My head spun and I tasted blood. I was still tied to the chair, in an awkward position on my side. I wriggled my wrists against the rope and felt a hot, burning sensation. LJ loomed over me and reared back to kick me. Mother and Gran screamed behind their gags. Daddy and Calvin roared against their restraints.
“What the hell is going on in here?” Charles bellowed, standing in the doorway between the family room and my father’s office. I blinked through blurry vision to focus on his face.
Harper and LJ whirled around, and both seemed to cower. Cower?
Oh my God. Bea had tried to tell me. Charles was the ringleader. Something I would have discovered if I’d had more time to dig. When Charles saw me, half tied to the chair and, I was sure by the sting in my cheek, with a welt across my face, his face reddened. His eyes bulged, and he rushed into the room, grabbed Harper by the upper arms, and flung her against the couch.
“Hey!” LJ stood and came at Charles. Charles, ignoring the gun, reared back and punched LJ right in the face. The man fell to one knee and shook his head.
Charles knelt down in front of me and ran his fingers over my cheek and brandished a knife. I sucked in a breath.
He put a hand on my shoulder, and I flinched. “It’s okay. I’m going to cut you lose.”
LJ stood up, still shaking his head, and I gasped as blood streamed from his nose. I was afraid he’d start shooting. Instead, he said, “We didn’t want her to do anything stupid. You said to make sure she was here when you arrived. We thought she might run.”
“So you hit her, tied her to a chair, and were about to kick her? You’re on dangerous ground.” Charles’s lip curled as he glared at LJ, who cast his gaze toward his shoes. Wow. Charles had these under some weird mind control. My heart sank to my feet before it began pounding. He’d fed Leonard’s delusions.
Charles helped me to my feet. “Don’t be frightened. You’re in no danger. They won’t hurt you anymore.” He gazed at me as if I were a damsel in distress and in need of his rescue. And with something else I tried to place. Adoration? Obsession? Dear God. “Where’s my computer?”
I glanced around.
“Here.” Harper handed it over to him. “Oh, Lyla. I can literally see the wheels turning inside your head. Just like something out of those crazy novels you read.” She put her finger to her chin and said in mock falsetto, “Someone poisoned my husband, and the killer is still in this house.” She rubbed her arms where Charles had grabbed her but showed no discomfort. “Isn’t it funny that all along the most crooked house was your own?”
“Stop it,” Charles said firmly.
“Is that the Netflix movie with Glenn Close in it?” LJ asked and moved closer to Harper.
I couldn’t believe my eyes or ears. Harper and LJ chatted as if everything transpiring—kidnapping, assault, and blackmail—was completely ordinary. LJ went on as if Charles had never slugged him. Almost like he was accustomed to such behaviors. I studied their faces. If they had any compunctions, their faces didn’t belie or betray it.
“Yeah. It’s stupid. I would have killed off more people. Made it like a horror flick.” Harper rolled her eyes elaborately.
“I said, stop.” Charles voice came out cold and menacing. He spoke to them as if they were subservient. And they shut up. I’d remember that.
Charles pointed at Harper. “You were honored to be a part of her group. Perhaps you should have paid attention, and you could have learned to be a woman of honor.” Charles took my hand and led me over to the leather love seat. Harper stuck her tongue out at him when his back was turned. She made a gun with her fingers and acted like she was shooting everyone. I stared in gape-mouthed surprise, then forced my mouth closed. At any moment LJ could unload on everyone. I had to force myself not to look at my family anymore. I needed to focus. The simplest answer is usually the correct one.
“You looked through my files?” Charles pulled my attention to him. I noticed he didn’t sound angry a bit. My mind spun, knowing everyone’s life was riding on my ability to control this situation.
I struggled but managed to focus on his face, understanding now that Charles was brutal to uncooperative and disloyal people. “You wanted me to? You had Bea give it to me?” I couldn’t believe how stupid I’d been.
“Not exactly. I just maneuvered a few things, knowing how Beatrice would react. It was the best way for you to discover the truth. I knew that you, with your clever mind, wouldn’t stop. You need answers. All I needed to do was supply you with the pieces, and you’d put the puzzle together.”
I closed my eyes. “Leonard didn’t really want to restart the movement, did he?”
“No. Leonard had dementia. He wasn’t reliable.” He held out his hand. “LJ, bring it here.”
LJ dragged a duffle bag from behind the couch out onto the rug. He put on a set of gloves and then pulled the missing candlestick out of the bag. It was bloody and had tissue stuck to it. What monsters.
He brought it over to Charles, who looked at me. “You saw who Frances was in the movement?”
I nodded, trying to keep my eyes off the object LJ held. “Um, I believe I read that she was a mother of the movement.”
He smiled and an audible heart-wrenching sob left my mother’s lips. When her eyes met mine, she deflated like a pricked balloon with all the helium swiftly escaping. I struggled to remain seated, taking in a deep, quavering breath.
Charles took my chin gently in his fingers and turned my face back to his. “Right. And I came from the other mother of the movement.”
How had I not seen the wild, crazy glint in this man’s eyes before? He actually believed that he and I were destined to be together. I could read that all over his face. Yet I could also read that he wasn’t sure if he could trust me.
“Hold out your hands, please.” And now he would blackmail me so that I could never leave. And if that were possible, that would mean he didn’t plan to leave any other witnesses alive.
I did as he commanded. My mind raced with how I was going to get us all out of this mess. When LJ put the heavy object into my hands, hot tears ran down my cheeks. “‘Strike the shepherd.’ You were referencing the past—when my grandmother alerted the authorities to the group and the house was raided.”
He wiped the tears away with his thumb. “Grip the candlestick, please.”
I did. “You had me attacked.” I tried to look hurt. It was difficult to behave this way with an audience, but for some reason Charles wanted them to see us interact. He made it a point to not even acknowledge that they were there, which to me screamed of his need to punish my mother and uncle.
He had LJ take the candlestick from my hand and took both my hands in his. I had to fight to remain still.
“That went horribly wrong.” He glared over at LJ and frowned. “He wasn’t supposed to attack you. Just someone near you. We had to improvise afterward.” By telling the police I’d been the one to hire Spider to attack me.
“Hey, man, I told you that guy couldn’t be trusted to follow directions.” He shrugged his shoulders. “Gangbangers, whatcha gonna do.”
I blinked, trying to maintain composure. “But LJ is responsible. Bea told me that she overhead LJ describing me to someone on the phone.” I glared at LJ and did a little improvising myself. “And told them to go at me hard.”
“Bea lies!” LJ’s face paled.
I allowed my gaze to flitter toward Calvin in my natural turn back to Charles. Calvin’s head bobbed an infinitesimal amount. He was encouraging me. I was doing well.
Charles’s glare promised LJ pain. He turned back to me. “Spider was supposed to tase someone else. Anyone else but you. And when you ran, I was going to be there for you. It was supposed to connect us and open the door. You’d want to know what ‘Strike the shepherd’ referred to, and I planned to enlighten you.”
He released his hold on my hands when he pointed at my mother. “You’re right. Frances and Calvin’s evil beast of a mother took a strike at the shepherd when she reported the movement to the police and spread all those vile lies. We all scattered like sheep, and your grandfather went away to prison. Father Bingham died there.” He turned to glare at my mother and Calvin. “Did you know that?”
Mother and Calvin both had the same air of defiance. Although I respected it, I wished they wouldn’t goad him. I let out a little sigh of relief when he turned back to me. “What your uncle and mother didn’t understand was how powerful the teachings are. That when you’re destined for greatness, it happens no matter what. Despite all the evildoers’ efforts to stomp us out.” He smiled. “Here we are, you and I, together as we should be. I searched and searched for you once I came of age. My mother never let me forget my purpose. She helped me search, and on her death bed I swore I’d find you.”
“And Leonard? You had to kill him?”
“Yes. When I saw he couldn’t be depended on, I corrected his will first, and he signed the will in front of his lawyer. It’s binding. All the money will go to us.” He meant himself. There was no us. If he managed to get me away—and I’d rather die—he’d be determined to control me.
“Where’d the meds come from?” I bet they were his.
“Mine. All it took was a little google search to convince the stupid doctor that I needed them.”
I’m sure it didn’t take much convincing. This guy was a lunatic.
“I’d been on something similar in my early twenties. They wanted to alter my natural thought processes. That’s around the time I found a message board and found Leonard. When he proved to be problematic, I had Harper dose him. Just a little here and there to build it up in his system. Then on the night of the event, she gave him the killing dose.”
Oh. My. God. I stared at Harper.
“Don’t give me that Goody-two-shoes look,” Harper swore. “You hated him along with me when I told you how my life was. LJ and I needed his money. You heard Charles—Leonard was losing his mind. And Charles is the one who brained him, not me.”
“Don’t worry.” Charles stroked my arm in what I think he believed was a soothing manner, when, in fact, it was creepy and made me feel ill. “You’re not going to witness anything awful again.”
I’m not going to witness. Meaning it’s going to happen when I’m gone?
“Our enforcer needs to take the fall for the tragedy that will occur here tonight. He knows the rules for abandoning the cause.” Charles shook his head. “You’ll learn the ways. You’ll be perfect.” He stroked my hair, and I fought not to flinch. “I’m telling you all of this so you know that I will never lie to you again. We’ll start over fresh.”
Harper laughed. “Oh, Charles are you in for it.” She stood up and stretched. “That one is not the humble little housewife and baby factory you thinks she is. You might as well give up like I told you in the beginning, when you came up with this plan.”
Harper moved closer to me, and Charles did nothing to discourage her. Harper ran her finger along my shoulder. “I mean, my part was brilliant. I befriend Lyla and her book club while behaving pitifully, making everyone think that stupid old man controlled me. Then I reach out to the damaged matriarch of Lyla’s family.” She moved to dance around Mother, and my gun itched to be used. “Get her to offer help, and then the family will take the fall. And I go free.”
LJ grinned at her and she beamed back, and I wanted to wipe those smiles right off their wicked faces. “How did your aunt factor in?”
Calvin swallowed. Dangerous ground, I read from him.
Harper froze and then frowned. “She didn’t.”
LJ’s expression turned serious. “Okay. Look. If Harper and I are going to go underground for a while, we need to get out of here before daylight. And we won’t have long after I cut the ankle monitor off her. We have a schedule to keep, Charles.”
Harper turned to Charles, and her breath sped up. “Did you kill my aunt?”
Charles raised both his hands and smiled. “Not me.”
Harper whirled on LJ and frowned. “Was it you?”
“Baby, what did we say?” He closed the distance between them and wrapped his arms around her. She shoved him away.
“Naughty, naughty.” Charles shook his finger in my face. He could tell what I was doing. “There’s no way to save your family. Like LJ said, the past must stay there.”
I forced my lips up in a hesitant smile. “This is all so new to me. I’m going to need time.”
He studied me, not buying my innocent act. I had to work fast.
I blew out a breath. “Look. I’ll be honest. I’m angry that Harper took advantage of me. I tried to be a loving and kind friend to her. How can I trust anyone when those who were closest to me betrayed me? You recruited two people to hurt me.”
He opened his mouth.
I held up a hand. “You say your intentions were different, but that’s what happened.” I put my hand to my chest and forced all the emotion I was feeling for my family into this one moment. Tears welled in my eyes, and I let them fall as my voice broke. “How can I trust you when you are planning to hurt those I love? They’re my family. Let them go and I’ll come willingly.”
His brows drew together, and he seemed to be considering my words. “That makes sense to me. You have no way of knowing that I’m completely on your side and you can trust me with everything.” He took my face in his hands. “I can fix this. I can prove myself.”
Hope bloomed within me. Maybe we could get out of this without bloodshed. I could keep this up.
He stood and faced the group. “Change of plans.” In a blur, he whipped a gun from the back of his pants and shot Harper.
I screamed as Harper fell against the wall, sliding down. He turned to LJ, who bellowed Harper’s name, and Calvin, still tied to the chair, lunged.
Another shot went off, and Daddy fell to his side. He struggled, working to get free. I didn’t dare look at Mother or Gran, or I would lose my nerve. Calvin’s chair broke, but his hands were still cuffed and blood pooled around him.
I ripped my gun from under my shirt, tearing skin. I couldn’t have cared less.
“You’re dead, Charles!” LJ pulled his gun, but Charles lunged and knocked it free. Both men fought for purchase of the weapon, the blood causing a slippery struggle.
While they fought, I scanned the area, vacillating momentarily. I didn’t have time to call for help. I spied the knife on the floor, the knife they’d used to cut the rope, and went for it. I used it to cut Harper’s ankle monitor, which took a little doing. She was unconscious, and Charles and LJ were still grappling. I checked her neck and she still had a pulse. The bullet had struck her in the chest, but high up near the shoulder. She’d need an ambulance, but I thought she’d live. The cops should be here in minutes now. I knew how that worked: her severed monitor would be setting off alarm bells, and the police were not going to let a murderer get away. I glanced over at the most important women in my life and mouthed, “It’s going to be okay,” before I went into autopilot, acting on one impulse to the next.
The gun Charles had used was next to Calvin, and not sure if Calvin was conscious, I kicked it away. I didn’t want either Charles or LJ lunging for it.
I fired two shots over their heads. “Stop!”
Both men froze. One head lifted and then the other as they got to their knees to face me. Hands raised. LJ looked murderously at me. “Bitch,” he spat.
“Throw those cuff keys over here.”
I thought I would have to do more threatening, but LJ dug them out of his pocked and threw them, hitting me square in the chest. Never taking my eyes off them, I kicked them over to my father, who jerked his hands free from the ropes as he lay on the floor.
Charles appeared shocked. “I wanted to show you that you could count on me. I wanted to erase the damage by getting rid of those who did you harm. I can still fix it.” He started to rise.
“Don’t.” I warned, and he didn’t.
“You’re so magnificent. We have a destiny; can’t you see that? You read my notes. Our life will be holy and amazing. We’ll change the world.”
“She doesn’t love you. Look at her. She’s just like her mother. The one you hate so much.” LJ snatched the gun from between them, and I fired, winging him.
“Thank you.” I moved toward Mother and Charles’s lips curled. “We’re tough as nails,” I whispered, and to my surprise, she smiled, tears streaming down her cheek.
“Calvin, you better be alive.” I kept my gun on the two men as I nudged his side gently with my foot, while my father released him from his cuffs.
Calvin came to and rolled onto his back with a groan. He wiped the blood from his face and surveyed his body. “Fine. Just a shot in the leg.”
“Charles, take off your shirt and toss it to my uncle.”
Charles did as I asked, looking defeated and pretty darn pissed off.
My father stooped down and helped Calvin tie the shirt around his leg.
When he rose to his full height, he placed a hand on my shoulder. “Give that gun to me now, honey.”
Sirens blared and I smiled. “I got this. You untie Mother and Gran.”