chapter 38
Liv woke however many hours later, sweating, panting, her mind fluttering with erotic images of Josh. Face down on the mattress, her breaths steamed against the pillow. Her p-ssy was a furnace of wet heat, throbbing with its own demanding heartbeat. And sliding along its slit was a strong and skillful tongue.
The bathroom light cast a subdued luster through the room. She glanced over her shoulder and met Josh’s sparkling eyes peering above her ass cheeks.
With his hands under her hips and his body stretched out between her legs, his gaze burned into hers. He lifted her pelvis, rocking her against his mouth and kissing her p-ssy with a single-minded ferociousness. He glided his lips through her folds, sucking, curling his tongue, his hips grinding on the mattress.
His groan hummed through her core as he pushed her thighs farther apart and deepened the kiss.
His intensity was contagious, shuddering over her spine and coiling her body inside and out.
Her climax exploded, wrenching a moan from her lungs and rolling her eyes into the back of her head. He licked her through the sweep of sensations, thrusting a finger inside her, his breathy noises magnifying the ecstasy.
Then he bit her ass. She shrieked, and he laughed, dragging his lips over her back, nipping and pecking as he crawled toward her head. She buried her face in the pillow. Apparently, his libido was making up for lost time. She sighed, smiling, her voice muffled in cotton. “You’re such a horny slut.” Chuckling, his mouth reached her nape, sucking the skin below her ear. He covered her body with his hot leaden weight, his thighs bracketing hers. His palms slid beneath her chest, massaging and cupping her breasts. Oh God, the sensation of his touch combined with his body pressing down on her was indescribable.
His cock prodded, wedging into the tight space between her thighs. He reached between them, guiding the connection, and thrust. She clutched at the pillow, arching her back and pushing against him to deepen the drugging stimulation.
The position and angle of her legs pressed together limited his thrusts to short, shallow f*cks. She couldn’t get close enough and bowed her body into his. She wanted him to f*ck harder, though he was hammering his hips, his cock filling her with each forceful drive.
He was inside her, his body enveloping her and shaking violently with need, yet she wanted more. Couldn’t get enough of him. Her heart pounded against the mattress, and her ribs felt bruised inside. Needy and crazed, she twisted her neck, seeking his mouth. He met her tongue and responded with the same urgency, feeding her his desire, swallowing her exhales.
His toes curled against hers, his powerful body rubbing along the length of her smaller one. One hand shifted beneath her hip, his trembling fingers fumbling around her *. He found it, circled through her wetness, and flicked it with precision. Right there. Oh f*ck, right there.
“Come,” she breathed against his lips. “Come with me.”
He rotated his hips, rubbed her *, and ate at her mouth until they stiffened, gasped, and fell together.
When they caught their breaths, he leaned in and nibbled on her earlobe. “Morning.” An hour later, they realized it was, in fact, afternoon. They stood at the keypad, showered, dressed, and stared at the digital 3:18 PM on her phone. Despite their shared smiles, unease buzzed between them. Their bodies needed to be fed, so they were forced to leave the room.
She stuffed her phone in the back pocket of her jeans and clutched the door handle. “Let me go down first. I’ll make sure he’s not back and return to get you.” He reached around her and punched in the code. “We went through this last night. You’re not going down there, or anywhere, without me.”
The door clicked open. She flashed him her most threatening glare. “Then stay behind me and out of sight.”
Through the vacant outer chamber, another keypad, and down the dark stairway they went.
Silence greeted her at the bottom. Daylight leaked in through the kitchen window, spreading a sparse glow into the hallway.
She reached back, placed a hand on his chest, and gave him a silent command with her eyes.
Stay.
In the kitchen, dirty soup bowls filled the sink. The refrigerator hummed. Outside the window, the trees rustled beneath the afternoon sun. With a stuttering heart beat, she opened the door to the garage.
The van sat alone. She held her breath as she checked the driveway and the front curb through the windows. Van’s Kia wasn’t there, and he had no reason to hide his car from her. Her edginess loosened, but remnants of uncertainty remained.
She returned to the stairway and found Josh gripping the door frame, his impatient eyes blazing from within the shadows. She touched his abs and met a wall of rock-hard tension. “He’s not here.
Follow me.”
Leading him down the hallway, a familiar dread gripped her gut. She needed to check Van’s room of horrors, if only to ease some of her lingering anxiety about Van being there. But she didn’t want to go in that room alone.
Hand on the knob, she inhaled deeply. “This is his room. As you know, he is…” How did one sum up morally, mentally, aesthetically, and theoretically damaged? “F*cked up.” Impatience vibrated from him. “Open the door, Liv.”
She did. And gasped. Stumbling through the room, she spun in a circle, hand over her mouth. An empty mattress. An empty gun cabinet. The drawers hung from the dresser. Empty. The closet door stood open. Empty. No mannequins. No clothes. There was nothing but worn carpet and the musty reek of vacancy. “He’s gone.”
Huge f*cking alarm bells blared in her head. Her heart raced and senses heightened. Why would he leave? Was it fear? Was all hell about to break loose?
Josh clasped her fingers, his forehead furrowed in thought. “Tell me what you’re thinking.” She rubbed her head. “Van’s a sadistic dick, but he wouldn’t have left me if my life was in danger. Something prompted him to leave in a hurry, though.” Shards of glass littered the carpet in front of the gun cabinet. The door was a toothy frame hanging on its hinge.
Her stomach turned. “That’s what he hit when I told him about Traquero.” Had he been angry for her? Or at her? It shouldn’t have mattered, but when it came to Van, her feelings gnarled and bled in complication. She thought back to the last conversation she had with him. “He said he was leaving in the morning to begin his scouting.”
“Only, he left before we got back.” Josh strode out of the room and into the spare bedroom.
A square of ratty green carpet buckled between the walls. The metal blinds on the single window hung lopsided and yellowed by age.
“This one has always been empty,” she said. A room reserved for her, one she’d refused to move into.
He turned and walked down the hall, his gait quickening as he approached the kitchen. “He was pissed about what happened with Traquero. He must’ve packed immediately and blew out of town.” She ran to keep up with his longer strides. “Why? To kill my mom?” She flinched and clenched her fists against the stabbing reminder. “Or to protect himself from Mr. E?” But why would he need to do that? “Van’s a lot of things, but he’s not a coward.”
Josh veered into the kitchen and opened the fridge door, scanning its contents. Of course, the linebacker was focused on his stomach. Her thoughts were on a crash site, somewhere off the coast of the Keys, and the man who might’ve caused it.
He tossed deli meat and cheese on the counter. Then they sat through a nerve-stretching meal. She picked at her sandwich, her stomach souring with each bite. He barked at her to eat when she sat still too long, his anxiety feeding on hers. They finished in silence, staring at the door to the garage as if it would open any moment and let in all the answers.
Thirty minutes later, they tackled the filing cabinet in the hall closet, the only place in the house that could’ve held a clue to Mr. E’s identity. She’d dug through it countless times, but maybe she’d missed something amongst the bills, receipts for generic items purchased for the house, tax filings, and news articles.
He held up two hands full of paperwork. “Who is Liv Smith?”
“The fake identity Mr. E gave me.”
“Everything is in that name. The rental agreement for the house. Liv Smith.” He thumbed to the next one. “The titles to the vehicles. Liv Smith.” His face twisted beneath clenched eyebrows, his voice rising. “The friggin’ repair bill for the A/C unit. Liv Smith.” She looked up from her drawer. “I see that.”
“You see that?” His cheeks burned red, and his eyes widened in a state of disbelief. He wiped his forehead with the back of his paper-filled hand. “Not a single document shows Van Quiso paying taxes, consuming groceries, or living here at all. Ever.”
Her hackles rose in defense. “He told me to sign stuff. It was legitimate stuff related to the house.
I signed it with a fake name.” But she didn’t realize the name was on everything.
“What about the neighbors? Do they know him?”
“No. He comes and goes from the garage. Tinted windows. Just like Mr. E.” She picked the edge of the paper in her hand and said, dejectedly, “I cut the grass.” He blew out a long exhale. “It’s like he doesn’t even exist.” He returned the papers to their hanging folders, none too gently. “What does it mean, Liv?”
It meant Van was smarter than her. “He can disappear.” And she couldn’t. Not if she wanted to keep Mattie safe.
“Why would he do that?” He slammed the drawer.
She lifted her chin and collided with the sharp green of his eyes. “Mr. E could be planning to shut this down and kill us. Or Van could’ve decided on a career change after my f*ck up and bolted.” Without saying goodbye. Her heart squeezed. Stupid a*shole heart.
Josh crouched beside her, shifted her hand from the thick file hanging in the drawer, and pulled it out. Her swallow clogged in her throat, along with her breath. How would he react to the news clippings about his disappearance?
Kneeling, he leafed through each one, his face paling, his brow furrowing. She’d skimmed through all of them. Seemed Van had added more in his paranoia about Josh’s notoriety. The file was filled with reports about the dead-end investigation, Baylor University’s on-going support, search parties, and walk-a-thon’s to raise money and awareness. Her heart twisted as she imagined all the pain and resentment barreling through him.
Scooting closer, she straddled one of his knees and wrapped her arms around his neck. He welcomed her with an embrace around her waist, holding her tight as he read.
When he finished the pile, he returned it to the drawer. “Where’s yours?” His voice was quiet and strained.
She reached in the back of the drawer and handed him the thin dossier. “My disappearance didn’t get the publicity yours did.” She offered a smile, but it quivered at the corners.
With a kiss on the crook of her mouth, he opened the file. They read the first article in silence.
Body of missing Texas girl found in Dell Valle
Officials in Texas say that remains found in an abandoned house this weekend are those of a 17-year-old girl who has been missing fourteen months.
Austin police confirmed Monday that the remains were burned beyond recognition. Police said that autopsy results indicated they belonged to Liv Reed. A 9mm shell casing and two unfired .38 caliber bullets were discovered at the crime scene.
Reed’s mother, Jill, told KRPC-TV that roller blades were found in the house. Liv was wearing them when she disappeared from Fentress Airpark. Her class ring from Eastside Memorial High School was also recovered.
Austin Police Chief, Eli Eary, said it’s believed that Reed was shot and killed in the abandoned Dell Valle house, and her body was burned to destroy any evidence.
Her eyes blurred, unable to read further. An old ache clawed through her throat. Regret for Mom having suffered through her death and the terrible frustration for not being able to prove she still lived. And searing the edges of that ache was a harrowing sadness for the nameless victim who died in her place.
He stuffed the documents in the drawer, closed it, and shifted her legs to wrap around his waist.
His lips stroked across her brow, his hands rubbing over her back. He held her as if he’d never let go. She held him the same way, arms tightening, fingers curling into flesh and muscle.
“There are no articles on the other captives.” His tone was distant, somber.
A ragged inhale hitched through her. “There was no fanfare with their disappearances. Those who did miss them wouldn’t have involved the police. Kate’s brothers are criminals. Camila was a nobody-gopher for the cartel. The others came from crack houses or no homes at all.” She kissed his neck, inhaling his scent to chase away the toxicity of the conversation, and leaned back. “What now?” He rose, lifting her with him and standing her on her feet. His jaw was hard, his eyes equally so.
“Now, we wait for Mr. E to come looking for Van. Or for us. And when he does, we’ll be ready.” Her pulse kicked up in approval. She wanted him to color his words and fill her mind with images. His images. “Ready to do what?”
“To trap him and beat the ever-loving crap out of him until he exposes Mattie’s location. Then we’ll slice his throat from ear to ear.”
Hope spun around her, curling her lips. It continued to lift her through the night as he led her upstairs, f*cked her, cuddled her, fed her, and f*cked her again.
They remained in the safety of the attic for two days, waiting for Mr. E’s text, closing the door only when they were sleeping, planning and…exploring. The latter was a new experience with whips and ropes and creative sexual positions. She only egressed for food, and her sentinel was always an arm-length behind her. They never emerged unarmed. He carried his mom’s .22 in his hand. She carried the LC9 in the waistband of her jeans, wedged in her butt crack.
On the third afternoon, she crept down the stairs and stopped. Her toes touched the bottom step, illuminated by a glow of light. Josh bumped into her back.
Her scalp tingled. The hairs on her arms stood on end. The kitchen light didn’t reach the staircase.
F*ck, f*ck, f*ck. She stretched her neck to peer into the sitting room. The lamp drenched the dated decor in a sickening yellow wash. She never turned that damned lamp on.
Her heart thundered in her ears. Mr. E hadn’t sent her a text. He always sent a text.
She spun and pressed a finger against his lips, shaking her head. His eyes narrowed, his body vibrated, and his stomach hardened to stone against her hand. She drew the 9mm from her waistband, flicked off the safety, and turned back. Choking on the thickening dread in her throat, she stepped into the hallway.
With a final glare at the silhouette of aggression vibrating in the staircase, she pointed a finger at him and strode toward the kitchen with the gun at her side.
She tripped in the doorway, her heart stumbling with her breath. A mannequin sat at the table, a naked woman with a head of hair, holding a doll. All the blood in her face dumped to her stomach.
She scanned the corners of the room for Van, unsure what to do with the gun. Raise it? Conceal it? Should she go for business as usual? She held it at her side. Where the f*ck was he?
Her eardrums throbbed, straining for the sound of footsteps. She positioned herself so that she could see behind the bar, the entrance to the sitting room, and the mannequin at the table. “Van?” She shouted loud enough to dissuade Josh from charging after her.
But what if it wasn’t Van? What if this was one of Mr. E’s games?
A few feet away, the brown marbled eyes of the plastic woman stared back at her. A painted red line connected one glass eye to the pink hand-drawn mouth. Propped on the mannequin’s lap, the doll was the size of a small child, clothed in a red checkered dress.
Liv’s scar tingled in her cheek, her muscles stiffening to the point of pain. Staring at the morbid reproductions of her and Mattie, she tried to keep the contents of her stomach from painting the floor.
Gut-twisting curiosity shuffled her feet forward. With the gun rattling in her hand, she slid her other hand through the sparse hair on the heads. Each strand was different from the other but also…
the same. They varied in hues of brown, intricately combed together and sewn into some kind of mesh cap glued to the scalps. The fibers between her fingers weren’t glossy like synthetic hair. They felt thinner, some damaged, realistic…familiar.
She jerked her hand back, her stomach bubbling toward her throat. Oh God. Her hair. Why?
Jesus, f*ck, what did it mean? She pressed a fist against her belly, backed up, and slammed into a hard body.
A hint of cologne touched her nose. The width of torso was too big. She turned, but Van’s arm around her chest caught her, pinning her back to his chest. His hand squeezed her breast, and she sucked in a breath. If she shot him, the contract on Mattie’s life would be activated.
She pressed the side of the gun against her thigh to thwart the shaking in her hand.
His lips touched her shoulder, her neck, the scar, creeping goosebumps over her skin. “I know you don’t approve of them, Liv. But I needed something to remember you by.”