“You let him just have free reign?”
Rebecca looked relaxed. She wasn’t going to defend herself. She’d already sentenced herself to this life of giving up and drowning in alcohol just like my dad. “I tried to get my parents to see there was a problem, but they always saw Landon through rose colored glasses. He was their pride and joy. I was their embarrassment, an unwed mother who had gotten knocked up by a drifter just passing through town for lumber work. Nope. They would have had me locked up long before their precious boy. Oh, and Landon was quite the drama king. Always pretended he was sickly, to throw off any hint that he might be up to something wretched. He’s doing it now too, I hear, claiming that his hands are shaky. Everly told me some detectives had come through town again to ask about the missing girls. I’m sure that triggered this last bout of pretend illness.” She shrugged. “After awhile, it became easier just to pretend the ugly stuff wasn’t happening.” She looked at me. “You know what that feels like, I’m sure.”
I nodded. “The accidents on Phantom Curve, they were murders?”
Her hands shook as she reached for the flask again. “I pieced together some of it. If a truck driver with valuable cargo, booze or cigarettes, made the fatal mistake of stopping at Milly’s Diner for a midnight dinner, then your dad would let Landon know and they’d hop into action. Don’t know the details, but the trucks would always end up at the bottom of the ravine charred beyond recognition.”
She offered me another swig, but I turned it down. Something told me I was going to need every fucking brain cell when I got back to town. “Why the hell would my dad fold under a weasel like Landon Gregor?”
“You’ll need to ask him. I think there was some blackmail involved. Landon talked your dad into believing he was responsible for Elizabeth’s death and that he would go to jail for it if he didn’t do my brother’s bidding.” She closed the flask and scooted back on the bed to lean against the wall. “I think her death really chipped away at his soul and took whatever was left of it, leaving behind the cold, harsh man you grew up with.” She fidgeted with the ends of the blanket. The trembling in her hands wasn’t fake. “We were all living with a serial killer in our midst.” A sad laugh fell from her mouth. “He was even mayor for a decade. The girl, the one living with Everly, she’s the one that got away.”
I took a deep breath. “I thought Dane had locked her in there for fun. I let her go and didn’t tell anyone. I was protecting Dane. Like always.”
“The girl’s in danger,” Rebecca said. “My brother will stop at nothing to protect his reputation.”
“I’m heading back there right now.” I got up and turned back to her. “I’m going to kill him.”
She rested her head back and closed her eyes. “I was hoping you’d say that.”
Rebecca’s housemates looked up from their television and books as I walked back through the house and out the front door. By the time I climbed on my bike, the hair on the back of my neck was standing at full attention. I fired up the motorcycle, twisted the throttled and sped off toward the highway.
Chapter 32
Tashlyn
As things came into focus, I shut my eyes again, hoping I would fall back asleep. The cold, stark room with solid wood walls, no windows and a putrid smell had to be a figment of a leftover nightmare. It couldn’t be real.
“You are a pussycat who has finally used up her nine lives,” a voice sneered my direction from the shadows. The now familiar and terrifying sound of it startled me wide awake. A yellow light swayed above my head, a flashlight dangling from wire. The dreaded reality of my situation struck me like an icy hand.
My skull ached and the images around me were slightly blurred, a result of the blow to my head. Instinctively, I moved forward, ready to flee, but my arms wrenched painfully behind me and rope cut into my wrists. With hands behind my back, I was tied to a square column of splintery wood. Pulling away caused severe pain in my shoulders and wrists and sent a shower of dirt down on my head. The long piece of ancient timber was one of only three pieces of wood that seemed to be holding up the entire structure.
A glacial shiver ran through me. It was the trappers’ shelter. I had been here before. All of it, the entire horror of those few days was coming back to me.
“You won’t be getting away this time.” A face followed the voice as the man stepped out from the dark corner of the shelter. His teeth were stained brown, and the thin crown of hair on his head hadn’t stopped him from growing a long, stringy ponytail. He grinned as he pulled something out of his pocket. He dangled the shark’s tooth in front of me. His close set eyes focused on my gold chain. I tried to pull away from his grimy fingers as they clumsily grabbed the necklace. It cut into the back of my neck as he held it tightly. His breath sent a wave of nausea through me, and I swallowed back the bitter taste in my throat.
“Still wearing the chain? How sweet.” He pressed his face closer. “Do you remember when I pulled the shark’s tooth off the chain? It was right after I smashed in your daddy’s skull with a rock.”
I stared at him long and hard and then spit in his face. His hand came across my cheek, turning the throbbing in my head to a sharp ringing pain. It took me a second to focus again. The metallic taste of blood replaced the bitter bile in my mouth. It trickled from my lip and down my chin.
He grabbed hold of my face, pinching it hard and causing tears to burn my eyes. “You and your daddy were a problem right from the start. We stole his liquor and sent his truck over the edge, but the fucking thing stopped short on the rocks. That’s why I had to finish him off.” He grinned proudly. “But then I looked through the windshield, and there was this little blue eyed kitten staring back at me as I bludgeoned her old man to death. I knew then that I was in for a bonus from the boss, cuz he always craved the kittens, if you know what I mean. Then you got away. Never did figure out how, but this time the boss intends to finish what he started.”
Draven stepped back and eyed me with a lascivious grin. “Guess I’ve got some time until the boss shows up. I’m thinking of having a little fun first.”
My head and back smacked the wood column as I made a worthless attempt to pull away from his groping hands. He reached for my shirt. I kicked him hard in the knee. His hand flew across my face again. Darkness swept through my head, and I collapsed against my restraints. The rank smell coming off of his clothes and skin revived me quickly.
Rage flared in his face, and I cried out as he stomped down hard on my feet, holding them captive with his heavy boots. He reached into a leather sheath on his belt and pulled out a blade. He grabbed the bottom of my shirt and shoved the knife under it. I held my breath as the sharp tip pressed against my skin. The sound of fabric ripping echoed through the squalid shack. Cool air brushed over my skin as the torn sides of my shirt were pushed open.