by Cali MacKay
Vengeance
Book Three in The Blackthorn Brothers Series
By Cali MacKay
Copyright © 2016 by Cali MacKay
Published by Daeron Publishing
Http://calimackay.com
All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher or author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review. The story contained within is the work of fiction. Names and characters are the product of the author’s imagination and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. This story contains explicit sexual scenes and adult language and is only for readers over the age of 18.
Printed in the United States of America
First Printing, 2017, edition 1.0
ISBN: 978-1-940041-50-6
Table of Contents
Copyright Page
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
It had taken me over two years to go from grief to vengeance.
Two years to come to terms with what I must do.
So I shed the person I’d once been and embraced my nightmare, knowing it was the only way to exact my revenge.
I ran, ignoring the biting cold that stung my naked body, my bare feet pounding against the hard asphalt. My head swam in a drug-induced fog meant to keep me compliant, my feet stumbling as I tried to keep myself moving forward, knowing that it was only a matter of time before they came after me. It was all a sick and twisted game, and I was nothing more than a pawn, even if I had no one to blame but myself.
Where the hell was I? Shipping containers towered over me, and I could hear the sound of water sloshing off in the distance. Some sort of industrial shipyard.
I needed to get away…needed to keep running.
Stumbling, I fell to the ground with a bone-jarring thump, skinning my knees and palms with a stinging and bruising pain. Yet I couldn’t stop. I had to keep moving forward, one foot in front of the other, fighting back the fog in my head. My thoughts were still scattered, tempting me to drift back into the grip of a drug-fueled darkness. And so I held onto the pain…using it to keep on fighting.
I maneuvered through stacks of containers, trying to make it to the water. I’d probably freeze to death if I fell in, but following the waterline might offer me a quicker way out of here. The containers started to give way to warehouses, and I managed to squeeze through a hole in the fence, the metal cutting my naked skin as I pushed my way through the tight opening.
My thoughts were still a muddled mess. I could barely remember anything beyond the hurt and pain…and the one name that kept rattling around in my head. I wanted to stop and catch my breath, my lungs burning even as the damp, cold air bit at my naked body. Yet I had no option but to keep running, knowing I’d find what I was looking for if I just kept pushing.
There. The water…
And then I heard voices being carried on the wind.
I paused, trying to figure out which direction they were coming from, and then moved closer, trying to stay hidden in the dark of night, avoiding the lights overhead from the nearby buildings. Tucked out of the way was a pretty, two-story houseboat with fairy lights strung around the outside and the back deck, their reflection shimmering off the water.
A man and a pregnant woman walked down the dock toward the home, his hand placed protectively at the small of her back, as he held her hand to keep her steady, their conversation drifting over in snippets.
With my heart pounding inside my chest, I debated waiting, but there was no point. This might be my best shot—and truthfully, what other option did I have? I was naked, and my head was still spinning and groggy. I needed help, and if I didn’t get out of the brutal cold, I’d freeze to death.
Before I could call out to them, they headed inside, forcing me to follow after them if I had any hope of getting through this.
I mulled it over, trying to muster up the courage to do what I had to. But after waiting two years, I knew it was now or never.
I had no choice. Those had all been taken away from me.
I ran down the dock to the houseboat and pounded on the door, trying to ignore my racing heart as it pounded inside my chest, a burst of adrenaline tying my gut in knots. The door was pulled open by a man who was yanking back a giant dog. It barked and yelped like crazy, as I stumbled into the houseboat, slamming the door shut behind me and collapsing in a heap against it.
Naked and bloody in front of a group of strangers, having just barged into their home, I curled in on myself, trying to cover myself up as my heart continued to hammer away even harder than before. “Please…please help me.”
The man who answered the door quickly grabbed a throw off the nearby sofa and covered me with it, crouching down before me. “Are you hurt? Is someone after you?”
All I could do is nod, trying to fight back my panic as I clung to the blanket while the dog paced and whimpered, trying to get close to me, almost as if he could sense something was wrong.
“You’re safe here, okay? I won’t let anyone hurt you.” The man’s voice was calm and soft, soothing the jagged edges of my nerves. “What’s your name?”
My name.
I shook my head, trying to clear the fog in my head, trying not to hyperventilate as tears stung my eyes. “I…I don’t remember.”
Fuck. How could she not remember her name? What the hell had the poor girl gone through? And who the hell had done this to her?
I’d gone from one last dinner with my brother and his pregnant fiancée before they moved away, to a naked and bloody stranger cowering on my floor. I didn’t know how the hell to proceed, but at this point, getting the cops involved seemed inevitable, especially if she couldn’t even remember her name. “Let me find you some clothes, and then we can call for help.”
As Skylar knelt by the woman’s side, trying to assure her that everything would be fine, I climbed the stairs to the second floor of my houseboat, and headed to my bedroom, quickly grabbing a pair of sweatpants and a T-shirt, hoping the tie on the sweats would keep them up on the woman’s small frame.
Before I headed back, I paused to grab my gun from my drawer, quickly loading and holstering it to my belt, under my shirt. It’s not that I expected to use it, but I didn’t know what sort of trouble might be trailing that poor girl, and if there was going to be trouble, I’d rather be prepared.
Skylar and Finn were doing their best to comfort her, as Bear paced and let out needy little barks, wanting to do his own part to help.
“Here you go. The bathroom’s just down the h
all.” I handed her the clothes, but when she stood up, holding the blanket and clothes to her naked body, she swayed, shaky on her feet. I reached out to help steady her, relieved that she didn’t flinch. I didn’t know what the hell had happened to her, but it made my blood boil to think of someone hurting her. With a gentle hand, I walked her to the bathroom, wanting to find the sick bastards who did this to her and teach them a lesson about how to treat women. “If you need anything at all, just holler. We’ll be right here.”
She hesitated for a moment and then turned to face me, her brow drawn together as if she was deep in thought, before finally looking up at me, her hazel eyes shimmering with tears. “I think my name’s Emie…”
“I’m Locke. And I swear, it’ll be okay. We’ll help you figure this out.” And I meant it. I didn’t know who she was or what she’d been through, but it was clear she’d been through some sort of ordeal, and at the moment, we were the only ones in her corner. Until we found out more about her, she had no one else.
Once she closed the bathroom door, I returned to the living room to find Finn on the phone with the police. Given that most of my family had been fixers up until somewhat recently, working for criminals and skirting the law, our relationship with the law was tenuous. Getting the cops involved in anything we did felt counterintuitive, yet I didn’t see that we had much of a choice when we were dealing with the well-being and safety of a complete stranger.
Finn gave them my address and explained what happened, before eventually hanging up. “They’re sending someone over.”
“If you want to go…I can deal with the cops and tell them what happened.” I wasn’t sure Finn and Skylar would want to hang around to answer a bunch of questions and be put under any sort of scrutiny by the authorities. “I can pack you a few pieces of lasagna. Don’t want Skylar and the baby starving.”
“We’ll stay, Locke.” Skylar sat on the arm of my sofa, giving me a reassuring smile. “The cops may want to speak to us, and it might be best if we hang out, given the bizarre circumstances. Who knows what she’s been through?”
“She remembered her name. Thinks it’s Emie.” Hopefully this meant her memory was starting to come back, which would be a huge relief. Looked like there was a good chance she’d been drugged and it had affected her memory, but it was finally starting to wear off. She’d certainly been wobbly enough on her feet to be drugged, and at the moment, her amnesia seemed to be short-term, though I supposed it could also be shock, or maybe she suffered a blow to the head.
Emie came out of the bathroom, the blood washed from her face and my clothes hanging off her petite frame. There were just a few scrapes and bruises on her cheeks, and they’d likely heal before long. She handed me back the blanket. “Thank you. But…I should go. I promise to get the clothes back to you…”
“Emie, the cops are on their way. They’ll find out what happened and will be able to help you out. Besides, if you leave now, where are you going to go? You barely remember your name, and you don’t even have shoes.” There was no way I could let her leave, especially when I didn’t know if she was still in danger. There was a good chance that whoever had been keeping her hostage wouldn’t be too happy to find out that she’d gone missing, which meant that it was only a matter of time before someone came looking for her.
“I don’t want to be any trouble. If they find me…” She took in a huge breath and let it out with a ragged sigh. “I don’t know who did this—and I don’t know what they’re capable of or what they want from me.”
“Finn…you and Skylar need to go. You’ve got a baby to think of, and I can take care of things here.” I ignored my brother’s protests as he paced the floor, knowing he’d fight me on this. But I just had to stick to my guns. If something happened to either of them, I’d never forgive myself. “I’m insisting. The cops are on their way and will be here shortly—and until then, I’ll manage.”
“Locke…we’re not going. No fucking way.” Finn shook his head, glaring at me.
“Skylar, please go—and take him with you. For the baby’s sake.” Bringing the baby into this was the only chance I had of convincing them. They had to go, and it didn’t matter that we were a tight-knit family and Finn was one of my best friends.
Skylar reached out and took Finn’s hand, though when she spoke, it was to me. “We’ll wait until the cops show up—though if the girl’s in any real danger, you may want to think about heading out of town, on the off chance they decide you might have information on her whereabouts. And don’t forget, there’s always the house up in the mountains. Even has some supplies, since we were there not all that long ago.”
It wasn’t in the least surprising that Skylar mentioned the house, since it was where Finn had taken her after he’d kidnapped her in a last-ditch effort to get her to leave her abusive and psychotic boyfriend, though that turned out to be a far more complicated situation than Finn had anticipated.
“It’s a good thought—but it depends on Emie, and what the cops tell us.” Going to our family home in the mountains was only an option if I was hell-bent on avoiding trouble and I was on my own, but at this point I didn’t know what danger Emie was in or what her options were. I wasn’t sure if she’d be willing to just take off with a complete stranger, especially if it meant leaving the city.
Emie shook her head no and bit her bottom lip, looking unsure. “I don’t want to cause you any trouble, and you’ve already helped more than you know.”
“You’re no trouble, Emie. And at the moment, it seems like you have few options, unless the cops can figure out who you are.” It was doubtful she’d be here long, anyway. Although where she’d go, I hadn’t a clue.
I couldn’t help but steal a glance at her. She was beautiful, in a girl-next-door kind of way, with dark-red hair that fell in loose curls, and a galaxy of freckles scattered all over her skin. And though her green eyes were captivating and made it hard to look away, they looked haunted and broken, the scrapes and bruises on her face not helping the matter any. It pissed me off that someone had done this to her, and it was digging up my protective side.
Luckily, it didn’t take long for the police to show. The officers took a quick statement from Finn and Skylar, and then they were free to go—which I insisted they do, promising to call them with an update.
I sat down on the sofa by Emie’s side as the cops asked her all sorts of questions and walked her through everything she remembered, though she was still groggy on a lot of the details.
She shook her head, like she was trying to clear it of a thick fog, before attempting to answer the officer’s questions. “I woke up tied to a bed, but…I don’t know how long I’d been there. I don’t think they were too worried about me getting away, since they were keeping me drugged. At least, that’s what I’m assuming, since they hadn’t exactly done an amazing job with my bindings. I had to struggle against the rope they’d tied me with, and it felt like it took forever, but I eventually managed to slip my hands free, and no one ever came to check up on me.”
With her hands in her lap, it was easy enough to see the marks around her wrists from her bindings—and it made me fucking furious that someone would hurt her and hold her captive. I couldn’t even imagine the hell they’d likely put her through, and in a way, I was grateful that she couldn’t remember what she’d had to endure, though I had no doubt, her nightmares would haunt her before long.
“We’d like to have a doctor examine you, so we can document your injuries.” The officers were gentle with her, and sensitive when it came to their questioning, but it was inevitable that they’d want someone to examine her and gather evidence. Yet by the way Emie reached out and grabbed my hand, it was clear that she hadn’t expected it.
“Please, come with me…” She looked terrified, and there was no way I was going to let her go through this on her own.
“Of course. Whatever you need, Emie.”
My nerves were shot, despite all my planning. Yet my pain and anger kept me focu
sed, knowing I couldn’t screw this up.
I was doing this, not only for my parents, but for my fourteen-year-old sister, who’d never get to live the rest of her life. And though my father had been the one to pull the trigger, killing my mother and sister, before turning the gun on himself, it’d been the Blackthorns who were the ones responsible for pushing my father to the edge. They had him feeling so cornered and hopeless that murder and suicide felt like his only way out.
They may as well have put the gun in his hand and made him pull the trigger.
Yet, so far…Locke, Finn, and Skylar had been nothing but sweet and incredibly helpful.
Which was fine. After all, I was here to determine which of the Blackthorns were responsible for coming after my father, though most of the evidence I had pointed to Locke as the one who’d contacted my father. Locke’s contact information, his multiple visits, and some scrawled out notes in my father’s daily diary all pointed the finger in Locke’s direction—and I wanted answers. I wanted to know why my family had to die.
Though there may have been an easier way to infiltrate their lives, my plan was to get as close as possible to them, and the whole amnesiac/naked damsel in distress ploy seemed like a good way to get close to them quickly.
Of course, I knew the police would look into my story, which was why I’d done my best to not only plan out every little detail, but to also live it. If the cops managed to piece my story together, they’d eventually find a basement in an abandoned building, with a bed and bindings with my DNA on it, and a pile of my tattered clothing left in a nearby room. They’d also find pills that could be used to keep me compliant—and that same drug would be found in my system if they ran any lab work, since I’d made sure to drug myself, just as if I’d been kidnapped.
But I didn’t have just the cops to worry about. The Blackthorns had a reputation for being brilliant men—and that meant I had to follow through on every little detail of my “kidnapping,” doing my best to pull on the emotional vulnerability that would be present in someone who’d undergone something so traumatic. I had no doubt that they’d easily pick up on anything that felt off, and I couldn’t risk them figuring out who I was until I was ready to play my last card.