Chapter 58
CHAPTER FIFTY-EIGHT
kole
I was almost positive the asshole dislocated my shoulder when he threw me into this fucking cabin. Pain seared down my arm, throbbing horribly. My face wasn’t faring much better. One of my eyes was swelling shut, and blood from my busted lip was dried on my chin.
I glared at Leo as he paced in the small space, while twisting my wrists in the zip tie.
The wooden chair I was forced to sit in was the only furniture in the cabin.
I knew exactly where I was, about three miles in the forest, near the river.
Hallie was standing near me, her gun aimed my way, but the worry on her features proved her mind wasn’t on me.
“He should have been back by now,” she said for the fifth time. “What if something happened—”
Leo backhanded her across the face, making her stagger back. “Do not question my son. He will get it fucking done.”
A smirk lifted my lip. I wasn’t sure how long we’d been out here for, but it was enough for both of them to grow on edge. Maybe Dani got away. I hoped to fucking everything she freed herself.
“What are you smiling about?” Leo turned his attention to me.
I tipped my chin up, meeting his darkening glare. “I’ll bet my life your psycho son doesn’t come back.”
A muscle in his jaw ticked, but he reined in his annoyance, giving me a vicious grin of his own.
He sauntered closer, and I braced for the punch before his fist connected with my cheek.
The side of my face exploded in pain, and I sucked in a breath, staying silent.
He grabbed my jaw, ripping my face up. My heart pounded, anger crushing my chest.
This motherfucker was the reason Dani was tormented for years. I jerked against the restraint, my shoulder protesting with every move I made.
“You really do still care for her,” he murmured, sounding curious. “Even after finding out what she is?”
“I know who she is,” I bit out. “Someone who is nothing like you.”
Was it shocking to hear about her true past?
I couldn’t lie and say no. But did it change my feelings about her?
No. I didn’t care what she’d done. She wasn’t evil.
If she killed people, then there was a reason for it.
I was in so deep with her that I never wanted to let her go.
She was mine, no matter what she did in her past—or her future.
Leo’s chuckle lacked humor. He flicked open Dani’s pocketknife that he’d taken from her at the condo. Miles’ condo. The fucking bastard. I didn’t like him from the start, but my jealousy clouded everything else. I thought he was just some intern who had a crush on her. Not a damn murderer.
Hallie was rubbing her cheek, tears glistening in her eyes as she stared out the single window of the cabin. Not that she’d be able to see anything in the darkness. Leo pressed the blade of the knife to my cheek, and I bit my tongue when he broke skin.
“I’m going to enjoy killing you in front of her,” he murmured, cruel excitement lurking in his voice. “Did you know her parents disowned her after she was arrested?”
My eyes cut to his as I managed to keep my shock to myself. Was this why Dani never spoke of her family?
“The police could only pin one murder on her, and it was enough for the few in her life to completely turn their back on her. They believed her attack all those years ago changed her. They were right.” He cut me again, warm blood soaking my cheek.
“You’re the first person she’s let in since then.
And when she watches you die? It’s something she’ll never recover from. ”
“Fuck you,” I snarled, lunging forward.
His hand came down on my dislocated shoulder, and I involuntarily jerked when he shoved me back into the chair. I heaved out breaths, glaring at him as he backed up.
A sudden blaring alarm rang through the cabin, causing Hallie to jump. She pulled the walkie-talkie out of her pocket, and Leo snatched it from her hand.
“Why did he press the alarm?” he hissed, staring at the device before bringing it to his mouth. “Where are you?”
Silence fell over the cabin as we waited for a response. My pulse thrashed as I thought of Dani. I hoped she got away from Miles. There was a moment of static before words came over the device.
“Want to play with me?”
The sickly-sweet voice was higher than usual, but there was no denying it was Dani. My heart skipped a beat, relief stabbing me. If she answered, that meant she wasn’t trapped with Miles.
Leo’s face turned a shade darker as he pressed the button to speak again. “Where the hell is my son?”
Her answer was instant. “I’ll tell you when you let Kole go.”
Leo lowered the walkie-talkie, running a hand over his head. “No, no, no.” His voice rose with each word. “This is not how it’s supposed to fucking go.”
I tensed when his glare flicked to me. He opened his mouth only to close it again, turning his attention back to the walkie-talkie.
“Make her tell us where Miles is,” Hallie cried out, her voice shrill. “If she hurt him—”
“Shut up,” Leo snapped, his nostrils flaring. “Shut the fuck up so I can figure this out.”
“Are you scared to play with me?” Dani’s taunting voice filled the cabin again. “Is the big bad monster really a coward?”
Rage lined Leo’s face as he stared at the walkie-talkie before speaking into it again. “My son better be alive for Kole’s sake.”
This time Dani didn’t reply. I wrinkled my nose, the smell of smoke invading my nose. Leo and Hallie noticed the same time I did. Hallie was already hysterical, pointing to the growing smoke in the back of the cabin. Leo was frozen, trying to figure out what to do.
Soon, flames licked up the walls, the smoke becoming thick. I coughed, my eyes burning as I sucked in shallow breaths.
“We can’t leave the cabin,” Hallie screamed. “That’s what she wants.”
“Then stay and burn,” he retorted, storming toward me. “She won’t touch me if he’s in the way.”
He grabbed my good arm, yanking me off the chair. My body screamed in agony as he pulled me through the door. The frigid wind whipped around us as he put me in front of him, resting the knife on my throat.
“I know you’re out here,” he yelled, anger shaking his voice. “Come out now or I kill him.”
Hallie came stumbling out of the burning cabin, the gun still in her hand. Light snow was falling, and my hoodie was nothing against the cold. But Leo and Hallie weren’t dressed for this weather either.
“The monster is hiding.” Dani’s voice was muffled since the walkie-talkie was in Leo’s pocket. “I was right about you being a coward. You stalked me for years, never having the courage to face me.”
“Is that what you think?” Leo roared, spinning us around as he searched the dark forest. “Show your face.”
Suddenly, Hallie let out a piercing scream.
There was a loud thud, and Leo whipped us around.
Hallie was on the snow-covered ground, curled in a ball.
Blood was slowly dripping from her hands as she held her thigh.
My mouth dropped in shock when I spotted the hilt of a knife protruding from her leg.
“Stop screaming,” Leo hissed, reaching down and grabbing her discarded gun. He pocketed the knife before putting the muzzle to the side of my head. “I can’t hear anything.”
“It hurts,” she sobbed. “What if I bleed out?”
“If you don’t shut up, I’ll bleed you out myself.” His threat cut her cries to whimpers. He raised his voice. “I’ll kill him if you don’t come out.”
Hallie screamed again, choking out pained cries. “My back. Help me please.”
Leo slowly circled around her, and my eyes dropped to the blade buried deep in her lower back. I was whipped around when he turned to face the direction the knife most likely came from.
“You kill him and there will be nothing stopping me from aiming at you next time.”
My heart lurched. This time her voice came from the trees ahead of us, not the walkie-talkie.
“Is knife throwing all you have?” Leo called out mockingly. “Your skills will have to be better than that if you want me.”
The howling wind and Hallie’s sobs made it impossible to hear anything quiet. I scanned the pine trees, not seeing any movement. Leo tightened his hold on me, digging the gun into the side of my temple as he attempted to hide most of his body from where he believed she was.
“Help me,” Hallie pleaded. “I can’t get up.”
“Quiet,” Leo gritted out.
“My leg won’t stop bleeding—”
He removed the gun from my temple, shooting Hallie in the back of the head. Her body sagged, his shot killing her instantly.
“Two out of three,” I said with a short laugh. “Still think you’re walking out of here alive?”
He slammed the gun into my dislocated shoulder, and I bit back my grunt of pain, swaying on my feet.
He wrapped an arm around my chest, pressing the gun to my heart.
He went still when something flew past us before hitting a tree trunk.
I stared at the silver hilt of the knife until Leo spun around.
“You missed,” he sneered, an edge of unease in his voice.
Her laugh echoed around the trees, the maliciousness of it shooting ice down my spine. In all the months I’d known Dani, I never heard her sound like that. There was no nerves or fear. She was cold and confident.
“Missed? When I use my blade on you, I’ll be close enough to see the life fade from your eyes.”
Leo’s grip around me tightened, and he shifted, hiding behind me. A crack of a branch had him whirling us around. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t see where she was. Which meant Leo couldn’t spot her either. When another branch cracked, he shot twice in that direction.
The cabin was fully engulfed in flames by now, and smoke was billowing through the trees.
“You missed,” she taunted from the other direction.
He spun us around again, shooting three more times.
My ears rang from how close the gun was, and I shook my head, trying to focus past the pain rippling through my body.
“How many bullets do you have left? That gun holds ten. By my count, you have four left.”
“Bitch,” he breathed out, anger deep in his voice as he spoke louder. “I should have killed you years ago.”
“You should have,” she agreed, her voice bouncing off the trees as she moved. “But you didn’t. Your unhealthy obsession will be your death. How does it feel to be hunted?”
“I will kill you,” he bellowed. “The torture I did to you last time will seem like child’s play. You’ll be screaming in agony when I’m done.”
I sucked in a breath when she finally appeared in front of me through the smoke.
She remained about forty feet away and had small knives in both hands.
Leo tensed, keeping the gun on my chest. Her gaze went to him first, her eyes gleaming with vengeance.
The calculated smirk on her lips grew when she took one step closer.
I trailed my eyes down her body, my stomach tightening. Blood spatter covered half of her face, and there were red specks in her hair. It was impossible to tell her sweater had been white with how much dried blood there was on it.
“Let him go,” she ordered, her voice as cold as her expression. “This is between me and you.”
“Put the knives down,” Leo countered sharply.
“Coward.” She cocked her head. “Do you think I’m stronger than you? Is that why you’re hiding behind him?”
“Stop trying to fuck with my head. It won’t work.” Leo dug the muzzle of the gun into my chest hard enough to bruise.
“It worked with Miles. That’s how I found out where you were.”
“What did you do to him?” Leo ground out, his voice shaking.
“I did what I do best.” Her cruel, mocking lilt sounded nothing like the woman I’d come to know. “I killed him.”
I could feel Leo’s racing heartbeat against my back as he kept me close. He seemed to be at a loss for words, and Dani just grinned as she continued.
“Oh, and he suffered. I made sure he didn’t bleed out from the first few stab wounds.”
“You ruined it all,” Leo roared, forcing me forward. “I’m going to kill him and then you—”
“Enough with the threats,” she cut him off. “You want me? Then come get me.”
She spun around and darted behind a massive pine tree. Leo cursed under his breath, no doubt searching for any sign of her like I was. But the darkness had already swallowed her.
“Too bad about your son,” I murmured. “I was hoping he’d stay alive longer to suffer more.”
“Shut up,” he growled. Smugness filled me when I noticed a hint of panic. His plan was falling apart. Dani had every intention of making sure he didn’t leave this place alive. And I’d help her however I could.
“You want to watch him die?” Leo yelled his threat at the top of his lungs. “I’ll shoot him right now.”
“I’ll believe that when you stop hiding behind him.”
It was impossible to know where she was, even when she spoke.
With a curse, Leo pushed away from me and then kicked me behind the legs, sending me to my knees.
The wet snow seeped into my jeans, and I gritted my teeth when my shoulder was jostled around.
He stood in front of me, pressing the gun to my forehead.
“I’m not hiding behind him now. Show your fucking face.”