THE CRUEL SEVEN

by Terence Mitford

  Luke nodded and walked outside.

  Erica sat down next to Ed at the table. “Everything’s going well. We are rid of Mike and that leaves the way clear for the next phase of the plan.”

  “What’s that?”

  “We rally around to show we are here for her. We show her how much she needs us and before long she’ll be begging to stay here.”

  “You haven’t forgotten your promise, have you?”

  “Of course not. Luke will get her pregnant, and as soon as she’s had his baby, one of the twins will get her pregnant. Then she’s all yours.”

  “One of the twins? I thought you were giving her to both of them.”

  “I will. They can both have her. I don’t care which one gets her pregnant. They’re identical, so what does it matter? It might be fun trying to guess who the father of the second baby is.”

  Ed grinned. “You are evil. But that’s why I married you.”

  Erica tipped her head back and laughed. “You men are so easy to please. As long as you have a pretty girl at the ready, you’re happy. So Neanderthal.”

  “Don’t you miss it?”

  “What?”

  “Sex. How old is Summer now, nineteen? That means it’s been nearly twenty years since you had sex.”

  “No, I don’t. It’s overrated, and it effects rational judgement. I can think much clearer since my enforced celibacy.”

  Ed shook his head. “I would kill myself if I couldn’t have it once in a while.”

  “It’s a good thing I don’t mind you fucking other girls then, isn’t it?”

  41

  LISA

  The gloom of evening had engulfed the bedroom by the time Lisa walked out and joined the others at the table. A plate of stew was there waiting for her, and although she picked up a fork, all she could do was shuffle the food around with it.

  She wasn’t hungry and couldn’t imagine being hungry ever again.

  She glanced around at the others. They were eating more slowly than usual. Maybe they felt guilty carrying on when she was so devastated.

  She looked at Erica and forced a weak smile. “I’m sorry, but I’ll have to leave here tomorrow. We need to go back to town to report the accident, and I need to go home.”

  Erica met Lisa’s comments with a frown. “Why? You belong here with us now, Sweetie.”

  “I appreciate everything you have done for me, but I need to make some phone calls. I have to tell Mike’s parents. I need to talk to our assistant manager at the gym, and I need to arrange Mike’s…” She stopped herself. How could they have a funeral without a body?

  She needed more time alone, so she got up and walked outside and wondered around aimlessly until she found herself in front of the cabin. She stood in the doorway and stared at the empty bed. Tears flooded her eyes as she remembered their last conversation in this room, and how Mike had told her that every minute he had spent with her had been great.

  Consumed by guilt, suddenly she regretted her recent actions with Luke. Especially as she was sure Mike had known. He had not challenged her over it because that’s how he was. Considerate. She could see that now. He had made a mistake. A bad one. But it had been out of character and he had come clean over it. Most men would have stayed quiet, but he couldn’t. He had told her she had a right to know.

  She let out a long sigh. Pride and hurt feelings had prevented her from seeing things objectively. But now he was gone, her anger was fading, allowing her to think more clearly. Mike had hated himself for the pain he had caused her, and was probably telling her the truth about Summer. Her heart ached at the thought she would never see him again, and couldn’t tell him she had forgiven him. She just hoped that deep down, he had known she would, and that he had known she still loved him.

  She glanced down at the bloodstains on the floor, then turned and focused on the tree Harvey had forced her against just before Erica had shot him dead. She sighed again. Erica had killed a law enforcement officer to stop him raping her. Luke had killed the drug trafficker in this cabin for the same reason. How could she leave now? After everything they had done for her, she at least owed them time. Time to see if she could make a life for herself out here, and time to see if she was prepared to give them what they want: a child.

  She returned to the house to find just Erica, Ed, and Luke around the table. Summer, Billy, and the twins were nowhere in sight. As she sat back down, Erica reached out and squeezed her hand. “Summer has already cleared away.”

  That had been the last thing on Lisa’s mind, but she nodded. “Thank you.” Then she managed a muted smile. “I still need to go to town to make some phone calls, but I will come back. I’ve decided to stay for a while. I owe you that after everything…” Her voice trailed away.

  Erica nodded. “You have made the right decision. You and Luke should have an early night.”

  “I don’t think I could sleep right now.”

  “I wasn’t suggesting you sleep.”

  Lisa glanced at Erica but said nothing.

  Erica glanced at Luke and then turned back. “If I have calculated it right, it’s day eleven of your cycle. So the best way for you to show your gratitude is to give us a baby.”

  Lisa leaned back in her chair and took a quick breath. “Tonight, you want me to get pregnant tonight?”

  “What better way is there to mark Mike’s passing than to create a new life in his honor.”

  Lisa held her breath while she digested Erica’s comments. “How can it honor Mike to get pregnant by another man?”

  “It’s about one life replacing another, and it will help you cope in the future knowing you created your beautiful baby girl within a couple days of Mike leaving this world.”

  “How do you know it would be a girl?”

  Erica laughed. “I don’t, I was just assuming that if it is a girl, she’ll be beautiful like you, but if it’s a boy, he’ll be handsome like Luke.”

  Lisa hadn’t realized that Ed had left the table until he walked up behind her and placed a glass of wine down in front of her. “This will help you relax.”

  Lisa glanced up at him and nodded. Then she picked up the glass and drank down the contents in one go.

  He refilled the glass, and she raised it to her lips again. Erica reached out, placed her hand on Lisa’s hand, and gently guided the glass away from her lips. “Not so fast. If you conceive tonight you want to remember it.” She glanced at her son and motioned with her head.

  Luke got up, walked around the table, and helped Lisa to her feet. She took her glass with her to the bedroom, and after another couple of mouthfuls, she placed it on the bedside table.

  Luke got on the bed next to her, and she closed her eyes as he began kissing her lips and neck.

  When she opened her eyes, the sun streamed across the bed from the small square window. She had slept all night. Could one and a half glasses of wine do that to her? Well, it was Erica’s own brand, and she’d drunk enough of it over the last few days to know it was more potent than anything you could buy.

  Luke’s spot next to her was empty, so she pulled back the covers and glanced down. She was naked. She didn’t remember getting undressed or even making love with Luke, but did remember the conversation at the dinner table. If last night was the night she got pregnant, she would have no memory of the conception.

  The door opened and Luke walked in carrying a large box, which he placed down on his side of the bed. “You’re awake.”

  Lisa sat up and rubbed her eyes. “Only just. What’s in the box?”

  “It’s my stuff from upstairs. I thought it was time I moved in properly.”

  “Oh, I’ll help you with the rest.”

  Luke stared at her. “This is everything.”

  Lisa almost laughed as she recalled the size of the huge truck Mike had organized to move them from his apartment to their first proper house a couple of years ago. But she stifled it and kept that memory to herself. “In that case, I’ll get you breakfast.”


  She headed into the kitchen and helped Summer, who had already started preparations.

  After breakfast, Erica asked Lisa to join her on the front deck. “I just want to welcome you to our family. I’m sure you’ll be happy here.”

  Lisa’s head still hurt from the slight hangover, but she managed a muted smile and a thank you.

  “Even though you are Luke’s girl now, you are still the last to join, so we need you to carry on with your chores.”

  “Is that how the pecking order works?”

  Erica nodded.

  “Then so be it. I will uphold your family’s tradition.”

  Lisa heard the words as they left her lips and recognized her own voice, but was still shocked at how compliant she had become. Erica was basically telling her she was the family servant, and she had agreed. She had always liked to please, but she had always believed in fairness, too. So the fact she was even contemplating living such an unequal life here surprised her.

  Erica smiled. “I’m glad we have clarified that. You can go now.”

  Lisa stood up. “Yes, Ma’am.”

  She returned to the bedroom, organized the bedding, and removed her yellow dress from the store’s bag ready for washing. She will still need to alternate it with the shirt and shorts, and she had to take her mind off Mike by keeping herself busy or she would just sit and think.

  Luke must be hunting or collecting wood, so she decided to surprise him by organizing his box of belongings to save him a job.

  She started with the shirts. There were just three, two checked and one blue denim. Then two pairs of denim jeans and two pairs of cut-off denim shorts. There were a couple of Jack Reacher books, a wallet, which she placed on his bedside table, and a couple of leather belts.

  Then.

  As she stared into the box at several bits and pieces, her heart leaped into her throat.

  She reached in slowly and pulled out a pendant on a chain, and as she studied it, her blood turned to ice, and her skin prickled as if stabbed by a thousand needles.

  In her hand was half a gold heart on a gold chain. She flipped it over and read the inscription on the back: Selina.

  Her vision narrowed until her surroundings vanished, and all she could see was the pendant. Her mind froze with the image of Carlos holding it between his thumb and index finger as he smiled and kissed it and told her the romantic meaning behind it. Somewhere in New York State there was the other half with Carlos’s name on the back. And no doubt Selina, his wife, would be frantic with worry by now.

  Lisa was so focused on the pendant, she jumped when she heard Luke’s voice.

  He was standing just inside the door.

  She looked up at him and tried to act calm. She cleared her throat and pointed to the box. “I… I thought I would help you move in, so I was just arranging your things for you.”

  “What’s in your hand?”

  Lisa looked down at the pendant and fought to keep a light tone. “Just this. It’s very nice. Who’s Selina?”

  He walked over and snatched it from her hand. “Just a girl I knew.”

  She struggled to unscramble her thoughts. Should she confront him and tell him she knew it belonged to Carlos? Ask for an explanation? But could she believe any account he gave her? For her, there could be only one explanation. Carlos must have arrived before her and they must have got rid of him. Why else would they have denied seeing him? And he would never have parted with his half of the pendant willingly.

  Events and conversations from recent days flashed through her mind. Ed hated visitors, yet Harvey, the sheriff, had brought girls out here. It seemed clear Harvey then used the girls when he came to visit, and maybe Luke’s involvement with them wasn’t so innocent. Were the girls forced to comply? And where were they now?

  Then there was Erica, coaxing her into stripping for her son, and later, Harvey. Although Erica had tried to justify her manipulation, suddenly Lisa could see it for what it was: bizarre and abnormal.

  She remembered the words that had startled her as she stood in the doorway of Meg’s Fashion. The girls who go out there never come back into town. No one knows why. They had startled her then, but they chilled her to the bone now.

  She was getting her mind back and piecing everything together in a way that had eluded her until now. She could now see that everything Erica and Luke had done for her had been with a hidden agenda. They wanted a baby and had chosen her to provide them with one. So how convenient for them that Mike was now dead.

  She jumped when Luke shouted her name.

  “Lisa! Can you hear me?”

  She nodded.

  “I’ve been talking to you.”

  “I’m sorry, I was just thinking.”

  “What about?”

  She shook her head. “I don’t know, just Mike, I guess.”

  “Well, he’s dead, so forget about him.”

  She turned away so he couldn’t read her expression. You bastard.

  Suddenly, she wanted to leave and get as far away as she could.

  42

  LISA

  Lisa’s mind was in overdrive. Finding that pendant had changed everything. It proved Mike had been right not to trust them. And she’d been wrong to dismiss his concerns and accuse him of jealousy. So what was wrong with her? Why hadn’t she seen the danger for herself?

  But then again, maybe she had in the beginning. She’d even asked Mike where the pistol was. So what changed? What robbed her of her intuition, her natural skepticism, and her ability to see what was normal and what wasn’t? Did she lose all that because of the mind blowing sex with Luke? Or had she been so far under Erica’s influence she had lost all sense of the danger she could be in?

  It was probably a bit of both. But now that she had woken up, she had to plan her escape.

  That afternoon she prepared the meat and vegetables for the stew and even managed the odd smile as she passed idle conversation with Summer and the others. Now she would discover her ability to act. To carry on as if she was still happy to be there. When in reality, she hated them all. Now that their evil veil of deceit had slipped, she could see them for what they were: manipulating and cruel.

  What she wouldn’t give to be in Mike’s arms, or back at her parents’ house in the comfort of their love and protection. She had seen and read about vacations from hell, and right now, she was starring in her own. She was with this family of seven, but she felt so alone.

  That night Lisa got into bed first and when Luke got in beside her and tried to kiss her, she shook her head. “Sorry, Luke, but I just need one more night and I’ll be fine, and I’ll make it up to you tomorrow.”

  She had lied on two counts. Not only would she not be fine the next day, but she had no intention of making it up to him.

  She turned away and pretended to fall asleep. But she wasn’t sleeping, she was planning. After breakfast she will tell Erica she is going to clean up the cabin and change the bed for Summer and her new man when she meets him. But instead, she will sneak off into the woods and cut across to the trail that looped around the house before heading north. She will need a canteen of water and some food which she could take from the Kitchen. Then she’ll follow the trail she had driven with Luke and keep a watch for vehicles coming up behind her.

  The hours dragged by until dawn’s first shaft of light squeezed through the gap down the center of the shutters. At last, it was time to make her move, because during the long night she had changed her plan. Why wait to speak to Erica? Better to go early before the family wake up.

  She pulled back the covers on her side, eased herself out of the bed, pulled on the shirt and denim shorts, then carried her shoes to the door, where she paused and glanced back. Luke stirred for a moment, then turned over and lay still. She eased open the door and slipped out of the bedroom. The house was still and quiet. Not even the cockerels that hung around the chicken coops had announced their presence yet.

  She crossed to the kitchen. Something light. Raw ve
getables, maybe. And water.

  There was movement above. Footsteps crossing the floor.

  No time for food or water. She had to go now or it would be too late. She slipped out of the front door.

  Once outside, she maneuvered around to the cabin, where she paused a moment to remember Mike. She caught a solitary tear as it rolled down her cheek, then carried on around the back, where she paused again as she passed a large, square, wooden board laying flat on the ground. There was a trail of dry, crusted blood leading up to it. The board must be covering the pit that Luke had told her about where they throw the animal carcasses and where the twins had initially dumped the three dead traffickers.

  A horrifying thought flashed through her mind. Is that where they dumped Carlos? She tried to dismiss it but couldn’t. Now that she’d asked the question, she had to know the answer.

  She walked over, one hesitant step at a time, praying it was as Luke had said, and that she would see nothing but bits of dead animals. She bent down, wrapped her fingers under the nearest edge of the board, and lifted. But before she could tilt it high enough to see into the pit, the stench of rotting flesh filled her nose, causing her to wretch and drop the board as she staggered and fell backwards. She took several deep breaths to purge the stale air from her lungs, then got back to her feet.

  Before crouching down, she sucked in the deepest breath she could manage, then lifted the nearest edge of the board again until it was just above her shoulders. She bowed her head and looked down into the pit, relieved to see carcasses of deer and rabbits and the ribcages of several grouse piled in the middle.

  Then she froze.

  Down to her left, in the nearest corner of the five-foot-deep pit, a human foot was poking out of the macabre scene. Her eyes followed the outline of a leg up to a torso, and then to the top of a human head covered in black hair. Instinctively, she turned her head away for a moment. But she dare not breathe in again, so she held her original breath and looked back into the pit.