He’s been freed from his enclosure. He now sits with his wrists and ankles securely buckled to the arms and legs of an execution chair in a corner of the black site.
My parents, Bleu, and I approach him. He looks relieved but he shouldn’t be. “Thank God you’ve come, Thane. These fools have kept me in a steel cage for days. I’m not even sure how long I’ve been here.”
I motion to two brothers. “Find chairs for my wife and mother so they may sit.”
“I don’t understand. What is this about?”
I’m not sure if Todd has yet to realize he’s caught or if he’s figured it out and is planning to lie. “You’ll find out what this is about when I’m good and ready for you to know.”
Bleu takes a seat and stares daggers at her mother’s killer.
“Todd Cockburn. You are accused of the murder of Cara Breckenridge, Amanda Lawrence, eleven victims who are unaccounted for, and the attempted murder of my wife, Stella Bleu Lawrence MacAllister Breckenridge.”
He feigns surprise. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Then allow me to refresh your memory.” I place the opened box of trophies on the table in front of him. He fails to react.
My father steps forward. “You attended a casino staff meeting in my home sixteen years ago to discuss changes we’d be making at our Edinburgh location. Sometime during the meeting, you slipped away unnoticed and went into my daughter’s room. You used her favorite stuffed animal to smother the life out of her.”
My father takes Cara’s necklace from the contents of the box. “When you were done, you took this locket from her neck and positioned her body as though she was sleeping so we wouldn’t discover her death until the morning.”
“You murdered my only daughter.” My mother gets up from her chair and stands before Todd. “My God, how I loved that child. She was the only one Thane didn’t take from me.”
“Isobel. Please believe me when I tell you that I did not kill your daughter.”
“Cara was the most beautiful child I’d ever seen. Dark curls all over her head from the day she was born. So sweet. So kind. I only got to have her for five short years because you took her from me.”
“I didn’t kill that precious girl.”
My mother slaps Todd hard across his face. “Shut yer lying gob!”
I go to my mother and guide her away.
My father continues, “Eighteen years ago, you went to the home of Amanda Lawrence, the woman I loved, and you shot her to death. She was wearing the diamond earrings I had given her.”
My father displays the diamond studs in his palm. “These. You took them from her body and when you finished, you went into her daughter’s room. You shot their dog, but not before being attacked by him. Next you plucked her daughter from her hiding place beneath her bed and put a pillow over her face to smother her.”
Dad takes the ring from the collection. “You took this birthstone ring from that little girl’s body and left her for dead. But something happened that you couldn’t possibly have anticipated.”
Dad points at Bleu. “She was saved and there she sits. My son’s wife is the little girl you thought you murdered eighteen years ago. But I’m guessing you already have that figured out since I strongly suspect it was you who phoned the authorities the night we were making a trade with The Order for Bleu’s return.”
“I didn’t do any of these horrible things. Someone is framing me.”
“Let’s entertain the idea of you being innocent. Amanda’s killer was bitten by their German shepherd on his right leg. If you didn’t kill her, you won’t bear the scar of a dog bite.”
One of our men steps forward and takes a knife from his pocket to slice open the fabric of Todd’s trousers from the hem to the knee. My father motions for Bleu to come closer for inspection. “Is the scar on Todd’s leg consistent with the one you’d expect from the attack you witnessed?”
Bleu goes closer to examine his leg. “That’s exactly what I’d expect to see from Max’s bite.”
She stands before Todd, studying his face. “Do you know who I am?”
“You’re Bleu Breckenridge, wife of my leader.”
“Before I was Bleu Breckenridge, I was Stella Lawrence. Amanda Lawrence’s daughter. I’m your daughter as well. Did you know I was yours when you put that pillow over my face and smothered me?”
“You aren’t my daughter. You can’t be. I had a vasectomy thirty years ago so that would never happen.”
“As much as I hate being genetically tied to you, I am your flesh and blood.” Bleu takes the paternity results from her pocket. “We obtained a sample of your DNA and ran it against mine. I’m yours and here’s the proof.”
Todd says nothing.
Bleu’s trembling, her face pained. “Why did you kill my mother? She ran from you. She wasn’t a threat.”
No reply.
“Answer my wife.”
Still, nothing.
Bleu has waited eighteen years for this moment. I’m going to make certain Todd gives her the satisfaction she deserves.
I can see that he’ll need some persuading. “Oh … Todd. There are so many things that are much worse than death.”
Sangster has been standing in the corner silently waiting to have his chance at Cockburn. He’s going to get it.
I motion for The Fellowship’s master of torture to come forward. “Take a finger off and see if that convinces him he should respond to my wife’s questions.”
Sangster grins and moves toward Todd.
“No!” Todd yells as he uselessly fights to get away from him. “I’ll answer any questions your wife has.”
Sangster stops, waiting for me. “Take it off anyway for good measure.”
Sangster displays the cutting pliers for Todd and snaps them closed several times. You can hear the friction of metal on metal.
Todd fights to pull his hand away but it’s useless.
His screams fill the room when Sangster closes the blades. Blood drips to the floor while he twists the pliers back and forth to force Todd’s finger free of his hand. Crunch.
Sangster finishes and tosses his finger on to the table. He returns the pliers and holds up the saw for Todd to see. “Ignore my wife again and you’ll lose your hand next.”
“Why did you kill my mother?”
“I was skimming off the top at the Biloxi casino. She found out and didn’t want to be tied to it. She left without a word. I ran into her eight years later and she was with Thane. I knew he’d kill me if she told him I was stealing from The Fellowship so I had to keep her quiet. I had no idea she was pregnant with you when she left me. I didn’t know she even had a daughter until that night. And I certainly didn’t know you were mine.”
“I wouldn’t have been able to identify you. You could’ve left me unharmed but you chose to kill an innocent seven-year-old. Why?”
Todd closes his eyes and lifts his face to the ceiling. “I couldn’t help myself. I don’t know why I do the things I do. It’s something I don’t understand and can’t explain.”
Bleu paces back and forth in front of him as she speaks. “It starts as an itch and spreads until you have no choice but to scratch it. If you don’t, you’ll explode. You fantasize about the ways you’ll make it happen. Because it isn’t always possible to do it when the desire presents itself, you use these items to get you by until you’re able. Each represents the respective victim, and each helps you relive the murders. That temporarily satisfies the drive you have. Until it becomes too much to handle and you have to do it again. And again. And again.”
A grin spreads on Todd’s face, quite possibly the most sinister I’ve ever encountered. Pure evil. “You understand because you are my daughter. You’re like me.”
Bleu shakes her head. “Don’t mistake my knowledge for understanding.”
“You thirst for the knowledge because it’s inside you too.”
Bleu walks toward him and leans down so she can spit in his face.
“My only thirst was to hunt you down so I could kill you.”
“Your craving is displaced. You can’t see it but you’re just like me. You’re my daughter. A part of me is inside you. And in those babies you carry.”
“Don’t you dare speak of my children. Ever!” Bleu shouts.
“Your babies have two parents who kill. Their potential is endless.”
I’ve heard enough of Todd’s insanity. Bleu has her answers. It’s time to end this for good. “You’re plagued by a sickness that can only be cured one way.”
“Let my daughter do it. She knows she wants to.”
“I’ve spent my life dreaming of the way I’d kill you. I was so obsessed, I allowed it to ruin me. And then I met Sin. He sees the damage you’ve done to me and wants to take all the ugliness away. And I’m letting him.”
“Killing me isn’t going to fix what’s inside you.”
“I’m certain it won’t, but it’s a damn good start.”
Bleu comes to me. “I can’t listen to him anymore and I don’t want to be here another minute.”
Todd’s taunting can be heard loud and clear as we walk out of the building.
She stops by the car and puts her arms around my midsection. “Knowing you’re going to do this for me is enough. You were right all along. Killing him won’t bring me the closure I need. Only more torment. It would be the worst mistake of my life because I’d always wonder if on some level, he’s right.”
“He’s not.”
“I know, and I’m proving it by walking away. Being the one to kill him isn’t what is going to heal me. It’s you and these babies. It’s the life we’re going to have together. Our happiness.”
I pull Bleu into my arms. “I’ll take care of everything.”
I kiss the top of her head. “Mum doesn’t need to stay for this. I’m going to send her out so Sterling can take her home.”
“I probably shouldn’t expect you home soon.”
“No. I’m going to make him tell me who the other victims are so I can give their families closure.”
She cradles my face in her hands. “I love you, Breck.”
I press my forehead to hers. “Love you too.”
She kisses me quickly and gets into the car.
I wait until Mum is gone to pick up where I left off. “Now, let’s talk about who these items belong to.”
“I don’t remember.”
“Sangster. What do you say about refreshing his memory?”
He chooses the saw. “As you wish.”
Chapter Nineteen
Bleu Breckenridge
I wake to the sound of water running in the shower. It’s Breck’s routine after a kill. He’s never admitted it but I strongly suspect it’s his way of washing away the filth he feels after taking someone’s life––even if they deserve it.
I need to go to him. This is the time he needs my support more than ever.
I slip out of my gown and panties. “I’m coming in with you.”
He needs fair warning so I don’t startle him. “No, Bonny. Go back to bed.”
“You need me to be with you.”
He’s standing with his hands pressed against the tile wall, water cascading down his back, head lowered. He won’t look in my direction. “I don’t want you to see me like this.”
“I’m not leaving you.” I wrap my arms around him from behind and squeeze, placing my face against his wet back. “You aren’t alone. You never are.”
Sin shivers. “He admitted to horrible acts. Things that will haunt me until the day I die. Had you not left on your own, I would’ve sent you away.”
“I’m sorry you had to endure that.”
“All females. Mostly adolescents from the States. The ones he killed here are from The Order. Their deaths and disappearances were blamed on us anyway.”
“The whole thing is horrible regardless of who they are or where they came from.”
“He’d been toying with the idea of murder for years before he killed your mother and attacked you. Since it was his first slaughter, he’d not yet honed his skills. It’s likely the only reason you survived.”
I was his first taste of blood, so to speak. “His initial involvement in the death of a child was with his own daughter. The irony is extraordinary. You can’t make that kind of stuff up.”
I squeeze body wash into my palms and work it over his back. I want to help him wash away the night’s events. “Todd Cockburn’s death had to happen. We both know that. Don’t suffer a single minute of guilt over an act that was completely unavoidable. Despite what you’re feeling right now, you righted a wrong within the world. You have saved innocent children from whatever he had in store for them. He wasn’t afraid to kill Fellowship children. For all we know, our babies could have become his victims.”
“Don’t say such things.”
“I’m trying to make you see that you shouldn’t regard what you’ve done as bad or evil. It’s good. Serial killers are creatures of habit. He would’ve done it over and over again but you’ve stopped him. You’re a hero because you’ve saved the victims who would have fallen into his snare. But you’re my hero as well. You’ve saved me.”
Sin looks at me for the first time since I came into the shower. “Saved you from what?”
“Myself. I don’t feel that dark place inside anymore. You’ve taken it from me and its vacancy is filled with hope and love.”
He turns in my arms and holds my face. “Say it with me, Bonny.”
We look into one another’s eyes and together speak the words that express the deep intimacy we share. “Into me … you see.”
* * *
I’m in front of the bathroom mirror wearing only a bath towel. My teeth are brushed and I’m twisting my wet hair into a pile on top of my head when Sin calls out for me from our bedroom.
“Be right there.”
I find him standing by the bed holding an envelope. “Harry wrote a letter to me before he died. He gave it to me the day he passed away. There were three additional letters inside the envelope with mine. One is addressed to you and labeled with instructions to give it to you after it was all over. The second is for Ellison, and the third is for the man she marries. Theirs are to be given to them on their wedding day. He entrusted me with delivering them.”
Sin holds out my dad’s last words for me. “Per Harry’s instructions, it’s time for you to read this.”
I hold the letter in my trembling hand. Butterflies have invaded my insides.
Writing four letters would’ve been a lot of work for Dad. “He could barely breathe. How was he able to do this?”
“I’m not sure. Perhaps he had help?”
I open the letter and immediately recognize the chicken scratch he called penmanship. “He wrote this. It’s his handwriting.”
Girlie girl,
You’re reading this letter so that means that after more than eighteen years (hopefully not too much longer), you have exposed your mother’s murderer and brought him to justice. He’s dead and gone. Good for you. Now is the time for real life to begin, the one you’re building with your husband. Sin loves you dearly and will do anything to protect you. Never doubt that.
What you were doing the last few years doesn’t qualify as living. But that chapter of your life is closed. A new one has begun. I wish I were there to see where the journey takes you, Sin, and the babies you’ll one day have. Wherever it is, I’ll be watching from afar. I’m always with you. I love you.
Dad
I can’t stop the tears rolling down my face. And I don’t want to. I was already happy but this letter pushes me beyond ecstatic.
I fold my Dad’s last words and clench them to my chest. “Thank you for this. And for giving me the gift of freedom. I can’t tell you what it means that you would shoulder an undertaking of this magnitude for me.”
“I would do anything for you.”
I place my father’s letter on my nightstand and go to Sin. I move my hands to the tucke
d corner of his towel at his waist and tug. “Today was rough. You’re in a bad place right now but the worst thing we can do is allow today’s events to distance us. I want to be close to you. I think it’s what we need.”
I kiss his shoulder where be bears the gunshot scar that sent him into sepsis, nearly taking his life. “Tell me you want to feel that connection with me.”
His hands glide down my sides and cup my bottom, pulling me against him. “What I want is for us to fade into each other until we can’t tell where one begins and the other ends.”
He has the power to make me swoon. “Such pretty words.”
I drop his towel to the floor and place my hands on his hips, using them to pull him with me toward the bed. “I don’t need any of the fancy stuff tonight. I just want to feel your skin pressed against mine and have you inside me.”
We turn so he can sit to take off his prosthesis. Thud! It drops to the floor and he grabs me around my expanding waist. “Get yourself up here, Bonny Bleu.”
I open my towel and drop it to the floor next to his. I climb knees-first so I’m straddling him. Our skin, still damp from our hot shower, sticks together.
Sin presses his face between my breasts and turns his head from side to side. His scruff scrapes my skin. There’s little I love more than the feel of that.
He palms by breast from the bottom, pushing them up and together. He opens wide and sucks my areola and nipple into his mouth, using the tip of his tongue to circle the hardened bud. They’re incredibly sensitive. I almost think he could make me come doing that.
When he finishes giving both breasts equal attention, he grasps the sides of my face and brings me closer. His lips touch mine and he kisses me hard, as though he’s trying to possess the soul within me.
I reach between us and position his erection at my entrance. I sink down until he’s fully inside. I rotate my hips a few times before rising and lowering myself down on to him again. I wrap my arms around his shoulders and press our bodies harder. My baby bump rubs his abdomen as I move up and down.
The Sin Trilogy Bundle: A Necessary Sin, the Next Sin, One Last Sin Page 88