The pain radiates through my head, spreading down my neck and back, the darkness taking me under within seconds. Ryan’s taunting laughter the last thing I hear before everything fades to black.
Chapter
Thirty-Two
Luke
The moment I realize the security alarm has been disabled, fear floods my body. Samantha didn’t have the code so she would have set the alarm off had she tried to leave, which tells me everything I need to know...
She didn’t go out, someone else came in.
“Sam.” I immediately yell through the space. “Sam.” I repeat, louder this time.
Nothing...
I am met by a haunting silence, one that causes my pulse to thud so rapidly my own heart beat is the only sound in the room.
“Sam.” I yell again, crossing the foyer towards the staircase, knowing if she’s upstairs she may not be able to hear me.
Taking the stairs two at a time, the moment I reach the second floor I head directly towards the master bedroom. Spotting her cellphone lying on the bedside table, my mind instantly jumps to worst case scenario. Trying to shake off the thought, I search the other four bedrooms before heading into the study, calling her name the entire time.
I know she’s not here. I can feel it in my bones but I refuse to accept it. The moment I reach the top of the staircase I freeze. There’s something there, something I can’t believe I didn’t see before.
Going down three stairs, I stop. Leaning down, I wipe my hand along the step, realizing the moment I look at the liquid on my fingers that it’s blood. I nearly choke on my fear, panic making it impossible to react.
I follow the blood trail down, finding at least one spot on nearly every step. When I reach the bottom of the stairs, I scan my eyes along the foyer instantly spotting several more small droplets of blood starting from where I am standing and leading towards the back entrance.
Following the trail, it stops just a few feet from the private driveway that sits at the back of the house. Turning, I sprint back inside, knowing with almost complete certainty that Ryan must have found her but praying at the same time that I am wrong and that there is another reasonable explanation for this.
Pulling my cell from my jacket pocket, I punch in Travis’ number and hit call, his voice sounding on the other end just as I push my way back inside the house.
“I need to know when the alarm system at the beach house was disabled this morning.” I ramble, not bothering with pleasantries.
“Everything okay?” He asks curiously.
“Just tell me when the fucking code was entered.” I demand.
“Give me a second.” His response is immediate.
I can hear his hands working against the keyboard as his accesses the system.
“Eleven twenty-eight.” He finally answers.
“Twenty minutes ago?” I ask in disbelief, realizing had I gotten here just a little earlier I could have prevented all of this.
“Looks like Nicholas’s code was used to access the house.” He adds.
“My father?” I question, realizing almost instantly that I when I changed my code to the house I never even considered changing his.
“I need you to track Ryan.” I speak again before Travis can respond. “Find out where he is right now.”
“It will take me a few minutes to pinpoint his location.” Travis seems confused by my request but doesn’t question it.
“Call me the moment you do.” I end the call.
Pulling up my contacts, I press my father’s name, impatiently waiting through ring after ring only to have his voicemail pick up. Disconnecting the call, I hit his name again. It only rings twice this time before his voices comes on the line.
“Luke, I’m in the middle of an important call.” He immediately speaks.
“Were you at the beach house this morning?” I ask, ignoring his statement.
I know it’s a long shot and that I am grasping but I need to make one hundred percent sure my father had nothing to do with this.
“Jack I’m going to need to call you back.” I hear my father speak, the call he’s on clearly taking place from his office phone. “What it is Luke?” He sighs into the phone just moments later.
“Were you at the beach house this morning?” I repeat, my tone reflecting my frustration.
“No, I’ve been at the office all morning, you know that.” He adds, reminding me that I saw him shortly after I arrived at ScoTech this morning. “What’s this about?”
“Ryan has her.” I let the statement hang there as the realization hits me.
That’s how Ryan got in. If he knew Sam was here then he also knew I would take extra precautions to keep her safe which would include changing the alarm code. And of course he knows Dad’s code. How could I have been so careless?
I should have never left her.
“Ryan has who?” My father cuts into my thoughts, pulling me back to the conversation.
“Allie.”
“Who?” My father asks, clearly not connecting the dots.
“Miss Reynolds.” I clarify.
“Okay wait, what’s going on?” His question only further fuels my anger and I try to keep my emotions in check.
“This is going to sound crazy.” I say, not sure how exactly I am going to explain this to my father in the little time I can spare.
“Ryan attacked Miss Reynolds on Saturday and held her captive on the yacht for three days. She managed to escape a couple of days ago and has been hiding out at the beach house since then. This morning I had to come into the office to take care of a few things and when I returned, she was gone. There’s blood on the floor and your alarm code was used to disable the alarm. I have Travis tracking Ryan’s cell now but if you have any idea as to where he may have taken her you have to tell me now.”
“Wait. Why would Ryan kidnap your assistant?” He sounds genuinely confused.
“I don’t have time to explain this any further but I promise I will explain everything later. Ryan will kill her if we don’t find her in time.” The thought is near crippling and I do my best to hold myself together.
“Let me see what I can do.” He disconnects the call without another word. I no more than lock my phone before it springs to life in my hand again, Travis’ name flashing across the screen.
“Did you find him?” I immediately answer.
“His phone is inside his office at ScoTech. We already confirmed with his secretary that it’s there but he is not. She claims that she has not seen him all day so it’s likely that he left it there overnight. We have no way to track his movements, no way of knowing where he is now.”
“What about his car?”
“Still parked at the office.” Travis says. “According to security footage of the garage he parked it there yesterday morning and it has not been moved since.”
“So you’re telling me he up and disappeared and we have no fucking clue how to find him?” I scream into the line, knowing this isn’t Travis’ fault but also not able to control the anger and fear bubbling inside of me.
“I’m sure he’s fine.” He tries to reassure me.
“This isn’t about him. It’s about the girl he abducted and is going to kill. Now find him!” I scream, ending the call before he can respond.
I can’t stand the feeling of being so powerless. Samantha is out there right now, probably hurt and scared and there is not one damn thing I can do.
I’m terrified; terrified that I will never see Samantha again. Terrified that this is all my fault. I promised to keep her safe. She trusted me and I failed her.
If anything happens to her, I swear to God I’ll never forgive myself.
Chapter
Thirty-Three
Samantha
I try to blink but my eyes feel like they have been glued shut, making it difficult to pry them open. I can hear humming. A near silent noise that barely makes it to my ears over the other sounds around me; footsteps, something that sounds like met
al scratching against metal, and most prominently the rattle of chains which appear to be very close to me.
I feel pain... It’s everywhere but mainly in my wrists. I feel like my hands are being pulled away from my body. A hard lump forms in my throat and I try to swallow it down only I can’t because my mouth and throat feel too dry.
Finally managing to get my eyes open, I can see a concrete floor below me but it’s hard to make out. Everything is blurred and hard to focus on, including the sight of my own feet as they lightly drag the surface of the floor, my toes barely able to reach it.
Managing to lift my head, the room starts to take shape around me. I’m in a warehouse, or something like a warehouse. The walls are rusted and peppered with small windows that appear to be painted black. I hear the chains again which prompts me to look up.
Only then do I realize that my wrists are handcuffed and linked through two large chains hanging above me. I immediately try to fight against the restraints but this only intensifies the pain further, the cuffs digging into my already wounded flesh so deeply it takes everything I have not to buckle from the pain.
“You won’t get out of those on your own.” Ryan’s voice pulls my attention forward but rather than seeing him, I can only see a blurred image getting closer.
It isn’t until he steps directly in front of me that I can finally make out his face.
“Pretty clever if you ask me.” He draws my attention to the item in his hand as the metal scratching metal sound returns.
I take a shaky inhale when I realize where the sound is coming from; a hunting knife being run along a stone sharpener.
“What’s wrong my dear Samantha, you seem nervous.” He smiles causing my stomach to twist violently in fear.
“Please Ryan. Please don’t do this. I swear I won’t tell anyone anything. Please. Just let me go.” My survival instinct starts to kick in and I know that if I don’t try everything in my power to get out of this situation I am going to die very soon.
“But you already have now haven’t you?” He tisks, swinging the knife slowly in front of me. “You told Luke.”
“But he’s your brother.” I try to reason with him. “You said so yourself, he would never choose me over his family.” I repeat his previous statement back to him.
“He wouldn’t. But that doesn’t mean I’m going to just let you go.” He says, cocking his head to the side. “Now tell me, where should I start?” He smiles, holding the knife in front of me.
“Please Ryan.” Emotion clogs my throat as he slides the back edge of the knife along my cheek and then down my jawbone.
“Please what?” He plays innocent. “Keep begging Samantha. I love to hear you beg.” He flips the blade, slicing open the fabric of my shirt until it falls open in the center.
“I could have made you beg in so many ways but I’m sorry to say.” He sets the tip of the blade against the edge of my collarbone. “That ship has since sailed.” He whispers, sliding the knife downward.
I can feel the blade slice through my skin, the jagged edge ripping at my flesh as he trails it from the left side of my chest all the way to the bottom of my right side ribcage. I scream, the piercing sound bouncing off the walls back to me.
The pain is so unbearable that I slump my head forward, nearly losing consciousness. I can see the large gash running across my torso. I watch the blood as it flows down my body and hits the floor, each drop a sickening splash.
Ryan slowly circles me, the knife just inches from my skin as he does. I squeeze my eyes closed, waiting for the fatal blow to come but he’s not done playing with me yet. Laying another long slash across my back, I can feel every ounce of pain as he slices me open shoulder blade to shoulder blade.
Once again my screams echo through the space, the pain so agonizing it’s disorienting.
“I suppose watching you die will be a lot like watching your brother die.” Ryan says, watching the blood trickle down my back for several long seconds before stepping back in front of me.
Grabbing my chin, he forces my head up, making sure that I am listening.
“I remember watching him struggle to breathe. Watching him choke on his own blood and seeing the realization in his eyes that he was going to die. I want to see you look at me the same way.” He sucks in a sharp inhale, a smile pulling up his mouth as he rears back and punches me directly in the stomach.
I swing backwards on the chains, the pain in my wrists blinding me from my inability to breathe, all the air forced from my body from the impact of the blow. I gasp and choke watching Ryan watch me, a look of complete satisfaction across his face.
When the chains finally come to a rest, Ryan lays a hard backhanded slap to my mouth, the impact splitting open my already injured lip, blood instantly pouring from the wound and flooding into my mouth.
“I’m going to watch you die and I am going to love every second of it.” He holds the knife just below my belly button.
Before he can slice, I rear my head back and spit a mouthful of blood in his face, temporarily catching him off guard.
He stumbles backwards, frantically trying to wipe the liquid from his eyes. Pushing myself back as far as I can with only my tiptoes able to reach the ground, I swing forward and pull my feet up, laying a hit directly to his abdomen.
The contact knocks him off balance and he hits the ground on a hard thud. Pushing myself back again, I am determined that if I die I will at least take a piece of him with me. The moment he stands I swing, once again pulling my feet up as I attempt to kick him again.
This time he expects it and catches my feet in the air, causing my wrists to support the entirety of my weight which proves nearly impossible to tolerate. I scream out, feeling like my hands are being torn completely away from my body.
Finally releasing me, Ryan allows me to swing backwards, making sure he is out of my reach until I am finally still again, my strength quickly fading the more blood I lose.
“I am going to cut you open piece by piece.” He says, approaching me from behind. “I am going to bleed you dry.” He reaches up, slicing my wrist open causing blood to pour down my arm.
I try to keep the pain inside. I try to hold it in and not let him have the satisfaction of my cries but when he slices the other wrist I can’t contain it. It bursts out of me.
I can feel the blood now trailing down my other arm and I know what he’s done. It will be only minutes now before I bleed out and then he will get exactly what he wants; to watch me take my last breath.
I feel the knife along my stomach but I am too weak to even hold my head up at this point. I am bleeding from four different areas and I can tell by the amount of blood pooling at my feet that I’ve already lost too much.
He puts pressure on the blade, the tip slicing into my flesh but then a man’s voice suddenly floods the space and the blade falls away.
At first I think it’s Ryan speaking to himself but then I realize that it’s not Ryan at all, it’s Nicholas, his father. The brief moment of hope I feel knowing another person is here quickly fades away when I realize that he is probably here to help his son clean up yet another mess.
I don’t want to let my tears go but at this point my control over everything is slipping. They slide down my face, my last silent cry before I die at the hands of the very man who is responsible for killing every single person I have ever loved; every person with the exception of Luke.
His crystal blue eyes flash through my mind. Did he betray me? I refuse to believe it. I want to die believing that at least for a brief moment of time that I was loved and I was able to love in return.
The voices around me are muffled, my ears no longer able to distinguish specific sounds. They become louder until suddenly I realize there are no longer two men but several. I hear a loud crash followed by yelling but I can’t focus.
I know I am seconds away from losing consciousness. I know that this is the end. I let my head go limp and I give up trying to support my weight with the tip of my t
oes. My whole body seethes with pain and I silently beg for death to take me.
I just want this to be over...
Just as the thought crosses my mind, I feel arms around me. The weight against my wrists vanishes and suddenly I feel like I am floating through the air. I feel the darkness pulling me under and I know this is then end.
But just when I feel it all slipping away, that’s when I hear it... Luke’s voice. It’s faint at first but then grows stronger, demanding to be heard through the fog in my head.
I don’t know if he’s real or if he is simply a figment of my imagination; a last glimpse of what I hold dearest just before it’s over. Whatever it is I embrace it. I hold onto it. I follow it. Because wherever he goes, this world or another, that’s where I want to be.
With that I let go and the world simply fades away...
Chapter
Thirty-Four
Luke
It’s been seven hours since I arrived home to find Samantha gone. Seven grueling hours using every resource possible to find her and now that we think we finally have, I can’t help but feel like it’s too late. Too much time has passed. Too many things could have happened by now.
When I reach the strip of service warehouses my father purchased a few years ago there is already an ambulance and three police cars in the parking lot along with my fathers. Throwing my car into park, I kill the engine without even bothering to remove the keys.
Kicking the door open, I run towards the warehouse, terrified of what might be inside but even more terrified that we were wrong and that Samantha is not even here. The moment I push my way inside a police officer steps into my path.
“I’m sorry but you can’t be in here.” He says but his words barely register with me.
I am too busy scanning the room for Samantha to pay him any real attention. It takes only seconds for me to spot her. The moment I do I feel like someone has just punched me straight in the stomach, all the air leaving my body in an instant.
She is suspended in the air by her wrists, her feet barely brushing the ground as two officers work to remove her handcuffs and pull her down from the chains. There’s blood everywhere. Her arms, her chest, her face, there isn’t one inch of her that reflects the beautiful girl I left sleeping in my bed just hours ago.
Beyond Love Lies Deceit Page 18