Darkest Night--A Romantic Thriller

by Tara Thomas

  CHAPTER 9

  “What the hell?” Keaton asked, sitting up.

  Tilly was also sitting up, clutching the sheet to her chest. “It sounded like it was coming from right outside.”

  “Mr. Keaton!” Lena yelled from downstairs.

  Keaton jumped out of bed and put his jeans on. His body worked on autopilot as he pulled his discarded shirt over his head. Tilly had gotten out of bed, as well, and within seconds, she was dressed.

  “I’m coming with you,” she said, and both her voice and expression told him it wasn’t up for discussion. He wasn’t going to argue with her, he simply nodded.

  “Did it sound like Elise to you?” he asked.

  “I’m not sure. I was too shocked to pay attention that closely. She left to go shopping right when you left.”

  “Let’s go.” He led the way down the stairs. From the top, he could see the front door was open, but the angle didn’t allow him to see anything other than Lena standing just inside.

  “I’ll call 911,” she said to someone outside. Elise, maybe?

  He jogged down the remaining stairs, praying nothing had happened to Elise. He didn’t like the girl very much and he certainly wasn’t going to marry her, but that didn’t mean he wanted her hurt.

  “What’s wrong, Lena?” he asked, crossing the foyer.

  Everything seemed to happen in slow motion. Lena stepped out of the way. Elise stood on the other side of the door. She looked fine. Why had she screamed? He looked down and gasped.

  A woman was sprawled on the bricks of the front porch. Her pale red hair covered her face, obscuring Keaton’s ability to immediately see it, but whoever it was, she wasn’t moving. What was even more disturbing was the blood staining the bricks, pooling out from a blanket that had been half tossed over her.

  He fell to his knees and grabbed her wrist, looking for a pulse. Under his fingers, a faint pulse pounded slowly and he sighed in relief. From the cuts and bruising on her face, it appeared someone had beaten her within an inch of her life. He wasn’t sure what internal injuries she had, but he was willing to bet she had some. Because of that, he didn’t want to risk moving her.

  She didn’t have any sort of bag with her and Keaton didn’t find any identification on her. He supposed it didn’t matter who she was, but he would have liked to call her by name. Not to mention, the police would ask.

  “Oh my God,” Tilly said, dropping to her knees beside him. “It’s Bea!”

  “Another one of your women, Keaton?” Elise asked, with a pointed look to Tilly.

  “Shut the hell up,” Tilly told her. “This is Bea Jacobs. You know Brent Taylor?”

  Elise nodded. Of course she did. Anyone with ties to South Carolina knew who Brent was.

  “This is Bea, his half-sister. She’s an attorney. I’m friends with Brent’s fiancée.”

  “Rescue is on the way, Mr. Keaton,” Lena said.

  “Thank you.” Keaton took off his shirt and tried to stop the worst of the bleeding.

  “Bea,” Tilly spoke softly. “It’s me, Tilly, and this is Keaton Benedict. Can you open your eyes for me?”

  He hadn’t expected a response, so he was taken aback when she moaned. The eye that wasn’t swollen shut opened a tiny bit. “Benedict?” she asked, and that one word seemed to use up all the energy she had.

  “Yes, you’re at Benedict House.” Tilly glanced at him and he nodded for her to go on. “We’ve called for help. They’ll be here soon.”

  Bea licked her lips and seemed to be struggling to say something.

  “Shhh.” Tilly stroked her forehead in an attempt to soothe and to keep her silent, but she shook her head. Finally, Tilly lowered her head, so her ear was near Bea’s mouth. “Tell me.”

  Bea took a deep, shuddering breath before answering, “Knox.”

  She spoke so softly, Keaton was certain he heard wrong.

  “What?” Tilly asked, obviously feeling the same.

  “Knox.”

  Bea spoke it stronger this time and there was no doubt as to what she said. Keaton decided she must be confused. It was the only sensible answer.

  “Knox is my brother,” he explained. “I’m Keaton.”

  Once more, she shook her head. “Call Knox…”

  Keaton froze. Beside him, Tilly sucked in a breath.

  “What?” Tilly asked. “Bea?”

  But speaking those few words had completely wiped Bea out. Her eyes were closed, and though she was breathing and her pulse was steady, neither Tilly nor Keaton could rouse her.

  In the distance, the wailing of sirens gradually became louder and louder.

  Moving mechanically, Keaton reached in his pocket for his phone and dialed.

  “Hey, bro,” Knox said, picking up on the second ring. “What’s up?”

  Unable to take his eyes off the broken body of the woman on his porch, Keaton calmly answered, “We have a situation. You need to come home right away.”

  * * *

  To say the hospital waiting room was tense was a vast understatement. It would be like calling the sun hot or the ocean wet. Tilly sat beside Keaton and they both watched Knox. He was pacing the floor and every so often, he’d move from his path in front of the window to make a detour by the clerk’s desk to ask if there was any news, even though he’d been told repeatedly that they would alert him at the first sign of change.

  The one thing Knox hadn’t done was talk to his younger brother. Earlier, he’d arrived at the house after they’d put Bea in the ambulance. When Keaton told him she had been beaten within an inch of her life, Knox had spun around on his heel and climbed into his car. When Keaton and Tilly arrived at the hospital, Knox was already there, pacing.

  Tilly placed her hand on top of Keaton’s knee, trying to comfort him without saying anything. She knew there were no words she could say to help at this point. He gave her a small smile and took her hand in his.

  “I know this sounds silly,” he told her, “but I could almost swear that blanket on her was with those abandoned homeless things I saw at the club.”

  “Really? I wonder if—”

  Before she could get the words out, the waiting-room door opened and Kipling walked in. He glanced at Keaton and Tilly, but focused his attention on Knox.

  “I received a call saying Bea Jacobs had been beaten and left on our porch and was taken to the hospital,” Kipling said. “Why would anyone do that?”

  “Not now, Kip,” Knox said, speaking for the first time since Keaton had called him on the phone.

  “Honest to God,” Kipling continued. “Between you and Keaton, I don’t know what the hell is going on with this family.”

  Knox stomped over to his brother, grabbed him by the collar, and shoved him against the wall. “Not. Fucking. Now.”

  Tilly had no doubt Kipling could pound Knox into the ground. Kipling’s eyes flashed and for a minute, she feared he might. She breathed a sigh of relief when, instead, he calmly said, “Get your hands off of me.”

  Wisely, Knox listened. Kipling straightened his collar and stepped away from his brother. “I’m going to give you a pass this time since you’re obviously upset and not thinking, but put your hands on me again and I’m kicking your ass.”

  “Did I come at a bad time?”

  All eyes moved to the door where Alyssa and her partner stood.

  “Would you leave if I said yes?” Kipling asked.

  “Good try, but no,” Alyssa said. “We came to find out what happened to Bea Jacobs. Do you know anything about her assault?”

  “No. I didn’t know anything had happened until Keaton called me,” Kipling said.

  She looked over at Keaton and raised an eyebrow. “Mr. Benedict. Ms. Brock.”

  Tilly felt Keaton tense up beside her. “When we saw her, she was already hurt and on our front porch,” he said.

  “You didn’t see anything?”

  “No, but our housekeeper and a family friend who’s staying with us found her first.”

&nb
sp; “Thank you,” Alyssa’s partner said. “We’ll go talk to them and then come back here to see if Bea’s awake.”

  “She was wrapped in a blanket I think I remember seeing outside the club a few nights ago,” Keaton said. “It looked as though it belonged to the homeless. It’s still at the house.”

  “We’ll look into it,” Alyssa said.

  Not long after they left, a door at the side of the room opened and a woman wearing green scrubs stepped into the waiting room.

  “Knox Benedict?” she asked, looking at the brothers.

  “That’s me,” Knox said.

  “Come with me,” the lady said.

  There were numerous unasked questions on Knox’s expression, but instead of voicing them, he nodded and followed her out of the waiting room.

  As soon as he left, Kipling turned to Keaton. “Do you know what’s going on?”

  “I have no idea.”

  Kipling ran his hand through his hair. “They didn’t say how Bea was. I hope she’s okay.”

  Keaton entwined his fingers with Tilly’s.

  Tilly leaned her head against his shoulder. It was unfathomable to even think about something bad happening to Keaton and they had only been together for a matter of days. Not counting the years when they were kids, of course.

  They stayed like that for a while. Tilly and Keaton sitting. Kipling pacing. It had only been about fifteen minutes when Knox came back to the room. He looked even worse than he had before he went back.

  Immediately, Keaton stood up and Knox stopped pacing. Tilly held her breath, bracing herself for the worst.

  “How is she? Is everything okay?” Kipling was the first to speak.

  Knox winced. “Okay is a relative term. As for how she is, she’s alive.”

  Keaton reached out to touch his shoulder, but Knox twisted away.

  An uncomfortable silence fell across the room. Tilly wanted to disappear into the air. Whatever was going on between the brothers was private and she felt odd and out of place. She thought about leaving, but didn’t want to draw attention to herself.

  Knox sighed. “I’m staying here until she gets out. You guys might as well go home. No need for you to stay.”

  No one left right away. About half an hour later, the two police officers showed up again. Knox mumbled that they wouldn’t learn anything from Bea.

  But when they returned to the waiting room sometime later after seeing Bea, Alyssa pulled her and Keaton aside.

  “Bea wasn’t able to tell us much,” Alyssa said. “But she did remember her assailant say something about Tilly being next.”

  Tilly froze in place and immediately Keaton put his arm around her.

  “You need to find this guy and find him now,” Keaton ground out.

  “We’re working as hard as we can.”

  “Work harder.”

  Instead of replying, Alyssa said, “We also looked into the blanket. It’s an exclusive to an upscale shop on King Street. My boss doesn’t believe a homeless person would have it in their possession.”

  Keaton cursed. “Of course the hell not. Didn’t it cross his mind that someone might have donated it?”

  “But,” Alyssa continued, “I’m still looking into it.”

  “Thank you,” Tilly said.

  “It’s my job.” Alyssa shook their hands. “Stay safe and call me if anything else happens or crosses your mind.”

  When the police left, Keaton looked at Tilly and raised his eyebrows. She nodded, ready to leave. She had class the next day and with everything that had happened the last few days, she needed to ensure she was ready.

  She stood up and waited while Keaton talked with his brother. They left a few minutes later and she held her breath as they approached the car. Keaton checked everything out, but nothing appeared tampered with. Apparently, the attack on Bea was all their unknown assailant had planned for the day.

  * * *

  Keaton had one goal the next morning when Tilly left for class—to stay away from Elise. He did well for the first hour. He called Knox, who said Bea was doing better physically, but still wasn’t saying much. He did a bit of research on the charity he wanted to set up and patted himself on the back when he realized Tilly would be back in less than an hour.

  He should take her out for lunch. They really hadn’t been on enough dates and if they went out, they wouldn’t have to worry about Elise hanging around. He left Kipling’s home office where he’d been working and jogged up the stairs to his room, freezing completely when he found Elise sitting on his bed.

  “Get out,” he said, through clenched teeth. “I don’t want you in here.”

  Elise had a sly little grin he’d like to wipe off. “Oh, Keaton. Honestly, you still think this is about what you want. You poor misguided fool.”

  “Out. Now.” He was fed up with her.

  “I don’t think it’s wise for you to kick me out without hearing my deal first.”

  “I’ve never made a deal with the devil and I don’t intend to start now.”

  She still wore that damn grin. Like no matter what he said, she somehow knew this conversation was going to go the way she wanted it to. He hated to disappoint her.

  “The devil?” She held her hand to her chest in mock outrage. “I don’t think that’s any way to talk about your future fiancée.”

  “You aren’t my fiancée and you never will be.”

  Her grin got bigger. Damn it all. She seemed to be enjoying their conversation. That scared him more than anything else because he had the sinking suspicion he was missing something.

  “A wise man knows not to use words such as ‘never’ and ‘always.’” She patted the bed. “This is nice, but I think I’d like a firmer mattress. I find it much more conducive to sex.”

  He felt his blood begin to boil. She had some nerve. “Your opinion on my choice of mattress is irrelevant. You will never sleep on it and you can be damn sure we won’t ever have sex, either on the mattress or elsewhere.”

  “So stubborn. I’d better get straight to the point. You’re going to marry me because I have some rather damning information about your dad.” He started to protest, but she held up her hand. “Not only that, but if you refuse, I can work it to where it appears as if all the Benedict brothers knew about it. Benedict Industries will be ruined.”

  Was she serious? “I don’t believe you.”

  She appeared entirely too joyful for his taste as she began. “The Benedict men are known for being players, don’t even try to deny it. I know this is part of your nature and it’s why I haven’t put a stop to you and Tilly. But rest assured, it’s coming.”

  He rolled his eyes. “Can we get to the point? I’m taking Tilly out to lunch.”

  He didn’t imagine the ire in her expression that flashed briefly before she continued. “You could actually say it’s in your genes. I’m not sure if you’re aware, but your father screwed around on your mom.”

  He did his best to hide his grimace. He’d always suspected his father cheated on his mom, but to have it so well known that Elise knew about it was embarrassing.

  “Of course, your father took the necessary precautions. After all, he didn’t want to be bothered with bastard children.” There was no denying it now, Elsie was positively elated to be sharing this story with him. “But, as you’re aware, the only totally effective way to ensure no one gets pregnant is to not have sex. I think we both know that celibacy is not an option for most Benedict men.”

  He had a fairly good idea where she was headed, but surely she knew it’d take more than an illegitimate child in his family’s past for him to marry her.

  “As was bound to happen, one of your father’s mistresses got pregnant. Now, always before when this happened, your father paid handsomely for the woman to ‘take care’ of the child.” Elise shook her head. “But this one decided, against your father’s wishes, to keep it. Then, fearing for her life, as well as that of her daughter’s, she vanished. You have to give it to her. She remai
ned hidden for five years.”

  Keaton’s heart pounded and sweat ran down his back. He had a sister? Granted, she would be a half-sister, but still.… He’d always wanted a sister.

  “I’m not exactly sure what happened when the child turned five. If I had to guess, I’d say that the ex-mistress contacted your dad, perhaps believing he’d become enamored with the idea of a daughter after having three boys. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case. There was a hit-and-run days after she contacted your father. Both the ex-mistress and her daughter were killed.”

  The fact that she could sit there so calmly, only served to prove how cunning she was. “I don’t believe you,” Keaton said.

  Elise shrugged like she didn’t care one way or the other. “Funny thing about the truth. It doesn’t matter what you think of it. It just is. Nothing you do can change that.”

  “You expect me to believe my father not only had a child with a woman who wasn’t my mother, but that he somehow arranged for her and his own daughter to be killed in a hit-and-run?” It was beyond ridiculous. “No way. And you think I’m going to marry you because of this made-up shit? Get out of my room.”

  She laughed. Fucking laughed. “I have proof. Of course, all I have with me are photos. I’m not stupid enough to bring you the originals. But not only do I have the originals, I have e-mails and bank statements. I have the ability to make it look as if the three of you were in on it with your father, or at least that you’ve been active in covering it all these years. Contrary to what you think, I learned a lot at college. And some of it was actually legal.”

  He told himself he would not panic. He would look over her “proof” and make a plan then. He’d show it to Kipling. Normally, he’d show it to Knox as well, but with Bea in the hospital, he was out of commission.

  “Show me your proof,” he told Elise.

  “So impatient. You’ll get it when I’m ready to show you. Right now, I want you to think about it and plan how we’re going to announce our engagement. And, just so you know, there will be no discussing things with either Knox or Kipling. If I find out they know, the deal is off and I’ll fucking crush Benedict Industries.”