Five

by Blythe, Jane

  Then he bolted for the front door.

  Again, it took him several tries to get through the locks and padlocks and codes that protected his family from anyone who wished them harm.

  As soon as the door was open, it was like the smoke exploded out. Flames were consuming the house, devouring it from the inside out.

  Out of his mind with fear, Malachi’s first concern was the woman he loved, Samantha Ingham.

  He had brought Samantha to live with them six months ago. She was supposed to be his. If he’d never been in the accident, then she would have been his. At the time, Samantha had been married with three kids, but Malachi had known that she wasn't really happy. How could she be without him?

  So, he’d rescued her. Brought her back here to his safe haven. She had resisted at first. She’d been scared. But he knew that she loved him. They were destined to be together since they were kids. He knew she felt the connection between them.

  Not only was Samantha the love of his life, but she was also the mother of his child. She was six months pregnant, and he could hardly stand to wait another three months for the baby to arrive.

  He headed straight for Samantha’s room in the basement. She had been a little off lately, defiant and reckless and endangering their baby. Malachi was sure it was just pregnancy hormones throwing her off, but he had to protect his child. So, he’d built a special room for her in the basement.

  He barely noticed the smoke as he ran. It was there, filling his lungs with each breath he took and filling the house just as thoroughly.

  In the basement, he found his mother.

  She was lying on the floor by the door to Samantha's room, an axe in her hand.

  What was she doing here?

  The basement was forbidden.

  And why did she have an axe?

  It became apparent, when he got closer.

  She’d been trying to chop through the door to Samantha’s room. This was, of course, impossible. Even for someone strong like himself. Let alone a feeble older woman.

  Was his mother still alive?

  He couldn’t go past her without checking, so he dropped to his knees beside her and pressed his fingertips to her throat.

  At his touch, his mother’s eyes struggled open. “Malachi.” She said just the one word. But it communicated enough. She wasn't happy to see him.

  “Mother, how did the fire start?” Suspicion was already creeping inside him. Had she betrayed him? Gone against him? Tried to get the fire department and the police department here?

  “I'm sorry,” she croaked. “I love you, but you're wrong. The world isn’t a dangerous place. It’s in here that’s dangerous.”

  Then his mother closed her eyes, and he knew she was gone.

  Unsure how he felt about her betrayal, he jumped to his feet. He had no time to worry about that now. He pulled a key from his pocket as he strode for the door, fearing he was already too late.

  When he yanked open the door, he found Samantha lying in a huddle on the floor.

  As soon as he saw her, he knew.

  Yet it didn’t stop him from flinging himself down at her side and desperately searching her neck for a pulse.

  He found nothing.

  Samantha was dead.

  His baby was dead.

  “No!” he howled, gathering her limp body into his arms as though his life could seep out of him and into her.

  Tears streamed down his cheeks. His eyes stung from the mixture of smoke and tears. Gathering the woman he loved into his arms, he carried her from the house.

  Sirens sounded in the distance.

  Police and firefighters were coming.

  They would want to take Samantha and the baby from him.

  He couldn’t allow that. He couldn’t bear to part with her just yet, so he put her in the trunk of his car where she would be safe. So he could say his goodbyes later when he could be alone with her.

  As the sirens got closer, some of his common sense kicked in. The house was now a raging inferno, but the police would be suspicious if he hadn’t gone in and made an attempt at rescuing his family.

  The neighbors already thought he was odd. He and his whole family. Because only he ever left the house. They thought it was because his family had strange religious beliefs that prohibited them from interacting with the outside world.

  He didn’t want to raise the policemen’s suspicions. So, ignoring his burning lungs and stinging eyes, he went inside to look for his sisters.

  NOVEmBER 4th

  3:00 A.M.

  3:02 A.M.

  Laura ran.

  Her well-placed kick to Malachi’s groin had given her a small head start. Enough for her to be off and running through the cemetery before Malachi recovered enough to take off after her. It was barely a minute, but she tried to make the most of it.

  She was running as fast as she could.

  But everything was working against her. It was November and cold and she wasn't dressed properly to be out in the night air. The cemetery was wooded, and what little moonlight filtered through the heavy cloud cover was cut out by the trees. Not only was it dark and cold, but she was fighting off the panic that being outdoors in this wide-open space invariably brought on.

  What Malachi had nearly done to her was swirling around in her mind, too.

  Threatening to clog up her already terrified head.

  She couldn’t think about that right now.

  Malachi hadn’t raped her; that was the important thing. That and keeping away from him long enough for someone to find her. Because she had no doubts at all that if Malachi found her and took her away, raping her would be pretty high on his to do list.

  So instead, she pushed all her fears away and ran.

  Footsteps sounded around her—the unmistakable crunch of shoes on dry leaves. The huffing and puffing of someone who was breathless from so much running.

  Malachi was close by.

  “Laura,” he called. “Come out, come out, wherever you are. I'm going to find you, you know. You can't hide from me forever.”

  Ignoring the burning in her chest and her aching legs, Laura continued to run. She couldn’t really see where she was going, but still, she ran.

  She was always running.

  This was the second time she had been chased by a violent psychopath. Forced to run for her life. Last time, she had spent four days running through the woods, desperately seeking an escape she knew didn’t exist. That time she had been abused every time Frank and Francis Garrett caught her, her body growing progressively weaker with each assault.

  This time, she wasn't going to let anything like that happen.

  This time, she was going to get away before she got hurt.

  She still had the phone. She just had to find someplace to hide, so she could call Jack.

  Laura weighed up her options on finding a hiding place.

  She could go into a mausoleum, but if Malachi started searching them, she would be trapped. Maybe it was better to stay outside, hide amongst the trees, and hope he didn’t stumble upon her. But at least if he did, she wouldn’t be trapped and she’d be able to run again.

  The chances of her outrunning him if it came down to it probably weren’t all that good, though.

  Not that she would give up without a fight.

  “Laura,” Malachi’s voice boomed through the still night. “It’s the middle of the night. No one else is here. No one is going to find you. It’s cold, and you're not wearing a coat. Let me take you back to the car. You must be tired; you're pregnant, you should be resting.”

  Laura knew she didn’t have any time left. Malachi was close. Too close. He could find her at any second. And she didn’t think that she could run much longer. Slowing down, Laura crept into a small grove of trees and ducked down. Catching her breath, she leaned against a tree trunk and pulled out her phone. It was now or never. There wasn't going to be a perfect time to do this.

  She dialed Jack’s number with trembling fingers.
<
br />   “Laura?” Her husband’s panicked voice answered almost immediately.

  “Found you.”

  Startled, Laura dropped the phone as her gaze darted up.

  Malachi stood over her.

  A smirk on his face was just visible in the dark.

  He stamped a foot on the phone and Laura’s hopes shattered right along with her cell. She hadn’t even been able to tell Jack where she was. He was never going to find her. She was going to be trapped with Malachi forever.

  Battling her fears once again, Laura shrieked and darted to her feet as Malachi reached for her.

  Catching him off guard, he stumbled, and Laura ran.

  Malachi recovered quickly and was soon after her again.

  Exhausted and terrified, Laura was slowing. She wouldn’t be able to run much longer.

  He was gaining on her.

  He was going to catch her.

  Any second now.

  Then all of a sudden, the earth disappeared beneath her feet.

  She was falling.

  In the dark, she had stepped off the edge of an incline. Tumbling down a grassy bank, Laura rolled over and over again down the fifteen-foot drop, until at last, with a bone shuddering thud, she finally came to a stop at the bottom.

  Mercifully, she had somehow managed to avoid crashing into any of the trees or rocks that dotted the bank on her crazy descent and it didn't seem like she had sustained any serious injuries. Still, every inch of her body ached, and she knew she would be covered in bruises tomorrow.

  Dizzy, dazed, and disoriented, Laura could do nothing but lie there and attempt to still her spinning head.

  “Don’t try that again.” Malachi’s voice sounded close by.

  Ignoring her aching limbs and wooziness, Laura attempted to roll over onto all fours. She didn’t think she could walk but she might be able to crawl.

  “You could have been seriously hurt,” Malachi reprimanded as he snatched her up, walking with her in the direction of the car.

  He carried her easily, highlighting his strength, and Laura knew she ought to do something. Fight him off as best as she could no matter how fruitless it was. But the fight had seemed to drain out of her. She was sore and cold and scared, and she just wanted to go home.

  Only she couldn’t.

  She would never get to go home again.

  Jack didn’t know where to look for her, and Malachi would never let her go.

  She would never get to see her husband or her little boy again. She would never get to tell them one more time that she loved them.

  In Malachi’s arms, Laura began to cry.

  * * * * *

  3:06 A.M.

  What was wrong with these women?

  Didn’t they know he only wanted to help them? To protect them?

  Malachi didn’t want anything to happen to Laura and her baby. They would make a wonderful addition to his family. And the baby would only be a little younger than Arianna. Once he got his daughter and her mother back, the two little ones would grow up together. Raised as siblings.

  Eliza really did remind him of his deceased sister Ariyel. Three years older than himself, Ariyel hadn’t responded well to his taking over the running of their household.

  Him becoming the man of the house had been a gradual transition. When he had been released from the hospital eight months after the accident, his mother had been so glad to have him alive and back home that she had given him whatever he wanted.

  Then bit by bit, he had taken over.

  He had convinced his mother that it wasn't safe for him and his sisters to continue to attend school. She hadn’t understood, but he had insisted, thrown a fit, broken things, screamed, and she had given in. Each time he had demanded something, she had given in with less fuss and less resistance. Eventually, she had bowed to his every whim, forcing his sisters to do the same.

  But Ariyel had resisted.

  Strongly.

  He had been forced to punish her.

  Several times, in fact.

  But in the end, she had learned.

  Just like Eliza had.

  Just like Laura would.

  In the end, they all learned that he was the one in charge.

  Laura had grown quiet in his arms. Her tears spent, she rested heavily against him. After a quick visit to the graves, he would take her to his cabin. He had bought it years ago, kept it in a different name so it wasn't traceable to him. The police would never find him there. It would be the perfect place to hide out until he bought another house.

  Once he had Laura tucked safely away, he would go back for Eliza and Arianna.

  He wasn't giving them up.

  They belonged to him. It was as simple as that. And no one took away anything that belonged to him.

  Before he went anywhere, though, he needed to say goodbye to his family. Explain to them why he may not be able to visit for a while.

  Reaching the gravesites, he let Laura’s feet slide down to the ground, then held her against his chest. He didn’t want to risk her running again. Next time, she might not be so lucky and may cause herself injuries, so he pulled a knife from his pocket and held it to her neck.

  Laura flinched and tried to shrink away from the cold metal blade, but the only way to move was backward, and she apparently didn’t want to be too close to him. There was nowhere for her to go, though. She was trapped between him and the knife. And Malachi wasn't worried that she would try anything else.

  He could have used the gun. It was still in his other pocket, but he could subdue her easier with the knife than the gun should she make another attempt at running. The gun was more likely to cause serious injuries, whereas the knife could inflict a painful, yet minor wound very easily.

  With Laura under control, he focused his gaze on the headstones.

  There were six of them. All in a row.

  Martin Rivers. On his headstone, it claimed he was a beloved husband and father, but Malachi disagreed with that statement.

  Next was his mother, Anne Rivers. He had chosen not to put anything on her headstone. He hadn’t felt it was necessary. He was going to be the only person visiting her at the cemetery and he already knew what kind of woman his mother had been.

  Ariyel had been thirty-nine when she died.

  Angela had been thirty-three.

  Alice twenty-seven.

  And Abby twenty-three.

  The two youngest girls didn’t remember their father. They only knew Malachi as the head of the household. They had never been to school. Malachi had educated them himself within the safety of their home. They’d had no friends, never held a job, and they didn’t know what life was like outside the house. But Malachi hadn’t cared about any of that. All that mattered to him was that they had been safe.

  They had not had to suffer any of the atrocities that came with existing in the outside world.

  Because of him.

  He had protected them, and he would protect his new family.

  “Malachi.”

  * * * * *

  3:14 A.M.

  Malachi’s head snapped in his direction when he heard his name called.

  Malachi wasn't the only one whose head snapped up at the sound of his voice. Laura looked toward him, too. Even from several yards away and in the semi-dark, Jack could see her relax at his presence.

  His wife was trembling, tear tracks marked her cheeks. She was dirty and there was grass in her hair, but she looked okay. She was alive, and it was his job to keep her that way.

  As soon as Eliza had told them where she believed Malachi would go, Jack had jumped in his car and started driving here. He hadn’t been too far away when his phone had started ringing. When Laura’s name had shown up, he hadn’t known whether to shout for joy or scream in fear. He had hoped that Laura was calling to tell him she was safe, but he hadn’t even known if it would be Laura on the other end of the phone. It could have been Malachi calling to taunt him.

  When he’d answered only to find no one
there, fear had nearly overpowered him. Then the line had gone dead. In a panic, he had called Xavier and asked him to bring Eliza to the cemetery. If they could convince Malachi that he could take Eliza and the baby home with him, then they might be able to get him to give up Laura.

  Right now, though, he had to remain calm.

  His wife and unborn child’s lives depended on it.

  Ryan and Paige were here with him, but they’d decided it would be best if Malachi didn’t know that. More cops were on the way, too. At the moment, no one would have a good shot at Malachi. He had Laura as a human shield and the headstones behind him were a good five or six feet tall. Shooting around them in the dark probably wasn't an option.

  For now, everything rested on him.

  He had to hold it together. To that end, he deliberately blocked out Laura’s petrified eyes and focused on Malachi.

  Malachi held a knife at Laura’s throat and pushed it deeper into her flesh, causing Laura to cry out in pain, and a thin line of blood to dribble down. “Go away, Detective Xander.”

  “I can't do that, Malachi,” Jack said calmly. It took every bit of his self-control not to lose it at Laura’s cry of pain.

  Malachi moved the knife from Laura’s neck to hold it poised above her pregnant belly. “If you don’t leave, I can either kill your wife or your child. Or, if you get unlucky, both of them.”

  Laura whimpered and tried to angle herself so the knife wasn't over her stomach. “It’s okay, Laura,” Jack soothed. He didn’t think Laura would panic and do anything to startle Malachi unless it came down to protecting the baby. “You're not going to hurt her, Malachi. You want to protect her, not hurt her.”

  Malachi tilted his head to the side and studied him quizzically. “You really love your wife?”

  “More than anything in the world. She and our son are my life.”

  “You have another child?”

  “A little boy. His name is Zach; he’s eighteen months old.”

  “You would do anything to protect her?”

  “Anything,” Jack echoed, wondering whether a trade might be possible. Laura would freak if he traded himself for her, but at least she’d be safe, and he could deal with her anger later. Laura’s furiously terrified eyes tried to seek his, no doubt to try to forbid him from attempting any sort of swap, but Jack refused to meet her gaze.