Author: Teresa Mummert

The miles drifted by painfully slowly, and by the time I had reached the old, dilapidated farm house, I realized I didn’t have my gun or any way to defend myself, but one look at Connor’s car in the driveway and I knew I had no choice but to go in. I threw my car into park and got out, storming toward the front porch without bothering to close my door behind me. The property had no fence or outbuildings. If Taylor was here, he was alone. I pulled open the door and glanced around. The furniture was old and mismatched, and garbage littered the floor. A sound from the second floor got my attention, and I took the stairs three at a time. I glanced at the three doors in front of me.

“The prodigal son returns,” Taylor called out from in front of me, and I walked cautiously toward the open door. “Isn’t this a pleasant family reunion?”

My eyes went to Annie, whose hands were tied behind her back. Her feet were also bound, and the rope running up her back held them together as she lay on her side on a filthy single bed. Her face was red and damp from crying, and blood oozed from a cut on her forehead. She was still clothed, but her tank top strap was torn and her jeans unbuttoned.

“I’m sorry,” she sobbed, and my heart cracked. I took a step forward, and Taylor waved the gun at me, forcing me to stop. I looked to him, his hair slightly longer and graying along the sides, but other than that he was the same sick son of a bitch he was before, only now he didn’t have an army of followers to hide behind.

“She’s not sorry yet, Colin. But she will be. We were just waiting for you to show up. It’s not a party without you. You remember, don’t you?”

“Shut up.”

“That’s no way to talk to your father.” He ran his palm over his dingy, yellowing shirt.

Annie’s eyes widened, and my stomach rolled as the truth was exposed.

“Shut up,” I bit out.

“You never told her? I raised you better than that. Your mother’s necklace was a nice touch.”

I glanced at the silver cross that hung from her neck onto the bed. Taylor smiled as he reached down and ran his finger over her collarbone, tracing the silver chain. She squeezed her eyes closed as a sob ripped from her chest.

“Don’t touch her.” I swallowed against the lump in my throat as I held up my hand to him. “It’s supposed to be me, remember?”

Taylor stood, cocking his head to the side as he thought about my words. “All this time you’ve had her.”

“I couldn’t let her go.” My gaze darted to Annie and I could see that she was now questioning me, and it killed me inside. “I knew…” I summoned all of my courage to speak the vile words he was waiting to hear. “I knew one day we would find you again.”

“You left on one hell of a parting note,” he said skeptically.

“I couldn’t let you have her. She was mine.” The words made my physically ill and the pain in her eyes radiated throughout my entire body.

Taylor’s tongue ran out over his lips as he smiled. “Then let’s not keep her waiting.”

I held both hands up to show him I wasn’t going to harm him as I stepped closer to the bed. “I want to untie her first.”

“No,” he snapped as he squared his gun. “She stays like this.”

“Okay.” I nodded and took another slow step towards her until my shins pressed against the mattress. This was my punishment for all the things I had done wrong. I was naïve to think that saving Annie would wipe the slate clean. Now I would have to hurt the one person I cared about to protect her. “Annie,” I sank down to eye level with her, her eyebrows pulled together and pleading with me to help her.

“Please help me, please,” she begged, and I forced myself to not show any emotion.

“I told you I wasn’t the good guy, little one.”

“Colin.” I’d never heard her sound so small and fragile, and I knew her fear wasn’t just for Taylor anymore.

“Idle hands do the devil’s work,” Taylor called out with a little too much enthusiasm. “You’re stalling.”

I stood up and my hands went to the button of my jeans as the cold metal end of the gun pressed into my arm. “I’m savoring the moment.” I’d hoped the police wouldn’t be so far behind me, but I knew there was never any saving me.

All the years I was worried I would rub off on Annabel, but it was she who had changed me, and now I would betray her. That is when I saw it, the familiar red light of a camera perched on top of a tripod beside an old broken dresser. If none of us made it out of this room, at least the truth would.

“Have you filled Annie in on what really happened to her mother?” I asked, and I couldn’t look her in the eye even though she already knew the truth.

He laughed from behind me, the barrel of the gun slipping from my flesh. “She put up a good fight.”

Annie began to mumble a prayer under her breath, her words coming so rapidly I couldn’t make them out.

“Your mother prayed just like that before I sent her to meet her God.”

“Say it. Tell her what you did to her.”

“I sacrificed her for you. I got her out of the way so Annabel could be yours.”

“Where is she buried?” I asked, my jaw clenched as I struggled to maintain my composure.

“Why?” he asked skeptically.

“So I can show Annabel what happens if she doesn’t obey me.”

Annie’s voice grew a little louder, and she kept her eyes closed tightly.

“She wasn’t buried.” A wicked laugh escaped his throat. “It’s very expensive to feed so many mouths. We made do with what we had.”

“What about my mother?” I turned to face him, and his smile faded.

“She didn’t share our vision.”

My eyes narrowed as I looked to the gun and back to his face. He raised it slightly. He could get one shot before I had my hands around his neck. It would be worth it. This is the way it should have ended that night at the commune. Annie should have been the only one to walk away, and now it was time to right that wrong of our past. As if reading my mind, Taylor turned the gun to Annie.

“You think she is worth dying for? Is it worth her death to get revenge from me?”

I looked down at the beautiful broken girl, shaking and terrified.

The sound of sirens crept closer, and I watched Taylor's eyes dance around the room, his hand shaking under the weight of the gun.

“You won’t make it out of here alive.” I wanted my chance to kill him myself. If I didn’t act now, I wouldn’t have the opportunity.

“I’m at peace with that, son. I’m ready to meet my maker…but I’m taking one of you with me.” He took aim back at me.

“Police,” called someone from below.

Taylor turned the gun on Annie and pressed it against her forehead. “You go out there.”

I searched her beautiful green eyes, red-rimmed and swollen. “If you hurt her, I’ll take my time, make you suffer. I have a very good imagination.”

“You always did.” He grinned, and I wanted to lunge across the room. “Go,” he whisper-yelled, pressing the barrel harder against her skin and causing her to whimper.

“Come out with your hands in the air,” someone called out. I raised my hands in front of me and turned to walk out of the room. I stood at the top of the stairs as they barked orders. I slowly descended, and a few steps from the bottom I was grabbed, and handcuffs snapped hard against my wrists.

“You son of a bitch.” Jacob came through the door, his fist cocked back. He swung, connecting with my jaw before another officer was able to restrain him. The taste of copper filled my mouth. “You fucking sick son of a bitch!” He was pointing at me, screaming.

“He’s upstairs. He has a gun pointed at Annie.” My eyes locked with the cop who had just finished putting on my cuffs.

“Who?” Jacob looked as helpless as I felt.

“My father.”

“Take him,” he told another officer, and held out his weapon as he made his way to the second floor.

Annie cried loudly, and Taylor began to quote scriptures as the cop demanded he lower his weapon. I sat on my knees, hands restrained as I tilted my head toward the ceiling and began to say a silent prayer for her safety. It was the first time I had ever said the words and hoped that someone was listening. I didn’t deserve redemption, but Annabel was innocent. She deserved mercy.

When the gunfire rang out, I could do nothing except hang my head, my world ending in the moment she screamed. A growl resonated from deep inside my chest, and crippling pain from my heart breaking left me paralyzed. Jacob yelled and struggled against the other cop, and time seemed to slow to a near standstill. I couldn’t breathe or move until I heard her cry, and I inhaled, pushing to my feet and stumbling up the stairs in a daze.

Chapter 24 - Annabel

“Shh,” Colin whispered, and my eyes fluttered open as he lifted me into his arms. We began moving toward the stairs, and I placed my face against his warm chest, his heart thudding rhythmically beneath my touch, and I let my eyes fall closed again.

The police were questioning him, but he stared down at me, unable to speak, and his silence spoke volumes. He slowly lowered me to the floor, and an officer began untying my wrists and ankles while he cradled my head from the hard floor, my clothes spattered with his father’s blood. I glanced over at the red cuts like rings around his wrists from the restraints he had worn moments ago.

“I want to hear her say you weren’t a part of this.” Jacob was seething, and I couldn’t blame him. I knew how this must have looked. Colin swallowed hard, his eyes swimming, and I knew he was blaming himself. I shouldn’t have lied to him about coming to see him, and I should have made sure he knew I wasn’t upset at him. Had Taylor succeeded in killing me, Jacob would have carried that guilt for the rest of his life. The secrets had to end.

“It wasn’t him, Jacob. He saved me. Twice.” As my hands were freed, I looped them around Colin’s neck, clinging to him as if he was as vital as the air in my lungs.

“The rumors.” He took a step back, dumbfounded.

“We’re not related,” Colin spoke up, but his eyes never left mine.

“That explains why you didn’t bat an eye about Nat.”

“Jacob…” My voice trailed off, unable to stop my mind from racing.

“Jacob, that’s enough. We need to take their statement.” His father put a hand on his shoulder, and Jacob nodded, confusion marring his face.

I didn’t even remember the trip to the police station. Jacob came with his father and even though I knew he didn’t understand, he refused to leave until he was certain I was going to be alright. Everyone was treating me as if I was going to crack under their stares, but I was numb and it felt incredible to not feel.

I recounted the story of my short-lived time at the commune as everyone watched me, wide-eyed and mouths agape. I refused to let go of Colin, and even Jacob sat on my other side and held my hand.

Everyone had heard about Taylor on the news when his commune was raided, but it was big news to have it brought to their doorstep.

Colin opted to tell his story behind closed doors, and I reluctantly pried my fingers from his, immediately feeling empty from his lack of touch.

Jacob squeezed my hand painfully tight and it felt like my bones might snap, but I welcomed feeling anything, even if it was pain.

“I should have known something was wrong,” Jacob said to no one in particular.

“How could you have known, Jake? I didn’t tell anyone.” I shook my head. “None of this is your fault.”

“It’s not yours either.” His eyes met mine.

“I know.”

“Do you?”