Chapter 31
Jayce
She didn’t even hesitate to leave the house when I told her to. I watched her jog down the stairs and hop into her car as if she was going for a nice drive instead of following the instructions of a dangerous man in a mask. I loved her but damn, she was easy to manipulate.
As I drove toward the park, I thought about what I’d seen in that window. She claimed she was thinking about someone else, but I knew it was me. One of me. I didn’t care which, just that it was my cock she imagined riding. She’d left the house so quickly, her pussy must still be soaked. Fuck, I wanted to taste it.
Shifting in my seat, I focused on the task at hand. Unfortunately, it was going to be a really bad day for her. The plus side was that she’d need comfort, and who did she call when that happened?
When she pulled into the parking spot, I headed to the other side of the lot. I parked next to a big truck, which effectively kept my vehicle out of view well enough. I raised my hood and got out, settling behind a tree casually. From here, I could see the playground and her car and hopefully, I didn’t look too creepy.
Pulling out my phone, I navigated to the picture Ben found for me. It was always nice when people had their phones set up so that everything transferred to the cloud. Every photo Hailey had taken for the past five years was accessible if you knew the right person to dig it up for you.
I pressed send, then looked at Alana. It was hard to see much of her expression, but I could tell she was staring at the phone. She probably didn’t understand why I’d sent her a picture of Hailey, Alicia, and Jake. She was also angry, most likely. I hoped she wasn’t crying.
Turning to the playground, I spotted Mike and Alicia. They always came here on Saturdays and I’d been banking on them showing up today, even though it was a holiday weekend. I was glad he seemed to be a creature of habit. Judging by his expression, he wasn’t having a great time.
I discreetly snapped a picture and sent it to her. My phone buzzed almost immediately, but it wasn’t a text. Putting in one earbud, I connected the call and prepared my special accent.
“Hello, beautiful.”
“What the hell are you playing at?” she demanded shakily.
“No game this time. Just cold, hard facts.”
“No, no, no. You’re doing something. I don’t…”
She trailed off and I glanced toward her car. Alana was leaning forward in her seat, appearing locked onto something.
“You see them for yourself, don’t you?”
“That’s…” Her breath hitched. “That’s not her. It’s not Jake’s kid. I… You’re wrong.”
Before I could reply, her door swung open. Instinctively, I stepped forward, but I couldn’t rush up to her now. Not like this.
“What are you doing?” I asked.
She ignored me. I rushed back to my car to grab my mask and slid it over my face. Since it was the holiday weekend and it was pretty cold out, there were only a few people around and they were all at the park already. The lot was blessedly empty. I took off at a sprint, reaching her just before she stepped onto the path.
I wrapped my arm around her from behind and clamped my other hand over her mouth before she could scream. She thrashed and made garbled sounds. It was going to draw attention if I didn’t get her out of here quickly. Glancing behind me to make sure nobody else had pulled in, I lifted her off the ground and carried her back to her car.
After throwing the back door open, I tossed her inside. I followed after her, blanketing her body with mine so that she couldn’t make a break for it.
“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” I demanded.
Her eyes were wild with rage. They shone with unshed tears and it was enough to make me relax slightly.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered, brushing her cheek with my thumb.
“Get off of me,” she cried. “Let me go.”
“You can’t confront him like that. Not only will it cause a scene, but it could complicate the case.”
“The case. I don’t give a shit about that.”
“You should. She’s not your kid and you have no obligation to her, but this means something to the others. You know that. Do you want to go out there and scare the shit out of her right now?”
Alana’s lip trembled. She turned away from me as a tear trickled down her face. I wanted to kiss it away, but I was trapped behind this fucking mask.
“It’s time to face reality, Alana. Hailey fucked you over, Jake cheated and lied to you, and Mike tried to use you.”
Her eyes met mine and narrowed. “Why are you doing this?”
“I’m not the monster here.”
“Of course you are,” she hissed. “You’ve known all along. How fucking long is that, Erebus? How long have you watched me?”
“A while.”
She let out a dry laugh that was bordering on maniacal before she slammed her hands into my chest. “While I was with Jake? Did you watch him fuck me, Erebus?”
Fury heated my body. “No, I couldn’t stand to see you that disappointed.”
“You don’t know anything.”
“I know everything .”
“Are you paying Ben to tell you about me?”
I reared back, blinking slowly as I processed her question. She watched me, looking smug as if she’d accomplished something.
“Who the hell is Ben?” I asked.
“Oh, don’t patronize me. You know ‘everything’, which means you know who he is. He told me.”
Leaning down, I pressed the plastic against her face. “What could he have possibly told you, baby? I don’t fuck with low-level criminals. He was probably drunk. Like father, like son.”
She shrieked and beat against my back. Locking my hand around her throat, I took away her air. Her eyes went wide and her assault slowed as she recognized that she was at my mercy. She’d become comfortable with me. Too comfortable. In this form, it was too dangerous to let her gain the upper hand.
“Remember what I told you, Alana. I am your savior. You have no idea what I’ve done to protect you. Maybe a ‘thank you’ is in order.”
Her jaw clenched and the fire in her eyes remained as she reached up to grab my wrist and attempted to remove my hand. I couldn’t help but laugh at the effort.
“You won’t give it to me. I guess I’ll have to take it.”
I continued to grip her throat, watching the panic take over. She kicked her legs and tried to scratch me. When her strength dwindled, her lips parted in a silent plea she never got the chance to make. Her eyes rolled back just before her body went limp.
I released her and got out of the car, then settled in the driver’s seat. Putting it in reverse, I whipped out of the spot and headed for the road. She wanted to play stupid fucking games. We could play.
*****
They say that obsession grows, that it morphs into something dangerous and uncontrollable. I don’t know if that’s true. Things had been this way for a long time and I hadn’t done anything horrible.
Killing Jake might have changed that, but what else was I supposed to do? He wasn’t good for Alana. I was protecting her. Could someone really say that was so bad?
Preston was a dick and he didn’t deserve to exist for another day, another opportunity for him to be a bane to women everywhere.
Those things weren’t horrible. I didn’t even see them as wrong. Putting Alana above everything else in this world was the definition of our love. It was a pursuit that defied law and reason. If something was bad for her, I’d get rid of it.
I looked at her limp form on the floor. Just yesterday, I decided I needed to be hands off as Erebus, but I was already screwing up. Once I got her to my place, I stuck her with something that would knock her out more than some choking. I couldn’t have her waking up before I got her into the basement. She’d never been down here because she claimed that every basement had bad shit in it. She wasn’t wrong, but I digress.
Now, it was just a matter of waiting. I’d already been standing around for an hour and I was getting antsy. Some people had no respect for other people’s time.
Finally, my phone buzzed, showing that someone was at the door. I climbed the stairs, then straightened my clothes so as not to rouse suspicion.
“Ben,” I said cheerily when I opened the door.
He raised a brow. “Hey, man. Sorry it took me so long. There was traffic.”
I knew there wasn’t, but it didn’t matter. I motioned for him to come in and he didn’t hesitate.
He trusted me. Mistake.
Whatever bullshit he’d fed Alana made her doubt me. She was already unhappy about the real me working with her brother, so when I thought about it, I realized that he was a problem. What did we do with problems?
“Let me show you why I brought you here,” I said, heading for the basement door.
“You got any beer?” He opened the fridge and grabbed one. I huffed, waiting for him to uncap it. After a long swig, he followed me.
With every step down the stairs, my heart thumped against my chest a little too hard. Jake was close to home and killing him had been a risk, but I was never a suspect. It was possible that Ben would arouse suspicion, but at the same time, he was a criminal. If he disappeared, they’d discover what he was up to and probably determine that it was a disgruntled client. After I was done, I’d have to make sure there were no records of any business we’d done together. That would fuck things up.
“This is cool,” he noted. “Is it finished down here?”
“Mostly.”
We reached the bottom and turned to the left. The hospital bed was in its usual place with plastic covering it. He stopped, his brow furrowing as he stared at it. When he looked down and saw Alana, he let out a startled sound.
“Jayce, what the hell?” He knelt beside her and put two fingers to her neck.
“Shh,” I said, coming up behind him.
He tensed, but it was too late. My arm wrapped around his neck, locking him into a chokehold. When I dragged him upward, he kicked his feet out.
“Relax. You know I’d never hurt your sister.”
“Jayce,” he choked out.
“You, of all people, know what happens when someone gets in my way, Ben. You didn’t even flinch when I asked you to help me kill Jake. I think it’s because you know I’m better for her.”
He shook his head as much as he could manage. The fight was going out of him. All the adrenaline in the world couldn’t give him enough strength to escape me.
“Everything could’ve been fine, Ben. Nothing had to change between us, but you know too much and you were dumb enough to drop hints. Now, you’re a liability. The thing about being a criminal is that she won’t even be surprised when you go missing. You didn’t talk for three years, man. How hard do you think she’ll push the cops to find you?”
A faint whimper left his lips. I leaned close to his ear.
“Not very hard. Thanks for getting me here. Your sister owes me some words of gratitude, so let’s get on with this.”
Shifting my arm, I jerked it quickly to the side. His body went limp immediately. I dragged him over to the bed and hoisted him into it, then cocked my head as I stared at him.
Okay, maybe things had gone downhill a bit.