The Darkest Danger (Shattered Series Book 2)

by Chloe D. Ashton

  “Ouch,” she said, rubbing the spot before sticking her hand out. Luckily, only a tiny smidge of blood covered her finger, and it didn’t appear to be life threatening. Scowling, she shook her head. “I’ll live.”

  The dry patches of dirt speckled the ground, and again, the area seemed like an abandoned old town in a western flick. As she neared, she caught sight of the charred columns, rafters, and beams that were strewn haphazardly along the space. Surprisingly, a burnt scent didn’t linger, she mulled, stopping at the part of the house that’d probably been a portico---which meant that the home had been destroyed years ago. All along the long platform, black soot was dusted in the most precarious spots, and pieces of it had crumbled in places.

  She reached what had apparently been the rear of the house. A large swimming pool was waterless and filled with pieces of lumber and other debris. The entire space had been completely decimated. Her steps carried her to what had probably been a play area, she mulled, noticing the badly burned frame of a swing set. Though chains hang from the frame, the plastic seats had burnt altogether as well as the attached slide.

  “Something tragic really happened here,” she said sadly, murmuring her thoughts aloud. “It’s so horrible.”

  Turning, she moved to retreat, but then caught sight of a broken trail not too far away. Even from her stance, she could see evidence of the two stone gray tombstones, and one of them was larger than the other.

  “Jarrod never mentioned that there were graves here,” she said, continuing her self-conversation. “I wonder why.”

  Frowning in confusion, she headed in that direction.

  The trail was narrow, but then finally spread out, revealing a wide open space. Large shadows played on the ground, yet sunlight sifted through the trees, giving the area an almost heavenly like appearance. Not only that, the area was clean and well tended for, she noted, walking from behind the stone gray tombstones to read the inscriptions.

  She read the name and date on the largest tombstone. “Caitlyn Sabatino,” she whispered, stunned, feeling the tears swell in her eyes. “Is it possible that this is Jarrod’s wife and she died in the tragic fire?”

  Her eyes fell on the smaller tombstone.

  Strangely, it was unmarked.

  Perhaps, it was Caitlyn’s most precious and adored pet that’d been buried, she reasoned, especially considering the size of the tombstone.

  “Rosa’s right---there are secrets here,” she murmured, sniffling back tears. “The fact that all of this is here only means one thing---Jarrod really hasn’t faced that you’re gone.” Her broken sobs left her. “I’m sorry, Caitlyn. I hate that you had to suffer so tragically.”

  For a moment, she just stood there, absorbing the truth.

  A few feet away, the wildflowers sprang with life.

  She walked over to them before kneeling down. After picking a handful of the wildflowers, she returned to the graves before strewing them on both tombstones.

  Saddened, despondent, she walked away.

  ***

  “Matt Addison has played right into our hands---the damned fool. He has invested over 70% of their assets in the two illegal corporations that we set up. Right now, we’re in the process of freezing the rest of their assets,” Agent Bietel pointed out, later that afternoon, pushing the papers across the conference table with the tip of the ink pen, and then, looked at him and Marc. “We were also able to get a viable lead on the prostitution ring and money laundering operation. The hotspot appears to be 24-7 Clean World, a coin laundry business on 24th and Baylor. We have solid, irrefutable proof in a string of tell-all transactions and video surveillance.” A triumphant gleam shone in the agent’s eyes. “After all this time, we finally have those bastards right where we want them. We should have a warrant for both of their arrests soon.”

  “And Caitlyn’s death---Colin’s?” Jarrod muttered bitterly, shoving the papers aside. “What restitution are the Addison’s going to receive for the true crime that they committed against my wife and son? Damn it, they killed them in cold blood. They can’t get away with that!”

  “Jarrod, calm down,” Marc warned, sitting on his right side, and stayed him with a firm hand. “This isn’t going to make the situation any better---”

  “Marc, stay the hell out of this,” he snapped, still glaring at the FBI agent across the table. “I want this son-of-a-bitch to give me a reasonable explanation as to why they’re not pinning a murder charge on them as well.”

  “I deeply regret what happened to your wife and son, and I have no doubts whatsoever that the Addison’s murdered them,” Agent Bietel said with pity. “If it were up to me, they’d be meeting their maker right now. But, you know how the justice system works. A man can’t be condemned on simply words, assumptions, and accusations. There has to be solid proof to try and convict them, and it’s something that we’ve never had, unfortunately. Any evidence that there was, it was probably destroyed in the fire.”

  “So, in other words, they win---they get away with murder,” he said dully, feeling the same dull ache that’d plagued him for years. “Where’s the justice in that?”

  “Over the years, I’ve asked myself that same question,” Agent Bietel acknowledged with a sigh, and stood. “Too often, the guilty go unpunished. I know that it doesn’t mean much, but I’m sorry for your loss. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to get back to headquarters. If anything else crops up, I’ll call you.”

  Sullen, angered, he stayed silent.

  “Thank you,” Marc said, standing to shake the man’s hand. “Let us know of any developments.”

  By the time Marc had escorted the man out, he was staring out the window.

  “Bro, are you alright?” Marc asked, joining his side. “I realize that you’re upset, but attacking the FBI isn’t going to change things. You went after Bietel pretty hard, and you’re pretty damned lucky that you’re not facing charges yourself.”

  “I don’t give a damn about me. If they want to haul my ass to jail, so be it,” he quipped tightly, feeling a dead coldness seep through his heart, and hard tears burned his eyes. “Do you want to know what an injustice is---the fact that my son won’t even be here to celebrate his 10th birthday tomorrow. No birthday cake, party, or presents. Instead, the only thing that I have left of him is a slab of rock.” Again, the guilt overwhelmed him. “And Caitlyn---she was a good woman, and we were happy together. I let her down and my son. The fact that all this business with Addison is coming to a head with Colin’s birthday being so close makes it hard to deal with.”

  Marc laid a comforting hand on his shoulder. “I’m sorry. Tomorrow’s going to be a difficult day for all of us.” He paused. “There will be a small memorial gathering for Caitlyn and Colin at the church at 5:00 tomorrow. It’ll just be a few close friends that knew them well. If you want to come---”

  “No,” he said sharply, walking back to the table, and began stacking the papers in a neat pile. But, too bad his own life wasn’t in such perfect order, he mulled painfully, and then forced himself to look at Marc. “I’ll be busy. There are things that I have to take care of.”

  “I know that this is difficult for you. But, Jarrod, you can’t keep hiding from the truth that they’re gone. You need some kind of closure, so that you can heal. All these years that I’ve held these gatherings, you’ve never attended,” Marc sighed with regret. “I know it hurts. Hell, I hurt, and it pains me deeply that my sister and nephew are dead and gone. But, this ceremony is a way for us to celebrate the joy that they did bring to our lives, however short and tragic it was. This will also give Meghan an opportunity to learn more them. She was fairly young when they died. Don’t deny your daughter that right.” Leaving the outside view behind, he crossed the room before stopping alongside him. “If you change your mind---”

  “I won’t,” he said deadpan. “Don’t ask me again. If you’re finished with your so-called psychological analysis of my behavior, you can leave.”

  “Someday in this l
ifetime, I hope that you’ll learn to forgive yourself. Well, unfortunately, I have other business to attend to, so I’ll be incognito the remainder of the day. Give Meghan my love. I’ll get back with you later.”

  Someday in this lifetime, I hope that you’ll learn to forgive yourself…

  Minutes later, sitting alone in his office, he mulled over Marc’s words.

  Forgive himself?

  In a thousand lifetimes, he’d never do that.

  ***

  “Livvy, can we finish our tea party later? I’m tired and sleepy,” Meghan yawned, stretching her little arms high in the air, and nearly fell out of the small chair at the play table. She rubbed her eyes with closed fists. “I can’t make my eyes stay open. Can I please take a nap?”

  “Ok, nap time it is. We’ll finish our party later,” she said, leading her from the play table to the bed. After she’d climbed in, she tucked the covers around her before kissing her forehead. “Sweet daydreams.”

  “You love Daddy again, don’t you?” Meghan said innocently. “I can tell.”

  “Oh, really?” she probed, plopping down on the canopy bed beside her. “And how can you tell?”

  “Well, for one, I heard you and Daddy playing in your room the other day,” Meghan murmured, eyes rounded with wonder. “You must have been having a lot of fun because you were screaming, and you kept calling Daddy’s name over and over. You acted like you was out of breath, and he was making funny noises. He was grunting and all that stuff. Y’all must’ve been exercising or something. Was that it?”

  Had they been that noisy during their lovemaking? Well, it certainly wasn’t surprising, she thought quietly.

  “Yes, that was probably it,” she insisted, blushing, and then sobered. “And I’m going to tell you the same thing that I’ve said before. I never stopped loving your Daddy. I’ve always loved him and I always will.”

  “Does that mean we’re getting close to being a real family?” the little girl probed, and again, the hope flared in her green eyes. “Like real soon?”

  “Like real soon,” she smiled, kissing her forehead. “I don’t want you to keep worrying about that, okay? It is going to happen---I promise. Now, close your little pretty eyes and get some beauty sleep.”

  “Well, I won’t be sleep for long because I’m already beautiful,” Meghan giggled.

  “That you are, silly,” she laughed, tapping her nose playfully. “Now, go to sleep.”

  When she reached the kitchen where Rosa was, her troubled thoughts had returned.

  With a concerned frown, she joined her at the kitchen’s island.

  “Rosa, you said that we would talk when Jarrod wasn’t here. He texted me earlier saying that he might be a little late getting in. So, we have all the time in the world to talk.”

  “Where’s Meggie?” Rosa asked, stiffening, but still continued to chop the vegetables.

  “She’s upstairs asleep. So, she won’t hear what we’re about to discuss.”

  “We can’t talk here. Let’s go to the study.”

  “Alright,” she nodded. “That sounds like a good place for us to talk.”

  A few minutes later, they were sitting on the plush sofa in the study.

  “I promised myself that I wouldn’t interfere in Jarrod’s business ever again, especially because of my dishonesty before,” Rosa said, grabbing her hand in hers. “But, I feel justified in my actions this time, and I don’t plan on making the same mistake of keeping secrets.”

  “I went back to the place that I told you about. I saw the ruins and the tombstones,” she admitted, blinking back the tears. “There was a horrible fire, and Jarrod’s wife died there, didn’t she?”

  “No. Caitlyn didn’t die inside the house.”

  “She didn’t?” she asked, surprised. “Then, how did she die?”

  “Often times, I wonder if you’re not blessed in not remembering things that have happened, especially the things that are so horrible that you can’t live with yourself,” Rosa asserted, releasing her hand, and turned to her fully. “The things that happened that night---Jarrod will never forget, God bless his soul.”

  “If she didn’t die in the house, she had to have passed away from complications of the fumes or smoke,” she mulled aloud. “Or was her death was due to natural causes?”

  “Her death was hardly the result of that. If it had, it certainly would’ve been a much kinder fate,” Rosa said, showing a hint of bitterness for the first time. “The way Caitlyn died was hard and tragic, and there’s no justification for her suffering.”

  The trepidation played in her voice. “What happened to her, Rosa?”

  “This longstanding feud between Jarrod and Matt Addison is a result of Caitlyn’s death and someone else’s.” A pained look crossed her face, one that she tried to erase. “It’s the venom that’s poisoned Jarrod’s soul for so long, and even after all this time, he hasn’t fully healed.” She sighed with hopefulness. “But, with you, he has the chance to be whole again.”

  “You once told me that Jarrod had personal demons, and now, I fully understand what they are. This tragedy, it explains so much and why he was reluctant to let me in his life. Oh Rosa, how could this have happened to him?”

  Rosa’s voice shook. “Matthew Addison and his father are responsible for everything.”

  “Please, tell me what happened,” she implored, catching her hand. “Maybe there’s something that I can do to help Jarrod deal with things.”

  “It’s a horrible tale to relate, and not only that, it’s painful.” A faraway look crossed Rosa’s face. “It happened late one summer evening. A, and as a matter of fact, it was around this time of the year. The day started off like any day would in a typical household---family breakfast, Jarrod off to work, and Caitlyn handling things around the house.” She paused before starting again. “It just so happened that Jarrod called and said that he’d be late coming home. I was making dinner, Caitlyn was upstairs putting the children to bed, and suddenly there was this awful noise. I can remember wandering from the kitchen and when I reached the foyer, Caitlyn was already there.”

  Listening intently, she didn’t interrupt.

  “The intruders---they entered by way of the terrace,” Rosa continued, clenching her hand tightly, and, it was as if she were reliving things. “I’d never been so terrified in my life, and until the day I die, I’ll never forget the pure look of terror on Caitlyn’s face. I’ll carry the memory of it to my grave.” Her voice shook. “We didn’t have time to think. We just reacted. The only thing that we could think about was saving the children. We charged up the stairs like the devil was after us. But, the time we made it there, the strangers were there, too.”

  “Oh, Rosa, I know it had to be terrifying.”

  “Meghan was asleep in the other room. So, they forced us into the other,” Rosa whispered, letting the tears fall, and her words caught on a sob. “I don’t know how to say the words.”

  She hugged her. “I understand that this is difficult for you. If you want, we can finish discussing this when you’re ready.”

  “No,” Rosa insisted firmly, pulling back, and wiped at the tears. “This is the time. It’s just that dredging up these painful memories is making me overcome with emotions.” Taking in an unsteady breath, she started talking again. “The two strangers, I didn’t recognize them, I’d never seen them before. It wasn’t long after that Matt and his father arrived. But, I did know who they were, and it wasn’t long before their nastiness spewed from them.”

  “Dear heavens, they truly are monsters,” she said with disgust. “They don’t deserve any forgiveness.”

  “I don’t whose worse, a spineless coward out to prove something or a cruel lifeless human being that only thirsts for power,” Rosa added with a dazed look. “They were both evil.”

  “Caitlyn---did she know of them?”

  “She knew that Jarrod had done business with them, but that was all that she knew. But, it didn’t take long for her to realize
that they were cruel and sadistic. One of the strangers, he gagged me and tied me before tossing me in a corner.” She shuddered violently. “After that, Matt’s father instructed the goons to go downstairs so that they could be on the watch out.”

  As Rosa struggled to go on, she squeezed her hand, but still, she didn’t voice a single word.

  “Matt beat her, and then, sexually assaulted her. The whole time he just kept taunting her about Jarrod, and his father just stood there and watched the whole time,” Rosa said, and disgust seized her brown features. Then, her face crumpled in tears. “I couldn’t help her. I couldn’t block out her screams. So, I just closed my eyes as tight as I could to block out the sight of what was happening. It became too much for Caitlyn. She blacked out, and it was the last time that I ever saw her alive.”

  Hugging Rosa tight, she wept.

  “I prayed for something to happen, anything to wake me from the nightmare that plagued me. Matt and his father were in deep conversation, casually discussing their next steps of revenge against Jarrod,” Rosa went on. “And Caitlyn just laid there with her cold, dead eyes. She was breathing, but yet she wasn’t alive. They killed what life she had in her with their unspeakable violence.”

  “They deserve to die,” she vowed angrily. “They’re going to pay for what they’ve done.”

  “Things were crazy after that. Matt and his father went back and forth about how to get rid of us. Both of them were against leaving any physical evidence behind. So, they decided to torch the place, send it up in flames.”

  “They were going to burn you alive,” she said with amazement, taken aback by their level of cruelty. “Just more indication of how inhuman they are.”

  “But, they forgot one thing---the children.”

  She frowned in confusion. “You keep saying, ‘the children’. But, it’s only Meghan---”