Nightfall

by Douglas, Penelope

  “Martin Scott.”

  I let the door fall closed, quieting the room and remaining a moment.

  Winter continued, “If what Emory said was true, why would he work so hard to make sure you all went to jail? Money does the walking in Thunder Bay. Your presence, or lack thereof, wouldn’t make his career.”

  I listened, everyone silent as the words hung in the air.

  Banks spoke up, figuring it out first. “Unless he’s working with people who have power. People who wanted you in jail.”

  My stomach coiled tighter and tighter.

  “You heard what she said,” Kai chimed in. “He had plans for Michael, too. And then nothing. Michael never got fingered for anything.”

  “Because Trevor didn’t want his family embarrassed,” Misha said.

  “Because Evans Crist didn’t want his family embarrassed,” Rika said instead.

  I closed my eyes, not surprised at all. My friends picked up on things without missing a beat.

  “Motherfucker,” Michael said. “It wasn’t about Will. Or his hatred of Will. His grandfather was coming up for re-election that year. He almost lost because of the bad press.”

  “And Kai and Damon?” Banks pressed.

  No one said anything, and I finally spoke up. “Evans knew that Schraeder Fane accounted for Damon in his will.” As executor of his estate, he would’ve known who Damon really was. “If he planned on marrying Rika to Trevor, he wouldn’t want to share the fortune with Damon—and by extension, Gabriel.”

  “And Katsu Mori was forced to step down from the boards of Mitchell & Young and Stewart Banks,” Rika explained. “Both of which helped finance Evans’s real estate projects over the next several years.”

  “Which my father might not have been inclined to support if he’d still been on the boards, since he hates your dad,” Kai said to Michael.

  It had all come together. The past seven years spreading out before us in a maze that took all of us to complete, but finally made perfect sense once and for all.

  The amount of people who had played us like puppets for their own end, and the amount of time I wasted being ignorant of all of it and floating with the current...

  I almost wish I could go back to the nights at Delcour and fucking with Rika when we thought it was all her fault. How simple it was then.

  “Alex?” Rika said. “You okay?”

  I looked over my shoulder, realizing Alex hadn’t spoken since we boarded. She leaned into the windows, arms folded across her chest and staring off.

  After a moment, she nodded but didn’t make eye contact, the usual square to her shoulders in an unnerving slump.

  “Only three of you came on board,” Damon said. “Where are the other two prisoners? Our research said there were five.”

  But neither Alex nor I answered.

  I stared at the dazed look on her face, completely defeated.

  She’d never see him again.

  But just then, she pulled herself up straight, cleared her throat, and cracked her knuckles. “I need to spar. Now.”

  “Rika or me?” Banks asked.

  She shot off, toward the door where I stood. “I’ll take you both.”

  She passed me and left the car, followed quickly by the girls with Winter’s hand locked in Rika’s as they all followed Alex.

  I hesitated only a moment before I opened the door again. “I need to make those calls,” I said, leaving.

  But Michael’s voice rang out behind me. “Is anyone from that house coming for us?”

  But I didn’t turn back or answer. Aydin Khadir was problem six hundred fifty-three, and I was only on number four.

  • • •

  I ended my fourth call, setting the phone down as I rose from the chair. I was still in my semi-wet jeans, but instead of heading into the shower or changing into the suit laid out for me on the bed, I turned and stared out the window instead.

  The night passed by quickly, the sea on the horizon calm and black as I ground my fist.

  Martin Scott was dead meat. He deserved to rot in an unmarked grave in the middle of the woods where he’d be alone and forgotten.

  The hell he put Emmy through...

  I was angry and disappointed with her, and I’d never look at her again, but as much as I hated to admit it…maybe I understood how she thought she didn’t have any other choice.

  Her only unforgivable mistake was the years of silence since.

  She should’ve stepped up and sought us out. How did anyone live like that?

  I didn’t want to make her suffer anymore. I just wanted her out of my life for good. It was obvious now that we weren’t right and that she wasn’t one of us.

  I was ready to live.

  A knock sounded on the door, and I tensed, hearing it immediately open behind me.

  “Hey,” Misha said, and I heard the door close.

  I drew in a deep breath and exhaled, his presence making me feel like the walls were closing in. We were always close, despite the age difference, but I hated that he’d gotten tangled up in this. He never liked drama, and he hated my friends.

  And I’d been without him a long time. Too long.

  I turned and studied him, seeing the tail of a tattoo drift over his collarbone and his lip ring gleam in the small light.

  He shifted on his feet. “I’m sorry it took us so long to find you,” he said.

  I crossed my arms over my chest and headed back to the desk, folding up the notes I’d taken from my calls and slipping the paper into my back pocket. “I wasn’t waiting for a rescue or expecting one.”

  “Your fucking parents,” he mumured. “They just…”

  “They didn’t send me there,” I told him.

  My parents would never do that. They were at their wits ends, trying to figure out what to do with me, and they hid it from the rest of the family pretty well, but they wouldn’t give up on me like that.

  “Grandpa?” Misha guessed.

  “It doesn’t matter.”

  I wasn’t ready to talk about Blackchurch and how I came to be there until I was sure my plan would work. I wasn’t in the clear yet, and I didn’t want to come clean until I was.

  Misha stood there like they all stood there, because shit had changed, and it would be a while before we got back to normal. If ever.

  He chuckled lightly. “I seem to remember your advice about not getting tattoos anywhere visible while wearing a suit?” he teased.

  I met his eyes, seeing his gaze on my hands and the dark ink I’d added over the past year while I was gone.

  I stood by my advice, but fuck it. I’d been bored there.

  He approached, but I kept my gaze averted. “You were there for me—or tried to be as much as I would allow—when Annie died. I’m so sorry it took us so long.”

  His hands shook a little, and I could hear the sorrow in his voice.

  It took a moment to get the words out. “I was always coming home,” I assured him. “Don’t worry about it.”

  He was going to be pissed when he found out who was really to blame. I didn’t want him carrying any guilt.

  “You’re different,” he said.

  I nodded. “Yeah, I grew up.”

  “I wish you hadn’t.”

  I stopped and looked up at him.

  “You never did see how much everyone needed you.” A smile crinkled the corners of his eyes. “You. Just the way you were.”

  No one needed me. I’d been useless.

  But I wasn’t anymore. Devil’s Night was in three days, and Thunder Bay would be ours, free and clear, in four days if I had anything to say about it.

  Misha looked like he wanted to hug me or something, which was strange, because he wasn’t affectionate, but then he turned and walked for the cabin door, opening it to leave.

  I wanted to go after him, but… I picked up the phone, getting ready to make another call instead.

  Nothing was going to be normal for a while with any of them. I had to stay focused.r />
  But then I heard Damon’s voice. “I need to talk to him.”

  I shot my eyes up, seeing him loom over Misha and trying to squeeze past.

  “I’m trying to fucking leave, if you would move,” Misha spat out.

  Damon pushed his way in, Misha stumbling into the hall, but I stalked over and grabbed the door before Damon could close it.

  “I can’t right now,” I told him. “I’ll talk later.”

  “No…”

  “I can’t.” I pushed him out the door. “Please, man…”

  My pulse raced, my blood boiled, and my brain was spiraling out of control. I had a chess board full of pieces, and I was playing both sides. I needed to think. There was no time to lose. He could ruffle my hair later.

  “Dammit,” Damon growled. “Are you fucking kidding me?”

  “I’m not going anywhere,” I assured him, hanging in the doorway as he glared at me from the corridor. “I’ll see you tomorrow. I need to sleep.”

  Rolling his eyes, he gave in and spun around, heading off. “Fine.”

  But then guilt nipped at me. “Wait.”

  He stopped and turned, his white T-shirt wrinkled and his black pants stark against his pale, bare feet.

  I felt a smile pull at the corners of my mouth. “So, what’s his name?”

  A gleam hit his eyes. “Ivarsen.”

  Ivarsen. My heart warmed a little. We had another boy running around. Kai’s son, Madden.

  Needles pricked my throat. I’d missed Winter giving birth.

  “Next gen, huh?”

  “Get your ass moving and catch up,” he teased.

  Yeah. I didn’t see kids on my horizon any time soon, but…someday.

  He started to leave, but I stopped him.

  “Where are we?” I asked.

  He met my eyes again. “North of the border,” he said. “We’re cruising the coast, and we’ll pass under Deadlow Island and arrive home in the morning.”

  So, Canada, then. Where the hell had they gotten this train? And there was a tunnel underneath the seabed between Deadlow and Thunder Bay? No one ventured to the small island off the coast of our town, beyond Cold Point, because it was surrounded by an impassable reef.

  It was deserted, or so I’d thought.

  “Sorry it took us so long to get there,” he told me. “We had a find a way in undetected, and some of the track was in bad shape.”

  It’s fine. I didn’t need them there any sooner, but I wouldn’t tell him that.

  “Just make sure…” I paused a moment. “Make sure she doesn’t actually jump off the train, okay?”

  She could be that stubborn, and I knew what I had said to her, but I was mad. I didn’t want her dead.

  And I definitely didn’t want her to end up in Aydin’s hands again. He’d had enough influence over her in five short days.

  Damon struggled to hold back his smirk before he turned and left, and I closed my door, the phone in my hand forgotten.

  Trailing over to the bed, I ran my hand over the black suit laid out, shivers running down my spine at the long-lost feel of good clothes.

  Then I spotted my mask sitting on the bed, as well. I reached over and picked it up, the familiar texture filling me with memories and a charge of excitement in my veins at all the moments I wanted to keep, despite the ones I wanted to leave behind.

  For a second, I felt like the old me, and I gazed at the white mask with the red stripe down the left side, suddenly ready for a thousand more adventures.

  I smiled. Whatever was I going to do with Emory Scott when we got back to Thunder Bay?

  Emory

  Present

  I knocked on the door, pretty sure she was going to slam it in my face, but I needed some clothes, and I didn’t really know the other women enough to ask.

  When there was no answer, I knocked again. “Alex,” I called.

  Her name was posted on the door.

  But still, no answer.

  She could be asleep. I hadn’t located a clock, a phone, or a computer between hiding at a dark table in the empty dining car and now, so I had no idea what time it was, but it was still dark.

  Twisting the handle, I entered her cabin, a shot of fear hitting me, and I didn’t know why.

  She might not be alone.

  What if she was with Will?

  Deep down, I knew that was ridiculous, but I couldn’t help it.

  Moonlight streamed through the windows, casting light onto the small space through the little curtains, and I looked around the empty room, closing the door behind me.

  The coast was clear, so I didn’t waste time. Stepping over to her closet, I opened it and pulled out some jeans, a flannel, and some sneakers.

  I needed underwear and a bra too, and I almost blew it off, but I pulled open a small drawer in the cabinet, spotting lacy things.

  A shot of heat rushed under my skin.

  Setting my hand inside, I felt the black corset bra, kind of angry I’d never experimented more with clothes. When I lived at home, I didn’t want my brother to see anything he wouldn’t approve of, but in the years since I’d been gone, it never occurred to me to take an interest.

  Without thinking about it, I pulled out the corset and some matching panties and donned them both before quickly pulling on the black jeans and buttoning up the blue plaid shirt.

  The train whistle sounded again, and I looked out the window, squinting into the night. I wish I had my damn glasses.

  I slipped on the shoes, tying them up, and then found Alex’s brush and smoothed out the tangles in my hair. She had makeup and a little jewelry in there, always prepared for anything. I didn’t know her like family, but I knew her well enough.

  Closing the closet, I left the room and headed out of the sleeper car and down the train. I trailed through a corridor of more private cabins and crossed into another car with chairs facing the windows, and refrigeration units holding wine and champagne.

  Darkness and the slight rocking under me were all that greeted me as I went from one car to another.

  Where was everyone? I needed to find a phone to check in with the world.

  As soon as I entered the next car, though, I looked up and saw some of the guys.

  I stopped. The sconces on the dark wood walls barely lit the room, and I scanned their faces, a little hidden in shadow, but did not see Will, Misha, Micah, or Rory among them.

  Michael sat in a chair, his eyes locked with mine as he lifted a glass to his lips, while Kai stood at the windows with his arms folded, and Damon rested against the bar, holding a glass of something amber colored. I couldn’t see his eyes, but I knew he was staring at me.

  Next to Will, I was most sorry about him. I’d helped him bury a body that I’d watched him murder, and he never told anyone about my involvement. When we got back to Thunder Bay, he might have his own vengeance in mind for me.

  “I didn’t want to hurt him,” I said. “I didn’t want to hurt any of you. I just wanted to protect her.”

  They didn’t move or speak, Michael taking another drink.

  “I made a mistake,” I told them, feeling naked as they glared at me like I was prey. “I thought I was alone.”

  My voice softened to a whisper, but no matter how much I hated this, and never in a million years dreamed I’d be groveling to them, it needed to be done. They deserved an apology. At the very least.

  “I’m sorry,” I murmured. “I am very sorry.”

  Kai turned and stepped toward me. “You think that erases anything?”

  I shook my head. “No.”

  “You think we would ever trust you not to do something like that again?”

  “No.”

  “You threw us to the wolves,” he growled, and I could see his white teeth shining in the dark room. “You think your words mean anything to us? Your apologies? Your explanation? Your excuses?”

  I forced the lump down my throat, keeping my spine straight, but my mouth shut.

  “You’re
weak,” Michael said. “There’s no way we can trust you.”

  “You had years to come forward,” Kai pointed out.

  I nodded. Yes. Yes, I did.

  “It was hard,” Kai told me, and I could hear the tears in his throat. “We didn’t deserve it.”

  My chin trembled, and I clenched my jaw to stop it.

  “Will didn’t deserve it,” he continued.

  I know. Just thinking about Will in a cell, surrounded by cruel people, locked up in gray walls…

  “You’re not good enough for him,” Kai finally said.

  I looked up, meeting his gaze despite my shoulders wanting to slump and the urge to fold in on myself.

  I’d made a mistake. I wasn’t a bad person.

  I wasn’t.

  I turned to leave, but then I heard Damon’s voice behind me.

  “We set Rika’s house on fire, Kai,” he said.

  I turned and looked at him as he stared at his friend.

  “Stole all her money,” he continued. “I kidnapped her, and you forced Banks to marry you. I tried to kill Will…”

  “We made mistakes,” Kai argued with him. “We would never do that again.”

  “Speak for yourself,” Damon fired back. “The role of the villain is only determined by who’s telling the story.”

  An electric current ran under my skin, and I almost smiled, grateful.

  They got redemption, because they felt they had their reasons.

  Damon and Kai looked at each other, and even though Kai was the one I could see myself connecting to in high school, because he was stubborn with a clear idea of right and wrong, Damon had been my savior on more than one occasion when life had proved there was so much gray.

  They were like yin and yang, and I understood. I got it now.

  “You’ll make it up to us,” Michael finally spoke up, meeting my eyes. “You’ll stay at St. Killian’s with Rika and me.”

  “No.”

  “Yes,” he said.

  He wanted to make sure I didn’t skip town. What was he going to do? Lock me up?

  And then I paused, remembering that he could. They lived at St. Killian’s. He had a whole dungeon at his disposal. No one would hear me scream.

  “I have a place to stay,” I told him. “In Thunder Bay.”

  His eyes thinned on me, probably not trusting me, but probably not wanting to deal with the hassle, either.