Twelve #3
Rick laughed hard and with utter cruelty.
“Your mom saw the best in me. When no one did. But she still chose the golden boy over me. I wasn’t that bad off in English, but I wanted to get to know her.
So, I asked for tutoring. We got along great.
She liked me. One night I brought her home for a tutor session, but my dad needed my help in the backyard.
By the time I came back inside, your dad had already swooped in.
They were laughing over a stupid TV show and eating popcorn, and I saw it in her eyes.
She wanted him. But he knew I was into her and didn’t even care.
” Rick’s fists clenched at his sides. “I loved her. And I had to watch them fall in love and get married. Have you. He stole my life. I was supposed to be the hero and husband. Not him. Not with Regina.”
Helena’s eyes burned with tears, rage and sorrow blending into one. But if he was vindictive and wicked, why did he let Dad get away with “stealing” Mom away from Rick?
Rick’s confession deepened, sending a blizzardy cold into her bones.
“I got my revenge…when the time was right. I was there,” he whispered.
“When your mom had her second stroke. Mimi was downstairs. I’d come to town with hopes of gaining some of my trust, and your father told me no.
” Anger dripped from his lips. “He was going to spend all my money, too. I came in the back to talk to Regina. See if she could change Bruce’s mind.
We got into an argument. Bruce had finally come clean about me, the fires over the years, and especially Twila.
She finally was on Bruce’s side. Such a betrayal to me!
In our heated moment, she had another stroke…
and I thought, I could call the ambulance or I could make Bruce hurt.
Take away what he loved like he took away everything I loved. ”
Helena gaped, frigid fear racing through her veins. She wasn’t sure she could bear his next words.
“I didn’t say a word. Just stood there while she died. And then I went down the trellis and left. Mother had no clue I’d even been there. No one did.”
Helena’s heart hammered painfully.
Rick cocked his head like he couldn’t understand Helena’s grief and shock. “Then came Alicia.”
She snapped to attention. Alicia? Denton Wiley had killed her. They were sure of it. “What? What do you mean?”
He ran a hand through his hair, voice dropping lower.
“She was outside when I was messing with your new car you got as a graduation present—probably with some of my money. I’d been clean and hadn’t set a fire in a while.
I came to see Bruce. Asked for the money and promised it was just to get me through until I could find another job.
But Bruce turned me down again. Do you know how angry that made me? ”
He was certifiable. A homicidal toddler throwing murderous tantrums.
“Said I’d just snort it up my nose and it was for my own good that he kept it from me.” Rick’s gaze darkened, haunted. “I wanted to take something from him again. But Alicia saw me. I had no choice…”
Helena’s blood ran cold. The truth hung in the air, terrifying and raw. The man that shared her own blood had left a trail of broken lives—lives she’d never be able to save. He had planned to hurt her back then, too.
Rick had murdered her best friend then cast doubt on her own father. She wanted to retch at the thought, and she mentally apologized to her father for ever believing anything other than the best in him.
Helena’s heart slammed against her ribs like a wild drum, every beat a frantic warning. She didn’t just fear Rick—she knew he would kill her if she let him catch her. It was the only way he could secure the money, the trust fund, the last piece of power he craved. She was his final obstacle.
She had to run. She knew these mountains, but so did Rick. The longer she stood there, the chances of her survival narrowed.
It was now or never.
“I understand,” she said softly. “Actually, I never get what I want, either. No one wants a woman like me.” She wasn’t exactly lying, but she was attempting to get his guard down so that she could run.
“I won’t keep you from your money, Uncle Rick.
I don’t want it. You do deserve it. My mom should have never rejected you and my father wasn’t everything I wished him to be,” she lied.
He relaxed his shoulders. “I didn’t want to kill you back then, just make Bruce pay.
I get so mad that I literally see red and then nothing.
I don’t want to kill you now. I wanted to be a hero again.
I wanted to rush into that house and save you.
Like with Twila. With Bruce out of the way, I was going to swoop in and save you.
Make you trust me. Have a relationship with you.
Incinerating Alicia’s bones would just have been icing on the cake. ”
Helena’s hands trembled. Denton Wiley hadn’t set her house on fire. He hadn’t been the one to make attempts on her life. Hadn’t killed Alicia. Those were the only truths he’d told. Rick Rutherford had been the one coming for her. For money.
“But that stupid cop pulled a stunt like Bruce and saved you before I could come out of the shadows and do it myself,” Rick seethed.
“I figured the bones would burn, but they didn’t, so I used it to my advantage and set the stage for making you doubt your dad, bond to me and give me my money.
But you still were reluctant to trust me, so you gave me no choice but to end you. ”
And take all the money and none of the blame.
No way she could fool him into believing she wouldn’t tell. Not knowing what she did now—that he was the one trying to draw her to him or kill her. Either scenario worked for him.
Now, she spun on her heel and raced to the back of the cabin. She had youth and agility on him.
The cabin door slammed behind her, the sound booming in the thick mountain air as she tore into the forest. Branches whipped her face and arms, thorns snagging her shirt like desperate claws.
She didn’t stop to slow, didn’t dare glance back—but she felt him behind her, stalking with bitter determination.
She scrambled up a steep incline, the rough earth biting into her palms, roots twisting treacherous underfoot.
Every crashing step behind her was closer, more menacing.
Rick’s voice cut through the dark, low and cruel. “You think you can run from me? This ends tonight, Helena. I knew I couldn’t trust you. You got too much of your father in you.”
Her stomach dropped. She knew what would happen if she slowed, if she let him corner her. He wanted everything. Her life was just the price he was willing to pay.
Panic sharpened into ice in her veins. She pushed harder, branches tearing at her skin, lungs burning with each ragged breath. There was no mercy waiting for her in these woods, only the cold calculation of a man desperate to win at any cost.
She had to survive. Because if she didn’t, Rick would get everything.
And she’d never have the chance to be brutally honest with Trevor and tell him how she truly felt even if it meant rejection again. He deserved to know that she loved him.