And I knew.
"Lucky? How? Why?" I choked on my tears and thought back over the years. Lucky had been a staple in my coffee-addicted life since freshman year at Harvard. I'd learned his subtle tics and mannerisms from the many visits in between classes. He'd always been so nice, so kind to me.
So attentive.
His head snapped up. "Quiet! Don't you talk unless I ask you a question."
He'd been at the party. He'd known my schedule, or could get it. But how did he mail the letters around the world? How did he text me when he was with me? Was it true? Could he have been working with Bradley all along? Maybe Bradley was sent to seduce Bridgette to get closer to us.
"You won't hurt me, Lucky. I know you won't. I just want to know, why? Please, let me go, and I won't tell anyone, I swear. This can all end tonight."
He shoved the ball back into my mouth as I fought him, shaking my head, trying to kick despite the restraints cutting me.
He picked up a razor sharp knife from the table, one of the more innocuous looking tools he had, and held it to my face. "Tell me where it is, Catelyn. Believe it or not, I won't enjoy this as much as I normally do. You were always real nice to me." He removed the ball gag again so I could answer him.
"There is no book, Lucky."
"Then I'm sorry." He traced the knife down my neck, cutting just enough to bring a trickle of blood to the surface.
My brain buzzed with only one thought—I was going to die tonight, but first I was going to be tortured.
I braced myself for the pain, hoping I would die fast, before I went insane. Eyes squeezed closed, muscles tensed and ready, I waited.
And someone burst into the room calling my name. Lucky turned on him, knife in hand, but my rescuer kicked it away and knocked him to the ground, then kicked him until he didn't move.
"Catelyn, oh my God, Catelyn."
He came into the light, and I sobbed. "Ash."
He used a pocketknife to cut me out of the wires and held me close. "How badly hurt are you, Catelyn?"
I tried to speak, but fear had numbed my tongue.
Pulling away from me, he searched my body, seeing the blood and cuts. "We have to get you out of here. Have to get you somewhere safe."
"Wh—where are we? How did you find me?" Nothing about this made any sense.
"I got a text from a blocked number telling me if I ever wanted to see you alive again I should come to this address. We're in an old mine that's been closed down for years. We have to go through the tunnels to get out."
Ash let go of me to tear off a piece of his shirt and bind my wounds. As he bent over to pick up the light, Lucky rose, lunging toward him with the knife he'd used to cut me. I screamed, grabbing a hammer from the table, and swung as hard as I could.
Lucky fell to the ground with a loud thud, and when I looked down I saw part of his brains spilling from his skull. I turned and emptied the contents of my stomach in the corner. Ash kicked Lucky's knife away and checked his pulse. "He's dead. He can't hurt you."
I fell to the ground shaking. "I killed him."
Ash dropped to his knees, hugging me. "I killed him. He would have died from the beating I gave him. It was me, love, not you. Don't take this on yourself."
I crawled over to the man, his mask still clinging to what was left of his face. I slipped it off.
"Who is that?" asked Ash.
"Lucky. But why would he try to hurt me? Why would he have gone after my parents?" How could I have seen him so many times, spoken to him almost every day, and never realized?
"We'll get some help and let the police sort out the details," Ash said, pulling me from the room.
Pulling me away from the man I'd killed.
Chapter Thirty Two
Forgetting
I SAT BEHIND Ash, straddling him on his Harley as he called 911. When he hung up he drove me somewhere and said some words but I couldn't think. Nothing penetrated the fog around my mind. All I could do was hold onto him and try to breathe.
The motorcycle stopped, and he helped me off and led me into a hotel room with one queen bed, a television, dresser and bathroom. Nothing fancy. I had the absurd thought that he took Cat to the most exotic hotels in the world and I got this.
He left the room, saying something I didn't catch, then returned with a Coke he made me drink while he dabbed something onto my wrists and ankles and wrapped them in bandages. Then he handed me a sandwich from a vending machine and told me to eat.
"Catelyn, listen to me. You're in shock and you need sugar in your system. Eat. Drink."
I did as I was told and felt a carb and sugar rush jolting me awake from my fog. I shook harder, a sob building in my throat. "I killed a man. Oh my God, Ash, what have I done?"