My mom raised her eyebrows in disbelief and crossed her arms. “Lucas never mentioned any of this?”
I got to my feet and ran to the window. Outside, putting the last few things in the Volvo, were Lucas and Mason moving with urgency and with purpose, to and from the house. Mrs. Carter wore her best knee-length dress with dark sunglasses in what would otherwise be a perfect day after such a nightmare of a night. She kept her head down allowing her sons to do all the work.
“No,” I murmured feeling a little lost. “He hasn’t said anything.”
“Well, I suppose we better say our goodbyes.” I could hear my mother’s footsteps take to the stairs yet all I could do was watch.
I wasn’t ready to lose Lucas.
I didn’t know if I’d ever be.
“Gem,” my mother called from downstairs ushering me into action. “Come on, they’ll be gone before you get down here.”
Wrapping the robe around me and flattening my tangled mass of hair, I ran down the stairs and met Mom at the door. She followed me out into the bright sunlight, and together we walked across the green and still-wet front lawn to the driveway.
Lucas emerged from the house carrying a medium-sized brown box sealed with packing tape. His expression was dark and chilling. He almost seemed to be a different person. But after the night he’d had, I could understand.
I looked at the car, the memory of the brothers hauling the awkward tarpaulin-wrapped package playing over in my mind.
“Mrs. Carter?” my mother called, waving her hand but it was purposefully ignored. “What’s going on?” Mom mouthed only to me.
I crossed over the driveways and approached Lucas who was jamming the box into the backseat of the car. “Lucas,” I called, gently touching his shoulder.
He yanked his arm away like he’d been stung, his hateful gaze softening when he saw me. Immediately his eyes moistened, his pinkie reaching out to touch mine. A painful hard lump formed in my throat and I couldn’t manage the words I wanted to say.
Instead, my heart broke taking in the bruising around his eye and cheekbone, and the nasty split lip that was still swollen. With tears falling, I went to caress his face but was stopped when his eyes morphed back to the hateful darkness I’d seen earlier.
“Leave us alone, Gemma,” Mason’s voice ordered from behind, startling me.
I turned, keeping my shoulders back and head held high. I wasn’t about to let him bully me anymore. “Who I talk to is not up to you, Mason. You don’t control me.”
I could have been wrong, but I saw the familiar glimmer of challenge in his eyes. “Lucas,” he said, not breaking his penetrative gaze from mine, “Mom’s suitcase is all that’s left. Go and get it,” he ordered, but Lucas didn’t move, his pinkie still entwined with mine. “Now!” Mason bellowed causing me to take a step back and issuing Lucas into action.
I watched as he left my side and reluctantly headed back into the house. Mason waited until we were alone to continue, “Stay away from him, Gemma,” he warned again.
“Why?” I seethed. “What’s happened?”
Mason remained quiet, eyes narrowing.
“What have you done, Mason?” I probed again.
“We’re simply getting a fresh start somewhere else.”
“Bullshit! I saw you last night. I saw what you were doing.”
The corners of his mouth twitched. “And what exactly did you see, Gemma?”
“You know exactly what I—”
“You didn’t see anything,” he cut through but followed it with an indifferent shrug of his shoulders.
“I did. And now you’re dragging Lucas down with you.”
My accusation pissed him off. Mason stepped forward until his body pushed mine against the car. His sheer height dwarfed me, and he knew he held the power position.
“You need to remember one thing, Gemma,” he said, eyes loaded with silent fury. “Whatever you saw last night was all up here.” His finger tapped the top of my head.
“I know what I saw,” I replied defiantly.
“You didn’t see shit, and you know why?” When I didn’t respond, he took my silence as a cue to continue, “Because if you breathe a word of any of your sorry tales to anyone, and I mean even a hint of it, I will find you, and I promise I will slit your throat.” This time he dragged the length of his finger under my chin to demonstrate.
I flinched at his touch, and he smirked.
“And then do you know what else I’ll do? I’ll sit there and watch as you slowly bleed out and tell you all about the night I broke into your room and did all sorts of nasty things to that little body of yours while you slept. And if you’re an extra bad girl, I’ll tell you all about how you enjoyed it.”
My blood ran cold, my spine stiffening.
He was bluffing.
Or was he?
It couldn’t be true… it just couldn’t.
“You’re lying to me.” I swallowed hard. “You’re lying so I’ll stay quiet.”
“Talk, and you’ll find out just how true it is.” His smile widened with victory. “Breathe, Gemma, or you’ll pass out.”
I hadn’t realized I’d been holding my breath.
“Now… what did you see last night?” he asked, testing me.
My bottom lip trembled, and I couldn’t form the one word he wanted to hear.
He cocked his eyebrow and pressed his body harder, wedging me between him and car. “Tell me, Gem. What did you see?” His fingertips grazed over my chest, pushing aside my gown to reveal his carving. A move to remind me of the control he’d always had over me. The control he’d always have.
“N-Nothing.”
“Good girl.” He took a step back. “Now run back to Mommy and let her know how great her tits look in that dress.” With a wink, he turned on his heel and headed back toward the house, a sadistic laugh left in his wake.
On shaky legs, I rounded the car and staggered back over the driveways to where Mom stood waiting.
“Well?” she asked, oblivious to the interaction.
“I don’t know,” was all I could manage.
“What do you mean you don’t know? You were speaking with Mason for quite some time. Gem? Gemma, are you feeling all right? You look awfully white…” my mother continued, but I couldn’t hear a word. The only sound playing over in my mind was Mason’s voice and his sick promise. Whatever had gone down last night was terrible enough it warranted the Carters to leave town.
Car doors began to slam.
One. Two. Three.
An engine started, and sadness took hold. Mason was in the driver’s seat, his mother next to him, his brother in the back. With the car loaded and house locked, the car began to roll out of the driveway.
Lucas’s sad eyes met mine, and my legs moved without effort toward him. It was like a gravitational pull drawing me to the one person I loved. The one person I was being forced to let go without so much as a goodbye. The car picked up pace, and so did I. Lucas turned in his seat watching me, his palm against the window, a solemn farewell.
“Wait,” I mouthed, running after him. My heart was tearing into a thousand pieces, tears blurring my vision. I was too slow. I watched helplessly as the car pulled out onto the road and turned right down the street at speed. Defeated, I fell to my knees on the concrete drive and sobbed until my chest hurt.
“Darling,” Mom spoke gently behind me, her hand caressing my hair in an attempt to soothe the situation. “Darling, I don’t know what’s going on, but this won’t be the last time you see Lucas. You’ll always find each other.” She knelt beside me and pulled me into her arms and kissed the top of my head.
“I promise he’ll find you.”
What she didn’t know was that the wrong brother would not only find me, he’d hunt me down.
Chapter 26
NOW
The detectives sat in silence after I finished revealing the events of that night. Their stares never wavered, lost in thought as they pieced together the puzzle.
“Are you sure you don’t know the name of Mrs. Carter’s boyfriend?”
“Lucas and Mason never told me. It was almost like if they said it out loud, it would be giving the monster a title. A title that would make it all too real.”