Sin’s phone rings. A confused expression materializes. “It’s Dad.”
We just left Thane at Abram’s house so I instantly imagine the worst. Please don’t let him be calling to nullify the exile.
Thane knows Abram for the man he is but still has a soft spot for him. They’re brothers. I’m sure he doesn’t want to see him leave forever. But Abram made his bed. Now he must lie in it.
The call with Thane is over almost before it begins. “Dad wants us to come to his house.”
We just got home. “Right now?”
“Aye. He says it’s important.”
Oh God. This is going to be bad.
I’m thinking of every possible scenario on the drive over but there’s one front runner. “I’m afraid your father wants Abram to stay.”
Sin is already holding my hand but he gives it a supportive squeeze. “We don’t know that.”
My father-in-law loves his brother despite his evil nature. “Thane always lets Abram off the hook. I don’t have to tell you that.”
“You’re right, but I’m not letting Dad overturn my decision.”
I love Sin for wanting to stand up for me, but Thane is still head of The Fellowship. His word overrides anything Sin decides. If Thane says Abram stays, then he does. End of story.
He’ll come for me again. I’m sure of it.
I’m going to face the same scenario again and again. Kill or be killed. My choice will be the same every time.
Kill instead of be killed.
We go into my in-law’s home and find them waiting for us in the living room. “We apologize for dragging you out into the cold again, but it’s with good reason.”
Sin wastes no time jumping straight into why we’re here. “I assume something happened after we left Abram’s.”
“Aye. He demanded to be pardoned and allowed to return to The Fellowship. He threatened to join The Order and become their new leader if I don’t agree.”
Oh God. Here we go. Abram manipulates Thane and gets his way again.
Isobel places a supportive hand on Thane’s leg. It’s odd. I’ve never seen them within touching distance. “Their organization is in complete mayhem right now. I think they’re desperate enough to accept his offer regardless of him being raised Fellowship. His reputation precedes him. They’d be happy to have him for a leader,” Thane says.
Motherfucker. I hate his guts.
“I told him there would be no pardon and asked him to not join The Order because it would make us sworn enemies. In fact, I forbid it as his leader. His response was that your twins would be the first to die under his rule if he wasn’t allowed to return to The Fellowship.”
My stomach flips. I may literally be sick.
Sin reaches for my hand and looks at his father. “I let him keep his life by exiling him and now he threatens to kill my children if he’s not allowed back in? Surely you know I can’t let this go on any further. He’s giving me no choice. I have to kill him.”
I sit on pins and needles awaiting Thane’s response to his son’s declaration. My heart will break if he rules against Sin in Abram’s favor.
“He’s ruthless. Can’t be controlled,” Thane says.
I see the pain in his eyes and know what’s coming next.
“Even from an early age, there was something wrong with Abram. A disconnect somewhere in his head. He enjoyed hurting people. I couldn’t fix him, but I did my best to control him. But now he has threatened to go to The Order. Become our enemy. The only choice we have is who will be the one to kill him.”
“I’ll do it,” Sin says. “You can’t kill your only brother. It will haunt you the rest of his life.”
I’m relieved, yet sad for Thane. He will not soon stop grieving the loss of his brother.
It was inevitable. Abram had to die so it wasn’t one of us, particularly my children. I’m not sorry he’ll soon be dead.
Chapter 16
Sinclair Breckenridge
No doubt. This is going to be the hardest thing I ever do in my life. Not because of any love I have for my uncle. It’s the pain I’ll cause his family. Especially Jamie and Westlyn.
How do you tell two people you love that you’re going to kill their father?
The family is in the living room when I return to the house. They immediately know why I’ve come when they see Sangster at my side.
“No. You negotiated for exile!” Evanna shouts.
I tell them of Abram’s demands and threats. “He sealed his fate when he vowed to kill my children. I can’t give him another chance to be successful. There’ll be no more bartering.”
My word is final and no one tries to convince me otherwise.
I go into Abram’s bedroom. I’m hopeful he’ll come with us peacefully. It would be awful to kill him in their home but I will, should the need arise.
“Thane must have discussed my new terms with you.” He appears so self-assured, as though he’s untouchable. Wrong.
“He informed me of your threats. But there was no discussion since neither of us are bending to your demands.”
Abram’s eyes narrow, his jaw stiff. “Then I can promise you that your twins will never see their first birthday!” he shouts.
“I can promise you they will. You’re the one who won’t be here to see it.”
I call out for Sangster to come into the room. “You can exhibit honor and come with us peacefully, or we can kill you with your family in the next room.”
I’m not oblivious to his arm easing beneath the covers. “I’m not going anywhere with you.”
He’s a coward without honor. I know this so I’m prepared when he pulls a gun from beneath the bedding.
But I’m the faster shooter. One shot to the center of his forehead and it’s done.
A woman’s screams carry into the bedroom. Torrie’s.
Only one thing to do. I phone Oscar Lennox, resident cremator for bodies we need to dispose of. “Come to Abram’s for a pickup.”
I’m sitting on a cold concrete bench in Torrie’s extravagant garden when Jamie and Westlyn find me.
“Oscar has taken him away,” Jamie says.
Killing Abram wasn’t the difficult part. This is. “I didn’t want to hurt you, but he gave me no choice. He was going to offer to lead The Order. First on his agenda was killing my children.”
“I came to Dad’s bedroom. I wanted to talk to you. To see if we could work something out. But then I heard him tell you that your twins would never see their first birthday. And it was over for me after that. You did what a husband and father does to protect his family. Westlyn and I understand. We don’t bear a grudge against you.”
Westlyn puts her arms around me and squeezes. “We understand.”
Relief washes over me. “I was so afraid both of you would hate me.”
Westlyn continues, “We will grieve the loss because he’s our father. But he wasn’t the same man we knew when we were children. He wasn’t well and hadn’t been for some time. He gave you no choice.”
It’s been five days since Abram’s death. My father won’t soon stop mourning the loss of his only brother. But I think it’s important for him to do something to get his mind off it. That’s why I’ve asked him to accompany me on the sweep of Todd Cockburn’s flat.
I remove Bleu’s lock-picking kit from my pocket and choose the tools I need. “This may take a minute. I’m rusty.”
I insert the tension wrench into the lower portion of the keyhole. I put the pick into the upper section and rake the pins. Though I learned this when I was eight, I haven’t had to use these skills in a long time.
I continue unsuccessfully raking the pins with the pick. “I should have brought Bleu for this. She’s damn good at it. She can pop a lock in a snap.”
I pass the pick a final time and hear the magical click. “Got it.”
I push the door open and look inside before entering. A thief stealing large sums of cash will be looking to hold on to it, so I inspect the entrance
and foyer before entering. “Looks clear.”
I’ve never visited Todd Cockburn’s home. It’s clean—no, immaculate is a better word. Most bachelors aren’t this organized, even if they have housekeepers. I know I wasn’t before I married Bleu.
We need to get what we came for first in case we have to leave. “I’ll collect the sample now and then we’ll do a search front to back.”
I go into Todd’s bathroom and retrieve his toothbrush from its holder. I swab the bristles just as Bleu directed.
I rejoin Dad at the front of the house. We comb through one room at a time, not moving on until each space has nothing left to search.
Nothing.
“If he’s a thief, he’s a thorough one,” Dad says.
My gut says we’re missing the evidence. “I wouldn’t expect anyone in The Fellowship to be less than methodical. It’s here. We just have to find it.”
“There’s nothing else to check unless you want to start ripping open furniture and mattresses.”
I look at all the potential hiding places. I don’t think we can call this an extensive search if we don’t take it all the way. “Let’s do it.”
I take my knife from my back pocket and stab it into the center of a sofa cushion, dragging it downward in one motion like gutting a fish. I find zilch.
Foam and feathers litter the floor after each piece of furniture has been dissected.
“He isn’t smarter than we are, so let’s think about this for a minute.”
I sit on the living room floor so I can get a look at my surroundings from a different angle. It’s several minutes before I notice multiple dents and scrapes on the ceiling above the top of the built-in bookcase. Definitely looks as though something has been going on there.
I stand on a dining room chair and run my hand over the top that’s hidden by the wide decorative dentil molding. “Got something.”
“He’s hiding something good up here,” my dad says.
Stacks of money is not what we discover. “Looks like a coin presentation box. And it’s locked.”
“People hide things they want to protect from others. Rare coins can be worth a ton. It would be a good way of ensuring there was no money trail if he traded with the right people.” My dad is right. There’s no telling how many millions this little wooden container could hold.
I inspect the bolt on the box. “This is going to require a tiny pick.”
I open Bleu’s paraphernalia collection for a second time and choose the smallest tool.
“Bleu’s little kit is coming in handy tonight. I’m glad she had the foresight to send it with you.”
“Aye. My wife’s a clever one.”
I push the tip of the tool into the lock’s hole and pop my second lock of the night. “Got it.”
I open the box but rare coins worth millions aren’t what we find. A pair of women’s diamond stud earrings. A child’s ring with a green stone in the center. A small golden locket. There’s at least a dozen more items that have absolutely no value.
Why would he lock these worthless things in a box and hide them? Only the diamond earrings can possibly be of value.
My eyes are drawn to the necklace so I take it from the box. I hold it by the chain, the golden locket dangling back and forth. I recognize it.
“CEB.” Cara Elizabeth Breckenridge.
Dad takes the necklace with his trembling hand. “My sweet Cara.”
This is my sister’s. She never took it off but it was missing from her neck when we found her smothered body. Only her killer would have this.
Dad closes his fist around it and brings it to his chest. “My own Fellowship brother killed my daughter.”
The epiphany of what this collection of items is nearly knocks the breath from my chest. “These are his trophies. Taken from people he’s killed.”
Which would make him a serial killer living among people who taught him how to kill and get away with it.” It couldn’t be more perfect for him.
I look at the tiny ring with the green stone. “Emerald is Bleu’s birthstone. I think this could be hers.”
My father inspects the diamond earrings. “I gave these to Amanda.”
There’s no doubt in my mind. Todd Cockburn murdered my sister, Bleu’s mother, and attempted to kill Bleu when she was seven. They aren’t his only victims judging by the contents of this box.
Todd Cockburn is the worst kind of monster. He kills for sport. Not necessity.
It’s after midnight when I arrive home. Bleu’s already asleep. She said she’d wait up for me but it looks as though her body had other plans.
I turn on the lamp and lower myself so I’m squatting beside Bleu. I nudge her shoulder gently. “Wake up, Bonny.” I kiss her temple. “Wake up for me.”
She finally stirs. “Sorry I fell asleep. I stayed up as long as I could.”
“It’s okay. I hate to wake you but I need you to take a look at something.”
“Now?”
“Aye. It’s important.”
She rises to sit and stretches. “What is it?”
“That’s what I need you to tell me.”
She swings her legs to the side of the bed and slides off the edge. She presses her hand to her lower back as she walks to the bathroom. She has developed the pregnant sway. “I gotta pee first.”
Of course she does.
“Dad’s here so put on your robe.”
Bleu has brushed her hair and pulled it into a ponytail when she comes into the living room. Her robe barely meets over her pregnant abdomen but she’s growing fast these days. Give it a few weeks and it won’t.
“Sorry to get you out of bed at this hour, Bleu.”
I place the wooden box on the cocktail table in front of her. “We have a suspicion about what this is but you’re more experienced in this department.”
She cocks her head. “Sounds intriguing. I’m going to assume there aren’t coins inside.”
“We found this in Todd Cockburn’s house. It was hidden and locked.” I open the box. “Do you recognize any of these contents?”
She immediately reaches for the emerald ring. She takes a close look and holds out her hand. She slips it onto her middle finger but it stops at her second knuckle. “This is my birthstone ring. My mother gave it to me for my seventh birthday.”
She stares at the ring for a moment before looking at the rest of the collection. She removes the diamond stud earrings next and studies them intently. “My mother’s ears were pierced twice. She wore diamonds like these in the second hole. She never took them out but there was no mention of them in her autopsy report. I assumed they’d been stolen by someone who handled her body.”
I take the child’s necklace from the box. “This is my sister’s locket, engraved with her initials. It went missing the night she was murdered.”
“These are probably trophies from kills.”
“What does he do with them?”
“Killers typically take them as a show of accomplishment. For him, it’s a souvenir to extend the fantasy. He needs something to get him through his downtime until he can kill again. He’s using these as a way to relive the murders over and over.” That means he takes these items out often to look at them. That would explain all the marks and dents on the ceiling. He was excited and careless when removing and replacing the box.
“Would it be a fair assumption to say that Todd Cockburn is a serial killer?”
“It’s very likely. There must be three separate murders with a period of time between to be classified as serial. The circumstances should indicate that he felt a sense of dominance over the victim.”
“Such as smothering a child with a pillow or stuffed animal.”
“Exactly.”
I hold up the specimen I took from Todd’s toothbrush. “Are you sure you want to know?”
In light of this new information, I’m not sure Bleu needs to hear that he’s her biological father. “You don’t have to find out.”
“Yes I do
.”
“Harry raised you. He was your father.”
“I want the truth.” But at what price? Can she handle learning that she’s his daughter?
“You’ve believed all these years that your biological father was dead. What will you accomplish by finding out Todd fathered you?”
“Nothing but the truth. Clear and simple,” she says.
I can’t leave him unleashed. He’s too dangerous. “We’ll need to contain him immediately so he can’t kill again.”
“I want to know the paternity results before we do anything with him.” We aren’t doing anything with him. I am.
“Why do that to yourself?”
“Because I want to know if I’m killing my biological father.”
This is the part I’ve been dreading since swearing that oath to my father-in-law. I promised Harry that I wouldn’t allow Bonny to kill. I gave him my word because I believed it was the right decision, and I still do. My sweet Bonny Bleu will never know the darkness that accompanies cold-blooded murder.
Chapter 17
Bleu Breckenridge
Sin kisses the side of my face and nuzzles his scruff against my neck. “Wake up, sleepyhead.”
“Mmm… no. I don’t want to.”
“Yes. We have an appointment with Ani at ten o’clock to look at houses. We’ll be late if you don’t get up now.”
“What are you talking about? We didn’t have an appointment when we went to bed last night.”
“I called her to set up something for next week and she told me her client for today had canceled.”
How convenient. I wonder if Sin had anything to do with that. “I know what you’re doing, and I love you for it, but I’m not sure I have the right mindset for looking at houses today.”
“You aren’t sitting around for the next three days fixating on the results of that paternity test.”
I’m not planning to be fixated but I’m not sure I can help being distracted by it. “House shopping probably isn’t the wisest thing to do during these three days.”
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