Chapter 16
I’m soaked through in this heat. Summers in Crimson Valley are not for the weak. I got spoiled spending every night in my air-conditioned bar. Out here, even after the sun goes down, it’s sweltering.
The good news is I’m almost sold out of all my wine slushies and I’m down to just a couple cases of Lavender Heights ale. These funds will help go toward the damage. Insurance will cover most of it except for the pinball machines. With them being so old, they weren’t eligible to be insured.
But I can’t think about that right now. In just a few minutes, I have to find a way to sneak off and meet Kane behind the Gravitron.
The guys have been watching me in shifts, swapping out to go handle their own affairs.
Kane’s antics have caused chaos everywhere, but at least they know now that the mayhem wasn’t coming from inside their operation.
Hawk seems more concerned about a growing threat coming from Lavender Heights. Some kingpin called Canyon Reyes has been doing deals a little too close to the Crimson Valley county line.
I sent my old bestie, Roxy, a text asking if she could have her rich boyfriend do some digging on the guy. Punk Wilder used to be a famous skater, so he runs in different circles than we do.
Turns out, Canyon Reyes showed up in Lavender Heights just a few years ago and quickly swooped in on the territory. He’s got old family money and more than a few screws loose, so it didn’t take much for him to secure his hold on the city.
This new information has Hawk distracted and doling out new tasks for Scarrow and Omen. But it still feels impossible to get away.
“Hey, Cherry. Let me get a Lavender Heights ale and one of those pink girlie drinks for the missus.” Hal slaps a twenty dollar bill onto my booth. “And keep the change, darlin’.”
“You got it, Hal. Thanks for coming out and supporting Level Up.” I hand him his drinks and throw in a basket of fries. “On the house.”
“That’s mighty kind of ya. Tell your daddy we’ll see him at church on Sunday.”
“Will do.” I nod as they amble off. Dorothy’s face lights up when he hands her the rosé slushie and my famous extra-gooey cheese fries.
“How you holding up, mama?” Omen towers over me, tall, dark, and sexy as fuck in his all black suit. He dips his head, tilting it the side, and I get a whiff of amber musk, licorice, and leather.
“I’m just about ready to pack up and head home. Not too much to load though. I sold out of everything but one case of ale.” The day turned into night without me noticing. One minute the sun was shining, and now the sky is full of twinkling stars.
When I was a kid, my daddy used to let me go to the fair every weekend. It got me out of his hair, and there ain’t much else to do in this town anyway. In the fall, we have pumpkin patches and haunted corn mazes. And in the summer, we have this.
“All right. Scarrow and Hawk are running an errand. But he left me the truck. I’ll pull it around so we can load up and get the fuck out of here.” He fishes the keys out of his pocket and looks around, scanning the area. “You stay put until I get back.”
I nod but don’t give him a verbal response.
I hum instead as I pretend to look busy cleaning up the booth.
I bite the inside of my cheek to try and steady my racing pulse.
Fuck, he’s gonna be so pissed. Why couldn’t it have been Scarrow here with me at the end tonight? He’d be less pissed at me I think.
Once Omen disappears down the center of the fairgrounds, between the colorful awnings of the game booths, I make a mad dash out of Restaurant Row.
My heart is pounding as I half-walk, half-jog past the Ferris wheel, Tilt-a-whirl, and Zipper rides.
The smells of popcorn, caramel apples, and cotton candy make me long for another era.
A time when I wasn’t a murderer. When I wasn’t being blackmailed for it and forced to send filthy pictures of myself to a deranged stalker.
As I near the Gravitron, I realize why Kane picked it.
It’s at the edge of the fair, near the fence.
The ride is basically a giant metal spaceship that spins so fast it pins the riders to its walls.
Which means it’s too dangerous to hang out close to it, and the people stumbling off of it are too dizzy to notice anyone anyway.
I duck behind the rope and slink around back to see Kane leaning up against the chain-link fence. “Hey, Cherry pie.”
His smug smirk makes my skin crawl. “Don’t call me that, Kane. I’m not a piece of dessert.”
He snickers and pushes off the fence with his foot. “You tasted pretty sweet to me. But why don’t I make sure for old time’s sake.”
I shake my head as I zip up my hoodie. “I don’t think so. The deal is you get to see me one last time and then you leave me alone forever.”
Kane’s brown eyes darken. “You know what I want, Cherinne. Let me see that sweet pussy again. Let me watch you play with her one last time.”
I swallow the bile down in my throat. The panic starts to slink into my veins as I remember the last time we were face to face when he nearly choked me to death. “That’s not what I agreed to,” I grit out.
He charges forward and seizes both of my arms before flinging me back against the fence. “You do what I tell you to do,” he growls in my face.
My pulse quickens. “Hawk’s gonna kill you. Scarrow and Omen too. They are looking for you right now. You need to get the fuck out of Crimson Valley.”
He loops his fingers through the links in the fence, boxing me in. He’s gotten bigger since last year. Like all he’s been doing is working out every day. “Maybe I’ll take you with me. Would you like that? You and me on the road together. Where I can tap that fucking ass of yours anytime I want.”
“I’m never going anywhere with you, Kane. We’re done. Now move so I can go finish packing up my booth.”
He smirks but moves to the side. “Sure.”
My breath hitches as I wiggle away from him and head back toward the rides. I’m halfway to the Gravitron when he yanks me back by my hair. “What the fuck!” I cry out. But my voice gets lost behind the screams coming from the nearby Zipper.
“On second thought…” He drags me backward and flings me into the fence again. His eyes are glazed, his pupils dilated. “Maybe I’ll fuck you right here.”
“Kane stop. I’ll fucking kill you myself. I swear to God.” I glance past him, searching for anyone that I can signal, but we’re too far away. There’s too many flashing lights and loud noises. No one is looking back here. I’m so fucked.
“Shhh, let’s have fun like we used to.” He grabs my arm and pins it to the fence. I claw at his hands while he loops a zip tie through one of the links and then around my wrist. He pulls it so tight, it cuts off my circulation.
Oh shit. No. Fuck. “Kane, please. We had a deal.”
His eyes are cold and devoid of any feeling. “Shhh,” he repeats as he zip ties my other wrist. “There. That’s better. Now we can have some fun.”
My teeth chatter as he glares down at me. “You sick fucking bastard. I should’ve known your word doesn’t mean shit. You’re just a pathetic fucking loser who can’t get laid the normal way.”
“Oh, shut the fuck up, Cherry.” He grabs my throat and squeezes. “How many times did you beg me to fuck you? You’ve been crawling onto my cock since we were in high school. Ain’t no one made you do it either.”
“So that makes it okay for you to do this to me now?” I’m so fucking angry I could cry but I won’t give him the satisfaction.
He unzips my hoodie before sliding his palms over my belly. “Yeah because you owe me.”
Chills slink up my back despite the sultry heat. “For what? I’ve done everything you’ve asked these past months.”
He pulls up the hem of my shirt to feel my skin, his lips quivering. “I was your alibi, remember? You don’t think that was a coincidence, do you?”
What the fuck is this psycho actually rambling on about?
“I followed you, Cherry. I watched you do it. And then I hid in the woods when I saw your piece of shit brother and his friends show up.”
I shake my head. “No, impossible. No one knew I was going up there.”
Kane lifts my shirt higher, exposing my rib cage. “I got good at following you, Cherry pie. You’re so obsessed with yourself, you never notice anyone around you. I was close behind you in the woods after. I watched how you tripped and almost twisted your ankle.”
Shit. I remember stumbling and getting my foot caught in a thicket. “So what? You let me suck your dick so you can hold it against me for eight years?”
He jabs his thumbs into my ribs. “I let you suck my dick because that’s what whores do. And I’m charitable. But you never showed me one ounce of gratitude.”
I wince and suck in a deep breath. “Fuck. I’m sorry. I’m grateful that you kept my secret. Please, Kane. Let me go.”
He pushes my shirt up to my neck and cups my breasts over my bra. “I’ll never let you go, Cherinne. I’m going to use you over and over again. The way you used me. I’m going to keep you tied up just like this too. In my cellar. I’ve been getting it ready for you.”
I snicker in his face. “That’s never going to happen. Never. I swear to Christ, Kane. If you don’t untie me right now—”
He grabs my pussy hard and squeezes. “Or what? What the fuck are you gonna do? We are fated, baby. The only way you’re getting rid of me is when I’m dead. And that’s not gonna be for a long fucking time.”
“I’m gonna respectfully disagree,” Omen growls.
I gasp.
The Zipper drops its cages.
The single pop is lost in a cacophony of screams and cranking metal.
Kane’s eyes widen before they dim. A trickle of blood oozes down his temple.
“Oh, fuck,” I whisper.
He tips over and slams into the ground hard, his head bursting like a water balloon.
Omen glares at me. “I brought the truck around, but you were gone.”
My stomach twists, grumbling. I lurch forward and dry heave a few times before spewing bile all over the ground. Some of it splatters on my shoes.