“Are you cold? You could borrow my coat,” Everly said. “The storeroom gets pretty chilly.”
“Nope, I’m good.”
Everly looked pointedly down at my knees. “Except that you’re walking like a hundred-year-old woman with those knees. I still can’t believe you fell that hard.”
“Oh, you can believe it. I’m clumsy as heck.”
We strolled along the sidewalk to the store. The scenery was like an oil painting, beautiful and serene. But I knew behind the picturesque landscape, the worst kind of evil lay waiting for its next victim. It had been several years since the last accident at Phantom Curve, but I wondered how long until the next death. I knew now that my dad hadn’t veered off the road. He’d been forced to pull over by thieves and murderers. His truck was filled with valuable cargo—alcohol. And my dad had died because of it. If he’d been transporting something less valuable, he might still be alive today.
“You didn’t ask me about last night,” Everly said in a teasing tone.
I looked over at her. “Did Finn kiss you?”
She smiled.
“Oh my gosh. Details.”
Her thin shoulders lifted. “It wasn’t quite as good as I’d expected, but I think he was nervous. But it was a real kiss.”
“I’m so happy for you, Ever. And he’s such a nice guy. He’s almost good enough to deserve you.”
We reached the store. Landon Gregor always looked a little surprised to see me.
“Tashlyn is going to help me in the storeroom.”
He hesitated, and I wondered if there was some insurance rule that wouldn’t allow it.
“That’s fine,” he said haltingly. “I’ll be back there in a minute to show you what needs to be done.”
Everly and I headed to the backroom. “Don’t worry, I’ll do the stuff that requires you to kneel on the cement floor.”
“Good idea. I’m pretty sure if I kneel, the scrapes will start bleeding again, and I’m already down one pair of jeans.”
Everly took a box cutter from the toolbox. “Did you tell your aunt about your little accident?”
“No, everything worries her.”
Landon came into the backroom. He was wringing his hands together, and they looked extra shaky. He smiled weakly at both of us. “There’s a lot to do, so I guess it’s a good thing you have a helper. After a long morning stacking beans and noodles, Tashyln is going to want to head back to her hometown, what’s it called? The Grog. Funny name.”
“I don’t mind a little hard work,” I said.
“Jeez, Uncle, you are psychic,” Everly said with a shake of her head. “I never told you about the place Tashlyn lived. How the heck did you know about The Grog?”
He stuck his shaky hands in his apron pockets. “Of course you told me, Everly. You just talk so darn much, you don’t remember all the topics.”
I looked over at Everly and expected her to be laughing about his comment, but she looked utterly mystified as if she was certain she’d never mentioned it.
“Ever, I know I told you to just come in for a few hours to stock shelves,” Landon continued, “but I’m not feeling well today. If you could cover the afternoon that would be great.”
“Fine, but you need to get a new doctor, Uncle. You need to find out what’s wrong with you.”
“Don’t know if that’s possible.” He walked out of the storeroom.
Chapter 30
Tashlyn
Everly was uncharacteristically quiet for the rest of the morning. The whole incident with her uncle knowing about The Grog seemed to be biting at her heels. It seemed perfectly plausible to me that she’d mentioned it in passing to him, but Everly seemed confident it had never come up.
Something wasn’t right. I was feeling uneasy about everything, and on top of it, my plans to stay close to Everly had been messed up. I had no choice but to walk home alone. Jem would be back soon, and I took comfort in knowing I would only be alone for an hour or two.
I grabbed a bottle of water for the walk home. “I’ll see you later, Everly. I’ll do some cleaning.”
She looked decidedly upset that she was stuck having to watch the store on her afternoon off. It wasn’t like Everly to be in a bad mood, but she’d been off all morning. I dismissed it as the disappointment of having her day off taken away.
I headed out. Thank goodness for daylight. I passed Alice’s bookshop but resisted the urge to stop in. I needed to go straight home and get inside. Jem had made some calls the night before to track down Draven but with no luck. He seemed to have vanished after chasing me down the street.
My sore knees felt every step as I practically race-walked down the sidewalk. It reminded me of when I was little and I was hurrying down the hallway to crawl into bed with my dad after a bad dream. Invisible monsters chasing you down a dark hall are nothing compared to the real thing.
Even though I felt confident strolling through town in broad daylight with cars rolling up and down the street, I breathed a sigh of relief when I reached the front door. I unlocked it and went inside, making sure to turn the deadbolt. There were dishes in the sink, and I headed there first.
Time would pass quickly. I was anxious to see Jem. He wouldn’t give me details, but there was someone he’d needed to visit today, someone who he thought might know some of the town’s secrets.
I turned the water on in the sink and heard a floorboard creak behind me. For a fleeting second, my mind reasoned it was Everly. Then I remembered she wasn’t home. I turned off the water, and the floor creaked once more. It was happening all over again. My heart raced with terror. This time I had no place to flee. I grabbed the handle of a butter knife. Before I could spin around with my pathetic weapon, he spoke.
“This time I’ve got you, pussycat.”
They were the last words I heard.
Chapter 31
Jem
An older man with leathery skin and a gritty, hoarse voice opened the door. I wasn’t completely sure I’d be allowed in, but he led me down the hallway of the house to a door. He knocked and spoke through it. “Rebecca, you have a visitor.”
The door opened. Rebecca Gregor looked thinner and grayer than I remembered. Not that I ever saw her much or talked to her. Just like her daughter, Everly, she avoided my family. She looked up at me with green eyes that were sunken into a small face. She didn’t look the least bit surprised to see me.
“I was wondering when you’d come see me.” She turned around and headed into the room. I followed. The room consisted of one twin bed, two chairs and a dresser. She sat on the edge of the bed, and I pulled a chair up across from her.
She looked me up and down. “You remind me a lot of your father. You’re even more handsome, but Alcott Wolfe was a head turner.” We’d spoken maybe four times in my whole life, but she talked to me now as if we’d been longtime friends. “How is your dad?”
I shook my head. Rebecca, like my dad, had nursed her sorrows with alcohol.
“Wasted life, that one,” she said, as if she was sitting in a fine office or home.
“Why were you expecting me?” I asked.
She picked up the edge of her blanket and pulled it around her shoulders, even though the room was stuffy as hell. “Well, you’ve always been the smarter, more decent member of the Wolfe family, and I figured, one day you’d want to know just what the hell was going on in our lovely little town.” She reached under her pillow and pulled out a silver flask. She opened it and sipped some before offering it to me. “And Everly has told me a few things about her new roommate that made me think your visit would be soon.”
I took the flask and gulped down the burning liquid. I handed it back to her. “Thought you were in here to get off the stuff?”
She put the cap on and returned the flask to its hid
ing spot. “I am. But I found that this place is more tolerable with a little nip, now and then. I guess if you’re here, then you’ve already figured out who was really controlling all the horror up there on the mountain.”
“I have an idea, yeah. But still trying to understand it all.”
“Well, it started with Elizabeth’s death.” She stopped and shook her head. “No, that’s not true. It started with my mom giving birth to a monster, a monster, who in their eyes could do no wrong.” She shook her head. “They had such plans for Landon. That’s why my dad, who was mayor at the time, managed to keep Landon’s name out of the paper. They didn’t want him associated with Elizabeth’s death.”
I sat forward. “Landon was there the day she died?”
She nodded and pulled the blanket tighter around her shoulders. “We’d all gone out for the day. My brother would follow your dad around like a groupie at a rock concert. He was friends with Alcott Wolfe, and that made him a big man on campus. Alcott just tolerated having him around. Back then, before everything spiraled out of control, your dad was all right. He was still considered a bit of a troublemaker, but he was admired too. Elizabeth adored him, and he loved her. They’d been messing around, playing tag on the rocks when she slipped and hit her head. She was out cold. My brother told Alcott to run. He told him that we’d take care of Elizabeth and that he’d be blamed if he stuck around. Your dad was upset, not thinking straight. So he listened to Landon and ran. That’s how diabolical my brother is. In that short span of time, he came up with a plan, a plan that would help him feed his sick cravings and keep Alcott at his feet for the rest of his life. At the time, I had no idea what Landon was up to. He told me he’d stay with Elizabeth, while I ran to get help. By the time I returned, Elizabeth was gone, her body drowned in the river. My brother was nowhere to be seen. I knew then, what I’d figured all along—my brother, Landon, was sick.”
“You let him just have free reign?”
Rebecca looked relaxed. She wasn’t going to defend herself. She’d already sentenced herself to this life of giving up and drowning in alcohol just like my dad. “I tried to get my parents to see there was a problem, but they always saw Landon through rose colored glasses. He was their pride and joy. I was their embarrassment, an unwed mother who had gotten knocked up by a drifter just passing through town for lumber work. Nope. They would have had me locked up long before their precious boy. Oh, and Landon was quite the drama king. Always pretended he was sickly, to throw off any hint that he might be up to something wretched. He’s doing it now too, I hear, claiming that his hands are shaky. Everly told me some detectives had come through town again to ask about the missing girls. I’m sure that triggered this last bout of pretend illness.” She shrugged. “After awhile, it became easier just to pretend the ugly stuff wasn’t happening.” She looked at me. “You know what that feels like, I’m sure.”
I nodded. “The accidents on Phantom Curve, they were murders?”
Her hands shook as she reached for the flask again. “I pieced together some of it. If a truck driver with valuable cargo, booze or cigarettes, made the fatal mistake of stopping at Milly’s Diner for a midnight dinner, then your dad would let Landon know and they’d hop into action. Don’t know the details, but the trucks would always end up at the bottom of the ravine charred beyond recognition.”
She offered me another swig, but I turned it down. Something told me I was going to need every fucking brain cell when I got back to town. “Why the hell would my dad fold under a weasel like Landon Gregor?”
“You’ll need to ask him. I think there was some blackmail involved. Landon talked your dad into believing he was responsible for Elizabeth’s death and that he would go to jail for it if he didn’t do my brother’s bidding.” She closed the flask and scooted back on the bed to lean against the wall. “I think her death really chipped away at his soul and took whatever was left of it, leaving behind the cold, harsh man you grew up with.” She fidgeted with the ends of the blanket. The trembling in her hands wasn’t fake. “We were all living with a serial killer in our midst.” A sad laugh fell from her mouth. “He was even mayor for a decade. The girl, the one living with Everly, she’s the one that got away.”
I took a deep breath. “I thought Dane had locked her in there for fun. I let her go and didn’t tell anyone. I was protecting Dane. Like always.”
“The girl’s in danger,” Rebecca said. “My brother will stop at nothing to protect his reputation.”
“I’m heading back there right now.” I got up and turned back to her. “I’m going to kill him.”
She rested her head back and closed her eyes. “I was hoping you’d say that.”
Rebecca’s housemates looked up from their television and books as I walked back through the house and out the front door. By the time I climbed on my bike, the hair on the back of my neck was standing at full attention. I fired up the motorcycle, twisted the throttled and sped off toward the highway.
Chapter 32
Tashlyn
As things came into focus, I shut my eyes again, hoping I would fall back asleep. The cold, stark room with solid wood walls, no windows and a putrid smell had to be a figment of a leftover nightmare. It couldn’t be real.
“You are a pussycat who has finally used up her nine lives,” a voice sneered my direction from the shadows. The now familiar and terrifying sound of it startled me wide awake. A yellow light swayed above my head, a flashlight dangling from wire. The dreaded reality of my situation struck me like an icy hand.
My skull ached and the images around me were slightly blurred, a result of the blow to my head. Instinctively, I moved forward, ready to flee, but my arms wrenched painfully behind me and rope cut into my wrists. With hands behind my back, I was tied to a square column of splintery wood. Pulling away caused severe pain in my shoulders and wrists and sent a shower of dirt down on my head. The long piece of ancient timber was one of only three pieces of wood that seemed to be holding up the entire structure.
A glacial shiver ran through me. It was the trappers’ shelter. I had been here before. All of it, the entire horror of those few days was coming back to me.
“You won’t be getting away this time.” A face followed the voice as the man stepped out from the dark corner of the shelter. His teeth were stained brown, and the thin crown of hair on his head hadn’t stopped him from growing a long, stringy ponytail. He grinned as he pulled something out of his pocket. He dangled the shark’s tooth in front of me. His close set eyes focused on my gold chain. I tried to pull away from his grimy fingers as they clumsily grabbed the necklace. It cut into the back of my neck as he held it tightly. His breath sent a wave of nausea through me, and I swallowed back the bitter taste in my throat.
“Still wearing the chain? How sweet.” He pressed his face closer. “Do you remember when I pulled the shark’s tooth off the chain? It was right after I smashed in your daddy’s skull with a rock.”
I stared at him long and hard and then spit in his face. His hand came across my cheek, turning the throbbing in my head to a sharp ringing pain. It took me a second to focus again. The metallic taste of blood replaced the bitter bile in my mouth. It trickled from my lip and down my chin.
He grabbed hold of my face, pinching it hard and causing tears to burn my eyes. “You and your daddy were a problem right from the start. We stole his liquor and sent his truck over the edge, but the fucking thing stopped short on the rocks. That’s why I had to finish him off.” He grinned proudly. “But then I looked through the windshield, and there was this little blue eyed kitten staring back at me as I bludgeoned her old man to death. I knew then that I was in for a bonus from the boss, cuz he always craved the kittens, if you know what I mean. Then you got away. Never did figure out how, but this time the boss intends to finish what he started.”
Draven stepped back and eyed me with a lascivious
grin. “Guess I’ve got some time until the boss shows up. I’m thinking of having a little fun first.”
My head and back smacked the wood column as I made a worthless attempt to pull away from his groping hands. He reached for my shirt. I kicked him hard in the knee. His hand flew across my face again. Darkness swept through my head, and I collapsed against my restraints. The rank smell coming off of his clothes and skin revived me quickly.
Rage flared in his face, and I cried out as he stomped down hard on my feet, holding them captive with his heavy boots. He reached into a leather sheath on his belt and pulled out a blade. He grabbed the bottom of my shirt and shoved the knife under it. I held my breath as the sharp tip pressed against my skin. The sound of fabric ripping echoed through the squalid shack. Cool air brushed over my skin as the torn sides of my shirt were pushed open.
I twisted and turned my hands. My palms were wet with blood. My bindings only seemed to tighten more as they ground into my flesh.
Draven licked his lips as he stared down at my breasts. He left a thin, painful scratch as he dragged the tip of the knife from my throat down to my belly button.
His grubby fingers grabbed my bra, but before he could rip it, the solid metal door on the shelter opened. Landon Gregor stepped inside. For the briefest second, I let myself believe that my earlier suspicions were wrong and that he was there to save me from Draven. But then he walked over and stood in front of me. His sickening expression made the room sway. I could barely keep my legs beneath me.