by Jacey Ward
She’s got a point.
“And that’s another useful quality,” she smirked. “I always have a point.”
“We’re going to have to lay out some ground rules here about mind reading,” Coy muttered but he wasn’t really angry.
Just deeply concerned.
“If we do this—” He was interrupted by a knock on the door. Their gazes locked once again, but this time with wariness.
“Expecting someone?” Shay asked dryly, but she couldn’t mask the nervousness in her tone.
“Don’t move,” he insisted, reaching into his duffle bag for his berretta.
“Oh, my God!” Shay gasped. “You brought a gun with you?”
Coy pressed his finger to his lips and crept toward the front door, his pulse racing. Through the half moon windows, he saw something that troubled him even more.
“It’s the police,” he muttered, tucking his gun out of sight before opening the door.
“Good evening, officers,” he said as he pulled the door open.
“Good evening. Who are you?” the female cop asked without preamble.
“Why are you asking?” Coy replied evenly, careful to keep himself inside the house.
What the hell is going on now?
Oculus wouldn’t send cops. His family wouldn’t send cops.
The neighbor, Shay called out silently. He must have still been suspicious.
“I’m Officer Dryden and this is Officer Ford. We’re looking for Cheryl Collingwood.”
Dread spiked through him.
“Why?” he demanded, his voice a low growl of protest. “Who sent you?”
Their collective eyebrows raised in surprise.
“So she’s here?” the male officer asked. “May we speak with her?”
“Why?” Coy asked again, folding his arms over his chest to keep his fists from clenching.
“I’m right here,” Shay said, appearing at the door. “What is going on?”
“Are you Cheryl Collingwood?”
“I am.”
“Do you realize, Miss Collingwood, that your father has filed a missing person’s report for you? Your face has been plastered all over the news for two days now.”
Shay and Coy looked at each other in shock.
“Who are you, sir?”
“Are you hurt, Miss Collingwood?”
The officers spoke in unison.
“Jesus, I’m a grown woman,” Shay snapped. “Of course I’m okay.”
The cops eyed one another.
“Your father seems to think you were abducted in the middle of the night from his home.”
“My father asked me to move out the very night I left!” Shay barked back. “And now he’s playing father of the year? Is he out of his mind?”
“You didn’t realize that you were being searched for?” Officer Ford wanted to know. “I mean, all you had to do was pick up a newspaper, turn on a radio—”
“We’ve been a little occupied with other matters,” Shay interjected, holding his stare with bold assertion. The male officer blushed and looked away as he caught her implication.
“If my father wasn’t Geoff Collingwood, you wouldn’t even be standing here right now,” Shay continued and both of them looked away. “Jesus, what a waste of resources. Look, thank you for checking on me, but now you can go find a real missing person, and leave me alone, please.”
How dare he?! After basically kicking me out, then he used his wealth and connections to track me down?
“Miss Collingwood, I know you’re upset, but you have to agree that it was suspicious. You left your purse and your cell behind—”
“Yes, okay. But you can plainly see now that I’m fine,” Shay sighed.
“You really should call your father, Miss Collingwood,” Officer Dryden chided her and Shay scowled.
“Ya think?”
“We’re sorry to bother you, ma’am. Sir.”
They turned away but Coy could feel the uneasiness between them.
“You should go with them, Shay,” Coy murmured. “Call your father from the police station and go home.”
She blinked at him in disbelief.
“What?”
“Go. Now. This isn’t over, and it’s only going to put more eyes on us that weren’t there before, if your picture has been plastered all over the news. You can safely call from the station and I’ll be gone by the time anyone tracks where you’re calling from. You’ll be safe at your father’s house with his security and when I get word, I’ll let you know what’s going on.”
The dubiousness on her face was mixed with hurt.
“You really do want to get rid of me, don’t you?” she muttered, spinning toward the living room.
“It’s for the best, Shay. There’s too much heat on us and we’ll never get to the compound without alerting the wrong people that we’re coming.”
She turned and brushed past him.
“Got it,” she muttered.
“Shay!” he called out after her and she begrudgingly turned to look at him.
“What?”
“Be safe, please?” he begged her. Her face barely softened but she lowered her dagger-filled glare.
“You too,” she murmured. “And call me.”
“You know I will,” he replied.
“No,” she sighed, spinning back around. “I don’t know anything right now.”
Chapter 11
The lack of sleep didn’t faze him in the least as he sped toward Richmond, knots forming in his gut.
The closer he got to the compound, the more he knew he needed to turn back.
It wasn’t until he had crossed over the state line that he activated his cell phone and instantly, it was ablaze with alerts. He waited to check the messages until he got to the next rest stop.
What he heard made his skin crawl in the worst way.
“Coyle, where are you?” Audrey sang in a girlish voice, her tone eerie and frightening. “We’re all waiting for you and Shay.”
“Come on, Coy. We have a mission,” Roan insisted on another. “This one isn’t like any other you’ve ever seen!”
There were messages from his uncles and his father, each voicemail more disturbing than the last.
“You can’t hide from us, Coy,” his father, Ryder, laughed. “We know everything.”
He was having trouble breathing as he came to terms with what he was hearing.
Oculus got to them. All of them. It’s the only explanation.
But they seemed to be waiting for him.
And Shay.
I did the right thing by keeping her away, Coy thought reasonably, trying to ignore the stab of pain in his chest that the betrayed look in her eyes had shot through him. Whatever this is, it isn’t going to be good for either of us.
They sounded brainwashed. Even Audrey and Dad, who had the strongest mind control powers. How could this happen to them?
Coy knew he needed to find out and he jumped back into his car, filled with a steely purpose.
Chapter 12
He parked the Corolla a mile from the compound and made his way through the thick trees toward his childhood home.
A strong feeling of nostalgia overwhelmed him as he paused at a clearing and Coy realized he was standing in the last place he’d met with Shay as a child.
It was a bittersweet memory and he wondered if Shay was right, if things might have been very different if he’d been honest with her when they were children.
How? He scoffed at himself. How could we have been? We were just kids.
He remained in the trees, taking in the too-familiar block of buildings before him.
The fence he had scaled a million times seemed much shorter than he remembered but just as electrified. He realized now that he could have diffused the energy instead of endlessly electrocuting himself to jump it back in the day.
Older and wiser, I am, he thought with bemusement.
There was no movement from within even as minutes ticked by an
d after an hour, Coy knew he couldn’t stand there any more. He was getting antsy for some action.
He checked his pistol to ensure it was unlocked and loaded but he wondered if he would have occasion to use it.
It’s not like I’m going to shoot my family.
Even if they were a threat to him. He knew he’d never be able to fire on one of them.
The night was unbearably still and Coy knew he had to do something about it.
He summoned rain clouds and created an electrical storm above, relishing in the boom of thunder over his head.
Come on, he growled silently. Show yourselves.
Rain began to splatter against the buildings, but Coy remained out of sight, again biding his time as the storm gathered momentum around him.
His patience was rewarded a few minutes later when a shadow appeared in the distance, between a bungalow and the main lodge. He peered through the night, fixing his eyes on the ambling form.
“Coyle?” A voice rang out, but he couldn’t identify the speaker even as she neared the fence. “Coyle, is that you?”
Who the hell is this now?
“Come out and talk to me, Coyle.”
The brunette stood at the electric fence now and Coy squinted at her.
“There’s no point in hiding out there,” she sighed. “Sooner or later, you’ll have to come in here and join your family.”
Fury raced through him and before he could control himself, Coy sent a blast of telekinetic energy forward to spray the fence with sparks. The woman jumped back, startled at the act of aggression but Coy got the impression she was laughing.
“Feisty,” she chuckled. “Is Cheryl with you?”
“Who the hell are you?” he spat, striding forward to confront the stranger head on. The game of mystery and intrigue had gone on long enough. “Where is my family?”
But as he neared, his eyes widened in recognition, his gaze taking in the sight of a woman he had never expected to see on his family’s compound.
Her smile faded slightly as she looked behind him.
“Where is she? Where is Cheryl?”
“I asked you first,” he snarled. “What have you done with my family?”
“Your family will be fine as soon as you bring mine to me,” she replied shortly. “Bring me my daughter and you will all be together.”
If Coy had ever been angrier, he couldn’t remember it and with a flash of his hands, he sent a bolt of lightning down to take her out. The bolt seemed to be deflected some how, and Coy’s dread increased, realizing this may not be as easy as he had hoped.
“Shay is safe—now that she’s away from you, Clara,” he spat.
Without waiting for her to respond, Coy scaled the fence, the bolts of electricity shooting through him harmlessly as he leapt to the ground, his gun drawn.
But he didn’t see the mob around him until he was pinned to the ground, his own father inside his head, forcing him to lower his weapon.
“There’s no point in fighting, Coyle,” Clara sighed, as Coy’s family subdued him, leering almost brainlessly at him.
“Your family is under my control,” Clara Collingwood told him. “If you want to be with them again, you need to bring my daughter here. It’s really that simple.”
“Never,” Coy growled. “You can try and kill me but I doubt you’ll succeed.”
“I don’t need to kill you, Coy,” Clara smirked. “I’ll leave that to your family.”
With that, she spun away and left Coy alone with his mind-controlled family.
Chapter 13
“Are you out of your goddamned mind, Dad?” Shay yelled, pacing around the study, her face red and furious. “You called the FBI?”
“I was worried about you,” Geoff growled. “You disappeared without a word.”
“I thought you wanted me to go!” she sighed. “Isn’t that what you said?”
“I wanted you to go for other…” he trailed off as if reconsidering his words. “I was worried about you.”
“Jesus Christ. Do you know how embarrassing that was? What a waste of resources?”
“You could have picked up a phone and called me,” Geoff insisted. “You’re as much to blame as I am.”
“Jesus, Dad,” Shay muttered again, unsure of what else to say. A part of her couldn’t help but be touched by the fact that he’d called out the entire freaking cavalry to hunt for her so tirelessly, but why? It just didn’t make any sense. He’d never really been concerned with her whereabouts.
He’s never been a helicopter parent. He’s never worried about me, even when I was a kid.
“What made you go through such efforts, though? I’m trying to understand this.”
“You’re still my daughter, Cheryl, whether or not you’re an adult. Given your sleepwalking episodes…”
Her brow furrowed.
“You thought I got hit by a car or something?”
“I thought you met with the wrong kind of person,” he said before he could stop himself. Instantly, his face flushed and he looked back down at his desk as though something important held his attention there.
“Like who?” she breathed.
Does he mean Coy?
“Anyone! The world is full of terrible people!” Geoff exploded. “Are you about done with this inquisition? Where the hell were you anyway? The cops said you were in Pennsylvania, holed up with some strange man.”
“He’s not a strange man,” Shay grunted. “I’ve known him since I was a kid.”
“Who is he? Why were you out of state?”
“Now who’s doling out an inquisition?” she demanded, studying his face closely.
What is he hiding?
She decided to ask.
“Dad, why are you looking for Mom?”
The question seemed to slap him in the face and Geoff reeled back in shock.
“W-who told you that?” he choked, his face paling as he blinked. “Were you listening in on my meeting? Is that why you left?”
“No, Dad. I didn’t leave to punish you…” She inhaled and sat wearily on an armchair, facing him seriously. “Why don’t you talk to me? I’m your only family, Dad. I’m not your enemy.”
He looked at her guiltily and then glanced away, shaking his head.
“I know you’re not, Shay. You’re the only good thing in my life. That’s why I’m trying to protect you.”
“By kicking me out?” she scoffed. “By running secret meetings and hiding things from me?”
As she spoke, she realized exactly how much anger she had been harboring toward him since returning home.
“Don’t you see, Shay? I’ve done all those things to keep you safe, to keep you from…from all the bad shit in this world.”
She stared at him uncomprehendingly.
“Because of my abilities?” she asked softly. “Is that why?”
He balked and swallowed before speaking.
“None of this is your fault, Shay. You are innocent and have always been innocent. If anything, this is my fault.”
“My abilities?” she asked dubiously.
“No…no, that’s not what I mean.” He drew in another breath. “Dammit! What I have to tell you will be a lot to handle, Shay, but I guess you’re old enough...”
“Dad, I’m an adult. I deserve the truth. Please don’t shield me anymore. I’d rather hear it from you than anyone else.”
Geoff raised his head and offered her a wan smile.
“You really have always been the greatest kid, you know? You never threw temper tantrums, never disrespected me or your mother. I really couldn’t have picked a better child.”
Shay waited expectantly and Geoff sighed, shaking his head.
“Your mother never wanted kids,” he said bluntly and the words stung Shay more than they should have. “She never said anything when we got married but she made it pretty damned clear afterward. I should have divorced her then, but I was in love, you know? She was so perfect for me and I thought maybe she’d change
her mind.”
There was so much heaviness in Geoff’s voice, Shay wanted to cry.
“Then you came along, Shay, and I never knew I could love anyone as much as I did you. I realized that my love for you was even greater than the one I had for your mother.”
“I’m sure that’s not true,” Shay protested but Geoff raised a hand to silence her.
“You’ll understand what it’s like to love a child one day, Shay, and you’ll see that nothing could ever come between you and that baby…”
He paused and reached for the half-drunk tumbler of scotch on his desk, downing the remainder before continuing again.
“But your mother…she was indifferent toward you. She didn’t have a maternal bone in her body.”
Shay chewed on the insides of her cheeks.
“Some women are just not cut out for motherhood,” she offered weakly. “Even to their own children.”
Geoff’s head jerked up, his eyes narrowing.
“Yes…that’s true,” he conceded slowly. “But Shay, you’re not her child, not biologically. You’re adopted.”
“What?” she gasped. “What?!”
“The night Clara left, she was coming to take you, back to your real parents. She said she’d had enough and she couldn’t cope with your…well, she called them abnormalities. I forbade it and we got into a huge fight. She said some awful things, about you, about me…she wasn’t even making any sense, Shay and…”
He inhaled shakily.
“When she went for you, I struck her and she went down after hitting her head against this very desk. And it… killed her.”
Dizziness and sickness combined in her gut until Shay could barely breathe.
“I covered it up, saying she ran off with some guy and I had my men take care of her body, but…”
“Oh, Daddy…” Shay gasped. She couldn’t wrap her mind around what she was hearing.
“It was an accident, Shay. I had never laid a hand on her before, and if she hadn’t been speaking about taking you away from me, and shouting terrible, terrible things…”
Shay forced herself to put the atrocious deed out of her mind.