Chapter 12
Chapter Twelve
Becca tried to piece the dates together in her head.
Ian had gotten the good doctor to give him the date.
She wasn’t sure how he’d convinced her, and she didn’t care.
He’d gotten the answer that proved Michael wasn’t the killer of the first three girls.
She was back to square one in trying to figure out who the killer might be.
She fought her tired eyes as she stared up at the ceiling trying to calm her mind.
Ian’s snoring could be heard from the living room all the way to her room.
His presence did make her feel safe, not that she’d admit it to him.
She closed her eyes, and the hazy gray of her dreams pulled her in.
Becca sat up with a jolt in the pitch-black room. Her heart thumped wildly as she pulled the sweat-soaked fabric from her body. She knew where Michael was hiding, thanks to her latest premonition, and he was scared.
Becca slid off the bed and threw on some clothes, doing her best to keep quiet as she did.
Ian would scare the crap out of Michael.
What Becca couldn’t figure out was how she was getting these premonitions of the killings and how Michael was connected.
She slipped the gun from her bedside drawer and slid it into the waistband of her jeans, beneath her shirt.
She tiptoed out of her room, cringing at the squeak of her door, and through the house until she was near the security pad.
She grabbed her keys and phone and punched in the security number to disable the alarm before slipping outside into the cool night air.
Michael was smart to hide at the one place no one would ever find him.
If she was lucky, it wouldn’t be either of their final resting places.
She started the car, keeping the lights off until she was backed out of the driveway and on the street.
She flicked them on and headed toward the wishing well in the woods between their mothers’ houses.
It might not have been the smartest idea she’d ever had as she stepped into the overgrown greenery, but she’d be getting her answers one way or another tonight, if he didn’t kill her first.
Becca peered around the big oak tree to the brick wishing well. Michael had his hands on the well, leaning over. It was the exact same pose that she’d seen in her premonition. That was how she knew it was Michael she’d tapped into and where he’d been hiding.
His words broke through the silence. “I knew you’d come.”
Ian woke to pounding on Becca’s door and his phone vibrating from the table to fall on the ground.
“Wake up,” a female screamed from the other side of the door. He recognized the voice instantly. Betty.
Ian swiped his phone off the ground and glanced at the missed calls as he headed for the door. Haze quickly turned into panic when he recognized the voice. “I’m coming.”
“You’ve got to hurry,” she yelled, loud enough to wake up the neighbors.
Ian flicked the lock and threw the door open while glancing at the messages that Ryker had sent him. Fifteen to be exact, about how the alarm was turned off and how Becca had left.
Ian ran his hand over his head. Betty had her gun drawn and was headed toward Becca’s room.
“Get dressed, Highlander. Becca slipped out while you were sleeping, and she’s in trouble. We’ve got to go.”
“Where the hell did she go?”
“The wishing well, to meet Michael.”
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Ian grumbled, shoving his feet into his boots. “She cannae be that daft to go meet a killer in the middle of the night by herself.”
“She doesn’t think he’s a killer,” Betty explained, as if one crazy comment would explain everything.
Ian followed Betty out of the house and to her SUV. He fired off several texts to Ryker about where they were headed, in the event none of them walked away alive. He didn’t even have a gun. He didn’t have his damn swords. He didn’t have anything besides his bare hands to fight with.
“If she’s in danger, then he’s really the killer, isnae he?”
Betty took a curve doing forty, not even slowing down as she sped through the streets. Ian grabbed onto the handle above the door, trying to steel himself against being broken and battered before they even got to the fight.
“No, he’s not. But the killer is watching them. He’s going to make his move.”
“You saw all this in a premonition?”
She glanced at Ian. “Something like that. Ian, I have to know that you’ll do whatever is necessary to save her.”
Ian glanced at Betty. “You know I will, so why are you asking that?”
“You’ll be hurt,” she answered.
“I donnae care about me. Will she still be alive?”
Betty nodded. “Only you can save her.”
“Aye. I’ll save her.” From herself. After he found her, he was taking her to Scotland and locking her away in his castle.
“She won’t like being locked away,” Betty said, slowing outside a forested area.
“You’re a mind reader, too?”
“Too?” Betty asked.
“Forget I said anything.” Ian got out of the SUV and glanced around the wooded area. He waited for Betty to point out the way before he took off in a jog in the same direction. He had no idea what the hell he was running into, but he’d handle whatever was at the other end.
Becca stepped out of her hiding spot but didn’t make a move to get any closer. “Why are we connected?”
He slowly turned around and hopped up onto the well to sit. He raised his hands to show that he wasn’t holding any weapons. Only then did the butterflies in her belly slowly start to give way. “I’m not sure, but I always knew it was you.”
“Is that why you kill women who looked like me? Are you tired of sharing our premonitions?”
His brows dipped, and he frowned. “I haven’t killed anyone. I was framed.”
“I don’t understand.” She took a tentative step into the clearing and then paused. “Those girls died, and I saw the premonitions.”
“You saw the same thing I did, but not because I was the one committing the crime, although I know who’s responsible.”
“Who?”
Michael hopped off the well onto the ground. “It’s a long story.”
“Make it short,” she answered and stepped back.
“Did you figure out we’re related yet?”
“You knew?”
He nodded. “Danny and I overheard Betty when she came my parents’ house all those years ago.”
“She was just trying to do right by you. She gave you up to give you a better life.”
Michael narrowed his eyes. “You think I had a better life? My parents had me fucking committed as if I was crazy. I’ve been in and out of treatment facilities since the dog.”
“Crazy people kill dogs. You had blood on your hands, Michael.”
“I was trying to save it. I didn’t kill my dog, just like I haven’t hurt anyone else.”
“If not you, then who?”
“Me,” Danny said, stepping out of the shadows of the woods.
He had his revolver pointed at Becca. “I told Michael, if he ever hurt our mother by wanting to leave, that I’d kill him.
” Danny waved the gun from Becca toward Michael.
“He didn’t care if he died, so I upped the ante.
I told him I’d kill Betty and you. The dog was just to show how serious I was. ”
“Why me?” Becca asked while slowly stepping back. “Michael wouldn’t have cared if you killed me.”
“He knows that he and you are connected, and when you first confided in me about seeing the killings, I told him. Why else do you think he’d care if you stayed alive? You were the only other person that could have stopped me.”
Bile rose in Becca’s throat. Anger coiled in her muscles. “You sick bastard.”
“You should have seen the look on Michael’s face when I told him that you were falling for me, and that I took your virginity. He would have killed me if he hadn’t been restrained that day.”
“Don’t hurt her,” Michael pleaded and held out his hand while inching closer to Becca. “She didn’t do anything to you.”
“It was you all along?” Becca asked, inching backward, trying to put as much distance between the gun and her as possible. Michael stood unmoving, as if he knew exactly how this might play out. He didn’t seem the least bit scared; he seemed almost relieved.
“You told me about your premonitions the same day Michael did. The same day the dog died. I knew you two freaks were linked. I just didn’t know how.”
“My sisters will hunt your ass down and kill you,” Becca threatened, moving backward until her back was pressed against the well, where Michael was standing. “Put down the gun.”
Becca slowly reached behind her back and put her palm over the butt of the gun. In an Old West stand-off, she didn’t have a chance. He’d fire his gun at one of them before she ever got off the first shot.
“This ends now.” Michael’s voice deepened in tone. “You can’t blackmail me anymore. Which one are you going to shoot? The woman you love or the brother you want to pin it on?”
“I don’t love her.” Danny gawked.
“I do,” Ian said as he sprang from the brushes, knocking Danny to the ground.
Danny and Ian wrestled in the wet grass as Michael grabbed Becca’s arm and tried to lead her away.
Danny’s gun went off, making Becca’s heart fall into her stomach. Ian lay motionless on the ground, blood oozing from his shirt as Becca pulled the gun free from her jeans. She aimed at Danny as he was trying to stand and fired a shot straight into his chest. The impact knocked him to the ground.
Becca’s hand shook as she continued pointing the gun at Danny. She glanced at Ian and slowly eased in his direction.
Betty skidded to a halt in the clearing. It took her only a second to figure out what had happened, and she hurried to kick Danny’s gun out of reach before taking the gun from Becca’s shaking fingers.
“You all right?” she asked Becca while pressing her foot into Danny’s wound.
“We need an ambulance,” Becca screamed and dropped to her knees.
Betty had the phone pressed to her ear before Becca had finished her sentence.
Becca tuned everyone out after that as tears formed in her eyes.
“Ian, wake up,” she said, pressing her fingers to his neck, relieved when she found his pulse. Whipping her shirt off, she pressed it to the wound on Ian’s chest, trying to stanch the flow of blood.
“Ian, please,” she begged, staring at his face. “Please, open your eyes, baby.”
Marry me.
She heard him in her mind. Relief filled her body. “Open your eyes and I’ll consider it.”
Say you’ll marry me, and I’ll open my eyes, he said in her mind again as he coughed. Blood dribbled down the side of his mouth, and her panic started back up.
“Yes,” she said. “Please, Ian. Just open your eyes.”
Ian’s eyes slid open as he grimaced in pain. “You said yes.”
“Only because I thought you were dying,” she said while cupping his face. “You scared me.”
“You love me,” he said and smiled before spitting out more blood.
Approaching sirens sounded in the distance.
“I do love you, you big stupid caveman.”
“I can die a happy man.” He grinned before his eyes rolled back in his head.