“You’ve been hiding for years now,” he said. “But I’ve always found you. And I always will. We’re connected. I can see you in my dreams, see what you’re doing. I can see who you’re with.”
Nausea rose in her throat. Had he seen her with Riley? Had he seen her alone in her house, scared out of her mind after she’d had one of her “dreams”? Is that why he continued to kill, to have that connection with her?
Her stomach turned, and she knew she was going to be sick. She opened the SUV’s door and stumbled out onto the side of the road, bent over, clutching her stomach, and gasping huge breaths of air.
She was sore where the seatbelt had cut into her. But she couldn’t let that stop her. She hurried back down the road toward her parents’ house, still holding her stomach, trying to get away from him, to get away from the knowledge of who he was and what he’d done. All because he loved her.
She heard him running toward her. He grabbed her from behind and spun her around to face him. He was happy, he was laughing, he was completely insane.
“Smile for me, Devy.”
She couldn’t smile any more than she could drag her gaze away from his face. She supposed it was a handsome face, so different from her own. She wondered if he took after their papa, wondered what it would have been like to have been a family, to have known her parents. To be normal.
“Why did you kill our parents?” she asked, trying to make sense of the nonsensical.
He grabbed her pinky with his own and yanked hard. Pain shot through her hand. She cried out and tears filled her eyes.
“That’s all that happened,” he said through gritted teeth. “They said I broke your pinky. They said I couldn’t play with you anymore. But I couldn’t let them do that. You are mine. Mine!” He pulled her hard against his chest.
Fear, cold and sharp, snapped through her.
He lifted her chin, so she had to look at him, had to see the insanity alive in his eyes. “They had to be punished. Don’t you see? I couldn’t let them take you away from me. You were my Devy. I loved you. None of those other girls could ever be you. They tried, but they failed. They had to stop trying to play our game.”
“Oh, God,” she muttered.
“Come on, Devy. Smile for me, laugh.”
He twisted her pinky again and the tears spilled out of her eyes and ran down her cheeks. “But what about Tommy?”
“Tommy couldn’t have you. He thought he could. I know what he wanted, but he didn’t get the chance. I made sure of that.”
Devra swayed on her feet. The feel of him so close was suffocating. She pushed against his chest. “Please let me go.”
“You let that cop touch you. I saw you. He’s going to have to be punished for that. You’re both going to pay for that.” He clutched her jaw and squeezed. “You need to know, Devra, that you’re mine. No one can touch you but me. Do you understand?”
Horror and revulsion twisted inside her as the meaning behind his words hit home. “But I’m your sister.”
“That makes it more special. You were meant for me. I’ve been saving myself just for you.”
She was unable to comprehend how anyone could be so twisted. She looked into his dark eyes, but couldn’t see anything there. Not one speck of humanity, of feeling, of compassion, shone back at her. Just a black, empty abyss that made her blood run cold.
He pressed his lips softly against hers and her knees buckled. She would have fallen to a heap on the asphalt had he not lifted her up into his arms and carried her back to Riley’s Expedition.
They drove for an eternity, down one winding isolated road after another. Devra sat motionless, trying not to think, wondering where Riley was and what he was thinking.
He might never find her. He might never know that it wasn’t her. It had never been her. She bit back frustrated tears and tried to focus. She had to do whatever it took to get out of this situation. To get back to Riley.
“Penny for your thoughts?”
She looked over at Don, her brother, her own personal devil. “Where are you taking me?”
“Home.”
“My home’s in New Orleans.”
Something cold and angry moved in his eyes. “Your home’s with me. No one will ever take you away from me again. We’re going to live there with Mom and Dad, just like we used to.”
“Mom and Dad?” she squeaked.
He smiled. “They’re waiting for us. It’s time to go home now. All the fun and games are over.”
Devra went cold. What did he mean, they’re waiting for us? Suddenly, she was certain she didn’t want to know.
They pulled onto a gravel road that led deep into the forest. As the branches parted, a rundown small wooden structure came into view. She’d seen that house before—in the picture her mama had shown her and in her dreams.
An image teased her, flitting in and out of her memories. She knew what the inside of that house would look like, knew that the floors would gleam…
“I can’t go in there,” she said in a voice barely above a whisper.
“This is our home. This is where we’ll live from now on. No one will ever bother us here. I’ll take care of you, just like I used to.”
“You can’t keep me here. My parents know where I am. Riley will find me.”
He looked at her and smiled, suddenly looking normal again. Suddenly looking as if he were in complete control and knew exactly what he was doing. “No one will find you. I’m going to take care of everything, just like always.”
Confusion twisted around her and pulled tight.
“Devra Miller disappeared a long time ago, and Devra Morgan doesn’t exist.”
“But Riley—”
He laughed. “That foolish cop only thinks about his mommy. He doesn’t know she walks beside him all the time, looking sad, looking heartbroken. Don’t you see it will set them both free? Then they can be together, they can be happy. Like us. Like families should.”
He got out of the SUV and walked around to open her door. She didn’t move. Couldn’t. Something cold had taken control of her limbs. Was it possible? Were the dead constantly around us? Could he really see them?
He grabbed her arm and pulled. She almost fell out of the vehicle, found her footing, and righted herself. “Please,” she whispered. “Please don’t make me go in there.”
Blood. If she closed her eyes, she could see it inching across the floor, filling the seams, darkening the wood.
He pushed her toward the door, opened it, and forced her in. The floor wasn’t golden or gleaming, it was old and weathered and beyond repair. A rat scurried across the room, making her skin crawl.
“We can’t live here,” she cried. A dark corner of her mind beckoned. A deep abyss where there was no light, no thought, no visions. It was someplace she could go, her mind whispered, someplace she could hide.
He continued toward the kitchen. She stood rooted in the doorway, refusing to move. Then she saw the table set up in the corner, with the lace tablecloth and wooden bowl. So much like the one Tommy was carrying that day. Something red stained the inside of the bowl. Raspberries? Blood?
Next to the bowl sat a baby dress and hairbrush, an old stuffed bear and a music box, the kind with a crank where the lid opens and a clown pops out. As she stared at the box, a chill worked its way inside her and she began to tremble. “Please,” she whispered.
“Mama, Papa, we’re home!” he yelled.
Horrified, she stared at her brother. “They’re not here,” she insisted.
He turned to her. “Of course they’re here. They’ve been waiting for you.” He grabbed her arm and pulled.
Please don’t let them be here.
The room shifted and as she moved closer to the kitchen doorway, she could almost see her mother lying on the floor, her long golden curls resting in a puddle of blood.
Her brother turned to her, his eyes glazing over—the blank dead stare of a corpse. “They’re right there in front of you. In the kitchen, can’t y
ou see them?”
The warped music box began to play.
“No,” she whispered, shaking her head.
“We’re a family again, now that I’ve brought you home.”
A shudder passed through her. He was never going to let her go.
“Let’s go into the nursery and play.”
As he reached for her, images from the past circled round her. Suddenly she couldn’t tell which were memories and which were fragments from his shattered mind. “Stay away from me.”
He tugged harder. “Come on, Devy! Let’s play.”
“No!” she screamed, placing her hands over her ears to block out the music box, to block the screams of a toddler crying for her mommy.
The room spun.
She turned and ran out the door, away from the house, away from the nightmare.
Away from him.
“You can run, but you can’t hide, Devy! I always find you!”
She ran. Like so many times before, but it was no use. He would find her—like always. Despair choked her. Her parents knew where she was. Would he kill them, too?
Riley. Pain and fear squeezed her heart, and she doubled over as the breath choked in her throat. He was going to kill them all.
Sobs racked her soul. The whisper of water moving on the breeze, pushing through the trees, circled around her. She knew where she had to go. What she had to do.
It was their only chance.
Chapter 28
“There’s my SUV,” Riley said as they rounded the corner and saw his Expedition pulled up in front of an old, abandoned house.
“We’d better park back here and walk in,” the chief said.
Riley agreed. The front door was wide open and the house was too quiet, making him edgy. The chief handed him a gun and they moved in, making a quick sweep of the house. No one was inside.
“Damn!” Riley muttered, stopping as he spotted a gun on the old, splintered mantle above the fireplace.
“Yours?” the chief asked.
Sickness twisted inside Riley’s stomach as he said, “Michelle’s.”
“Good, then it’s possible Devra still has yours. Let’s split up and head into the woods.” The chief stopped in front of a small table in the corner. His hand trembled as it hovered over a wide, decorative bowl. “I haven’t seen this bowl since…” The chief didn’t finish the thought.
Next to the bowl were several little girl things: a dress, a hairbrush, a broken music box. Instinctively, Riley knew they were Devra’s. She’d been this man’s obsession for years.
He remembered something she’d said about feeling cold, and her dream about drowning. “Is there a river or lake around here?”
“Yeah, back behind the house,” the chief said still staring at the bowl.
“Let’s start there.”
Don was behind her. Devra could hear him laughing, enjoying himself. One last fatal chase through the woods. Despair threatened to overwhelm her. She was running again. She’d always be running.
“Caught you, Devy!” Her brother said as he grabbed her arm and spun her around. “I always will.” He pulled her against him. Suddenly, his smile disappeared and his face screwed into a mask of hate and anger. He yanked at her skirt, almost ripping the fabric. “What is this?” he asked, holding up Riley’s gun.
She closed her eyes as her last hope was ripped from her pocket. He pushed the muzzle up under her chin. “Little girls shouldn’t play with guns.”
She stared him in the eyes but didn’t say a word. For a moment, he held her gaze then let her go. He chucked the gun into the woods. As he did, she turned and ran. The river wasn’t far now.
“Devy!” he yelled, and started after her.
Her stomach tightened at the maniacal intensity of his roar. She could see the water now—sparkling, inviting. Safety. Not far downstream, a large bridge crossed to the other side. She ran toward it and up the embankment, her legs burning, her chest heaving.
“Stay away from there, Devy!” He was gaining on her. “You know you’re not allowed up there.” An edge of panic pulled at his voice.
She reached the top and ran out onto the bridge. She thought she heard Riley calling. But she couldn’t stop now. She had to keep her head. No one was there to save her, no one ever had been.
Within seconds, Don was on the bridge, moving closer. “You know better than to come out here. Mama and Papa have told you many times.” Panic twisted into anger as fury filled his face. “You’re going to have to be punished, Devy.”
The dead calm in his tone turned her blood cold. He stepped toward her and she knew she was going to die. This time, he would kill her. She’d seen that look in his eyes too many times—in her dreams. Fear and helplessness choked her. She held tight to the rail and looked below at the fast-moving river.
“Please, if you ever loved me, let me go.”
He stopped, his head tilting to the side as he stared at her. “Love you, Devy? I’m the only one who has ever truly loved you. I’ve brought you back home. I’m giving you back your family.”
She shook her head as tears burned the back of her eyes. There would be no escaping him.
“Devra!” Riley yelled.
Devra searched the tree line. “Riley, over here!”
Her brother’s face distorted into a mask of hate. “He will not have you,” he said through clenched teeth. “Do you understand? You will only be with me.”
Riley ran out of the trees and onto the river’s bank. The sight of him filled her heart with joy. He came for her.“It’s over now.”
“No.” Her brother lunged, grabbing and pulling her up against him. “It will never be over,” he hissed then lifted her off her feet and threw her over the side of the bridge.
Devra screamed as she fell. Ice-cold water shocked her system as she plunged below the surface. She closed her eyes and let the numbing, coldness wash over her as she sunk toward the bottom.
Don’t panic. Riley’s here.
The current grabbed hold and swept her downstream. As she passed one of the bridge’s large metal pilings, she grabbed it, hooking her legs around it and held on tight against the current. She inched her way up the column, trying to reach the surface.
A splash sounded above her, sending shock waves through the water. He was coming. She froze, peering through the darkness, searching for him. And then she saw him.Her heart clenched. She held tight to the piling and tried to fade into the shadows, hoping the current would carry him past her downstream before she ran out of air.
But her lungs were burning. She had to go up, now, before she ran out of air or the strength to hold on. She continued moving up the column. Suddenly, he was in front of her. His dark gaze locking on hers. He reached for her, his long bony hand stretching. His fingers scraping against her skin.
She cringed, and pulled back as far as she could. Her throat was closing. She couldn’t hang on much longer. He swept past her, then turned back, kicking his strong legs, pushing toward her. Lord, help me.
She renewed her efforts to climb the piling, her fingers scraping against the concrete. He was so close now, pushing against the current, reaching for her. She wrapped her arms around the piling, trying to hold on with everything she had as panic filled her. Riley would come soon. He would save her. She couldn’t let go.
She wasn’t sure where she found the strength but, suddenly, it was so easy to hold on. Don closed the distance separating them, and then he was on her. Cold determination entered his eyes. His arms wrapping around her in a fierce hold. He struggled to pull her free.
She thought of all the lost years, stolen by a brother who loved her too much. She always thought she was alone and unloved, but he had been there, watching, waiting, playing his sick games, the whole time.
She no longer had the strength to fight him. Fire erupted in her chest. She started to cough. To choke. Water filled her mouth. Her lungs. Her limbs weakened and her mind started to drift as the burn increased, then dissipated, in her chest.
She realized she wasn’t cold anymore as languid warmth moved through her. Something moved toward her—a bright, golden light floating steadily through the dark haze.
Mama?
Peace and joy filled her. She smiled and looked into Don’s eyes to see if he saw Mama too. But his dark gaze had lost its sheen and seemed to be focused on nothing at all.
You were right, Don. Mama is here! She is waiting for me. She opened her arms to embrace her mother and barely noticed as Don drifted away.
Mama, I’m home.
Chapter 29
“No!” Riley’s heart screamed as he watched the man throw Devra over the side of the bridge, and follow in after her. He hurried to the shore, and kicked off his shoes, tore off his jacket, all the while watching for her to surface. He scanned the river for any sign of them. But there was none.
Unable to wait a second longer, he dove into the water. The first thing to hit him was the numbing cold that froze his limbs and stung his skin, the second was the murky, darkness. He couldn’t see two feet in front of him. Hopeless seized him. He surfaced.
“Anything?” the chief yelled.
“I can’t see a thing,” Riley called, then dove back under and let the current take him toward the bridge. His heart plummeted as he searched the murky water. The current was so strong she could be a mile downstream by now. Despair clutched at him. He wouldn’t let another person he cared about die, especially not Devra.
He couldn’t. He loved her.
Coming up for a deep breath, he dove under again and this time, saw something. The silt in the water cleared and there she was in front of him, clinging to her brother, each holding onto one another in an awkward embrace. Devra’s hair billowed around them in the icy water. He wanted to yell, to scream… to breathe. His lungs ached with the effort to swim toward them.
As he approached, Devra raised her arms. Her brother drifted away, his eyes opened wide in a stupefied, blank stare. Riley reached toward her. She was looking past him and smiling. He grabbed her by the waist and hauled her toward the surface. As they broke free, he gasped a lungful of air, but Devra didn’t. She was unconscious. As fast as he was able, he swam downstream toward shore.
Shiver: Psychic Romantic Suspense Page 18