Denouement (The Darkness Series Book 3)

by Brightmore, Cassia

  She heard him coming and quickly rolled over on the air mattress that had served as her bed for the past several nights. Not that she’d had much sleep, but at least he hadn’t made her lay on the cold, concrete floor.

  “I know you’re not sleeping. Get the fuck up, Gwyn,” he ordered. She didn’t want to obey, she wanted to fight and be strong and tell him that she wasn’t his to control anymore. But her body couldn’t take it. He’d taken the bat to her legs the previous night. Beat her with it so severely that she wasn’t sure she’d be able to stand. He grabbed her hair and tugged. “I said get up!”

  She rolled again until she hit the floor barely even feeling the jarring sensation. She made it to her knees and then just couldn’t push herself up. He’d fed her the bare minimum and gave her even less to drink. With the beatings, her body was simply starting to shut down. She had no energy left to fight; she knew she had to hold on and be strong until Brady came for her, but each day that passed, her hope dimmed a little more.

  “Move your ass, whore!” he shouted, losing patience with her. Over the past week, he’d called her every name in the book. If there was one thing she wasn’t, it was a whore and hearing it, the temper that had abandoned her finally resurfaced and snapped.

  “Fuck you, Lawrence.” She wobbled her way to her feet. “Fuck you. You think you’re so fucking tough. You need a bat to control me. You have to throw me in a basement and lock the door to keep me. You have to starve me near to death to try and steal my will to fight,” she gasped for breath as her shouting made her bruised ribs burn, but still she kept up her tirade. “You want to know what type of people do this shit? Losers. You’re a fucking loser, Lawrence and you always will be. So go ahead, do your worst. But guess what, you’ll NEVER break me. I’m better than you and I always will be. You’re not fit to lick the dirt from my shoes and when my Brady kills you, I’m going to dance on top of the flowers that I’ll plant on your grave. FUCK YOU.”

  She finished and fell back down onto the mattress, pressing her good arm against her chest as she fought to suck in breath after breath. What she’d done wasn’t smart. Maybe it made her feel good in the moment to stand up to him, but the price of her disobedience was going to be steep.

  Lawrence’s face turned purple with rage and his hand slipped into his pocket withdrawing a small object. She couldn’t see what it was and then it disappeared. She had no time to wonder what it was as his hand was suddenly in her hair, hauling her up to her tiptoes. His fist plowed into her stomach and it felt like he’d hit her with a brick. “Ahh!” she cried out against the pain. He hit her again and again and again before letting her fall back onto the mattress. When she rolled and tried to crawl away, he struck her back in the same manner. That’s when she realized what it was. Brass knuckles. He was punching her over and over with brass knuckles.

  “Think you’re so fucking smart with your smart fucking mouth, don’t you? Think you’re better than me with your new fancy life. I’ll show you who’s fucking in charge here.”

  He grabbed her hips and yanked her shorts down around her ankles and before she could blink he was tearing at her shirt. “Gonna fuck obedience into you, gonna fuck that fucking high and mighty attitude right out of you while I’m at it. You dumb fucking cunt.”

  Gwyn panicked. “No, no, no, no,” she begged. Out of all the things he’d done to her over this past week, he’d refrained from raping her. She knew it was a possibility as he’d done it before, but she’d been hopeful he’d lost his attraction for her in that way. She struggled to get away from him and he pulled her back each time. She heard his zipper and started to cry which earned her another shot to the spine with the brass knuckles. Her back was numb, her stomach was on fire and she seriously worried about internal bleeding. Now it was about to get so much worse. He rolled her over onto her back and wrapped his hands around her throat and started to squeeze. “Teach you to fucking not listen to me,” he seethed. Her vision blurred as her head started to spin from lack of oxygen as his grip tightened on her throat. This was it. This was how she going to die.

  They both froze when they heard the telltale sound of a pistol cocking. “Get your motherfucking hands off her, asshole.” Lawrence’s hands on her throat went slack. Gwyn didn’t recognize the voice right away but thought that it might be Theo, Brady’s friend. When someone knelt down on the mattress beside her, she turned her head and wept in relief.

  “Brady. Brady,” she cried as he scooped her into his arms carefully. “I’ve got you, sugar. Just hold on.” He pulled a sheet around her body and moved her off to the side. Theo and Lawrence had started fighting and he needed to end this so he could get Gwyn to the hospital.

  Theo slammed Lawrence with an uppercut to the jaw that snapped his head back. “How’s it feel to pick on someone way fucking bigger than you, cocksucker?” Theo was out of control, ready to beat Lawrence to a bloody pulp. Brady grabbed his arm and pulled him back. Their eyes met and Theo nodded in understanding, moving to tend to Gwyn.

  Lawrence spat blood onto the floor and glared at Brady. “That bitch Mila dime me out? Fucking cunt. Can’t ever fucking trust a fucking woman.” He looked Brady up and down. “So you’re the fucking dumbass she’s got wrapped around her finger,” he motioned to Gwyn with his brass knuckled hands. “She’s a fucking worthless piece of shit. You can have her, I’m done fucking her and she can’t fucking learn the rules to—” BANG. Brady fired one shot, clean through his forehead and silenced him forever. His body fell back onto the mattress and bounced once before settling.

  “You’re the piece of shit, you asshole,” Brady said. Rushing to Gwyn’s side, he took her back into his arms, his eyes filling with tears at the sight of her. “I’m sorry. I’m so damn sorry it took me so long to get here, darlin’. I’m here now, I love you, Gwyn. We’re taking you to the hospital now.” Theo held open the door for them at the top of the basement stairs and they moved quickly towards the waiting car.

  “I knew you’d come. I knew you would, Brady. I stayed strong and I held on for you. Please take me home. Our home, please, please,” she begged before she passed out.

  They rushed her to the hospital where she was immediately admitted to an ER bed. It wasn’t long before she was whisked away into surgery and he was left alone with Theo in the waiting room. “That was way too fucking close. Way too fucking close.”

  “You made the right call, Brady. West and Sam are still in Stockton Crossing and we will find this fucker. But it was more important that we get Gwyn to safety so that we can have your head in the game helping us. You know that was the right call,” Theo told him, slapping a hand on his shoulder.

  The ER doors opened and a flood of stretchers poured in. “Move it, move it!” the paramedic shouted to them. Brady recognized Joan and then Mr. Bartlett, both wearing oxygen masks.

  “What the hell happened?” he called out.

  “Fire down at Earl’s,” she called back. “We’ve still got victims trapped in there.” Brady met Theo’s eyes and Theo waved him out the door.

  “Go, go. I’ll stay here with Gwyn. Watch your back!” Brady nodded at raced out of the emergency room doors. Fucking hell. The killer had moved to Durham Heights. Taunting him for the decision he made to save Gwyn. If anyone died in this fire, their blood was on his hands. A fact he’d have to live with for the rest of his life.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  Nora stood with her mouth hanging open staring first at Gabe beside her and then at Gabe who had just come through the front door.

  “What the fuck? What the. I mean, you’re there,” she pointed to Gabe beside her. “But now you just came through there.” She pointed to Gabe at the door. She blinked at both of them and then just gave up. “What the ever loving fuck is going on here!”

  The Gabe beside her took her hand gently and drew her to his side. “Nora, get behind me. He’s obviously some sort of imposter.”

  Gabe by the door shook his fist. “Shut the fuck up, Marcus. Nora, look at m
e. Only at me. I’ve been a captive for two years by him. The night that we went to rescue Caleb, he shot me with blanks and stole my life. He stole you, Nora. You and Caleb. He had me locked in a hellhole and I’ve only just now managed to escape. I came straight here to warn you.”

  Nora couldn’t have been more shocked if he said he’d flown to the ranch on purple pigs. The man beside her was…Marcus? With a Gabe face? And the real Gabe, he’d been kidnapped? Locked away all this time while she’d been here playing house with their enemy? No, no it couldn’t be true. She shook her head vehemently. “That’s crazy. That’s so crazy.”

  The Gabe at her side nodded agreeing with her. “He’s a madman, baby. Look at him. Come on, we need to get you out of here before something bad happens.” He tugged on her arm, but she refused to move.

  The longer she stared at the Gabe by the door, the more something tingled. There was something about him. Something that was calling to her. It was almost as if her heart was waking up again and pointing at him, telling her that was her lover returned to her. Could it really be true? She started to take a step forward, her brows furrowed when the door opened and Quinn came in, Greta on her heels.

  Both of them stopped dead, taking in the scene. Quinn recovered first and moved to the center of the room, whipping her head back and forth between the two Gabe’s. “One of you is my brother and I want to know which one it is right the fuck now,” she demanded, planting her hands on her hips. “This is some seriously fucked up shit, you guys. You,” she pointed to Gabe by the door. “Tell me what’s going on here.”

  The real Gabe rolled his eyes. “You always were a pain in my ass, Quinlan,” he answered. Quinn’s eyes widened and right there everyone in the room knew. This was the real Gabe. The man that they all loved. Just with that one easy-going reply, he reminded all of them of who he was and just what they had been missing while living with Marcus these past couple years. He may have looked the part to perfection, but you can never become someone else completely. He lacked the caring attitude and loving demeanor to actually totally pull it off. There had been doubts by many of them and now it was obvious they had been right to think that way.

  Quinn pulled a handgun from the back waistband of her jeans and aimed it at Marcus. “That’s my brother. So who the fuck are you?”

  Marcus didn’t respond. He pulled out his own gun and before Quinn could fire, shot off two rounds. Mayhem ensued and everyone starting screaming. When the real Gabe finally let out a loud whistle, Nora and Quinn both shut up. Laying on the ground with a pool of blood seeping out from under her, was Greta. She’d jumped in front of Quinn and taken the bullets meant for her.

  Nora knelt down next to her and put her hands on her chest. “Oh, Greta, no. No, no. Call for help,” she said to Gabe as Quinn raced to the kitchen for some towels to help stop the bleeding.

  Greta clasped onto Nora’s hand and pulled her closer. “It’s—it’s okay,” she rasped, struggling to get the words out. “Marcus is my—my son,” she admitted. Nora sat back on her heels in shock. “I didn’t know he’d done this. I didn’t know this was him here. Please—please believe me,” she stared hard into Nora’s eyes begging her to see she was telling the truth. “I have a daughter. Must protect her from Marcus. Please it’s all I ever did was protect her from Marcus. Now you—you have to do what I can’t any longer. Please promise me,” her grip on Nora’s hand tightened painfully as she tried to make her understand why she had stayed in Marcus’s employ for all those years. “Promise me you’ll keep her safe.”

  Nora didn’t know how many more revelations she could take, but there was no denying that the woman that had become like a second mother to her was telling the truth. Added to it the fact that she’d just saved Quinn’s life. She couldn’t deny her dying wish. “I promise, Greta. I will find and protect your daughter. I swear it.”

  Greta nodded and managed a half smile before her hand went limp and her eyes rolled back. She was gone. Tears rolled down both Nora and Quinn’s faces as they stared at Greta filled with regret. Nora knew that she must have suffered horribly keeping herself away from a daughter she clearly loved so much in order to protect her from Marcus. Looking around, she realized he was missing.

  “He got away,” Gabe told her. “I’ve called the police and an ambulance, they will be here soon. I’ll find that fucker, don’t you worry about it.”

  Nora stood and stared at Gabe unsure what to do. Part of her wanted to rush into his arms but the larger part of her was filled with such shame. How could she have not known it was him? How could she not have realized the man in her bed was not the same man she’d grown up and fallen in love with? What kind of person doesn’t recognize their soulmate? As a result, the real Gabe, her Gabe had been kept prisoner for two years. Two years away from her and Caleb. She couldn’t even fathom it—it didn’t seem real. Would he hate her now? Take the children and leave her? And Greta—what would she tell the children about Greta?

  Her mind was a whirlwind of thoughts and she didn’t know what to do. Gabe made the decision for her and yanked her into his arms, burying his face into her hair. “I missed you so damn much. So much, Nora. It was fucking torture being away from you. I know that you think this is your fault, but it’s not. I’ve waited two damn years to get you back and I’m never letting you go again. Never.” His lips met hers and it was like their first kiss all those years ago. There was no doubts in Nora’s mind, no feeling that she was doing something wrong. This felt right, Gabe was her home and she finally had him back again.

  Quinn sniffled and called for attention. “Okay, you two, I’m sorry but let me hug my fucking brother.” Nora laughed and moved back just in time for Quinn to launch herself into Gabe’s arms, her own winding around his neck. “You fucking dumbass. Getting yourself abducted. Just wait till I tell Mom and Dad,” she teased.

  Gabe rolled his eyes. “I missed you too, Quinlan.”

  Sirens could be heard in the distance and they knew that help was on the way. It would be a long road for them but Nora knew that above all else, they loved each other. Marcus might have gotten away, but once Theo came home; Nora was certain they’d be searching for him, eager to make him pay for what he stole from them.

  Gabe set Quinn down and kissed the top of her head. “I know we have a lot to deal with right now and I’m so damn happy to see you both. But before I get caught up with the cops telling them my story all night, could someone please take me to see my son?”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  Brady swept a hand over his face and looked up from his seat at Gwyn’s bedside as Theo came in the door with another cup of coffee for him. He accepted it gratefully and then stood after Theo jerked his head towards the hallway. Weariness plagued him. He’d hardly slept since the moment he’d been informed Gwyn was missing. Now that she’d been found, it was an even bigger worry watching her go through surgery after surgery to repair the damage done. Her injuries were non-life threatening, but it would be a long road to recovery for her once she was released from the hospital.

  Her arm and the internal bleeding were the worst of it although they were also keeping an eye on her left knee and a baseball sized bump on the back of her head, likely caused from being hit with a bat. Each time she moved in her sleep, she whimpered in pain and it was like a slice to Brady’s heart. This was his fault. He never should have left her alone. He should have put his gun to Mila’s head the second he saw her instead of wasting time negotiating. This whole thing could have been avoided if he’d only done things right.

  “What’s up,” he asked Theo. “I don’t like leaving her side for too long.”

  “I know, I know, man. Look I don’t know how to say this so I’m just going to fucking say it, okay? Marcus was wearing a Gabe face.” At Brady’s blank look, he tried again. “You know, like how Leatherface does in the Texas Chainsaw movies? Like that. No well not quite. You know that movie Face-Off—more like that. He was wearing a Gabe face like that,” Theo grinned, happy to h
ave found a better comparison.

  Brady glared at him. “Would you please make some damn sense? What the fuck are you talking about? Leatherface and Face-Off, you’ve lost your damn mind,” he muttered.

  Theo frowned and tried again. “The day we rescued Caleb and Hope. Marcus shot the real Gabe and has held him hostage this whole time. He had plastic surgery, dude. He had plastic surgery to look like Gabe and he’s been impersonating him this entire time. The real Gabe just escaped last night and in a huge showdown, Greta was killed protecting Quinn.”

  Brady blinked several times. “Let me get this straight. So there are two Gabe’s right now?”

  “Technically, yes. But really only one because Marcus and his Gabe face escaped.”

  Brady hit him on the arm. “Would you stop saying Gabe face. You’re fucking me up here.” Theo shrugged his hands in the air.

  “He has a Gabe face. I call it like I see it.”

  “So Greta is dead and Marcus escaped. What the fuck else is going to happen? I can’t believe all this shit. So is Gabe, the real Gabe, okay? How did he escape?” Brady asked.

  “Oh, it was badass. He took out all the guards and that fucker, Dr. Daniels. Although it looks like he might have gotten away alive as well, again. Anyway, I just thought you should know. Gabe and Nora are just taking some time to themselves is what Quinn told me, spending time with the kids.”

  Brady nodded, letting it sink in. This all was one hell of a clusterfuck. “Anything from West and Sam?”

  “Yeah. They are packing up and then picking up Aubrey and should be here in a couple hours. She really needs the distraction and helping clean up after the fire at the diner will be good for her I think. Besides, no one should be left alone until we find this fuck,” Theo answered.