All around us, detectives, uniformed cops, and forensic personnel were moving in and out of the place.
Sebastian’s staff had been corralled in the distance on the lawn.
“Are you still holding the driver because of the cell phone?” I asked as I surveyed the small cluster of people. Some were dressed as if the night staff and still on the job while others were wearing robes and night clothes as if they’d slept on the premise.
“No, we didn’t have any charges to pin him with, so we had to let him go,” Asher answered.
“Then where is he?”
Asher shrugged. “Maybe he got smart and quit.”
The moon was low on the horizon. It was the wee morning hours. I covered my yawn and refrained from rubbing my tired eyes.
Asher gestured us inside. “We haven’t found the secret room that Lucy has seen yet.”
“It’s in the wine cellar,” I said.
Asher’s brows knit together. “There is no wine cellar.”
“There has to be,” I said.
“You might want to pull the building permits on the property,” Ford added.
“And check the vehicles for DNA on the girls. He had to transport them in one way or another,” Noah added.
“We’re on it,” Asher reassured us.
The house was bigger than I’d expected on the inside. A crystal chandelier hung in the entryway where twisting and winding stairs led up to top floors.
It was decorated with flare and pops of color. This was not a room designed by someone color-blind. He’d had help, which made me pause. Dorothy’s sister was a designer. Surely someone with her taste could have decorated this home. She might know where Sebastian was hiding the wine.
I tapped Archer’s arm almost absently. “Call the ex-girlfriend, the one with the missing sister. She’ll be able to tell you where he’s hiding the wine cellar, and if that doesn’t work, get the staff to talk. Offer a deal if you have to.”
“Or just call in a cadaver dog,” Carson said as he approached. “Ford, Noah needs you outside.”
Ford glanced at me, and I gestured to the house. “You go. I’m going to wander around. Something’s not right. I need to get a feel for whatever that is.”
He kissed me. “Stay out of trouble.”
“I can’t promise anything.” I smiled at him.
“I’ll keep an eye on her,” Carson said.
He walked off, and I made my way down the hall and paused outside a room that looked like a study. Books lined the shelves. One whole wall was dedicated to law books. The other side of the room looked like books that were old and smelly and probably pricey first editions.
Forensic workers and police officers were in the room, and I stood out of the way. My gaze dropped to the desk. I could almost see Sebastian sitting behind it. A big imposing desk for a big ego. Beyond the desk was a window that led to gardens outside. Colorful flowers arrayed in rows.
“He said he could see them every day,” I whispered.
“Who?” Carson asked.
“Sebastian. He said he could see the girls every day,” I said, walking out of the room. I went into the kitchen and looked out the window above the sink. I moved to the French doors and took in the yard. Flowers were everywhere. Holy crap! I ran out of the kitchen and took the stairs two at a time.
“Lucy, what are you doing?” Carson asked as he hurried to catch up with me.
“I’m checking out the view,” I called back, only stopping to look in each room to judge which was the master. When I got to the end of the hall, I stepped into the master bedroom. The sheets had all been confiscated, and fingerprint dust touched everything.
“They must have started with this room,” Carson said, entering behind me.
I bypassed the king-sized bed and the furniture. Ignored the happy pictures and lies he surrounded himself with and moved to the window instead.
Down below in the beautiful array of flowers was where I saw it. Beneath a canopy of lights all pointing and shining to illuminating his evil deeds. Several clusters of white roses ran the length of the garden. They were covered in front by nothing except other types of colorful flowers, but from this view in his bedroom, the roses weren’t just noticeable; they were glaring.
“I think I know where some of the girls are.”
Carson came to stand with me. “I thought you said he hunts the girls in the woods.”
I shrugged. “I know he does. I just don’t know if he leaves them there.” I pointed to the flowers below. “He’s color-blind, but that doesn’t explain the difference in the types of flowers.” I pointed to the clusters of roses. “We should search beneath the white roses.”
“If he’s color-blind, then what does it matter what color the roses are?” Carson asked.
“White is pure.” I repeated what his mother had said and pointed down below.
“Looks like we’re digging up the bushes,” Carson said, leaving me in the room. I glanced around once more before heading out of the space. After taking the stairs down, I wandered back into the kitchen.
I opened closets and doors, frustrated there was nothing stone-related in this damn house. I’d seen the cellar; I knew it was here.
It was just a matter of finding the damn thing.
Noah escorted one of the maids into the kitchen. Her flustered red face showed signs of fear. We could work with fear.
“Show me,” he ordered.
The maid walked into the pantry and gestured to the back wall. “You push on the shelves, and it opens. I was told it’s a secret passage that leads from the wine cellar up into Mr. Elliot’s room, and it’s off-limits to all staff.”
Noah walked in and pushed where she’d directed. A shelving unit swung open soundlessly. A stone wall surrounded a descending staircase. The steep steps looked like they’d been there before the house was ever built. Another newer edition of stairs climbed toward the upstairs rooms.
Noah pulled his gun and kept it pointed at the ground as he stepped down into the darkness, and I followed behind him, knowing the horror of the sight that was hidden somewhere below.
“This is the type of stone that I saw,” I whispered as we reached the bottom step.
Rows and rows of wine bottles rested on old wooden shelving. I knew my way from here. I’d seen him make this trip more than once. I knocked Noah on the arm and pointed down one of the aisles and followed behind him until we reached the end of the room. I ran my hand along the stone until I found the smooth one.
I pointed at the stone and then stepped back, letting Noah enter first with his gun drawn.
The door slid open, and Noah took a step. That was as far as he’d gotten when a big body barreled into his stomach.
Sebastian’s driver came out swinging and tackled Noah to the ground, knocking his gun from his grasp.
I grabbed a wine bottle and swung hard. The hit to the head knocked the driver over. His eyes rolled back in his head.
Noah’s breathing was labored as I held out my hand and helped him up. He cuffed the driver and left him on the floor when smoke started to billow out of the dungeon-esque room.
“We aren’t losing this place too,” I said, hurrying inside. Grabbing one of the dresses, I swatted at the fire that was trying to gather life. I extinguished the flames and wiped the sweat from my eyes and fell to my knees. The cage was sitting open. Papers were on the floor. The driver was trying to destroy everything.
“This is where he held them before he killed them,” I whispered, unable to look away from the cage and the handcuffs dangling from the bar above.
“Don’t touch anything,” Noah said, pulling out his phone.
I rose to my feet and turned to find the creepy wall of faces. I took out my phone and snapped a picture. So many women had died at Sebastian’s hand. More than the amount of rose bushes out on the lawn. I wouldn’t stop until I found them all. I couldn’t.
My skin prickled with goosebumps, and I turned to find four of the missing women
staring back at me. These ghostly apparitions weren’t trying to attack me. Despite their creepy white dresses and matching white scarves, they looked at peace.
One by one, they smiled and turned, floating up through the ceiling.
Noah calling my name jerked me back to reality. “They found something in the garden.”
I knew what they’d found without asking. At least four of the missing girls were buried there.
Ford stepped into the room, and I could feel anger radiating off of him as he stared at first the cage and then the pictures on the wall. He reached for my picture to tear it down, but I stopped him.
“You’ll taint the evidence,” I said and took his hand, leading him from what could have ended up being the last place I’d drawn breath.
“Where did you go?” I asked, climbing the stairs out of the wine cellar.
“Grant wanted to discuss the security measures we need to take. They went to arrest Sebastian, only they can’t find him. They only found his mother’s charred house, just like you saw.”
“He’s coming for me. I can feel it.” I shivered as I stepped out of the pantry. I glanced out the kitchen to the garden beyond where men with shovels were standing under bright lights. A drab white tent had been erected and would serve as a forensic headquarters.
“We both need sleep,” he said, taking my hand. “There’s nothing else we can do here to help.”
I leaned into his body and rested my head on his arm as we walked. “Good, I’m ready for my bed.”
“Not tonight,” he said, wrapping his arm around me. “Tonight is the Watermill where we can both rest without worry. Tomorrow we’ll come up with a plan to catch this bastard, and then life as we know it can return to normal.”
Even as he finished his sentence, the pinpricks in my head started. I pulled Ford to a stop. “I need my meds.”
As the pain shot through my head and I dropped to my knees, Ford was yelling for Carson and Sam as I fought the anger and need to kill tugging at my mind. “He’s pissed. He knows we’re taking away his toys.”
The stab of the needle was almost lost in the pain. My eyes drooped as Ford carried me to the SUV, where Sam was already inside behind the wheel.
“Rest easy, baby. He won’t get you tonight.” Ford’s words were whispered in my ear as I shut my eyes and let the void pull me under. My last thoughts were of Sebastian as I released my need to fight things. I tuned in, much clearer than I’d ever been before.
Just a glimpse was all I got, but it was all I needed. Sebastian hadn’t fled the country like the others thought. He was slouched behind the wheel of a car parked across the street from my house.
Chapter 29
He was gone by the next day. There was nothing out of place, nothing amiss. When I’d woken up and explained to the group how I wanted things to go, they’d each tried to talk me out of it. With the loudest rebuttals coming from Ford and my brother-in-law. Not that I’d let that stop me.
Gigi and Asher were on my side.
This was going to have to be me and him. There was no other way.
Sebastian was smart, but I was smarter. I’d wait an eternity if I had to. One day he’d believe that I let my guard down, and he’d find a way to attack. I was as sure of it as I was of the blood flowing through my body.
It took a week of my sister’s participation coming and going from the house. Every day she was dressed in a white dress and scarf. Taunting Sebastian to strike, and every day, he did nothing but watch and never from the same spot.
I was watching him watching me. Waiting and ready for him to make his move.
We snuck the guys into my house, one by one, in the back of the car, where I’d pulled into the garage and shut it before they climbed out.
I had a house full of people that were waiting for the same thing I was. During that time, we were kept apprised of the progress being made and the evidence collected that would lock Sebastian up for life. We’d identified the guy who’d surprised me in the apartment as Roger Williams. He’d been the go-between for the guy driving the SUV when Sebastian had ordered it. Roger was picked up and charged with a whole slew of things that didn’t even relate to the missing girls, Elliot, or me. He’d offered to turn over evidence in exchange for witness-protection, and he had a lot of dirt on the State’s Attorney; more than what we were aware of. Sebastian’s luck had run out.
I knew the instant he’d made his decision. He was coming for me, and he was out for blood. The games were over.
I tapped on the door to the spare bedroom where the others had been holed up.
“Showtime.”
At the sound of my words, relief flashed across their faces.
“I swear if he didn’t attack soon, I was going to hunt him down,” Carson said.
“Gigi just left, and he’s made his decision. He just got out of the car.”
I eased the door closed again and held the gun tight in my grip as I entered my living room. I sat in the chair I’d placed in the corner, strategic no matter where Sebastian entered.
I closed my eyes with the finger on the trigger and watched as he rounded the house.
“Point of entry is from the back,” I called out, just as I heard the sound of shattered glass coming from the French doors.
I opened my eyes and waited for Sebastian to round the corner. I lifted the gun and had it pointed at him.
“Breaking and entering is against the law,” I said, cocking the trigger.
The look of surprise on his face was worth the week of listening to the others complain that Sebastian was taking his time. “I saw you leave.”
I tsked. “You saw what I wanted you to see. Isn’t that what you did to all your victims?”
“Shoot me, Lucy. That’s what you want, isn’t it? Pull the trigger and be more like me.”
I didn’t take the bait. I didn’t have to. What I had planned was so much better.
“You can feel me, can’t you? That’s how you knew I was coming,” he asked. “If you don’t kill me, I’ll be with you forever. Is that what you want? You’ll go crazy, out of your mind, if you don’t get rid of me.”
“It’s cute how you think I’m not crazy already.” I rose from my seat. My hand stayed steady, the gun not wavering in the least. I would use it. I should use it.
“We’re alike you and me. I’ve read your unofficial file,” he said, glancing around the room as if looking for a weapon or some way to get out of this predicament.
“We’re nothing alike,” I said as I shot at his feet as he went to reach behind his back as if getting a gun.
He paused and put his hands up in the air. “Looks like you caught me. So, what’s it going to be? Are you taking me in or putting a bullet through my heart?”
“Don’t flatter yourself, Sebastian. You don’t have a heart, and I won’t lose my soul because of you.”
At my words, the others rushed from the backroom and had Sebastian at gunpoint while Noah and Asher cuffed him from behind.
Sebastian stared at me. His lips twisted into a smile even though he’d been caught.
“I knew you were worthy of playing my game, but make no mistake, Lucy. This game isn’t over yet.”
I lowered the gun. “You’re right. I still have one more move to play.”
His brows knit as Noah and Asher dragged him out of the room. Carson slipped the gun from my hand, and Ford pulled me into his arms and held me tight. “You all right?”
“Almost,” I whispered against his lips.
“How’s your head?” Sam asked. “You need any drugs?”
“He’s impressed, if not a bit confused. I’d say I’m good for now,” I said.
Three weeks later, before the ink had even dried on the denied bail, I sat behind the bulletproof glass with the phone hanging on the wall next to me. Noah was in the booth two seats to my left while we waited for the inmates to be led through the door.
Sebastian saw me and grinned. He stopped in front of me, but the guard pulled
him away, dragging him to where Noah was sitting. Noah had news for the attorney. News he wanted to personally deliver, just like I did.
All of the bodies had been found. It had taken several cadaver dogs and getting the driver to eventually talk, but all of the women on the creepy picture wall were accounted for. The attorney no longer had a bargaining chip to extort.
Sebastian sat down on the chair in front of Noah, but kept staring at me, even as he lifted the phone to his ear.
Billy Fairfield was led in and settled in the chair in front of me. The shackles from his hands were removed, and he lifted the receiver. “Did you find her?”
“Your sister’s body has been found, and I’ve arranged for her funeral.”
He lowered his head, and a tear slipped free. “Thank you, Dr. Bray. Have you found the bastard who killed her?”
Anger glittered in his eyes.
I nodded. “He’s sitting two seats down.”
Billy’s gaze flew in that direction, and the cloud on his face darkened dangerously. “Billy.”
He put the phone to his ear. “You can’t tell me that he’s the one responsible and then expect me not to hurt him.”
“I haven’t asked anything of you.” I smiled. “I’m just here to make sure you knew your sister is taken care of.”
He nodded, and I hung up the phone and rose from my spot. I crossed the distance to where Noah was sitting and held out my hand for the phone.
A look of amusement was on Sebastian’s face. “You missed me?” he asked.
“Hardly. I just played my last move,” I said.
He glanced toward Billy. “What did you do, put a hit on me?”
“I didn’t have to.” I smiled. “That guy I was talking to is Morgan Fairfield’s brother. You lobbied for harsher punishment for him. He just found out who killed his sister.” I winked. “Game, set, match.”
“You bitch,” he growled and slammed his hand against the glass. I watched and wiggled my fingers as the guards wrestled him and put him back in cuffs.
Broken Justice (Fractured Minds Series Book 6) Page 12
