Broken Hearts: A Dark Captive Romance (Heartbreaker Book 2)

by Stella Hart

  “Yes,” I lied. “That’s why he took me.”

  West smiled victoriously. “Knew it. Thank god for that friend of yours. She’s the reason I didn’t give up. She was so sure he’d taken you.” He paused and took a deep breath before continuing. “Anyway, as to how I found you… it took a lot of work.”

  “And guts,” Dwyer cut in. “Almost got suspended over it.”

  I frowned. “Why?”

  “Foley didn’t want me looking into it,” West said. “Your disappearance wasn’t official FBI business, and he assumed you’d just run off somewhere, so…” He trailed off and shrugged. “He was being an asshole, essentially.”

  “He’s always an asshole,” Dwyer said with a snort of laughter.

  I almost giggled too, because for a second, it felt like I hadn’t been away all this time. It felt like we were all just colleagues from the field office again, bitching about Foley, who was honestly one of the grumpiest pricks I’d ever met. I understood why he didn’t want West ‘wasting his time’ looking into my disappearance, seeing as it wasn’t technically his job, but still… he was a dick.

  “What happened then?” I asked.

  West twisted his lips. “Well, I had to try and make connections where there didn’t seem to be any on the surface. It took a whole lot of little pieces of information and a few assumptions, fitting together like a jigsaw puzzle, for me to really put things together. But the real breakthrough came from your neighbor, Ms. Rossi. She said she used to see a car in your neighborhood sometimes, and she remembered a partial plate. We figured he may have stalked you, and that it could be his vehicle she remembered seeing.”

  “Good old Cora,” I murmured. She’d always been sharply observant and nosy as hell, but she’d also always looked out for me.

  “So then I had to look through about a hundred different records to try and get a match from that partial plate number, and see if any of the car owners might match the little profile I’d come up with. Finally found Magnusson. He seemed innocent at first, but something about him gave me a weird feeling. As if he was almost too perfect. Then I remembered something a previous victim’s wife had mentioned—long story, we’ll get into the details another time—which made me think our guy just might be a doctor. So I looked deeper into Magnusson, and the more I looked, the more sense it made.”

  “Wow. That’s pretty impressive,” I said softly, still unable to believe that West had actually tracked me down with so little to go on.

  “Damn straight,” Dwyer said, taking his eyes off the road for a split second. “Can’t believe he actually pulled it off, to be honest.”

  West gave me an embarrassed, humble smile. “I was just doing my job, which is basically analyzing stuff and making connections,” he said with a shrug. “And that’s exactly what I did. I put stuff together. The main thing that really clinched it for me was an old article.”

  I wrinkled my forehead. “Article?”

  “When I was looking into it all, I found an old news piece about Magnusson’s mis—”

  “Fucking Christ!” Dwyer cut West off midsentence with a loud shout as he suddenly swerved the car too far to the right. We almost went directly into a snowbank, but he corrected our course just in time, and we ended up right on the edge of the road. “Shit! Did you see that?”

  “See what?” I craned my neck, my pulse racing at what felt like a million miles an hour. As if I hadn’t gone through enough lately, now I’d almost been in a damn car accident.

  “That thing!” Dwyer gesticulated wildly at the dark road ahead. “Some sort of animal, maybe? We almost ran right into it. God, I almost had a fucking heart attack.”

  “You almost gave me one too,” West said, holding one hand to his chest. “You okay back there, Celeste?”

  I nodded, even though my whole body felt like jelly and my heart felt like it was about to give out from shock. “I’m okay. You didn’t hit the animal, did you?”

  Dwyer frowned and took the key out of the ignition. “Shit, I hope not. I’ll go and check the road.” He went to open his door, but it seemed to be jammed. “What the hell is wrong with this door? Can’t get it open.”

  “It’s fine, I’ll get out and check,” West offered. “I need to take a leak anyway.”

  “You sure? It’s colder than a witch’s tit out there, and I’ve got more insulation, if you know what I mean,” Dwyer said with a self-deprecating smile as he touched his belly. He tried the door again, but it didn’t budge.

  “It’s fine, sir. I’ll go.” West smiled, got out of the car, and slowly trudged over to the middle of the road.

  I watched him walk around and scan the area with bated breath, afraid that any minute, Alex might pop out from behind a snowbank, drag him away and brutally gut him, tarnishing the pristine white ground beside the road with splashes of crimson.

  Dwyer seemed to sense my fear, and he turned and looked at me. “Don’t worry, Celeste. I promise you, there’s nowhere safer you could be right now than with us. Magnusson’s not gonna get you again. Our team back at his house will have him by now, and I bet he’s being taken in as we speak. I’ll get that call any second now, you mark my words. Wish I could’ve been there myself to see ‘em take the bastard down, but we had to get you out of there.”

  I nodded and gave him a tight smile, but I knew I wouldn’t feel okay until West was back in the car and we were all on the road again, driving back to safety in the city.

  Dwyer turned back to face the front again while we waited for him. “Now, where did I put that key….” he muttered. He fumbled around the seat, then stuck a hand in what looked like his lower jacket pocket. I turned away and looked out the window again, scanning the road for West. My heartrate began to slow when he finally returned to the car.

  “Didn’t see anything,” he said. “Whatever it was, it got away.”

  “That’s good.”

  “It really is freezing out there, though. I swear the temp dropped by another ten degrees in the last half hour.” He glanced at the clock. “And it’s not even that late yet. Only eight.”

  Dwyer shrugged. “Late enough. Hey, speaking of the time, you told your wife you aren’t coming home tonight, right?”

  West looked at him and nodded. “Yeah, she knows not to expect me home anytime soon. Couldn’t tell her why, of course, but she’s aware.”

  Dwyer smiled. “Good.” He removed his hand from his jacket pocket, held a pistol out, and pressed it directly to the center of West’s forehead. Then he pulled the trigger.

  West didn’t even have time to register any surprise as the gun went off, sending him flying backwards, slamming against the front passenger side door as blood sprayed all over the window.

  My mouth dropped open in what felt like an endless scream, loud and gut-wrenching. My brain spun, my guts twisted and knotted with adrenaline, and my heart hammered so hard I felt my pulse pounding in my fingertips. I could hardly breathe, and I had a sudden vertiginous sensation, as if I were hanging in the air above, watching everything unfold in slow motion as Dwyer leaned over, wrenched open West’s door and shoved his motionless body backward, out onto the snowbank beside the car.

  This isn’t real. This isn’t real. This isn’t real, I chanted in my head. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I was aware that I was still screaming. The sound didn’t even seem to come from me; it felt like I was somewhere in the distance, hearing another girl shriek and cry.

  I snapped back to reality a moment later as Dwyer pulled the front passenger door shut again with a loud thump. “No, no, no,” I moaned softly, trying to make sense of what I’d seen. Darkness, the car spinning off the road, casual small talk, a gun, a bullet in the brain, blood spattering, a dead agent on the freezing ground just outside…. This wasn’t some messed up nightmare. It all happened, mere seconds ago.

  I felt like I’d been punched in the gut, and I spluttered and wheezed in shock as my lungs struggled to take in air. I tried my door, my hands trembling like mad. It wa
s locked. Dwyer must’ve made sure of it.

  He turned and looked at me, a savage flash shooting across his eyes. “It’s a shame that had to happen. He really did do a good job in finding you,” he said, a malicious smile curling up his thin lips. “I’ve been looking for you for a long time. We all have. Never occurred to me you’d be with the Heartbreaker himself. Poor West was just too smart for his own damn good. Worked out for us, though.”

  I was rooted to my seat now, afraid to try and move an inch again. I was terrified that any tiny movement would be the one that inspired Dwyer to shoot me too, press that gun right up to my face and blow my brains out.

  “Why?” I finally managed to get out, my voice barely above a choked whisper.

  As I stared into Dwyer’s once-kind eyes, waiting for him to either answer or do something, my nerve pain began to flare up again, and an old memory returned to me in full force, brought back by the pure evilness and savagery shimmering in his gaze.

  I was standing in front of those elaborately-carved wooden doors in the hallway I kept dreaming about and remembering in little flashes. It was my first time at the mansion with Daddy and his friends, but it wouldn’t be the last.

  He’d brought me here for a fun event, he told me in the car on the way to the mansion. An upscale dinner party, where everyone would be dressed up and enjoying food and entertainment with their friends and family. There would be other little kids for me to play with, if I wanted, and maybe I should make friends with them, seeing as one day, I’d get to spend a lot of time with them. Mommy couldn’t come because she had something else on this evening, but that was fine, because he wanted to show me off and introduce me to everyone. His friends just loved little girls like me.

  At the time, I was happy and eager. I was only a kid with my wide-eyed innocence intact, and the prospect of going to a real party for adults was exciting, filling me with giddy anticipation. It made me feel mature and trusted, like a big girl, and I loved the frilly powder blue dress and shiny silver shoes that had been picked out for me to wear.

  The doors swung open, and finally, for the first time in what seemed like forever, I saw what lay beyond them.

  It was an enormous room with high ceilings and a perfectly polished hardwood parquetry floor. The cream-colored walls were lined with artwork, shelves with leather-bound books and delicate sculptures, and windows with luxurious silk curtains in shades of dark crimson and gold. Multiple gold and crystal chandeliers hung from ornately-decorated Victorian plaster ceiling roses, lending a warm, subdued light to the room along with several baroque lamps.

  Over on one side was a large fireplace with a roaring fire within, and in front of that was a patterned rug in the same color scheme as the curtains and a set of French-style sofas with golden lining and tufted fabric. Beyond that was a large empty space, presumably for dancing, and on the other side was the longest dining table I’d ever seen. There were also dark wood accent tables scattered around by the walls, topped with trays of champagne and scotch. The air carried the scent of cigar smoke, gourmet food, and spicy cologne.

  Pure elegance and luxury.

  Strains of soft classical music drifted through the air as the other guests smiled and milled around the room. There were a lot of men in suits, and some women in beautiful gowns. There were kids, too, in various stages of dress. Most were in nice clothing, but I spotted a few older kids wearing little more than underwear and collars, being led around on golden chains. Their eyes were flat and dark, and there was a circular shape on all of their stomachs. The circle was a deep pink color, and I assumed it was drawn on with a marker.

  “What are they doing over there, Daddy?” I asked, staring. “They have collars.”

  He squeezed my hand. “Oh, it’s just a fun game,” he said, waving his hand nonchalantly. “They’re being silly and pretending to be animals. And speaking of animals… look over there.”

  He pointed toward the fireplace. On the rug near it, there were a few kids around my age playing with a tiny golden Labrador puppy, squealing as the animal gamboled around, licking them and occasionally rolling over for belly rubs.

  “It’s so cute!” I said, clapping my hands together.

  “Yes, it is. This is a fun place, isn’t it?” my father said. “You’ll be happy to come back here and see my friends a lot, won’t you?”

  I nodded enthusiastically. “Yes. Can I play with the puppy?”

  He smiled. “Of course, my little flower. I think they’ve named it Lulu.” He took my hand and led me toward the sofas by the fire.

  As we approached, the kids on the rug looked up at me. There were bruises on their faces and arms, and I figured they must’ve been playing a lot of rough games outside. There was plenty of space, after all—the mansion was way out of the city on a vast expanse of land with rolling green hills and patches of forest. So much room to run and tumble around.

  “Did they bring you here to play as well?” one of the kids asked quietly, her expression suddenly fearful as her eyes briefly flitted to my father.

  I nodded and smiled, not understanding the real meaning behind her question. “Yes.”

  I crouched down to pet Lulu, and when I rose up again, my gaze met that of a man who was sitting on the sofa, watching me and the other kids play with the Labrador. He looked younger than my father, but he was still an adult, much older than me. There was something bulging slightly from his lap as he stared. I wasn’t sure what it was.

  “Be polite and introduce yourself to my friend, Celeste,” my father said sternly.

  “Hello, I’m Celeste Riley,” I said to the man. “I’m here with my daddy.”

  He stood and reached out to touch my shoulder, his hand draping over me and lingering a little too long. “I’m Greg Dwyer. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Celeste. You’re very pretty.” He smiled. “If your daddy allows it, I might be able to take you upstairs to show you the rest of the mansion later.”

  “Not tonight.” My father shook his head and spoke up before I could reply. “Not yet. My wife still isn’t aware. I’m waiting for her birthday.”

  “Oh, of course. She should probably get used to the place first, anyway.” The man smiled down at me again.

  His expression was warm and friendly, and his touch on my shoulder was soft. He seemed nice, so I could see why my father was friends with him. There was something in his eyes, though, a flash of something cold and dark as he looked down over my dress, the bulge in his pants growing.

  The look was gone in an instant, but I still saw it, and the thought of that expression sent me hurtling back to the present, the stark memory finally fading in my mind.

  “You’re one of them. I met you years ago,” I said quietly, risking a look at the front of the car.

  Dwyer smiled. “You finally remembered that part, huh?” He shook his head and stuck the key back in the ignition. “Always figured you would one day, especially after you started at the field office. Sometimes you’d look at me a little too long over the conference table, and I’d worry it was all coming back to you. But you never did realize, did you? Not until now.” He chuckled.

  I gulped down a deep breath. “What are you going to do with me?”

  He turned to look at me again, his cruel smile widening. “What should’ve been done a very long time ago.”

  I knew what that meant.

  “You’re fucking insane,” I said through gritted teeth.

  He tut-tutted. “You’re a sassy little thing, aren’t you?” he said with a sneer. “You know, as much of a fuck-around as it was to keep an eye on you out in the real world, I’m glad we didn’t take you when you were a kid. Girls like you are too hard to break. So annoying and pointless. Like the girl in your pocket. She was fucking impossible. Feisty little cunt just wouldn’t quit.”

  His last three sentences chilled me to the bone. He was talking about Evangeline.

  “The Circle killed her,” I whispered. “Not Alex. All that stuff you told me in his house earlier…
you made it up.”

  Dwyer ignored me and started the car, pulling off the edge of the road without another word, but deep down, I knew I had to be right, or at least closer to the truth than I was before.

  The car meandered through the dark country roads, heading to god knows where, and I sank down in my seat, my eyes filling with hot tears as I realized the full extent of my stupidity. It was all coming to me now, crashing down on me in condemning waves.

  Alex never lied to me. He told me that on so many occasions, and he was telling the truth the whole time. Everything Dwyer told me earlier tonight—that I was safe, that Alex killed Evangeline and was going to kill me next—was the only lie uttered to me in recent times.

  I should’ve believed Alex. I should’ve trusted my feelings for him. The Circle really was after me now that I’d started to remember things about them, and he really was trying to protect me from them. But I ignored him. I decided he was a liar and a psychopath, based on a bunch of things I found but never properly asked about, and when the opportunity to leave him presented itself, I waltzed right out of the house, directly into the hulking, slavering jaws of the real monster.

  I tried to tell myself that it wasn’t entirely my fault— I couldn’t have stayed in the house when Dwyer and West showed up to ‘rescue’ me, because I had no reason to distrust either one of them at the time.

  And all these weeks, I couldn’t have directly asked Alex about Evangeline, because I was too frightened of what might happen to me after seeing the terrible photos of her abuse and reading the note she’d written to him. The stuff was separate in his study from the other Circle victims, after all, and she didn’t have the carved circle scar, so I could only assume it wasn’t linked. And even when I did finally work up the courage to ask about her this morning, I was interrupted by Alex’s phone, and I took that as some sort of ominous sign from the universe that I shouldn’t be asking.