“I’ll never know what happened to her.”

“He’ll talk. Trust me.” I pressed my lips against her forehead before taking a step back. She nodded and reluctantly got into the passenger side of the SUV.

I walked up the steps, not bothering to knock as I opened the front door, causing it to bang loudly off the wall behind it. The woman appeared shaken as he froze, wide-eyed.

“Does he hurt you?” I asked just as the old man made his way down the steps.

“What the hell are you doing here? This is private property, you son of a bitch!” he growled. I ignored him and returned my gaze to the woman.

“Answer me truthfully, and I’ll make sure he never hurts you again.”

She looked to the man and back to me, hopeful. “Yes,” she whispered, and I gestured to the door behind me with a nod.

“Go. Run. Find someone to call the police. Forget you saw me.” I knew it would take her a few minutes at least to get to the next property.

“The police?” the old man said with a sneer. “What are they going to do?”

“Identify your body,” I snapped back to him as she ran around me and out the front door. The man’s eyes grew wide, and he retreated backward a step.

“You can’t just come in here and threaten me. Do you have any idea who I am? Didn’t Mikaella tell you?”

I put my foot on the first step, and he stumbled backward, climbing higher. Ella and I both knew her mother was long dead. She was never going to get her answers, but at least I could make sure he could never hurt her again.

“Yeah. She told me who you are. You want to know who I am?” I asked as I moved slowly toward him. “I expected a monster, a challenge. You’re just a weak old man.”

“That girl never did know how to listen. Just another dumb bitch like her mother.” He was still yelling, but his voice wavered, and I knew he was afraid. Funny how the biggest bullies only liked to pick on the small and fragile who couldn’t defend themselves. “You want that girl? She’s all yours. I’m sure she hasn’t gotten far yet. I won’t even charge you.”

My stomach sank, and the world around me went black. Anger flooded me, and before I could stop myself, I was on top of the man, swinging wildly. His wrinkled, papery skin busted and bled under my fists. I felt the bones in his nose crumble under my knuckles, and he slipped, falling back onto the stairs with a grunt, moaning as he struggled to protect his face with his arms. I hit him again. The sound finally stopped, and I was able to get myself back under control. I stood over him, my chest heaving as I struggled to calm my breathing. I didn’t want it to be this easy. He deserved worse.

I reached into my pocket and pulled out a small green lighter and a cigarette from my pack. I lit it, blowing out the smoke toward him as he hacked.

“Bad habit.” I turned the cigarette in my hand as he struggled to push himself up. Putting my foot on his chest, I shook my head and took another drag, causing the end to glow orange.

“What happened to Ella’s mother?”

“I don’t know.” He shook his head, and I smiled before pressing the cigarette against his cheek.

“I’ve heard some interesting stories about you.” I raised my voice to be heard over his groans. “Ella told me all about the skeletons in your closet.”

His eyes widened but he didn’t speak.

“She just wants to know what happened to her mother.” Taking another drag, I flicked my ashes onto his shirt. “Fine.” I bent over, poised to burn him again as sweat ran down my forehead.

“She’s dead.” He waved his hands between us to keep me from hurting him again. I closed my eyes, knowing it was going to destroy Ella. “She wanted to go to the police. She didn’t want to be with me.”

“What did you do?”

“I made sure she could never leave me again. She deserved it! She ripped my heart to pieces!”

“Where is she?”

“She’s under the dirt floor of the basement… in pieces.” His mouth twisted in a sick grin. “She can’t ever leave me now.”

“You sick f**k. How could you do that to Ella?”

“Tell Mikaella,” he swallowed hard. “Tell her that her mother begged for her life. Tell her the last thing she heard was me telling her I’d find our daughter and bury her pieces right next to her.”

Most would look at him as a helpless old man, but I could see the darkness in his eyes. I pulled the gun from the back of my jeans and squeezed the trigger, the echo of the shot deafening in the empty space.

I wiped my fingerprints from the gun with my shirt and dropped it beside his body as blood puddled on the steps underneath him. Even if I didn’t find Bryce, Coach’s gun being used as a murder weapon would draw them out like cockroaches. I knew he wasn’t the Dream Killer, but he had destroyed Ella’s dream of a normal life. He deserved his fate.

I glanced around the silent house before hurrying down the steps and looking out the front door for anyone else. I dug my keys from my pocket and got into the SUV, slowly creeping down the dirt road so I wouldn’t cause dust to kick up.

“What did he say?” Ella’s body was vibrating with anxiety. I couldn’t even look at her.

“She’s gone.”

My gaze fell to my bloodied hands on the wheel, my body shaking with unspent energy. It wasn’t enough. He had given up too quickly. It felt like I hadn’t done justice for the nameless woman or for Ella. He should have suffered for every unspeakable act he had committed, but he would play a vital role in a bigger plan that had been set in motion when I was only sixteen years old. Now I would get Bryce.

I wiped my hand over my face as I turned into an old abandoned gas station parking lot to gather my thoughts. I could hear sirens in the distance and adjusted the rearview mirror to see a police car approaching and disappearing past me on the road. My eyes focused on my own reflection, seeing blood smeared over my eye and down my jaw. I took the hat off and tossed it on the passenger seat.

“Fuck.” I grabbed my shirt and pulled it off, using it to rub my face clean and then my hands. Ella grabbed a bottle of water from the floor to make the shirt damp and scrubbed what had begun to dry on my skin.

I had been careless, my feelings for Ella clouding my judgment. I examined my knuckles for cuts or scrapes, but my skin was flawless, and I sighed with relief that I hadn’t left any of my own blood behind. I glanced at my reflection again, and only empty blue eyes stared back at me. I put the car in drive, pulled back onto the road, and headed toward the hotel.

I waited for the lot to be empty before getting out, not wanting to be recognized by someone I knew. Luckily it was hot, and the fact that I was shirtless wouldn’t render me a second glance. I put on a pair of sunglasses and hurried to my room with the shirt and hat, my arm around Ella.

“Relax.” I rubbed my hand over her arm to soothe her. She forced a smile and slowed her pace so she wouldn’t draw any attention to us.

When we got inside the room, I fell back against the door, struggling to catch my breath. Ella’s back was to me, and I couldn’t tell if she was on the verge of breaking down.

“Say something. Anything.”

She turned to me, teary-eyed but smiling. “At least now I know.”

“It’s almost over.”

I ran through the shower quickly, changing into a pair of dark wash jeans and my favorite black Doors shirt. The concert was in two hours, and the guys were already doing sound checks over at Grayson’s Spot, the bar we were playing at that night. As I laced up my black Adidas sneakers, breaking news of a murder came on the news.

I shook my head and grabbed my book bag and headed out to rehearsal, which was only a few miles away.

Trigger looked up at me as I entered and shook his head before playing a few chords on his guitar.

“You’re late,” he said without looking back up at me.

“The cops had Roman Street blocked off for a fender bender.”

“It’s a dangerous world out there.” He glanced up with a smirk as he continued to play.

We rehearsed for the next hour before eating pizza that we’d ordered from The Peddler. I was on edge, anxious to get back to Ella. I hated leaving her alone after what I’d just done. But I couldn’t skip out on the gig, or Phantom would know without a doubt I’d been with her. I couldn’t have him stopping me from what I had to do.

We played to a packed house, but I couldn’t see anyone but Ella as I sang through our set. By the time our gig ended, I told the guys I was heading off with some bar slut to her apartment so I could go back to Ella.

Ella was asleep, curled up in a ball in the center of the bed. I took off my clothing and crawled in behind her, wrapping my body around hers. She sighed contently in her sleep, and I lay with her in my arms, wide-awake for hours.

Impatient

Chapter 26—Ella

Impatient: restlessly eager

When I awoke, Ryder was already dressed and sitting on a chair, watching me.

“Get ready,” he said. “We have something we need to do.”

“What is it?” I yawned, stretching my back. “You could have woken me up.”

“You looked so peaceful.” His smile caused my cheeks to heat. I pushed from the bed and went to the bathroom to brush my teeth and get ready as quickly as possible. Ryder followed, leaning against the doorframe and watching me in the mirror.

“I need to go get my car. I can’t keep taking the Durango and leaving the guys stranded.”

“Where’s your car?” I spit into the sink and turned on the water to rinse my mouth.

“At my mom’s house. She shouldn’t be home at this time of day.”

I wanted to ask him why he was trying to avoid his mother, but I knew he would tell me if that was information he wanted to share.

By the time I was finished getting ready, Ryder had already called a cab, and it was outside waiting for us. He put our bags in the trunk and held open the door for me to slide into the backseat before getting in beside me.

He gave the driver the address and tapped his fingers on the armrest to the beat of an unfamiliar song as we made our way out of the city area and into Eddlebrook.

“That one.” He pointed to a small, beige, ranch-style house. After paying the driver, he grabbed our bags.

“Just wait right here,” he said as we stepped inside. I stood in the entryway as he disappeared down the hall and through another door. After a few minutes, I was growing impatient and desperately needed to use the bathroom. I walked down the hall and pushed open the door he had gone through.

“Wow, that’s your car?” I stepped closer, and Ryder spun around.

Consequences

Chapter 27—Rellik

Consequences: a result or effect of an action or condition

I felt my chest tighten as she peered inside the old Barracuda, the memories flooding back like a tsunami. Her eyes met mine and I struggled to breath.

“Before we go after Bryce, there’s something I need to tell you.”

Here eyebrows pulled together and I knew she couldn’t think of any secrets bigger than the one we shared about her father.

“What is it?” Her fingers ran along the dark hood of the car as she turned to me, waiting.

“Your father wasn’t the first person I killed.” I swallowed against my tightening throat as her hand went to her chest; a look of confusion marred her beautiful face. She could turn and run from me now and I’d let her go. I didn’t deserve a happily ever after.

“Say something.” I could barely form the words, the betrayal she felt hanging thick and heavy in the air between us.

“You’re sick just like my father.”

“That doesn’t make his crimes any less horrific, Ella.”

“But what does it make you?” She stepped back fractionally, but it was enough for me to notice she was scared, contemplating running. For the first time, someone was looking at the real me, the murderous, vengeful monster who craved retribution.

“Ella.” Her name rolled off my tongue, painfully, as if saying good-bye. “I promise you, I never meant to hurt anyone.” I took a step forward, my hands in front of me, palms facing her to let her know I wasn’t a threat.

“Who did you hurt?” Her voice cracked under the fear, and I wanted to kill myself for making her afraid. She had been through enough, and the last thing I wanted was to hurt her. But I’d be lying to say I didn’t enjoy what I did to her father. Watching the light die out in his eyes satisfied a deep primal need inside me.

“Please don’t be scared of me.”

Her eyes swam, her finger pointed at me as she retreated further. “Don’t. Don’t you dare.”

“Please let me explain.”

“You’re just like my father,” she choked out, a tear spilling over her lashes and rolling down her cheek.

“The father you asked me to kill?”

“It’s not the same.” Her body bowed at the waist, and she was on the verge of becoming ill.

“Why isn’t it? Ella, he was a bad man. I did what you asked of me. I helped you.”

“No.” She shook her head, begging to take back what we’d had together. “No.”

“It’s too late for regret, Ella. Please, just let me explain. Please.” I couldn’t fathom the betrayal she must be feeling. She’d bared herself to me, shared her darkest secrets, and I masqueraded as her hero. I was no better than the monsters in her closet, the monsters in her head.

“Jesus Christ, I’m such a f**king cliché. The girl with daddy issues.” She laughed sardonically.