by Cora Kenborn
Faith’s lips tightened. “This…man murdered one of my college friends. I watched him bleed out and die in front of me, Zane. Now he’s murdered my best friend and has an innocent baby. I won’t sit by and let Iris die.”
Zane palmed her cheek with the gun still in his hand. Faith rewarded him with a small smile and he impulsively kissed her. I turned my head. I couldn’t watch the display of affection. It reminded me of the first moment I’d kissed the most amazing lips I’d ever known.
We loaded the car, and the memory faded as Zane drove down a winding path away from the Hollywood Hills.
“So, Fancy-Pants, what’s with you?”
“Me?”
“Yes, you and your sanctimonious cavalry heroics.”
“For such a tiny thing, you sure have a colorful vocabulary.”
“Yeah, well, I’m a writer. We’re very colorful people. It comes from years of pageant training. You can’t reign as Teen Miss Iris Festival 2007 without some serious trash-talking skills. That title alone will get your ass kicked in various social circles.”
“Teen Miss Iris Festival? Like the flower? That’s seriously a real thing?”
“Hey! Don’t disrespect the title. You laugh, but that stupid princess pageant got me a scholarship to Dreighton University.”
“I’d never dream of it.”
I’d make that bastard pay for stealing my dream.
Chapter Forty-Three
Phoebe
I was in a new room. That much I knew.
Everything else was a blur. After waking with what felt like wads of cotton shoved down my throat, I lay still, fading in and out of consciousness. My throat felt like fire, and I could barely swallow.
No one had come in, but I had no idea when, or if, they’d make a surprise appearance.
The closer to death I seemed, the better off I’d be.
During the deepest parts of the unconscious moments, I prayed I was having a nightmare. I convinced myself I’d roll over and Julian would be there to soothe me, assuring me monsters only lived in my memory.
Then clarity broke through and reminded me monsters were very real. The ropes tying my hands behind my back and my feet together were very real. The scarf that brought me within a whisper of death was definitely very real.
“Julian…” His name croaked from my cracked mouth. Tears quickly followed. What was he thinking? Did he think I’d abandoned him, or did he know my life was ending?
And what about Iris? I’d heard her. I knew in my heart she still drew breath, and it ripped me apart to be so close and yet so far from her. I had to get out of here. If it was the last thing I did, I’d get her away from that monster.
Resolve strengthened within me and I whimpered with shrieks of pain as I fought against my restraints. Crumpled on the floor like a discarded rag doll, I twisted and yanked my wrists raw.
A clanging sound all around me halted my actions, demanding my attention. Squinting through the darkness, I vaguely made out a roadmap of copper wiring and pipes lining the walls above me.
Where the hell?
The clanging intensified, crashing to a thunderous boom, then quieting. The hiss started slowly. Gradually, it intensified to a whistling roar. With each rise in volume, a bead of sweat trickled down my temple and pooled onto the concrete floor.
Then another.
Then another.
Within minutes, a thick layer of sweat coated me, dampening my clothes and suctioning them to me like a second skin. The air became so humid, I coughed more than I breathed.
Steam.
Realization smacked me across the face.
It was late spring in California, and someone cranked up intolerable heat. The tiny room had no windows and no ventilation. I could hardly breathe anyway—with thick air in my lungs, it was almost impossible.
I tried to move, but my limbs were bound.
I tried to scream, but my voice was gone.
He was slowly suffocating me. The first time, apparently, didn’t satisfy his sick obsession. Somewhere, he watched this. I felt it. He wanted to watch me struggle for my last breath.
A tear escaped and rolled down my cheek, mixing with the multiplying beads of sweat cascading off my body. I glanced around one last time, assuring Iris was nowhere to be found.
Somehow the verification both relieved me and frightened me.
Evil lived inside my father. It had consumed and devoured him.
In the heated delirium, my mind raced backward in time. Right after Julian’s stalker had attacked us, we cuddled in a hospital bed and reflected on what we’d lived through.
“I’m scared I’m going to leave and the fucking bottom is going to fall out from under us again. Every time we turn around something is hiding in the shadows waiting for us.”
“Julian, I should know better than anyone that monsters can hide in plain sight. They can hold your hand as you cross the street and then push you in front of a car when your back is turned. We can’t hide from the world living in a bubble of what ifs. Evil doesn’t have a face. It just is.”
Evil had a face. It tucked me in some nights. It came shit-faced to my parent-teacher conferences. It cut all my hair off in second grade with a pair of garden shears when I’d asked for a pretty haircut like the other girls in school.
Evil left me here to die.
Evil had my daughter.
Breathing became too much of a chore. Too sleepy to think, I closed my eyes. Right before I drifted off, I offered a silent apology to Julian, praying for him to find Iris in time.
And maybe someday he’d tell her how hard her mother had tried.
Chapter Forty-Four
Julian
“Drive faster,” I commanded, leaning across Faith’s BMW to look at the speedometer. “Eighty? That’s the best you can do?”
“Stop side-seat driving, Jag,” Zane grumbled, pressing the gas pedal further into the floor. “We can’t help her if we’re pulled over.”
I couldn’t help it. I fidgeted, I pulled at my hair, I went over the plan again in my head—nothing kept my mind off what we’d find once we got there. I’d already lost Phoebe. If the only part of her I had left had been hurt in any way, I didn’t think I’d survive it.
“Here! Turn here!” Chloe called from the backseat. “My GPS says to take this right.”
I glanced back at her. “There’s nothing up there but an overgrown dirt road. What the fuck kind of GPS do you have?”
“My friend at the tip line said the caller saw a man matching my father’s description drove this road at least four times. And he wasn’t alone.”
“She waited four times to call? What the hell’s wrong with this bitch?”
Chloe stiffened in the backseat. “Nothing is wrong with her. There was no Predator Confidential interview to connect it to until the other day because you had your head stuck up your ass.”
“Enough!” All eyes turned toward the woman sitting beside her. Faith’s eyes gleamed with ferocity. “Stop arguing, both of you! It’s not helping Iris, and it’s making me fucking crazy.” Lowering her chin to her chest, she sighed heavily. “I don’t know how she put up with you two.”
She. Phoebe.
That effectively ended the conversation.
We pulled up to an abandoned warehouse. Worn by weather and left to rot, the boarded-up windows and overgrown weeds confirmed it had been abandoned for a long time. I could probably stand on the front steps and scream until my lungs bled, and no one would hear me.
It was the perfect setting for torture.
“They’re in there.” I threw open the car door and cursed as I fumbled with my seatbelt.
Zane grasped my arm. “What the fuck do you think you’re doing?”
“I’m going to get my kid,” I bit out between clenched teeth.
He lifted both eyebrows. “You just gonna storm in there and demand he hand Iris over? The man has held her for weeks, and Phoebe…” My eyes closed, and his voice trailed off. “The point i
s, he’s dangerous. We have to be more dangerous.”
“How?” The words were more of a statement than a question.
“Well, for starters, we don’t all barge through the front door. We might as well blow an air horn on our way in.” He nodded behind him. “Faith and I will go around the side of the building. You and Chloe see if you can get through a window in the front.” He glanced again at the decrepit building. “I highly doubt there’s a security system.”
All in agreement on our assignments, he handed us all Glocks, then loaded his chamber, pulling back and releasing the slide. “You all know how to handle guns, right? I don’t have time for firearm safety speeches.”
Chloe snorted, tucking her piece in her pants. “I grew up with that man. What do you think?”
I glanced at Faith, and she rolled her eyes. “I’m a senator’s daughter. I’ve had security guards since I was ten, and dated three of them. They taught me.”
“Extra chambers?” I asked, noting the weight of the gun in my hands.
He glanced at my hand. “No need if you hit it right the first time. Extra rounds cause extra mistakes. Trust me on this, Jag. If you have a shot, steady your aim and take it. Don’t wave that shit around and fire out of anger. You’ll miss, and we’ll all die.”
We split up as instructed. Faith and Zane disappeared around the east end of the building as Chloe and I searched for an alternate way in through the front. After coming up empty, I balled my fist, ready to break a window.
“Julian?” Her hushed voice hissed through the quiet night air.
“What?”
“The door…it’s unlocked.”
I jerked my head around as she pushed the heavy faded blue door open. “Shit.” I scrambled from the ground to the porch, pulling her hand away from it. “It could be a trap.”
“How could it be a trap?” she whispered. “No one knows about the tip but us.” She shifted a glare back to the door. “Either my father’s a complete moron, or…”
“Or they’ve already evacuated,” I finished for her. The reality stabbed me deep.
I pushed her behind me and led the way inside the dark building. It smelled musty and old. All the windows had been boarded up, preventing any light from penetrating. Pulling my gun, I kept Chloe at a safe distance as we wound through the hallways, finding nothing but empty rooms.
“They’re gone,” she said in a small voice.
Close to telling her to go back to the car, a noise to our right caught my ear. It was faint, but I followed it past two more rooms.
Voices.
They mumbled at first, but as I approached a windowless room, they cleared.
“…get the fuck out of here…”
The woman’s back was to us, but even in the darkness, I recognized the short blond hair from Faith’s employee photo. Fury boiled my insides. I raised my gun and aimed it at the back of her head. “Penelope Hammond.”
She stilled. Her arms held something in front of her tightly. It was obvious she didn’t want to turn around, but something forced her hand and twisted her torso in our direction. Her eyes landed on me, and her mouth split into a toothy grin.
“Julian Bale,” she whispered in a breathy voice. I’d been a rock star long enough to know that voice. I lived through a stalker’s distorted obsession. The tone was unmistakable.
This bitch is a fan.
Anger had my trigger finger twitching when I noticed the bundle she held moved. It wiggled. It sighed. It gurgled three successive hiccups and sneezed.
“Iris!” The word tumbled out before I could control myself. “Give me my daughter, you crazy bitch!”
Her head tilted, and her eyes widened as if she didn’t comprehend my words. “Her name is Penny. Isn’t our baby beautiful?”
Our baby?
I stared at her. “What the hell are you talking about? That’s my kid. Her name is Iris, and you fucking took her from my house.”
She smiled. “He promised if I helped him, I could have her.” She nuzzled the blanket. “He doesn’t want her. He just wanted that woman.”
Phoebe.
Iris had been a pawn.
She continued as if kidnapping were a normal occurrence. “I’ve fed her on schedule and burped her just like the book said.”
Relief flooded me. As crazy as this woman was, she’d taken care of my little girl. In some fucked up way, I was thankful. “Why?” It was all I could manage.
She stared like I’d asked the most ridiculous question she’d ever heard. “I didn’t want to go back to jail. Nobody will hire an ex-con, Julian.” She held Iris and smiled shyly. “Besides, he said once she was gone, if I had Penny, I’d have you. I’ve always loved you, Julian.”
If this was the cost of fame, I’d had enough to last me a lifetime.
Chloe pinched my back and slid a finger across my spine, encouraging me to glance to where she pointed. Faith stood diagonally from her, gun drawn with her finger over her lips for silence.
I did what had to be done. “So, what’s your real name?” I smiled, slowly walking toward her.
“Sarah.” She smiled. “Sarah McKellan.”
I swallowed the slew of curse words that wanted to vomit from my mouth. McKellan. “You know Seth McKellan?” I asked gently.
She nodded. “My cousin.”
“Have to say, Sarah. I’m impressed with your brilliant mind. It took a lot of intelligence to pull this off.” I bit my lip. To her, it was flirty. To me, it kept me from calling her a fucking cunt.
Her face lit up. “Thanks. Seth planned most of it after I brought him in. But I took all the risk coming into your house.”
“And now?”
Her smile widened. “Now there’s nothing standing in our way, Julian. You, me, Penny. It’s what he promised me. We can have it all.”
“Yes, we can, Sarah.” The words felt like acid betrayal. “Why don’t you give me, Iri—Penny? Then we can walk out of here.”
She stared at me for a moment before nodding and uncoiling her arms. My heart sped up. This was it. I’d have my daughter back then I’d knock this bitch out.
Suddenly, her face contorted, and she pulled back. “No. Someone’s with you.” She looked around me to Chloe. “This isn’t right. It’s not right.” She repeated the phrase as she squeezed Iris tighter. A pained squeal from underneath the blanket constricted my heart.
She’s hurting her.
Instinct took over, and I lunged. She jerked away from me and started to run. I cursed, falling after her, grabbing at anything I could get my hands on. Chaotic commotion ensued until a sharp blast of a gun broke through the noise.
Sarah’s leg erupted in a waterfall of blood and she stumbled. Screaming, she braced her fall by flinging her arms out in front of her. I watched in terror as the blanket fell from the safety of her arms.
“No!” I dove forward, closely followed by Chloe. My elbows hit the concrete with a crack, and my hands were empty. Frantic, I glanced back at Chloe, lying on her side, her hands just as empty.
Iris.
Not her too.
Soft cries pulled my eyes from the floor to my right, where Faith sprawled out on her stomach, her breathing heavy. I’d flipped over enough bikes in my life to know the rattle of broken ribs when I heard them. But that wasn’t what held my gaze.
In her hands, held high above her head, was a blanket wiggling to be free. Faith glanced upward, sighed with a sickening rattle, and dropped her face to the ground.
It took a moment to find my voice. “Is…is she okay?”
Faith nodded, her voice pained. “I think so.” Within seconds, Zane was beside her…wiping her face as he brought her to her knees and took Iris from her. With an expression I’d never seen on my best friend’s face, he handed my daughter to me.
“I think this belongs to you.”
She yawned as she looked up at me. I wanted to run into the night and get fresh air into her tiny lungs. Instead I kissed her forehead and leveled a stare at Zane, wh
o stood bent over Faith, checking her ribs.
“We’re not done.” I’d come all this way. A deep-rooted part of me needed to bring her home.
I had no intention of leaving without my wife.
***
After sending Faith to the car with Iris, Zane told me he and Faith had come in through a boarded-up window and followed our voices. As they’d approached us, McKellan rounded the corner, delivering a hard punch to the side of Zane’s face. After a struggle, Zane put a bullet in his chest.
“I’m sorry,” I said, looking away. “I never meant for you to have to do that.”
He snorted, surprising me. “I’m not. The motherfucker had it coming.”
The three of us quietly slipped around corners, searching for the one man I was damned and determined to find. I refused to leave this hell hole until I saw Daniel Dalton dead. Phoebe’s nightmares may be over, but mine were just beginning. Fuck if I’d let Iris grow up with the same blinding fear her mother lived with. I owed that much to Phoebe.
It didn’t take long to find him sitting in a chair alone. Dalton was a cocky fucker. In the back of my mind, I knew he’d been waiting.
I lifted the gun to the back of his head. “Where is my wife, you sick fuck?” His throaty laugh only infuriated me more. “I asked you a question.”
Slowly, he stood and faced me. Phoebe tried to describe the evilness that radiated off him, but the reality didn’t compare. My eyes saw a living demon. I’d finally come face to face with the man who murdered my wife. The need for revenge consumed me.
“Gone.” His smug one-word answer caused me to re-aim at his forehead.
“Where. Is. She?”
“She didn’t scream, you know,” he said, grinning like a psychopath. “It was a little disappointing. I waited for it…but nothing. Just—silence.”
Zane leveled his own gun at Dalton’s dick. “I’ve heard the jewels bleed pretty badly when they’re blown off. He asked you a fucking question, asshole.”