Chapter 14
Chapter Fourteen
“I’m not Maribel!” she yells. “Look at me. Aaron. It’s me. Tori.”
“No, you will never be Tori. Where is she?” The paddle comes down on her ass, the crack loud in my ears.
“I am Tori!” she sobs.
I grab my phone, stop the recorder and call Cage and put it on speaker. He picks up on the first ring. “Aaron,” he answers in a panic. “Cal’s house… it’s on fire.”
“What?” I drop the paddle… the emptiness in my chest and stomach now a black hole, taking everything with. Maribel's body shakes, while my world disappears before my eyes.
“We don’t know if Maribel’s inside,” Cage says through the speaker, sending Maribel into a laughing fit.
“She’s not there. Tori is.” I choke out.
“No… fuck! How do you know?” The sound of air rushing through the speaker echoes in the room. “It’s Tori! She’s inside!” he yells at someone.
“Maribel is here.” I stare at the crazy woman, convulsing on the bed as she laughs. I yank her off the bed and throw her over my shoulder. Rage and revenge coursing through my blood yielding a pulsing energy into my body. “I’m on my way. I’m bringin’ her to you.”
The smoke stains the bright blue sky and fire’s glow painting it orange and red.
It’s my guiding light. Four minutes, that’s how long it takes me to get there.
Maribel still laughs in the back seat of Tori’s SUV, where I threw her.
The firemen have most of the fire under control.
My eyes soar through the people standing around, searching for any sign of her or Cage, or another Vulture, Mark, who’s a fireman.
I grab the keys as I hop out of the truck, locking it.
It does its double-beep thing, warning me that it’s still running. But I don’t give two flying shits.
Terror fuels me as I run toward the blazing fire, cutting through the small crowd.
My chest throbs, there’s no deciphering between emotions or organs.
The fire rages on and I let out a throaty scream.
Cage spots me and pulls me out of the crowd, but I cannot meet his eyes… They’re too focused on the fire.
“Where is she?” I ask Cage. The paramedics are standing around their vehicle, watching, waiting for anyone to need their help.
“We couldn’t find her. She wasn’t in there.” Cage shakes his soot painted face.
“How long has it been on fire?”
“I don’t- I don’t know.” He stutters. “We had just arrived when you called. Can’t be longer than fifteen minutes.”
“Maribel. She did it. She’s in the back of the SUV.” I march back to the running vehicle, Cage following me.
“Aaron. You’re not making sense.” He matches my steps.
“You don’t think I know that. But it’s the truth. She’s insane. She’s lost it.” I rub the back of my neck, recalling everything that’s happened in the last hour. “She’s dyed and curled her hair, and got the same tattoo as Tori. She’s pretending to be Tori!”
I open the back door, revealing a sobbing Maribel. Her eyes widen when she sees Cage. “Cage! Help me, Aaron's losing his mind. Tell him. Tell him I’m Tori.”
“Tori?” Cage’s eyes meet mine. “You’re Maribel.”
“Maribel, where’s Tori?” I yell, yanking on the spreader until she practically falls out of the Bronco.
“I am not Maribel. Maribel is gone. She doesn’t exist. I am Tori.” Her head snaps back and forth between Cage and I.
“Where’s my wife Onyx?” That grabs her attention. Cage’s head whips back at me.
“Is this part of the role playing?” she laughs with her whole body.
“Yes,” my lip curls in disgust. “Where’s my wife?”
“I killed her.”
“Onyx?” Cage takes over for me as I fall on my ass in defeat. The world begins to fade around me as the terror of losing Tori settles over me. I don’t breathe. I refuse to let my heart beat. Tori cannot be dead.
With my knees at my chest, I clutch my head with my hands praying to God that Maribel is lying. I need my wife. I need to see her beautiful brown eyes. Feel her soft skin. Where the fuck is Tori.
“Where’s Aaron’s wife?” Cage’s voice is a muffled sound.
“Who’s Aaron?” Maribel grins and it’slike a spear through my very empty chest.
The glow dissipates as the fire is extinguished, leaving behind the destruction of my brother’s home. Tori has to be alive. She can’t be lost in the wreckage. Cage’s foot taps my own. “Help me.”
“Knox. That’s the name I used.” There is no energy in me to continue this. “You need to play along to get her to tell you.”
“Where’s Knox’s wife?” Cage asks again.
“Dead,” she repeats.
“How did Knox’s wife die?” Cage’s interrogation breaks through my haze.
“I- I hit her in the back of the head with a pan. Like you see in the movies.” I quickly get on my feet with that answer.
“Why'd you do it?” I ask her, hoping to get her to confess again.
“She came to my house and told me she doesn’t want me anymore.” She pulls at her restraints, wanting to come closer to me. Cage catches her around the waist before she falls.
“What did you do with her after you hit her?” My hand grips her throat, lifting her face up to mine.
“There was so much blood. So, I dragged her to the back yard and cleaned the blood. Then I put a pot in the oven and set a timer so it’d turn on at six p.
m. I, then, turned the gas on the stove, just in case the oven coming on doesn't start the fire.” She purses her lips to kiss me.
“I did it so Knox and Onyx will be together forever.”
I let her go and take off toward the back of the house. However, Mark stops me from getting closer. “Aaron, I’m sorry man-”
“Tori!” I scream her name. “Mark… She was in the back yard. She has a head injury. You have to let me through man.”
“I’ll go,” he says and goes to open the gate. I don’t listen and follow him, cutting through the smoke. I get it open before he could and rush in.
“Tori!” I cry out. I see movement from one of the neighbor yards.
“Tori!” I search the ground.
“Aaron, we checked back here as we were putting out the fire.” Mark attempts to hold me back.
“Over here!” Someone hollers over the fence. “She’s over here.” A man from the yard behind Cal’s grabs our attention. “My dad and I got her over the fence when the fire broke out.”
“Tori. You’ve got my wife?” I breathe out as I run a few feet to the fence.
“Oh, thank god,” Mark breathes. “I’ll get the ambulance to drive over there. Hey kid, wave the ambulance down so they know which house to go to.” Mark yells, but I’m already at the fence.
“Okay!” The teen boy hollers back.