An eerie feeling creeps up my spine as I look around. Something’s off but I can’t tell what. Everything is the way it usually is, so I shove my paranoia aside. “Neil?” I call his name again, but no answer.
I lean against the counter and turn back to look at the room. I can see straight through the house, all the way to the front door. Everything is meticulous, as it always is, but one thing is not. A chair—Neil’s chair—at the kitchen table is pulled out and pivoted slightly. It looks like it was shoved in with one hand. My gaze rests on the chair. Even in a hurry, he wouldn’t do something like that. I walk over and look at the piece of wood, wishing it could speak. I don’t want to be here.
Gathering my courage, I hike up the stairs and stop in front of the closed door. “Neil, I know you’re angry with me, but we need to talk. We can’t go on like this. It’s not good for either of us.” I’m looking at the ring in my hand as I speak. Still no answer. “Neil?”
Reaching up, I take the knob in my hand and twist. When the door swings open, I gag from the smell and stagger back, nearly falling down the staircase. My hand flies over my mouth and muffles my scream.
Neil.
Blood.
Cecily.
Their naked bodies are tangled together and lifeless. The pristine mattress and blankets are covered in old blood and the smell has me ready to vomit. I stand there for a moment, holding my stomach, bent over. My hair dangles in my face obscuring the person next to me. It’s not until he speaks that I move.
“Did you forget about me? Because I have not forgotten about you.” Victor is standing next to me with a hideous grin on his lips. He gazes at the dead couple on the bed. “I thought you’d never come back. Thank God for small miracles, because I owe you big time.”
Sean’s voice echoes through my mind.
He won’t underestimate you again.
I don’t know what to do. I’m unarmed and Victor has a gun in his belt and a knife in his hand. His silver blade is clean even though I’m sure that’s why there’s so much blood. “You killed them.” I manage to choke out the words. My palms are on the wall, sliding along it, trying to not fall.
“It looks like some of my older work.” He surveys the bed and grins. “It’s personal, that’s for fucking certain. The cops will wonder what kind of person did this, and they’re going to assume it was you. You see, since your fiancée was banging this old lady, I killed an extra person. She wasn’t part of the plan, but the woman saw me and right now everyone thinks I’m dead—thanks to you. I have to say that was a massive favor, sliding that blade across my neck. Everyone thought I was pushing up daisies somewhere, but you,” he laughs and points his knife at my throat, “you didn’t bury the blade in my neck, so here I am.” He steps toward me. Before I can react, his knife comes into contact with my shoulder. I scream and pull away. The movement throws me off balance and before I can regain my footing, Victor pushes me. I go flying backwards down the staircase, slamming my head, shoulder, and face as I bounce down the steps.
I’m yelling at him, and trying to get to my feet, but he’s faster than I am, and unharmed. The back of my head stings. I touch it and my fingers come away covered in blood.
“Get up.” Victor kicks at me. “You’re not some pampered ass little princess. Fight back.”
“Leave. Go away right now and no one will ever know that you were here.” I hold my shoulder, trying to stop the flow of blood as I stand. My head spins and the room tilts to the side. I’m going to die.
The man laughs. “And have you talk? Do I look dumb? The thing I can’t believe is you saw firsthand what happens to a bitch that disappoints me. You have no idea what hell you’re about to live through, do you? I’m going to make this long and slow.”
“The neighbors will come. They’ll hear me.” I take a step back.
“The neighbors are ancient and can’t hear jack shit without their hearing aids, which have gone missing. It’s been a few days now, but I bet we have a few more to play around before anyone comes looking.”
My body is covered in sweat and my mind is telling me to run, but my body wants to fight. The conflict is making it difficult to move, that and the blood pouring down my arm. “Where’s Maggie?”
Victor grins showing off his gold tooth. “Where do you think? That bitch was good in bed, but loose lips aren’t becoming. I took care of her. Too bad you weren’t around to stop me this time.” Without warning, he throws the knife in his hand. It flies by my ear and buries in the wall.
I shriek and whirl around, grabbing the first thing I see—Neil’s chair. Victor is pulling his gun out, so he can’t block my swing. I hurl the chair around in a fury and hear wood crack as it comes into contact with his body. Victor swears and the gun flies across the room and into the kitchen. As soon as the chair is out of my hands, I race for the door, but Victor grabs me.
We roll for a moment, and then he pins me to the floor. “You’re not getting away this time, you fucking whore.” His fist connects with my cheek and pain explodes behind my eye. I try to twist out of his grip, but I can’t move. “You ready, slut? Things are going to get interesting.”
Before I know what’s happening, he pulls down my sweatpants. I’m not wearing panties because I didn’t have extra clothes at Bryan’s house. Victor continues, “I knew it. Fucking cunt. This part is fun. Have I told you that I prefer this area to be nice and smooth? How about a shave?”
I shake my head furiously, pleading incoherently.
“Fine, then we’ll do it this way.” He pulls out a lighter and flicks it. The thing flames to life. Victor keeps me pinned with one arm while his hand inches closer and closer to the hairy patch between my legs. As soon as the lighter touches the hair, the entire section catches fire. I scream and writhe, trying to get away from him, but I can’t move. Tears flow down my cheeks as he watches my bush burn. He waits a moment, letting me shout out in pain, and then grabs me—crushing the fire with his hand.
“Let me go.” I manage.
“Beg me not to fuck you senseless.” His dark eyes lock on mine. “Do it.” He moves his hand and a finger slips into me. He pushes hard and I scream.
We’ve shifted and I hadn’t noticed. I take the shot, knowing it’s the only one I’m going to get. My heel launches straight into his junk. Victor curls into a ball as I yank my pants up and run out of the house.
My heart is pounding so hard it feels like it’s going to explode. I race past Bryan’s car and don’t look back. But I hear Victor behind me, getting closer and closer. I wanted to stay in a public area, but no one seems to be out. I run until I can’t breathe. My lungs are on fire. I didn’t think about where I was going, but I realize it when I see Bryan jump out of a car before it fully stops.
He rushes toward me. “Hallie!”
“No! Bryan, go!” I try to tell him, but I can barely speak. I crash into him, unable to breathe. He hands me off to Sean and walks toward my house. “No!” I scream and try to pull away.
Time stops. Victor steps into the middle of the street, gun pulled and aimed straight at me. He cocks it, and ignores Bryan until he can’t.
“If you want her, you’re going to have to kill me first.” Bryan’s voice is level and strong. He’s holding a gun, already cocked, straight at Victor’s face.
“That cunt’s not worth dying for.”
“That’s where you’re wrong.” Bryan fires and the shot rings out. There’s an echo and at the last second Victor repositions his gun, but he falls to the ground.
Sean is holding onto my waist as I try to claw away from him. I’m screaming his name, watching the man I love fall to the earth in slow motion.
“It wasn’t an echo!” I kick free from Sean and rush to Bryan.
Before I get there his body crumples to the ground. His eyes see me one last time before they roll back and stare at the sky. Blood flows from his chest, soaking his shirt and flowing onto the ground. “No, no, no! Make it stop! Sean! Help me!” I clutch Bryan’s head and weep as life bleeds out of him.
“Love you. Always loved you.” Bryan’s voice is so weak, so filled with pain that it cuts me in half.
“I love you, too. Always have.” I smile down at him and a peaceful look spreads across his face. Bryan becomes limp in my arms as I stroke his head and tell him that it will be okay.
Everything will be okay.
Chapter 12
Police lights flash around us, and I don’t understand what they’re saying. Someone is pulling me away while another cop takes Bryan’s gun. “Run the numbers on that.”
“Yes sir.” He takes the weapon and disappears.
Sean is standing over us, stiff and silent.
A cop asks if we were engaged. He found a ring on the ground. I don’t answer. I can’t answer. My voice has been sucked away and there are no words.
The voices around me are a blur of noise until Sean speaks. “No, it was mine.”
“Mr. Ferro, this weapon was used in another homicide.”
I glance over because Sean sits down hard. He says a name—a woman’s name—like it’s a blessing and a curse. He breathes in deeply and rubs his eyes before looking at his cousin with a strange smile on his face. “You fucking idiot.”
I don’t understand. “What are you talking about?” Sean won’t answer, he just shakes his head. His eyes are hard and unfeeling. I want to scream at him, but I can’t.
A cop answers me. “This is the gun that killed Amanda Ferro.”
Chapter 13
Consumed by shock and emotional overload, I can’t process what he’s telling me. I blink at him. “What?”
“They couldn’t find the weapon during the trial, but everyone thought Sean Ferro killed her.” Sean has walked away, his shoulders stiffen with each word and I know he can hear. Grief is tearing through me¸ but something feels wrong.
“I don’t understand.” I wipe the tears off my face and smear them across my cheek. “What are you saying?”
“I’m saying what it looks like, Miss Raymond. Although we can’t be entirely conclusive at this point, it points the blame for that murder in another direction. It looks like Bryan Ferro shot Amanda, and for whatever reason Sean willingly took the blame.” The cop is old enough to remember the trial. He stares after Sean with respect in his eyes. It’s not the typical animosity that people offer when they see the man. They think he’s a heartless monster and Sean’s become that person. In Bryan’s bedroom I’d seen old pictures of the boys when they were young. Sean smiled then and his eyes didn’t have that hollow, creepy thing they have now. It’s like he’s been carrying around a massive secret and I can’t bear to think that this cop is telling me the truth. Bryan is dead because of me. He walked straight into the line of fire to protect me, so why the hell would he kill Sean’s wife? I straighten and turn to look at Sean.
He’s rigid and trembling, trying to walk away, but he keeps looking over his shoulder until he stops and turns. Arms folded over that strong chest, he stares at his cousin’s lifeless body with a look that walks the line between disdain and admiration.
I can’t stand it. Something inside of me breaks. In a rage of tears and fury, I jump up and race toward him, screaming wildly. When I collide into his chest, he barely moves but it doesn’t stop me from throwing punches. I connect my fist with his rock hard side once, before he grabs my wrist. Yanking me close, he hisses in my face, “You’re not the only one grieving right now.”
I pull my arm away and nearly stumble backward. The cops watch us, but no one intercedes since Sean seems calm. He may be steady, but I’m not. I knew Bryan wouldn’t be with me much longer but Sean stole the few extra minutes we had, and then this—the humiliation. In his death, Bryan will be slandered and accused of a murder there’s no way he committed. I hiss up at Sean, “It’s a lie. He didn’t kill her.”
“How would you know?” Sean’s voice is cold and detached, although his gaze lingers on Bryan as they shift his body to a black bag.
I glance over at him and fall to my knees sobbing. “He wouldn’t have been here tonight if you didn’t make me break things off with Neil! This is your fault! You told him! He wouldn’t have come if you didn’t tell him about Victor!” I pound the pavement with my hands until they’re raw and bleeding. Sean doesn’t answer, which makes me furious. “Admit it!” I’m in his face again, speaking in a death whisper. “Bryan wouldn’t have died tonight if it wasn’t for you.”
Two words. That’s all he says. “You’re right.”
I start sobbing again and let out a scream. By now there’s a police line and paramedics. The EMTs try to look at me, but I can’t leave Bryan. When they zip the bag shut, I beg them to stop. “He’ll be all right.” I claw the guy’s arm as he zips the bag. “Please stop! I can’t do this again! I can’t! He’ll be all right! He has to be!”
Sean pulls me away and smashes me to his chest. His eyes are glassy, but there’s not a single tear shed. I hate him. I rip away from his grip and spit on his face. Sean doesn’t move to wipe it off. People watching us are holding out cameras. That’s when I feel a hand on my shoulder.
I turn around, expecting it to be a cop, but it’s not. A wall of red hair greets me with a sad smile. “I told you I’d be there for you. Why didn’t you call me?”
Chapter 14
Maggie takes hold and hugs me hard, letting me fall apart in her embrace. She whispers nonsense and strokes the hair off my face.
She helps the paramedics get me into an ambulance to look me over. When I sit down, I wince. The guy is young, but he realizes what it means. He calls for a female worker and a cop comes over. She’s a tiny thing, and her gaze is sympathetic. “Honey, I need to talk to you.” She climbs into the bus and closes one of the doors so that no one else can hear. “Did Victor Campone rape you?”
I don’t know what to say. Shaking my head, I tell her what happened. It feels so long ago even though the burns on my skin are fresh. I haven’t felt them until now. “My skin burns.”
“Let me get someone to check you, then. We need to see how the burns are so we can treat them. Okay, honey? You’ve been through enough tonight. Let them help you.” The cop is watching me with pity in her eyes. She sees the ring on my hand. I put it back there without thinking. They assumed I was engaged to Bryan. They don’t know about Neil and Cecily yet, so I tell them. Her eyes go wide and she talks quickly into her shoulder. I add, “I think he went into the surrounding homes as well. Please check on them. Mr. Thom was always nice to me.” I start balling again when I realize that Victor may have killed him too.