Dark Memento

by Katie Reus

  Serenity’s eyes widened as she spotted a still figure across the room. Adeline!

  “Adeline.” She slightly raised her voice but not too loud in case Chloe was nearby outside.

  There was slight movement but her friend didn’t raise her head, didn’t say anything. Serenity recognized her dark hair and clothing, even in the dim room. She fought the fear swelling through her as she took in their surroundings. They were in a small, one-room cabin shaped like a shotgun-style house. It looked like one of the FEMA trailers she’d seen pop up after the last hurricane. Two windows were covered over with dark blue sheets, but a little light filtered in through the tears in the material.

  “Where is she?” Serenity asked, looking at Bianca again. No need to clarify who.

  “I don’t know. She dumped you here, kicked you, then stomped off, muttering to herself. She’s batshit crazy.”

  Yeah, no kidding. “We have to get out of here.” Obviously. Serenity yanked on her chains, seeing if there was any give. She had a little slack but the shackles on her wrist held firm.

  “They’re solid.” Tears streamed down Bianca’s cheeks as she tugged on her own chains. They rattled against the floor, clanking together.

  “Not that it matters, but did she say anything else? Is anyone helping her?” Serenity tested her chains again, tugging to see if she could squeeze her wrists out of the shackles. Tears sprung to her eyes as she yanked hard.

  “A little. She’s really proud of herself.” Bitterness laced Bianca’s voice as she did the same, yanking again. “She apparently called in a tip to the Feds to tell them someone saw me dumping a bunch of burner cell phones she’d been using.”

  Wow. So Chloe had really thought all this through. Which was terrifying. Serenity thought of her daughter, of Lucas. She did not want to die. She didn’t want her daughter to grow up without both parents—and she really wanted a future with Lucas. Think, think, think. They had to get out of here. Could Chloe really be Michael Black’s daughter? Had he instructed her to do this?

  Serenity shook her head. Right now that didn’t matter. They had to get free—she would see her daughter again. She had to. Tears rolled down her cheeks now as she yanked down harder this time. The shackles were too tight, nearly cutting off her circulation. There had to be another way to get free— If she could break the chain off the wall maybe—

  They both jumped at the sound of a car door shutting. A moment later the door flew open, slamming against the interior wall.

  Chloe stood in the doorway, a small red canister in her hand. The wind picked up behind her, making a howling sound. Her eyes were wide and manic as she looked right at Serenity. “You’re finally awake,” she practically sang. Stepping inside, she slammed the door shut with her foot. “I should have done this a long time ago. You took everything from me when you took my father!”

  Serenity stared at her in horror. It was true, then. “Black is your father?”

  Chloe sneered, taking a step forward, her sneakers squeaking against the old, rotting wood. “That’s right. And I helped him all those years ago, you stupid bitch. You were supposed to die, just like your sister. We were going to keep going but you ruined everything!” She picked up the canister and started dumping the contents on the floor. “Stupid, stupid bitch. You’ll pay,” she muttered, more to herself now than them. “You should have stayed away from here.”

  Holy hell, was this really the woman she’d gone to quilting classes with? The woman whose technology repair shop she’d used on multiple occasions. A woman she’d been alone with in her own grooming store. Serenity was frozen as she looked at the splotchy red face of this…stranger. She’d actually helped her father take other women? It was unfathomable.

  She stared as Chloe splashed the liquid on the walls, confused for all of a second until the scent of kerosene blasted her senses.

  Oh, God. She was going to set the place on fire with them in it.

  “That’s right,” Chloe said, stepping farther into the room. “You should be afraid,” she snapped, clearly reading the fear on Serenity’s face.

  Her heart rate tripled as Chloe stomped around the room, splashing accelerant everywhere. When she got closer to Serenity and Bianca, Serenity lashed out with her foot, trying to knock her down. If she could just get close enough, she’d attack with her damn feet. If she could knock her down she would. But she barely grazed Chloe’s ankle.

  Startled, Chloe jumped back, her eyes narrowing as she moved around them, giving them a wide berth. “I wanted more time with you, but my time here has come to an end. And so has yours. Your pretty face is going to melt right off.” Venom dripped from every single word as she gave Serenity a Cheshire cat smile.

  Fear slid down her spine, ice cold. “It’s not too late to let us go. At least let Bianca and Adeline free. They’re not part of this.” Serenity knew her pleading was pointless, but she had to try. She didn’t want to die, especially not like this. She wanted to see Harper grow up, get married, have kids of her own. She wanted to see her little girl happy. Safe. She wanted a future with Lucas.

  Oh God, she wanted forever with Lucas. She wanted to marry that man. And she’d been a fool to push him away. She should have embraced him with everything she had. Not been keeping him at arm’s length, keeping up stupid walls that hadn’t saved her from anything. Because here she was, about to be burned alive by a crazy woman.

  “Everything came so easy to you and your stupid sister. You pretended to be my friend in college, but I know how you really feel about me,” Chloe snarled.

  Serenity had no idea what she was talking about. They’d been friendly, and had occasionally hung out in the same circles, but she’d never thought anything mean about the woman in front of her. Not until now.

  “Then you came home and you stole Lucas, had the whole town fooled by your sad martyr act.” Her face was mottled with rage. “You should have stayed away!”

  “Did your father tell you to come after me?” As long as she kept Chloe talking, she wasn’t setting them on fire. It was the only way she could stall. Serenity was desperate and fairly sure that no one was coming for them, but she couldn’t give up hope. She would keep Chloe talking as long as she could. Maybe, just maybe the Feds had figured things out.

  Chloe made a scoffing sound as she stepped back toward the door, canister in hand. “Of course not. He wanted me to live a normal life. What he didn’t tell me was that it was boring. He let me help him before, but he wouldn’t let me take part in his kills. If I’d known how good it felt, I would’ve been doing this a long time ago. I would’ve killed you years ago.”

  Serenity couldn’t tear her gaze away from this woman—this monster. “Why Mrs. Rose? Why Paisley?”

  “Because I can!” she screamed. She wrenched open the door behind her, leaving a trail of fuel out the door and down the steps. “I really, really wish I’d had longer with you.” Smiling widely, she dropped the can and lifted a Bic lighter.

  Serenity stared in horror as the kerosene can exploded and flames shot up the steps and into the cabin. The fire spread in a circle, following the line of fuel, dancing up the walls in a sweep of motion.

  No, no, no. Heat blasted them in the face. She cringed away from the ravenous flames.

  “We’ve got to get free!” Bianca screamed, tugging on the chains, the rattling sounding in time with Chloe’s maniacal laughter as she ran toward her waiting vehicle.

  Think, think. Sweat poured down Serenity’s face and neck as she tried to stand. The chains were short, giving her limited movement. She knew they couldn’t break the chains or shackles but maybe they could smash through the old wood. These old FEMA trailers weren’t made to last forever and they were never put on concrete slabs. They were raised off the ground.

  “Kick at the wall,” she said to Bianca who was wildly pulling on her chains. “Try to dislodge the metal base.”

  Adeline hadn’t moved, too weak to do anything. She hadn’t even turned over, opened her eyes. Her body
was so still. Oh God, was she already dead?

  As Bianca started kicking and punching at the plaster, Serenity slid the chain under her sneaker and started slamming her feet against the flooring. When she heard a crack, she worked harder, combating the smoke and fire filling the cabin. Even as she coughed, she kept slamming down.

  All around them, flames licked up the walls, the heat and smoke nearly unbearable.

  God, Lucas! She prayed against all hope that he would find her. Even in her state of fear she knew it wasn’t likely but she still called out for him even as she slammed her feet against the floor again.

  When the wood made a cracking, crumbling sound, hope launched inside her chest.

  Chapter 38

  Twenty minutes earlier

  Lincoln stood with his men and women along with Special Agent Lin and her people as she barked out orders to all of them. Her people had two possible locations they thought Serenity and Adeline—and probably Bianca—were being held, and they were all ready to roll out.

  Tension hummed through him as he checked his weapons and gear. He was trying to keep his head in this, to stay focused. It was a hell of a lot harder to be detached when you knew the people who were involved. And he could admit that he was scared for Serenity, for all of them. The thought of Harper growing up without her mom… Hell. His head snapped up when the door to the meeting room flew open and his brother stormed in.

  The room grew quiet as Agent Lin stopped talking and turned to Lucas, her expression softening only a fraction when she saw him. “You need to leave,” she told him quietly.

  “Serenity is missing?” Ignoring her, he stared at Lincoln.

  Swearing under his breath, Lincoln stepped forward. “I’ve got this.”

  She nodded and turned back to her people and his.

  “You’re not going to handle me,” Lucas snapped as Lincoln steered him out of the room, gripping his upper arm tightly.

  His administrative assistant stood there, wringing her hands. “I told him he couldn’t go back there.”

  “It’s fine,” he said, marching his brother down to his own office.

  “Mom told me that her truck was left abandoned on the side of the road and that Serenity is gone. What the fuck is going on?” Lucas was vibrating with anger as Lincoln shut the door behind them.

  “We know who took her.” Before his brother could say another word, he held up a hand. “Chloe Thompson is behind everything. We know beyond a shadow of a doubt. We’re also concerned that Bianca Copeland might’ve been taken by her too. Unless they’re working together, but we don’t think so. Agent Lin’s team found a lead on two properties connected to Chloe that they missed before. The information was buried deep. And over the last year Chloe’s cell phone movements show it pinging off an area in the grid where the Feds have picked up a satellite image of an old FEMA trailer. We’re heading out now to search it, so I don’t have any time to sit here and discuss this.”

  “Where?” Lucas demanded.

  “Lucas—”

  His brother shoved him against the wall, grasping his shoulder as he got in his face. Lincoln didn’t react only because of the raw fear on his older brother’s face. “I’m going with you. I’ll follow you if you don’t take me, so either arrest me or I’m in.”

  Lincoln shoved Lucas’s hands off him, then pushed his keys at his brother. “Go wait in my truck. There’s an extra tactical vest in there—put it on.”

  “If you leave me behind, I will never forgive you.”

  Yeah, he knew that. There might be consequences for bringing Lucas, but Lincoln would deal with them. He couldn’t leave his brother behind. He adored Serenity and was afraid for her right now too. No way he’d keep his brother back from helping. “Go.”

  Without waiting, he jogged down the hallway to the conference room to find everyone spilling out. It was time to get out of here.

  Agent Lin stepped out last wearing a tactical vest over her long-sleeved thermal shirt. “You ready?”

  He knocked his own vest once. “Yep. And Lucas is coming with me.” She started to argue but he shook his head. “He’s got a closet full of medals from all of his military experience and he’s got more training than most of my guys. There’s no way in hell I can keep him from following me. So either arrest him, or he’s coming with me.”

  “He stays in the truck,” she snapped out.

  There was nothing more to say at this point so he turned and started jogging down the hallway. The sheriff’s department might not have the resources the Feds did, but he had a hell of a lot of training and experience with taking down terrorists. So did Lucas.

  He just prayed that they were in time. If anything happened to Serenity, he wasn’t sure his brother would survive it.

  * * *

  Lucas gripped the side handle of his brother’s truck, biting back the urge to bark at him to drive faster. Lincoln was already going thirty miles over the speed limit, tearing down the two-lane highway. His blue lights were flashing but he’d kept his siren off. It didn’t matter because the few cars on the road moved out of the way when they saw him coming.

  He couldn’t believe Chloe Thompson was behind this. That she was Black’s daughter. That she’d been hiding in plain sight this entire time. He would’ve believed Bianca or Norah had been behind this before the petite, soft-spoken tech shop owner. She seemed so nonthreatening and quiet.

  As they drove, he was grateful that his brother didn’t offer him platitudes by telling him things would be okay. Shit went sideways every single day and Serenity was in true danger. The woman he loved was being held by a monster.

  He bit down hard, forcing himself to stay under control. He was trained, and losing focus wouldn’t do anyone any good. “Smoke,” he said as they neared the turnoff, stating the obvious because Linc could see it too, wafting up past the trees.

  On the outskirts of town, the area hadn’t been in the grid search. It was too thick with trees and swamp, and they’d thought it had been owned by a group who leased it out during hunting season.

  Lucas’s adrenaline spiked as Lincoln took a sharp turn at the dirt road turnoff. Dust flew up behind them as Lincoln stepped on the gas. Without looking, he knew the SUV of Feds was right behind them.

  As they flew into a small clearing, Lucas already had his fingers wrapped around the door handle. Smoke and flames billowed out from a pale pink FEMA trailer. His whole chest was tight, fear blasting through him. Screw staying in the truck. If Serenity was in there, he was getting her out. Or he’d die trying.

  He grabbed Lincoln’s half-empty bottled water and poured it over the front of his sweater, then over his head and face. He would need help breathing.

  “Lucas—”

  “I’m going inside.” And there was no point in arguing with him about it, something his brother must have realized because Lincoln didn’t say anything more.

  It registered that recent tire tracks had left a deep impression in the dried mud, but all of Lucas’s focus was on that house. On getting to Serenity.

  As Lincoln jerked to a halt in front of the burning trailer, Lucas jumped out and raced up the rotting stairs. The door was open, smoke billowing out in waves.

  “Serenity!” he shouted before he tugged his sweater up over his face. His eyes burned as he moved through the entrance, though he couldn’t see much. Heat blasted him but his brother was right next to him, small fire extinguisher in hand.

  As Lincoln started spraying around them, Lucas called out again. “Serenity!”

  He heard a muffled sound from…somewhere. Crouching down, he started crawling, feeling around as smoke and the white foam from the extinguisher filled the air. His throat was too raw from the smoke and heat, even breathing through his wet sweater, to call out again.

  His heart rate kicked up as he wrapped his fingers around a chain secured to the wall. With his hands, he followed it to a big hole in the smashed flooring. What the hell?

  Coughing, he pulled his phone out and use
d the flashlight. Holding it down in the hole, his heart nearly stopped.

  Two bodies were connected to chains. Oh, God. Serenity and Bianca.

  “I found them!” He ended up coughing it out as he jumped down into the hole and crawled toward Serenity.

  Please be alive, please be alive…

  Yes! Her eyes were closed but her chest was rising and falling. Bruises covered her knuckles and hands and her wrists were still shackled. Bile rose in his throat. He had to get her out of here. Had to get both of them free.

  He turned to Bianca. Bits of her pants had been burned off and her wrists were both shackled but the chain was free from the wall, dragging behind her. And she was breathing too.

  The sound of the wood cracking above them and his brother spraying the fire extinguisher filled the air as he popped his head back up through the hole. “Serenity and Bianca are down here!” he shouted, testing Serenity’s pulse. Too thready. No. “We’re in the crawl space! Need help!”

  “On it!” Agent Lin’s voice carried through the smoke.

  “Ambulance is on the way,” his brother followed, coughing as he jumped into the hole with him, getting on all fours. “And they’ve got Adeline out.”

  Oh shit. He hadn’t even seen her. “Serenity’s chain is bolted to the wall.” He lifted it to show Lincoln, who had a handkerchief tied around his face.

  “I’ve got it.” Lincoln grabbed the chain and followed it back through the hole.

  Parts of the floor had started to fall through, the heat creating a hot box around them, so he covered Serenity’s body with his own. Even though she was unconscious, he cupped her face in his hands. “I’m going to get you out of here. I won’t let you die. I love you, Serenity!” Damn it, he just wanted her to wake up. To look at him with those beautiful blue eyes and tell him that she was fine.

  As he kept his body over Serenity’s, he reached out and checked Bianca’s pulse again. Strong enough.

  Come on, come on. What was taking so long?