28. Andie
My body aches. Every single muscle and joint burns like they’re on fire.
But the pain is nothing compared to the bone-chilling fear as I sit tied to a dining room chair. The structure is practically falling down around us, and the stench of decay clings to the air. The wallpaper has yellowed and is peeling, the floor sunken in some places, shag carpet worn, torn, and stained.
Alec sits across from me, though he’s unconscious, his chin touching his chest. His breathing is steady, but based on the bruising on his face, he could have some internal injuries as well. What he’s doing here, I’ve no idea because our host has yet to say a word to me.
“Alec,” I whisper loudly. I tried to kick him under the table earlier, but my legs are tied to the chair I’m sitting in. “Alec!”
I glance into the kitchen.
Mia has her back turned as she hums and cooks something on the stove. It smells pungent like a mixture of wet dog food and vinegar. She hasn’t spoken a word to me since I woke up, even when I tried to get her attention, she just remained in the kitchen, humming along to nonexistent music as she cooked.
It’s as though she’s in her own world, completely separated from us.
Heart hammering, I close my eyes and take a deep breath. The rope tied around my throat bites into my skin. I struggle against it, but it’s secured to the ceiling by what looks like an old plant hook. Nausea churns in my gut, and bile sears my throat.
Elijah.
I have no idea where he is. No idea whether he or Jaxson survived the accident. If she brought them here. I have no way of knowing because I woke up tied to this chair.
Is he alive? The mere thought of his death is even more suffocating than the stench in the air. His face swims into view, rare smiles, bright eyes…
Please, God, let him be alive. Please give me the strength to get out of this. I need to see him. Just one more time. Please.
“Praying will do you no good,” Mia says. I open my eyes to find her staring down at me, two plates in her hands. “If that’s what you’re doing.” She grins and sets one down in front of me.
I gag, bile rising in my gut as I stare down at the lump of jellified food on the plate. But then I notice the design on the dinner plate.
Gran. “These are my grandmother’s plates.”
“Possession is nine-tenths of the law, you know. So these are mine now. Besides, it’s not like dear Granny Edna is using them anymore.”
I bite back my anger. I need to stay calm. Keep a level head. “Where is Elijah?”
“Where is Elijah?” she repeats in a mocking tone. “Always about Elijah. Elijah this. Elijah that. You just met the man! He should already be dead,” she sneers. “That coffee was meant to be his. But you went and switched it.”
She’d tried to kill him and gotten me instead. The image of him lying in a hospital bed assaults me. “Why are you doing this, Mia?”
“My name is Diana!” she yells, face turning red. Seconds later, she laughs. “Though you wouldn’t know that, would you?” After dropping Alec’s plate in front of him, she takes my bound hand. “Nice to meet you, officially, Andrea Montgomery.”
She releases me and goes back into the kitchen, moving around a massive hole in the floor.
“Diana. I don’t understand what’s going on. Can you tell me why you’re doing this?” How did I not pick up on her being an imposter?
She ignores me and sets a third plate on the table then walks over and slaps Alec in the face. He groans, eyelids fluttering. “Wakey-wakey, eggs and bakey!” she calls out then giggles like a mad woman.
He opens his eyes and stares down at the food.
“Okay, maybe not eggs and bacon,” she comments. “But what can I say? Eating on a budget over here.” She drops down into the seat at the end of the table. “Now. Dig in!”
Given that we’re both secured to our chairs, neither of us can reach for the forks beside the plates.
“Oh!” She laughs wildly. “I guess you need a hand, don’t you? Here. Let me help.” She starts with Alec and scoops up a heaping amount of food on the fork. “Open up.”
He clamps his mouth shut and shakes his head.
“Open wide, here comes the choo-choo train!” She stabs it into his lips, and he screams.
Blood pools from the areas where the tines penetrated his skin, but she doesn’t stop. With his mouth open on a pained cry, she shoves the fork in.
He gags, and she claps, dropping the fork to the floor. “Good? It’s good, isn’t it?” She laughs then comes over to me.
I swallow hard. “I really would rather not eat right now. Unless, of course, you want vomit all over your table.”
Mia—or rather Diana—narrows her gaze on me. For a moment, I wonder if she’s going to argue, but instead, she takes her own seat and eats a bite of the food in front of her.
I risk a glance at Alec. His mouth is bleeding, his face pale. “Why is he here? Why am I here? Who are you?”
“Do you recognize where we are?” she asks, holding out both hands.
“No.”
She stares at me as though her glare alone will be enough to make it click. “You know, I knew you were self-centered, but this is next-level. Here, maybe this will jog your memory.” She gets up and moves into the living room where she pretends to fall over and hit her head on the table.
It hits me.
“This is my old house.”
“Correction!” she yells, getting to her feet. “This is my father’s old house. You and that slut of a mother just lived here for a time. You know, until you killed him.”
Dread burns in my gut.
Impossible.
He didn’t have any kids…did he?
“My father never came home. I found out far too late that it had everything to do with the fact that your mother found him and dug her gold-digging nails into him.” She kicks her feet up on the table and takes another bite.
“I didn’t know he had any kids.”
“How would you have known? Self-centered brat. You were the apple of everyone’s eye, weren’t you? I wonder what everyone would think if they found out you were a murderer?”
“I didn’t murder your father.”
“Yes, you did. I know you did. Because I was here when he died. I watched the whole thing. Do you know that? I came here, looking for him, and he hid me like I was something to be ashamed of. Right over there, even—” She gestures to the closet.
Its slatted doors have been broken in, but I can picture it the way it was before.
“It was an accident. He’d been terrorizing me, and I just wanted to scare him back. I didn’t mean to kill him.”
“You left him there. You left him to rot. I sat there, waiting for him to get up. Waiting. Waiting. All the while, you were packing a bag and running back to your perfect life.”
“I—”
“Shut up! I don’t care what you have to say! Don’t you get it? I don’t care!”
I bite back my words. “What does Alec have to do with anything?”
“He was my way in. He helped me find you. He knew the plan. And then he grew attached.” She gets up and grips his hair, yanking his head back. He winces. “Pathetic men. They just can’t seem to keep their heads around you women, can they?”
“Diana, I am so sorry for what happened, but I was a child. I was scared. That’s why I ran.”
“Your granny seemed to think everyone would hate you for what you did.”
“Gran? Did you talk to her?” My mind races. “Did you—did you kill her?”
“No.” Diana waves her hand to dismiss the accusation. “But she was so ashamed of what you did she paid me to keep quiet. Do you know that? When I turned seventeen and my mother kicked me out, I went looking for you. I wanted to make you pay. To make you see what you’d done to me. But your granny wanted you to keep having your perfect fairy tale life. She offered me money in exchange for silence, and I took it. All while I tried to come up with a way to make you pay for what you’d done.”
“She never told me.”
“Of course she didn’t. Self-centered brat. How could she have? You were never around! A few years later, I knew that what I had wasn’t enough. Then, I met Alec here. Excellent thief, by the way. He stole my wallet along with my heart.” She licks the side of his face, and my stomach rolls again.
How did she hide so much madness?
“I’m sorry, Andie. I’m really sorry,” Alec whimpers.
“Shut. Up. Alec.” She slaps the back of his head then goes back to her seat. “Anyway. Alec was merely my way in. We were supposed to do this together, and he betrayed me.”
“Do what together?” Fear claws at my throat. How am I supposed to get out of this? Who knows I’m missing? If Elijah and Jaxson are both?—
I can’t even think the words.
God, please.
“We were going to make you pay for what you did. For everything you put me through. I destroyed your precious grandmother’s house like you destroyed my life. I killed your mother the way you killed my father. And now, it’s your turn.”
“Why wait so long?” I ask quickly. Keep her talking. Buy time.God, please. Help me survive this. Please give me strength.
“The money was good,” she replies. “Until your grandmother went and died.” Diana rolls her eyes. “After that, I knew there was nothing left for my silence. It was time to act. And I have enjoyed every minute of watching you crack! Strong, resilient, stoic Andie Montgomery breaking at the seams. Elijah was just icing on the cake. Gorgeous man, Andie. Nothing like that Michael though. Now there is a man. It really is a shame they got involved with you.”
“Did you hurt them?” I’m almost afraid to know the answer. Terrified that, if I learn she killed him back at the scene of the accident, I’ll have no fight left in me.
“I thought about it. After all the trouble he caused me, I genuinely considered killing him where he lay. But I couldn’t risk it. There wasn’t time. No worries though, I sent him a present, and he should be getting it—” She checks her watch. “Any minute now.”
I go lightheaded. “What did you do?”
“Enough.” She claps her hands together and laughs. “Now, before I kill you, I want to enjoy this one final dinner. We are family after all. Stepsisters and all that.”
Dread coils in my belly like a snake about to strike.
I struggle against the ropes holding me, fear burning me up for whatever plans she has for Elijah. So I turn to the only One who can bring us through this. Dear God, please, please, please let him survive. Please don’t take him from me.