“No.”
After a few minutes of searching, she felt something different at the back of the drawers that were on the wall. It felt like a button. “Guys, I think I’ve got something.” She pressed the button and heard a click, the wall in question started to slowly open. “Anthony!”
The three of them pushed forward to go into a small room. Evie felt like she was going to be sick. Photos covered the walls. Women in all sorts of torture and pain. There were so many of them. She didn’t want to look at the ones of Lexi. She knew what she had been through, had seen her right after, but seeing it being done to her was something else. She focused on the other women. Putting names to faces. There was Tiffani, Natalie, Monique, Chelle, and Heather. Not to mention the others she could only assume were of the women they found at his childhood home.
She heard a whimper behind her and turned to see Kat standing there with tears running down her face staring at the photos on the wall. Evie turned back around to see which ones she was looking at. Tilting her head, she moved forward to get a closer look. Kat had been looking at the pictures of Chelle Michaels. Getting closer Evie saw a naked woman stretched out on a bed before Jeremy had started hurting her. Evie’s eyes widened. It couldn’t be. She turned and looked at Kat. Seeing the expression on her face, she knew it must be.
Chelle Michaels and Kat Snyder had the same birthmark on their stomach. The same birthmark Evie had noticed when they had been trying on swimsuits a few months ago.
– CHAPTER EIGHTEEN –
“You bitch.” Evie screamed as she launched herself at Kat. Strong arms came around her and lifted her up off of the ground. “Let me go, Anthony, I don’t want to hurt you.”
“What the fuck is going on?” he hissed in her ear.
Still wiggling to get out of his hold she said, “That bitch over there is Chelle Michaels. You know one of the women we thought was dead. She’s known all along. She’s been protecting Lexi. She never said a word!”
Kat started to back out of the room. Jackson walked over behind her effectively making it so she couldn’t leave.
“Maybe you should explain how you came to that conclusion Evie,” Jackson said calmly.
“Kat has the exact same birthmark as Chelle on her stomach. I’ve seen it. See?” She pointed to the picture. “It’s one of those large red ones. I noticed because it looks like a cat. I thought it was interesting that her name was Kat. Now I see a picture of Chelle, and she has the exact same one!”
“Do you have anything to say Kat?” Anthony asked.
“No.”
“Well you’d better start talking and fast otherwise does obstruction of justice mean anything to you?” Venom filled Evie’s words.
“How the hell do we know she isn’t working with Jeremy? How else would he always know what we were planning to do? It’s her! She’s telling him everything.” Evie screamed at Kat.
Kat’s tears were flowing faster. “No, no, no, no. I’d never have anything to do with that bastard. I want him found, I want him to suffer. I want him dead like I’ve wanted nothing else in my life.” She looked to the men. “You’ve got to believe me. There is no way I’d be associated with that bastard.” She stared into Jackson’s eyes. “Please. Please believe me. I don’t want anyone hurt but him.”
“I believe her,” Jackson said.
“What are you crazy? She could be making this all up. No way is she getting anywhere near Lexi. Fuck no.”
“Evie, calm down. Think with your head. If she was going to harm Lexi, wouldn’t she have done it months ago?” Seeing his sister’s stubborn look he continued. “Why don’t we just listen to her story, and then decide what to do?”
Kat shook her head, “I only want to tell my story once. Can we please just go back to Noah’s? I’ll tell everything then.”
“You’d better tell us everything, otherwise what Jeremy did to you will be nothing like what I will. And you’d better not get within ten feet of Lexi.” Evie finally got out of Anthony’s hold and pushed past Kat.
*
They decided not to let the police know what they found until after everyone heard Kat’s story. To stay one step ahead of Jeremy they wanted everything they could find out before letting the authorities know. They took photos on their cell phones so that they had them to reference back to later. They were lucky and were able to get a flight out within a few hours. It was a long trip back across the country. Anthony couldn’t believe everything they had found and discovered. Kat was actually Chelle Michaels. She seemed so different now than the teacher he had met in Los Angeles all those years ago.