Chapter 26 #2
Something scampers across my wrist, and I bite back a scream when a huge brown spider drops onto the leaves near my face.
I’m fully aware that spiders in the Pacific Northwest aren’t dangerous, but I still have to resist the urge to severely overreact to my new eight-legged friend who’s chosen to park itself within an inch of my nose.
“Not poisonous, just creepy. Breathe. Breathe.” I turn my head away, trying to focus. “Think, Fi.” I mutter quietly. “What now?”
I pull my phone from my back pocket to check my signal, but my stomach drops when I see the shattered screen. It must’ve broken when I fell on the porch. I curse, shoving it back into my pocket.
“I’m going to cut you into little pieces, Red.”
This time, I frown when I hear the muffled voice. It occurs to me that something’s not right. Why would Dennis want to kill me? His obsession with me has always been sexual, not violent. And if he kills me, he won’t get any of my mom’s inheritance.
So why is he doing this?
His footsteps draw closer, and I realize that I need to move. I decide to circle back to the road; maybe I’ll get lucky and flag down a car.
Taking a deep breath, I jump up and run as fast as I can toward the house. Dennis’s heavy footfalls pick up as he pursues me. I break through the trees, the wind licking painfully at my chapped cheeks and numb hands.
I dash around the side of the house, slide on the snow-slick grass, and skid to my knees.
My palm lands on a rock, the pain sharp in my wrist, but it’s the perfect throwing size.
I roll onto my back just as Dennis grabs my ankle and hurl the rock as hard as I can.
It hits him in the temple and he rears back with a curse, loosening his grasp on my foot.
I kick away from him and stand, prepared to run. That’s when I notice B’s truck and my car in the driveway.
Hope surges through me like fire.
I ignore the pain in my bruised tailbone, in my freezing hands and feet, in my twisted wrist.
I limp forward. “Brantley! Seb!” The scream rips my throat raw.
“Fi!” The cry comes from inside the house, and the door bursts open. The guys step onto the porch, looking around frantically. When they spot me, they jump down the steps, and meet me in front of the pond.
“He has an ax,” I sob. I reach Seb first, launching into his arms so hard that he stumbles.
“Not anymore he doesn’t,” B growls. He pushes past us and stalks into the yard.
I pull my face from Seb’s chest and turn to look at B. Dennis is groaning on the ground, clutching his head where I hit him, the ax discarded in the snow at his side.
Seb and I understand Brantley’s intent at the same time.
“B! No!”
The world seems to stop as he picks up the ax and hefts it into the air. His dirty-blond hair is a wild mess and his eyes are almost black as he swings it high.
“Michaels!” Seb screams, pushing me to the side and running for him.
“B, stop!” My brain flashes back to the moment I saw him on that TV bar screen, lifeless on the ice, blood pooling around his head. My fear is a debilitating weight, dragging me into panic.
Not again! No, no, no!
The wild swing goes wide, thunking into the ground next to Dennis’s head, and he turns to look at it with wide, frightened eyes.
I run forward, relief a rush of air in my lungs as B yanks the ax free.
Dennis pushes himself up and charges Brantley with an animalistic roar, but Seb reaches him first, his fist connecting with Dennis’s nose.
He falls back on his ass, rolling around in the muddy slush.
His mask twists and covers his eyes, and he claws at the black material, finally ripping it off.
The world tilts like one of those pukey carnival rides when I see his face. His sharp blue eyes meet mine, and shock sucks the breath from my lungs as I gape at the familiar features that are definitely not my stepfather’s.
Seb stands over him, his chest heaving. He clenches his fist and steps forward to deliver another hit, but Brantley shoulders past Seb, wielding the ax.
Seb gapes in disbelief as B bares his teeth in a snarl and swings. The ax sinks into my assailant’s chest, blood splattering across B’s face.
I scream, my mouth wide with horror.
B lifts it again, but Seb grabs him, his knuckles white as he digs his fingers into B’s bicep, screaming his name. B stops and stares at Sebastian like he’s a stranger, tears streaming down his red cheeks.
Seb puts his hands on B’s face. “Look at me, Stitch. Breathe. We’re here. She’s safe.”
Brantley squeezes his eyes shut and lowers his head, and Seb gathers him against his chest, whispering something in his ear.
A sob crawls up my throat and shakes my entire body when my eyes drop to the scene at their feet. Thick crimson liquid melts away the snow, oozing like strawberry syrup on a sundae.
So much blood.
My stomach cramps, and I puke.
As I wipe my mouth, I see the ax fall from Brantley’s shaking hands, and he collapses onto his knees. He lowers his face to the ground with a quiet moan, and he starts to cry harder.
I can’t help it. I cry with him.
Seb walks over to me and pushes my wet, tangled hair from my face. I try to focus on his bright blue eyes, but everything is so fuzzy. “It’s okay baby,” he whispers, holding me close. “He’s gone now. He can’t hurt you.”
But his words are like a knife in my heart, and I shake my head vehemently.
“No,” I say around a sob. My words are muffled, but I know Seb hears them when his body stiffens. “That wasn’t Dennis. It was my stepbrother—Dennis’s son, Nedry Abrams.”
I was almost hypothermic, so the guys immediately made me go inside and take a shower to warm up my frozen body. But then I rejoined them and now the three of us sit together on the porch, staring at Nedry’s still form.
I don’t know how long it’s been. Despite the cold, we haven’t moved yet, though I did bring a wool blanket from inside to wrap around my shaking bodies.
The porch light casts a dull yellow circle around us, and it makes me feel exposed, like we’re under a spotlight with a mysterious audience judging us from somewhere in the woods.
I’m in shock, though I feel like I should have a stronger emotional response than I actually do. I am looking at a dead guy—my stepbrother, no less.
Nedry and I didn’t have many interactions when Dennis inserted his horrid presence into my life.
Nedry was older than me, and he would show up now and then to a dinner bragging about all the nefarious shit he used to do while working for the FBI.
I wasn’t surprised when my mom told me he was canned.
I didn’t see him after that. Honestly, I thought he’d left the country to escape prosecution.
“So,” B says, interrupting my thoughts. “I did that, huh?”
“You really don’t remember?” Seb asks.
“Not really. I just remember my feelings. I was so angry. I should probably put that on my list of topics to bring up with my therapist.” Seb snorts a laugh, and B’s gaze drifts back to the yard. “I—murdered—the guy.” His voice stutters around the word. “What do we do now? Who do we call?”
“The police,” I say, incredulously. “Detective Lin.”
B scoffs. “Like they’ve been helpful so far.”
Seb nods in agreement. “I’m positive my dad and Marcus have guys for this.”
“I’m guessing you don’t really want to bring in your brother.” Brantley taps his chin.
“I also hate calling in favors from my dad,” Seb says with a grimace. “We don’t exactly have the greatest relationship anymore.”
“So then our best option is…”
“Lincoln,” they say at the same time, grinning at each other like they're discussing their fantasy football teams.
I run a shaky hand through my hair. “Are you guys crazy? Aren’t we going to get in trouble for this?” I gesture at Nedry. “You can’t just kill people and not report it, and we definitely can’t just drag our friends into this mess.”
Seb looks confused. “What do you mean?”
“What do I—Are you serious right now? How are you both so calm? Am I having a stroke?” I stare at them with wide, panicked eyes. “Oh my God, I’m literally fucking an ax murderer.”
B and Seb exchange an amused look.
“We’re not putting anyone in danger, Fi,” Seb says, his hand interlocking with mine.
“Link’s family has a ton of money and connections. He can take care of everything so that Michaels won’t get investigated. We won’t be associated with this at all. It’ll just…disappear.”
Seb gives me a serious look. “Think about this, Fi. We have the means to take care of this. How helpful have the cops been so far? Do you think bringing in Flurry’s authorities or the state patrol will be any better?
This murder complicates everything even more.
This guy has been tracking us the whole time—across an international border no less.
” Seb sighs. “You’re never going to feel safe.
I think we need to get this taken care of and figure out how to take Dennis out on our own. ”
I know he’s right. His words echo the train of thought I’ve had since I found the note back at the cabin, though my plan involves the authorities.
I think about Micah. He’s the best chance I have at getting Dennis put away for the foreseeable future, but first, my stepfather has to be caught.
“Okay, yeah,” I concede. “Dennis knows people on this side of the border—cops, DAs, judges.” I say quietly. “I don’t know who I can trust.”
“To be fair,” B cuts in, “it was self-defense. He would have killed you, Fi.”
I blink and swallow. “It just goes away?”
Brantley nods. “Yeah, it’ll go away. It’s not always right, but money talks, right? How much shit did you and your friends get out of because your mom paid them off?”
“Not murder, Brantley!”
He laughs. “Okay, that’s fair. But when I was in high school, I did all kinds of stupid stuff to get my dad’s attention—grand theft auto, breaking and entering. One guy I knew got out of rape charges.”