Rebel Princess - Book 2 (The Hope Saga)

by Chrissy Peebles

  “Wouldn’t that be something? A terrible trio.”

  When Mr. Tams’s wife walked in, we clammed up.

  “I’m sorry. I didn’t know you two were in here,” she said sadly. “I guess I was just looking for someplace to be alone.”

  “We can leave,” I offered.

  Ignoring me, she continued, “Can you believe Ted just tried to give me some flowers? As if that would make up for anything.”

  “I saw Chad delivering them a few minutes ago,” Rachel said. “They’re beautiful.”

  “Yeah, he had them brought down here especially for me. No surprise that they’re blue, because that’s exactly how he makes me feel,” she said, sighing.

  What!? Re-gifting the flowers from Dante and passing it off as his own peace offering? This guy is such a loser. Unbelievable! I thought. Surely Aunt Sarah can do better than a married, dishonest, lazy slob like him. I don’t know what she sees in him.

  Rachel looked at me questioningly, but I gave her a look that told her to keep her mouth shut. The last thing we needed to do was get in the middle of their marital spats. Rachel was never very good at taking hints, though, so she blurted out, “Mr. Tams is obviously trying. Maybe you should give him a second chance.”

  “Why? Because he gave me flowers? Maybe I’m just being too needy, too clingy though. He just…isn’t around as much, but I guess he’s got a lot on his plate. Maybe I oughtta give him some more space.”

  I clenched my hands into fists, furious that my aunt was probably one of the things on his plate.

  “The flowers are beautiful, and blue is my favorite color,” Mrs. Tams said. “Maybe I’ll take them, since I refused the last ones he tried to give me. He took them to his study, and I never bothered to go get them. I was just so mad at him.”

  “You were just trying to make him feel guilty, refusing his gift like that?” Rachel surmised.

  “Yeah, I guess, and it worked. He was so upset. I guess it was wrong and cruel of me. I truly love Ted. I do. I think I’ll go talk to him. I want those blue moons after all, and they’ll make a great centerpiece for our living room table.”

  ***

  Back in Rachel’s room, she looked at me and said, “We can’t just sit on this information. You know as well as I do that we have to tell Mr. Tams.”

  “What for? He didn’t listen to us before when we tried to tell him it was someone from the surface.”

  “I know, and I don’t get that. I mean, how else could blue moon petals got tangled in the poor girl’s hair?”

  I let out a long sigh. “I don’t think he believes we actually found them on her.”

  “You think he thinks we planted the evidence?”

  “No, but he doesn’t believe what we told him. He just writes us off as pesky, nosy teenagers who have no business intervening in his so-called professional investigation.”

  “Well, he’s gonna be really peeved when we solve this case and stop these senseless murders.”

  “Maybe we should do a stakeout on Tuesdays for a few weeks. We can watch who comes and goes from the surface. We’ll just have to be inconspicuous about it, but no one will know we’re spying.”

  “Hmm. Well, the killer would have to come through the main entrance. Any of the others would trigger the emergency alarms.”

  “Do you think the killer could have a secret key or way to turn them off?” I asked.

  “Nah. Daryl told me there’s no way to deactivate the emergency chutes. The killer has to use the front door, like everybody else. There’s no way to override the system.”

  “Then we’ll watch those chutes like hawks and see who pays Asha a visit on Tuesdays.”

  “Out of the brothers, who do you think is the most unstable?”

  “I’ve tried to think through that, but all three of them are pretty nice and seem sane. Walter tried to give me diamonds on my birthday, which was a little odd, but I don’t think that makes him homicidal.”

  “Maybe…or maybe not.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Well, you turned those diamonds down, right? Maybe it’s like what Mrs. Tams said. Maybe Walter thought it was cruel of you. He wants you, and he can’t have you because you belong to Brett. Maybe he’s killing women in some sort of jealous rage. Didn’t the killing start after you rejected his gift?”

  “You’re right,” I said, aghast. “That’s totally creepy though.”

  “Well, the killer is clearly a psychopath. I’ve been reading up on profiling. They’re easily bored and create constant drama for their own entertainment. If it is Walter, he could be filled with hatred and bitterness after you rejected him. If he thinks you betrayed him, he might want you dead.”

  “But what about the other girls?”

  “He’s killing them to scare you, to taunt you and make you think you’re next.”

  “And to think, I assumed it was just because I was getting closer to discovering the culprit.”

  “Whoever the killer is, he’s threatening you. You’ve gotta take this seriously, Sky.”

  “I do.”

  “And we’ve gotta catch this monster, because he acts on his impulses, and those seem to be getting stronger. He was pretty brave to sneak into your room and leave that book there.”

  Chapter 27

  When I saw Mr. Tams in the corridor, he motioned me over. “Sky, you neglected your cleaning duties yesterday.”

  “Oh! I’m sorry. I forgot. I got so busy—”

  “Playing detective?” he finished, arching his brow.

  “Mr. Tams, with all due respect, I think we should all be working on this murder case. We all want justice, and no one wants to see another girl murdered.”

  Ignoring me entirely, he simply stated, “We need help unloading boxes of supplies in the docking area.”

  “Yes, sir,” I said unenthusiastically.

  “It isn’t a punishment. There will be four others to help you.”

  ”Okay.”

  “What? You don’t have a smart-mouth comeback for me this time?”

  “Nope. In case you haven’t noticed, I’m a very hard worker.”

  “Ah, there it is,” he said with a smirk.

  “I didn’t mean anything by it.”

  “Just go, young lady. It should only take an hour, but I’ll let your aunt know you might be late.”

  I really didn’t care if he was punishing me or not. As far as I was concerned, finding the killer was far more important than dusting the furniture. Without another word, I walked off in the direction of the dock.

  ***

  I opened the door to the docking area. It was dark, so I figured the others had already finished with the unloading. When I flicked the lights on, though, I saw that no one had even begun to unpack anything. I debated leaving, because it would take me hours to unload everything by myself, and I still had work to do at the greenhouse. I decided I’d come back later, after recruiting Rachel and Brett to help me. Besides, being in that huge room all by myself was starting to freak me out.

  As I stood there looking around at all the boxes, a thought struck me. Mrs. Tams had said Mr. Tams had tried to give her flowers before, but she’d never bothered to get them from his study. I also recalled seeing the toppled flowerpot in his study, next to the pile of dirt he’d haphazardly tried to sweep up. I’d even offered to repot the plant for him. Was that a blue moon? I wondered, trying to remember what the uprooted plant looked like. Has he been dragging girls into his skuzzy office to strangle them? It’s surely secluded enough, and it does stink like death. Maybe that’s how those petals ended up in Lizzy’s hair! My stomach clenched at the thought, especially since Mr. Tams had now purposely sent me to a lonely, dark, secluded area. My mind began working overtime. Did he lure me here to kill me? Quickly, I looked around for a weapon.

  When the door creaked open, I jumped. Just as I spun around, the lights went out, bathing the whole area in darkness. I gasped. Shit! Mr. Tams sent me here to kill me. Why didn’t I fucking s
ee it earlier? My mind was racing, but I wasn’t about to let that sick son-of-a-bitch take me out as easily as he had the others. Unlike them, I would fight, and I would survive, just as I always had.

  Footsteps approached.

  I lunged to the right and hid behind a tower of crates. Horror ripped through me, and I feared my heart might just explode out of my chest. Mr. Tams is gonna try to kill me, strangle me like the others. He has no soul. He’s just a monster, born from the depths of hell, and my aunt’s been screwing him!

  I squeezed my eyes shut, then opened them. Calm down, Sky! Formulate an attack strategy, I tried to tell myself, but nothing could calm my thundering heart.

  The footsteps came even closer.

  I hoped he couldn’t see me, since I could see nothing at all. I’d seen a box-cutter before the lights went out, but I hadn’t had time to grab it or any kind of weapon. I could hear his heavy breathing, so I was pretty certain he could hear mine. After all, the sadistic asshole had turned off the lights just to taunt me, and it was definitely working; I was scared to death, like a scared little mouse with a hungry, drooling cat bearing its fangs right outside her hole.

  I stepped back, and something crunched under my shoes.

  “Who’s there?” a voice said, cutting through the darkness.

  Suddenly, I was hit by a jolt of recognition. That’s Walter, not Mr. Tams. Did he follow me here? Did he know I’d be alone? Maybe he sent the others away.

  When I didn’t answer, he demanded to know, “Who’s here?”

  There were a few more footsteps, and the lights turned back on.

  I scooted behind another box. Maybe he came in here randomly and didn’t really know I’d be here…or maybe he’s just fucking with me. I wasn’t sure, and I didn’t feel I could trust anyone but Rachel and Brett at that point.

  In a blur, he came from behind me.

  When I felt the cold blade of a knife on my throat, I elbowed him.

  He moaned, holding his side. “What was that for?” he asked.

  “I-I didn’t know it was you,” I said, my gaze shooting to the huge knife in his hands. “Why are you carrying that around?” I asked.

  “Protection.”

  Walter put the knife away, which made me feel a whole lot better. He took a deep breath and ran a hand through his hair.

  “I’m sorry,” I said.

  “You scared me to death!” he said. “I just came down here to close up. I shut off the lights, then realized I left my keycard on one of the crates. When I tried to grab it, I heard a noise. Why didn’t you answer me when I asked who was in here?”

  “You know we have a strangler running around,” I replied. “It’s not really nice to sneak up behind girls, brandishing a knife.”

  His gaze narrowed. “Exactly, but why are you here all by yourself?”

  “Mr. Tams ordered me to put all these supplies away,” I said.

  “By yourself?”

  I shrugged. “I guess it’s his way of punishing me for not cleaning yesterday.”

  “If you think Mr. Tams is rough, you oughtta see what happens when Dante’s pissed.”

  “Dante will have nothing to complain about with me. I’ll fulfill all my duties on the surface.”

  I thought again about the blue moon petals in Lizzy’s hair, the ones that had come from the surface. I didn’t know how they got on her body, but Walter or either of his brothers could have brought them down. Mr. Tams had access to them as well, but for all I knew, I was standing alone in a secluded room, talking to a strangler. My knees began to shake as I considered the very real possibility that I was standing face to face with a murderer in a giant warehouse. No one would hear me if I screamed. Still, when I took a moment to size up my opponent, it was some relief to realize I could knock him into next week with my moves, once I got that knife out of his reach.

  “You can’t possibly do all this alone. I guess you came all the way over here for nothing,” he said.

  “He said four others were supposed to help me. I’ve must’ve made a mistake about the time. Maybe he meant we should do it after dinner,” I answered.

  “I can help, Sky. We can be done in no time, and maybe it will put you back in Mr. Tams’s good graces.”

  I took a few steps back. “Um, I think it’s still way too much for two people. I’ll just come back later.”

  “It’d be a great chance to catch up. I’d love to hear how everything is going.”

  “How about another time?” I asked, plastering a fake smile on my face.

  “But we never get time together like this.”

  It was weird and felt awkward. Sure, we chatted now and then, but I’d never thought of us as anything more than casual acquaintances. He was way too old for me, so there would never be anything more to it than that. “I’ve gotta go,” I said, as nicely as I could.

  “I think we should get this done,” he replied.

  “How about I come back after I eat? I’m starving. Maybe you could even join me.”

  “Are you inviting me to dinner?” he asked.

  “Sure,” I said, hoping it would give me a chance to get away from him.

  “You’re so cute when you’re nervous,” he said.

  I backed up against the wall as he closed in and touched my face. “Walter, stop!”

  “Sky,” he said, “I’ve wanted to ask you out for a long time, but you had that stalker and Brett, and I wasn’t sure if the right time would ever come.”

  “We’re just friends, Walter,” I said.

  He pulled me closer and tried to kiss me.

  “Get your hands off of me!” I demanded. When he wouldn’t comply and let go of me, I grabbed his balls as hard as I could and gave them a fast, powerful twist.

  He groaned and released me.

  I looked around in a panic. I knew I couldn’t just run, because he could easily catch me. Somehow, I had to temporarily subdue him so he couldn’t give chase. I didn’t see the box-cutter I’d noticed earlier, but I did see a pipe to my left. I reached for it and swung it hard, knocking him unconscious in one fell swoop.

  Suddenly, eerie applause erupted behind me. “Clobbering people isn’t going to look good on your résumé, Sky,” the clapper said.

  Chapter 28

  My jaw dropped when I turned and saw Mr. Tams standing there. “I-I didn’t mean to hurt him,” I said, fearful that I was in a whole lot of trouble. “It’s just that he pinned me against the wall, and I got scared and thought—”

  He shook his head and clicked his tongue. “Tsk-tsk. You’re in real hot water now, young lady, attacking security personnel.”

  I swallowed hard. “Please, Mr. Tams. It was an accident, just self-defense. He was acting strange, and I thought he might be the strangler.”

  “Walter? Pssh. He’s a bit of a weirdo, but he’s no killer. He doesn’t have the brains for that.”

  “I panicked. I’m all by myself in here, and I totally got jittery.”

  “Do you think this deserves lockup?” he asked, smirking.

  “You can’t punish me,” I said. “Didn’t you just hear what I said? I felt I had to defend myself.”

  “This is a whole lot worse than shooting an orange with your crossbow, young lady. You actually assaulted a living person this time, and you have to pay.”

  “Pay how?”

  “What do you think you deserve?” he asked.

  “I don’t know. Maybe…ground me for a week?”

  “Uh, no.”

  “Then what?”

  “I’ve got the perfect punishment for you.”

  I bit my lip, waiting to hear my crazy sentence. I was sure he’d force me to scrub the floors like the last time he was mad at me, and he was so furious this time that I feared he might make me do it with a toothbrush. “Well?” I coaxed. “What’s the penalty for defending myself, Mr. Tams?” I asked, tired of waiting.

  I wondered why Mr. Tams would send me here to do all this work by myself. It didn’t make any sense when I
suddenly made the connection. It was like a light bulb went off in my head. Everything flashed through my mind. Mr. Tams had an office that was isolated, far away from everyone. Nobody could hear a person screaming for their life. And that’s where he usually killed his victims. His wife said he had offered her blue moons and that she refused them. They sat in his office. And that’s how the pot got knocked over. I’d seen the soil on his carpet. It proved he struggled with his last victim, Lizzy, and that’s how the pot fell, the blue moon petal embedding in her hair. Mr. Tams dumped her and we found her strangled. I’d pulled off the blue petal.

  A shiver shot down my spine. And now I was alone with him where nobody would hear me scream. He planned it out perfectly but I had to play cool, calm, and collective. And that wasn’t easy when I debated knocking him out right there. If he attacked, I’d hit him with everything I had.

  “We need to tell my aunt about this,” I said. “Right now.”

  He stepped in my path. “But don’t you want the answer to your question? How will I punish you?”

  “How?” I asked.

  He didn’t respond.

  “Mr. Tams,” I said nervously, “wh-what’s going on? What’s my punishment?”

  “Simple. Death.” With a wild look in his eyes, he pulled out a long piano string.

  My heart thundered at the realization that Mr. Tams, the one entrusted to find the Asha strangler, was the stranger himself. It wasn’t Walter or any of his brothers after all, and I’d just knocked out the only person who possibly could have saved me in that secluded place. Waves of terror swept over me. On the outside, other than being a bit of a slob and not too good of a husband, Mr. Tams had always seemed normal. He was relatively intelligent, and he was one of Dante’s yes-men. I’d always thought he was useless when it came to investigating the murders, but now it all made perfect sense: He couldn’t catch the killer because it was him all along! The guy was cunning; I had to give him that. My life was playing out like a crime thriller, complete with the huge twist.

  Instinctively, I got into a fighting stance, keeping my eyes on my opponent. No wild blows. I couldn’t flail like a madman, hitting anything I could reach. No, each hit had to be well thought out. I had to deliver and execute my blows carefully.