw looked weak and his face bloated. She couldn’t fathom how she’d been attracted to him once upon a time.
“Ladies, I hope you’re finding your accommodations comfortable?”
That mocking tone never ceased to make her want to smack that smirk right off his face. He must have read her thoughts because he raised an eyebrow as he reached out to touch her hair. She jerked away and for a moment anger flared in his eyes but then he quickly hid it, smiling mildly as he leaned against one of the armchairs.
“Aubrey, I’m going to take your sister upstairs and give her a tour of the house.” He pulled a folded newspaper out of his back pocket and tossed it on a sofa cushion. “Here’s something to keep you occupied while she’s gone.”
“I won’t lea–” Gigi began but Alan slammed his fist down on the coffee table, scaring her into silence. She inwardly trembled but hoped he couldn’t see the real fear inside. If he knew she was scared there wouldn’t be any doubt he had the upper hand.
“Don’t worry, you’ll see each other again. You’ll be together again before you know it. Now stand up and come with me.”
Gigi reached for Aubrey’s hand. “I’ll be back.”
“Of course you will. You worry too much, Aubrey.”
That fucking tone again.
His fingers clamped painfully around her upper arm and she had to grit her teeth not to wince. She’d learned in the last few years men like Alan only understood power and weakness. He had to be one hundred percent in control and that was the one thing she’d never let him have. Not anymore.
Alan was going to find that the Gigi that had run out of here wasn’t the woman he’d dragged back. Somehow she’d find a way to get Aubrey and herself out of this alive.
West? If you’re out there, I need you. I love you.
* * *
The upstairs of the home looked like it had been furnished sometime in the seventies or eighties and hadn’t been updated since. The living and dining room combination was decorated in a hideous dusty rose color while the kitchen was painted a china blue with checkered curtains on the windows overlooking the large backyard. The dining table would easily accommodate eight hungry diners or even ten if they scooted close. Gigi hadn’t seen the upstairs, but based on the size of the lower level and the basement this house had once belonged to a large family.
She wandered over to the fireplace and let her gaze linger on the framed photos sitting on the mantle. A black and white of a young woman with a beaming smile. Smaller photos of several blond-haired children. A large one of a family – mother, father, and six happy children all dressed up in their Sunday best. Gigi stiffened in shock when she recognized one of the boys in the picture.
Alan.
Licking her lips, she struggled to keep her expression bland while her insides churned. “Was this your family’s home, Alan?”
He’d come to stand right behind her and she had to suppress the shudder of revulsion at his proximity. Showing any emotion right now was a very bad idea.
“I see you recognize me. Do you see anything else in these photos that catch your eye?”
At first she shook her head but then the picture at the far end of the mantel came into view. It was of a young woman in a sundress, laughing and smiling at what looked like a picnic. She had long blonde hair, delicate features, and a slim figure.
It was like looking in a mirror.
Whoever this girl was she looked a hell of a lot like Gigi. Her breath quickening, she went back and took a closer look at the other pictures, realizing the girl was in a few more but at a younger age. Gigi stepped closer to the last photo and studied every detail. By the style of the dress it had to have been taken about twenty years ago. Gigi reached out a hand to touch the picture but then snatched it back.
Touching wouldn’t answer the burning question that was making her temples ache. Alan was silent behind her…waiting. They both knew what Gigi was going to ask. Now or later. It didn’t matter when. The silence seemed to stretch on and on, the tension growing into a palpable wall. The bastard was planning to wait her out. She wasn’t going to get to see Aubrey again until she gave in.
“Who–Who is she?”
The words came out choked and tightened her hands into fists to keep from screaming what she really wanted to say to him. She was holding on to her control by a thread.
“My stepsister.”
Alan reached around her and lifted the frame from its place on the mantel. Gigi flinched slightly as his arm came in contact with the bare skin when she’d pushed up her sleeves. Her stomach twisted and her heart accelerated but she didn’t step away as she knew he was daring her to do.
“Your sister? I don’t understand, Alan. If she’s your sister, where is she?”
Alan stared at the picture, completely absorbed. He walked a few steps away and sat down in a chair, his gaze never leaving the photograph. His fingertips lovingly traced the girl’s face before he looked up at Gigi.
“Not my sister. My stepsister. My father married her mother and we moved into this house with her other four children. Anna and I were the oldest. I was sixteen and she was fifteen. The moment I saw her for the first time I fell in love. She was perfect and I knew we’d be together forever.”
Except that Gigi had never seen this person the entire time she’d been with Alan. A sense of foreboding filled her with dread but she forced herself to ask one more time.
“She’s very pretty. How come I’ve never met her?”
Alan placed the frame on the end table, running his fingers along the edge as if he were caressing someone very beloved.
“Because she’s dead. Anna is gone. She didn’t love me. She said she would never love me.” His gaze swung to Gigi, its intensity rooting her to where she stood. “Why did you leave me, Georgette? Why?”
Swallowing hard, Gigi took a deep breath to slow her racing heart. She could lie, of course. She’d done it before when she was with him. Anything to keep him from losing his temper. But everything inside her rebelled at the mere idea of doing it again. She’d come so far. Too far really to go back. She could never let him think she would be under his control again.
“I had to be free, Alan. Everyone deserves to have a life.”
He scowled and picked up the frame. “I wanted to keep you safe. She said the same thing, you know. About life. Now she’s gone. I won’t let the world hurt you like it did her.”
Slowly, so she wouldn’t spook him, she stepped over to the couch and lowered herself onto one of the cushions. “I have a life. A job. People who care about me. I won’t be happy locked up in a room dressing in the clothes you’ve chosen and reading the books you’ve picked out. I won’t live like that.”
The last sentence had come out forcefully and now Alan was giving her a narrow-eyed stare as if trying to figure out where she’d found the courage to speak to him that way. He’d never liked being contradicted.
“This is all because of that man. He’s made you think this way.”
“No. I felt this way long before I met West. This isn’t about him. This is about me. Me. I’m sorry you lost your sister but trying to control my life isn’t going to bring her back, Alan. I’m not Anna.”
His lips twisted as he placed the frame on the table. “Are you in love with him? Do you want to marry him?”
He wasn’t hearing what she was saying but that was nothing new.
“I’m not Anna,” she repeated. “You can’t fix things by exchanging my life for hers. I won’t allow you to do that to me. Not again.”
Alan stood and walked over to the picture window that overlooked the lush lawn and the stately oak trees. “You could learn to love me again. In time. You loved me once.”
She’d been a lonely, scared child who had reached out to the first person who had shown her kindness and attention. It had been more desperation than love but she had been fond of him.
Until she’d seen what he was capable of.
“No,” she said softly. “I have some good memories from when we first met but our time has passed. Let me go, Alan. Let Aubrey go. Move on with your life. Holding on to what was isn’t healthy. Let Anna rest in peace.”
Her gaze landed on the faded photograph and a shudder ran down her spine. His obsession was frightening. He’d held onto it for years, never wavering in his determination. It was sick and twisted, and the chances of him taking her advice were probably zero. He’d never give up on this – or her.
He turned back to Gigi, his expression remote. She’d seen this behavior before and nothing good ever came of it. He was retreating into himself, the fury simmering just underneath the surface until he finally lashed out, determined to hurt others as much as he hurt inside.
“You love him, don’t you?”
“This isn’t about–”
Alan was across the room and jerking her up from her spot on the sofa before she could finish. He shook her hard, her head snapping back with the force and sucking the oxygen from her lungs.
“Goddamit, answer me. Do you fucking love him?”
Gigi had been running from truth and love for so long she almost let a lie fall from her lips. But something deep inside of her had shifted these last several days. West had stood by her, believed in her, loved her, protected her with his own life. Saying she didn’t love him would have been the worst kind of untruth. Because she loved West so deeply and completely Alan would see through her obfuscation in a minute. There wasn’t any point in trying to cover up what was plainly written on her face.
Her glib answer stuck in her throat and she had to close her mouth and start again. She took a few deep breaths to calm her racing heart as his fingers bit into her flesh. She’d have bruises tomorrow.
“Yes. Yes, I do.”
His hands fell away and he took a couple of steps back. Scowling, he shook his head as if he were greatly disappointed in her. Like a parent and a misbehaving child.
“I wish you didn’t feel that way, Georgette. I truly do.” He walked over to the credenza in the corner and pulled open a drawer, drawing out a handgun. “All I’ve done is love you all these years. Since the first moment I saw you I knew you were meant for me. You’re mine. Come with me.”
Alan was going to keep the promise he’d made long ago. If he couldn’t have her no one would.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
‡
West scrubbed his fingers through his hair and tried to hold onto what last vestige of control he had. He needed to find Gigi and Agent Caleb Faulkner had assured him that he would help. After giving the federal agent the bare bones explanation, West had used his newfound knowledge of Alan Morton to try and ascertain where he might take her.
That had led him to the dossier that Jared had sent this morning. West had found an entry showing that Morton had purchased his childhood home right after Gigi ran from him. It was the most logical place to take her.
That’s why West was standing here on the sidewalk in front of the hotel waiting for Faulkner to pick him, Zach, and Travis up and drive them to the location.
Since all three men were unfamiliar with Chicago and its suburbs they wouldn’t be saving any time trying to find it on their own. It was difficult to make himself wait even the ten minutes for Faulkner to arrive but West reminded himself that he needed to keep his feelings under control if he was going to be any help to Gigi. An emotional mess wasn’t what she needed right now.
A sedan with tinted windows pulled up to the curb and the passenger side window slowly lowered.
“Let’s go.”
The voice of Caleb Faulkner could easily be heard over the city sounds and West didn’t hesitate, sliding into the front seat with the agent while Zach and Travis took the back. The vehicle darted forward, tires squealing and throwing West back in his seat. He couldn’t say Faulkner didn’t have a fucking sense of urgency. The man had barely pulled away from the hotel and had already pressed the accelerator to the floor in some nasty Chicago traffic.
Unfortunately it didn’t help West breathe any easier, perspiration running down his neck. Nothing would be right until he could see Gigi was unharmed.
“I’ve already called for backup at the suspected location plus put a BOLO out for Morton’s limo. I’ve got agents staking out his mansion but at the moment it appears to be empty. If Morton has your girl he didn’t take her there. Now tell me again why you think he took her to a house in Oak Brook.”
“My research guy got some background on Morton this morning,” West said. “I think I know why he’s so focused on her.”
The car weaved in and out of traffic, barely missing the rear bumper of a Porsche that was doing the same.
“I’m listening.”
West dearly hoped Faulkner could do that and drive at the same time. Otherwise they wouldn’t be alive long enough to find Gigi. The man was a menace on these vehicle clogged roads. They already had three near-death misses in the last ten minutes.
“My friend sent me pictures of Morton’s family. Gigi could be his stepsister’s twin. From what Jared was able to glean the guy was obsessed with her. She wasn’t as enamored and then a few years later died in a car accident. I doubt he’s been right in the head since. He certainly isn’t acting sane.”
“What does that have to do with this house in Oak Brook?”
“It’s his childhood home,” West replied through gritted teeth, his fingers clamped onto the dash as the sedan crossed three lanes of traffic to take an exit. “He purchased it right after Gigi ran away from him. Her absence must have kicked his obsession into a higher gear. If he’s trying to recreate his life with his sister Anna, then what better place to take Gigi than where he lived? Besides, I can’t just sit here with my thumb up my ass and wait. This lead is the most solid.”
“I can’t argue with the logic,” Faulkner agreed, finally slowing down for gridlocked traffic. Now that they were almost at a standstill, West was actually missing the agent’s devil-may-care driving skills. “I will say that he never mentioned his sister or anyone named Anna the entire time I was undercover. Do you both agree the house is the best play?”
Travis and Zach nodded in agreement.
“I think we’re on to something,” Zach replied. “And I’m like you, West. I can’t just stand here and do nothing.”
Travis grinned. “I’m with you, little brother. You’re the cop.”
Everyone was supporting West’s decision, so he could only hope that he was right. Because if he wasn’t and something happened to Gigi…
Alan Morton would wish he’d never been born.
* * *
Gigi tugged at the metal handcuffs but all she succeeded in doing was cutting into the flesh of her wrists. At gunpoint Alan had forced her into this car in the garage, cuffing her to the door handle in the backseat. All the while he’d been muttering something about saving Gigi from herself but she hadn’t heard much of what he’d said. She’d been too busy y
elling and screaming the place down. If he wanted to shoot her then he should get on with it and stop fucking around.
“Shut up,” he growled as she threw her head back and gave another banshee yell. “Nobody’s going to be able to hear you anyway once I start the engine.”
That got her immediate attention.
Was he planning to gas her to death? A cold sweat broke out over her skin, making her shiver with fear. She didn’t want to die. She’d fought for too long to give up now.
“You’re going to kill me? Let me die here? That’s low, Alan, even for you.”
Alan leaned against the garage wall, a curiously blank expression on his face that sent chills down her spine. It was as if his humanity had drained away and the id of his personality was fully in charge.
“You’ve left me no choice, Georgette. You won’t let me take care of you. Save you. You love him just like Anna. It’s what killed her, her love for him. I told her not to go out with him but she didn’t listen. Just like you.”
The words came out in a flat monotone. No inflection. No emotion. Was Alan’s pain so deep that he had to shut off every feeling to be able to handle it?
“Killing me won’t bring her back,” Gigi said, desperate to stall or try to reason with him. Anything to keep him from carrying out his evil plan. “You’re not a killer, Alan. You’re better than that. Don’t do this.”
Gigi deliberately didn’t mention her sister Aubrey still locked in the basement. In the almost catatonic state he was in he might have forgotten about her. She would live even if Gigi died.
“I have no choice,” he repeated, his eyes gone cold and lifeless. “You don’t know how much I miss her every single day.”
Keep him talking. Delay. Focus.
“You must have loved her very much.”
Every ounce of discipline she’d harnessed these last two years on the run was scraped together in that instant. She sounded almost calm as if she faced death every day and it was no big deal. She kept her tone low and soothing just like she’d heard West talk to a skittish horse at his ranch. Despite a heartbeat that sounded like a freight train in her own ears, she held on to the last shred of control she had left.
Hiding From Danger (Danger Incorporated Book 2) Page 18
