“You stole my gun,” Liam states, gesturing at me. “That means I have to punish the boy.”
“No!” West cries.
“Not sure what you think you can do with that,” Liam drawls. “You’ve never fired a gun. Did you even check to see if it’s loaded?”
I didn’t. I’m not sure how.
But I don’t think he’d lock up an unloaded gun by his bed. “I checked,” I lie.
He smirks, and I fear I’m holding an empty weapon.
“I know she’s alive,” I tell Liam in a calm voice.
“Who?”
“Rowan. She wasn’t killed by animals.” I catch my breath and breathe deep. “You lied to me for twenty-five years! I’m thirty-two years old and I never knew my age! Why do you do this? Why did Jerry start this . . . this family?”
Liam rests a foot on a rock and shoves his hands in his pockets. “Looks like a gun in your hand gives you a big mouth. You’re racking up hours in the box.”
Instant fear makes my temples sweat. Then I remember the box is gone.
Gone like his power; I hold the power now.
The power is in my clasped hands, black and heavy. “What was Jerry to you? You call him family, but you got him sent to prison. The rule was to never betray the family!”
“Jerry was the closest thing I ever had to a father, and I was committed to this family. I’d do anything for the family. Jerry, Ken, and I were a solid unit!”
“Yet you got Jerry arrested.”
“Jerry went against the family first! He let Ken leave after the first girl died. Just walk away. That wasn’t right! No one walks away from us!”
I have no idea who he’s talking about.
“Jerry said Ken agreed to stay silent if he was allowed to leave. That’s not how we were brought up! Jerry changed the rules for him.” He slapped a hand on his thigh, anger in his face.
“Sending Jerry to prison was payback for letting another guy leave?”
Liam looks away, and I know I’ve struck a chord.
He was jealous because Jerry let someone walk away from their twisted little family.
“Then you thought you could just walk away too.” Anger infuses his tone. “That’s not how it works. We stay together.”
That phrase has been pounded into my head nearly all my life.
“It didn’t work out so well for Ken,” Liam sneers. “He visited Jerry in prison and asked if I was involved in . . . something. Next thing I know, Ken wants to meet with me. Claimed Jerry was pissed about some women who’d recently died.” He raised a brow. “Ken thought he could enforce Jerry’s orders? I don’t think so. Cocky idiot. I took care of him.”
“I don’t know who Ken is,” I finally say. But Liam is talking about things I’ve wanted to know for decades. I’m not ready for him to stop.
Liam makes a sound of disgust. “When your babysitter turned up dead, Ken figured that Jerry probably had the two of you. He’d left the family several years before, but he recognized Jerry’s work when he read about the babysitter in the paper . . . just as some dead women recently made him suspicious again.
“It was supposed to be a game that night I let you and your sister out of the shed.” Liam’s gaze became distant as he remembered. “A hunt.”
I’d been so nervous when he unlocked the shed door and told us to leave.
“But you got further away than we expected. By the time we picked up your trail, we couldn’t find your sister. We didn’t care. We figured she’d find her end in the forest. She was deadweight and didn’t fit in the family.” He looks at me. “You fit. A docile idiot. You were perfect for our needs.”
I shudder. They kept me drugged for years to feed their need for power and control.
At least Rowan got away.
“Ken found your sister. People were still searching for you two. He knew the general area to look and got lucky she wasn’t dead yet. A few days later he came to the house looking for you, and we told him you were dead. An accident. Ken had to keep his mouth shut about your death because if he turned me in, I’d report him as an accomplice.”
“Accomplice?” I’ve hated the word ever since he emotionally branded me with it.
“Ken knew Jerry and I killed women years ago. The wimp said he couldn’t stomach it. Jerry let him go because Ken threatened to go to the police if he didn’t.”
My mind is spinning trying to keep up.
So many murders. First Jerry and Liam worked together, and then Liam continued on his own.
“Jerry must have been annoyed that Ken contacted him after all these years, because he told Ken you were still alive,” Liam goes on. “Ken flipped out. He’d stayed in touch with your family, and seeing what they unnecessarily went through swamped him with guilt.
“You’re a part of this,” he says in a soft voice. “You can’t just walk away. I know you don’t want to. You belong with us. We’ll work together and train this boy. You’ll get to be a leader . . . It’s a rush like you can’t understand.” He takes two steps toward me. “Give me the gun.”
From several yards away, I fire at the ground in front of him, and West screams, terrified and slapping his hands over his ears. The boy drops to his knees in the shallow water, crying.
The noise and kick of the gun startled me, and I nearly dropped it. But at least I got my practice shot. Now I know what to expect. I aim at Liam’s chest, barely aware of West’s cries of fear. All I see is Liam. The man who abused me.
My finger plays with the trigger. I could fire several times and hope one hits him. But I don’t know how many bullets I have.
Do I truly want him dead?
Years in prison like Jerry would be better. Let him experience being locked up and having all his freedoms taken away. I’m a better person than him and Jerry.
They are killers; I am not.
Liam should go to prison.
I instantly feel lighter and more confident, a burden lifted. I’ve made the right decision.
Liam gestures at West. “You scared the boy. Let me take his blindfold off so he can see what’s happening.”
I nod, understanding the terror of not being able to see. My weapon tracks him as he moves to the boy and gently unties the blindfold. His touch is tender. I want to vomit.
“That’s better,” he tells West. “Now you can see. Give me your hand.” He helps West stand, the boy unsteady as the water speeds around his feet. Then he loops the blindfold around one of West’s wrists, pulls it behind his back, and ties it to the other wrist.
“What are you doing?” I shout at him. He stands with the boy between him and me. I have no shot. I might hit West.
He knew that.
I am angry at myself for allowing him to use the boy as a shield.
Then I remember.
He threw me in the river with my hands tied, laughing and yelling at me to swim. I swallowed many mouthfuls of water and got water up my nose, terrified and scrambling to find a purchase for my feet.
I believed I’d drown.
The river isn’t that deep at the edge, but it is fast and strong, and along the sides the bottom is uneven with drop-offs.
I know what he’s going to do.
I freeze as he lifts West and hurls him toward the water.
I feel it is me being thrown in. I am the one fighting to breathe. To survive.
The boy’s screams are cut off as his head goes underwater.
Save him.
“Put the gun down, and I’ll help him out,” Liam yells at me.
My gaze locks on Liam, but I’m fully aware of West’s struggles. “I’ll shoot you and help him out.”
“You’ve never fired a gun until a minute ago, chances are you’ll miss.” Liam is jumping and shuffling from right to left, keeping his side toward me. A smaller target.
“Get away from him!” I snarl, moving forward.