CHAPTER 33

 

Ever since I was abducted almost four years ago, I have prayed every day to learn Napoleon’s identity. It had become an obsession, taking over every aspect of my life. I knew I could never move on—never heal—without that knowledge. It was just like a deep cut requiring stitches. Without them, the wound would always ooze a little.

Now, I feel differently. I want to close my eyes and be transported back in time, back to the restaurant or maybe even the grocery store. Drop my search for Napoleon and walk away with the knowledge that there is still one person that has been there for me as long as I can remember—that one person that I have always trusted with my life.

Yet that person is gone—and in his place is a monster that looks just like him but no longer resembles the boy I once called brother.

“Luke, it’s you.” The words are painful, and in that moment, my heart is torn from my chest.

He laughs like he used to on my birthdays, stretching out his arms. “Surprise!”

There is a giggle from the couch in the corner, and for the first time, I realize he isn’t alone. My jaw drops when I realize it’s Hallie, whose phone is hiding part of her face.

“Her reaction was priceless, babe.” Her tone is mocking. “That’ll be a great addition to our Kelsey library.”

Bewilderment and curiosity fill some of the void that has been left behind by Luke’s betrayal. “I don’t understand. What are you doing here?”

Luke laughs again and squats next to my chair, his eyes level with mine. “I guess we owe you an explanation, honeybun.”

I cringe at the memory of Jed’s nickname.

That gets such a snicker out of her that she almost chokes on her spit.

“You see, we played you, Kels.” Luke’s lips twitch, his eyes filled with amusement. “Hallie’s abduction—that wasn’t real. It was all just a test to see how far you’d go to save her, and you walked right into our trap.”

His words crash over me like a wave of freezing water, my whole body trembling. I struggle to understand what he is saying; it’s almost like a foreign language that I can’t comprehend.

“Why?” I whisper. “I thought you loved me.”

His face scrunches in a grimace. “That’s exactly the problem, Kels. I love you, but not in a way a brother loves his sister. You have driven me crazy from the moment I accidentally walked in on you in the shower when you were thirteen. I just knew I had to have you, but you rejected me, over and over again with your sister act.” His eyes glow like those of a madman. “And then you dated Justin. He was gonna score with you sooner or later, and I wasn’t gonna have that. You are mine and I was gonna be the only one to turn you into a woman.”

Hearing this from his mouth robs me of the little bit of sanity I have left. In a sudden rage, I tear at my restraints, but when the plastic edges cut into me, I still. The throbbing in my arm has turned into a dull pounding; I try to breathe evenly to lessen the pain.

Luke squeezes my shoulder, and for the first time, I feel disgusted by his touch. His fingers run down my arm before gently tracing my wound, which is met by my hiss. When his thumb applies pressure, a scream escapes me, the pain eating into the marrow of my bone. Tears blur my vision. When he lets go, I clench my jaw with all my strength to stop my teeth from chattering.

His eyes are full of cruel lust, and I can tell he’s relishing my pain. “This last time will be so great. I’m gonna make you beg for your pathetic life, but when I’m done with you, you’ll wish you were dead.” A wicked smile curls his lips. “And since I love you, I’ll even put you out of your misery.”

The implication that he finally revealed himself to me breaks through the surface. He is going to kill me. Yet if he thinks I’m going to go quietly, he has something else coming. His eyes are still in another world, and I seize the opportunity. My feet kick forward, finding their mark. This time, I have the element of surprise. I get him good, right in his groin, and he doubles over, gasping for air.

I jump up and leap for the door but didn’t account for Hallie coming at me from the side. For someone who struggled walking in her cast just a few hours ago, she has made a rather speedy recovery. Her head functions as a battering ram and hits me square in my cracked ribs. I am thrown against the wall, the pain taking my breath away. Like a lioness defending her cub, she goes after me again, grabbing a fistful of my hair. With one jolt, she spins me around. I fly across the room and would have fallen into the fireplace if the coffee table hadn’t been in the way.

It breaks in half from the sudden impact. As I hit the floor, my insides scream in agony. I shake my head, trying to get rid of the fuzziness, but before I can move out of the way, Hallie is next to me. She raises her arm. In the last second, I realize that she is holding the fire poker. I instinctively roll into a ball, but before she can strike me, Luke’s voice stops her.

“That’s enough. I don’t want her to lose consciousness again.”

When I gaze up, her face is twisted in rage, but she allows Luke to take the poker out of her hand.

He tosses it into a corner before he pulls me up with both hands. “That was really stupid of you.”

One good shove throws me back into the chair. Every muscle in my body aches, my head about to explode. Only my will to live prevents me from passing out.

Luke points furiously at me, his eyes spitting with anger. “You brought this on yourself, Kels. You should have stayed away from guys and agreed to come to California with me, but no, you had to fall for Finn.” He catches my chin and forces me to look at him. “I can’t stand you being with someone else. I’d rather see you dead.”

I glance at Hallie; turning her against him is my last hope. “What about Hallie? Don’t you love her?”

His lips twist in a mocking grin, and he reminds me of one of those creepy clowns they have in horror movies. “Hallie and I have an understanding. She knows that there will always be other women in my life. She’s okay with that.”

I stare at her, but she doesn’t flinch, totally under his spell. Since she doesn’t seem to mind when he beats her, she’s probably into this bondage shit. Her words from therapy ring in my ears—she only feels alive when she’s hurting. After her parents’ deaths, feeling only numbness has always been her biggest problem.

When he grabs my arm just below my wound to get me to cooperate, I know my time is up. As more pain waves shoot through me, I grit my teeth to prevent the tears from falling. He guides me toward the bedroom as I stumble forward. My muscles convulse when I step over the threshold. This is not how I envisioned the last minutes of my life.

The door is closed with the back of his heel before he stands me in front of the bed, facing a camera.

“This will be a nice memento. I’m really gonna miss you, Kels.”

Alternating hot and cold flashes rage through my body and my teeth chatter again, despite my effort to show no fear. I don’t want to give him the satisfaction. I will not beg or show him how hurt I am. He will not get what he’s looking for from me.

After the camera is rolling, he fumbles with the buttons of my blouse, taking his time to open them one by one. He is practically drooling, keeping his lips moist. His eyes are glued on the task. With a knife, he cuts my sleeves open to avoid loosening the cable ties. After my blouse drops, he runs the dull side of the knife over the wound. I hate myself when I cannot suppress the tears. As they roll down my cheeks, he takes a step back, soaking in the sight.

“God, everything on you is perfect.” His voice is thick with desire. “You’re a beautiful woman, Kels.”

I spit at him. “You’re sick, Luke. No normal man gets off by raping a woman.”

The force of his backhand throws me onto the bed. He swings himself on top of me. Sitting upright on my hips and thighs, he playfully slides the blade of the knife under the strap of my bra, cutting first the left side, then the right. The knife is tossed into the window frame. He has no more use for it until he’s done with me. With shaking hands, he peels off my bra. His fingers stroke teasingly over my bare skin, drawing little hearts on my belly.

I turn my head, sick of his lustful gaze. When his thumb presses into my wound, I whimper. My eyes squeeze shut to keep control of my tears.

“Look at me, Kels.”

When I refuse, the pressure increases. The pain soars through me like a burning layer of lava, robbing me of my breath. Unable to handle the agony, I find his eyes.

“Good girl.” With a smirk, his hand slides back onto my stomach. “Just play along.”

I would love to spit in his face again but have to preserve my energy. In the seconds before he reaches his high, he will be most vulnerable. That’s when I intend to strike.

His index finger finds its way into my jeans. It runs alongside the waistband until stopping under my button. With a low chuckle, he pops it open and unzips the pants.

“Don’t you want to fight me, Kels,” he whispers. “I would really like that.”

I want to tell him how much he disgusts me, but remember the night at the cabin when I didn’t fight him. I won’t give into his cruel games, which will hopefully get him to lose interest in me faster. It’s at least worth a shot.

His face hardens when I remain quiet, and he presses two fingers into the cut. This time, I scream, my whole body shaking in agony when he finally lets go. While I gasp for air, a sadistic smile plays on his lips—he’s enjoying this tremendously. There is truly nothing left of my brother.

When I kick at him, he catches my ankle and slowly twists until I still. My boots are quickly removed before he pulls off my pants, my panties the only thing left in his way. He shakes out of his sweater. His body is still gaunt from the jail food. I realize the toll this has taken on him, but for the first time, I don’t feel sorry. There is no longer any doubt in my mind that he shot Jed deliberately to cover his tracks. I’ll be his second kill, and this time, he probably won’t even blink.

When he drops his pants, my eyes automatically search his skin for the scar. I have to squint to see it; it’s really not more than a tiny red line on his pale skin all the way at the top of his thigh. Even loose-fitting swimming trunks would have hidden it completely.

He follows my gaze. “Yeah, the one flaw in my plan. Truthfully, it happened such a long time ago that I had totally forgotten about it until you brought it up to the police. Blindfolded, your sense of touch must have been heightened for you to even pick it up.” His fingers run over the small slash. “You can’t even feel it unless you really pay attention.”

I’m surprised that he was able to hide an injury like that for all those years, but then again, we were not a family that was very uninhibited. Even my mom never changed clothes in front of me. I can’t recall a single time when I have seen him naked. “How did it happen?”

“Playground accident when I was little. My mother was so embarrassed that I don’t think she even told my dad. They were already fighting for custody back then. A couple of months later, she disappeared from my life, and I had bigger problems than crying over a little scratch. Not having a mom like all the rest of my friends really sucked.”

His mother had moved to Spain and broken off all contact. When our parents got married, this was the one thing that had quickly bonded us together. My father had shown very little interest in me, and both Luke and I felt abandoned, placing even more significance on our sibling relationship. Now all this was blown to pieces by his deranged obsession with me.

“Well, you’re not going to get away with this. Marcel knows that I was taken. He and Finn will put two and two together and come after you. You’ll end up in prison where you belong.”

He cracks a smile. “I accounted for that. When Hallie and I planned this tonight, we were going to blame it on Jackson, but after you changed their dinner plans, Finn became the perfect fall guy. He didn’t even get suspicious when we lured him away from the restaurant, and knocking him out was a piece of cake. The cops will find a nice murder-suicide scene, starring you and Finn as the main cast. Even the van can be tied back to him. I took it this afternoon from his uncle’s shop. Everything will add up nicely. The cops won’t suspect a thing.”

My hopes slowly dwindle away; he thought of everything. He kneels in front of the bed, sliding off my panties, his tongue running over his lips. When I lie totally naked in front of him, he cocks his head sideways, studying me intently. His hand strokes the inside of my thigh, the closeness of our bodies turning my stomach in repulsion. That smile that used to give me comfort sneaks onto his face—it’s now just as vile as his secret.

“This will be so much more fun now that I can actually see the pain in your eyes.”