Deadly Obsession (22 page)

Shit.
“Yeah.” He slowed down next to the empty vehicle and put the car into gear. As he cut the engine, he unbuckled his seatbelt and shifted to look at Vanessa and Jordan. “The cabin is only a few minutes from here. We’re going to stick to this path. When we reach the clearing, we’re going to surround the cabin. Vanessa, you take the front, I’ll take the back, and Jordan, you’re going to be static. The east side of the cabin has more windows so stick to that side.”

“What if…what if he’s got Lilly?” Vanessa asked.

“There’s no guarantee either one of them is here, but if they are, use as much force as necessary to bring him down. If James tries to use her as a hostage, don’t be afraid to take a kill shot.” Even saying his brother’s name left a bitter taste in his mouth. They’d never been particularly close, but to learn his own flesh and blood was a monster left a foreign sickness inside him. He knew he needed to stay focused to save Lilly but the images of what his brother had done to all those women flashed in his mind. The pictures seemed more vivid now that he had a face to the man who’d actually killed them all. How could they even be related? Braden remembered his brother as a competitive jock who sometimes lost his temper but he never could have imagined he’d be capable of all this.

Braden didn’t know that he could ever forgive himself if something happened to Lilly. Especially after she’d tried to warn him about James.

They half jogged, half ran down the deserted stretch of road. Time seemed to tick by at a snail’s pace. Horrible scenarios raced through his mind. Rape and torture. It’s what James had done to all those women. What if Lilly was dead—No! He grasped onto a tiny ray of hope and increased his pace. God wouldn’t be so cruel as to bring her back into his life only to rip her away again. He just couldn’t.

As they neared the clearing the three of them slowed their pace. His breath caught when he spotted the cabin. The lights were on.

He glanced at Vanessa and Jordan. They both nodded and the three of them crept toward the cabin. The yellow light streaming from a few of the cabin windows gave them decent navigation. Using as much of the forest as he could to stay camouflaged, he rounded the house until he was near the edge of the back porch.

Jordan was in position and since he couldn’t see Vanessa, Braden knew she had to be on the other side of the house. He started to motion to Jordan when a piercing scream sliced the quiet night.

Lilly!

Lilly stared at her captor through narrowed eyes but she wasn’t really focusing on him. Not when she wore only her underwear and was on her back tied spread eagle to a coffee table at the mercy of a monster. She couldn’t bear to look directly at his face. His shirt was off and his jeans were unbuttoned at the top. A sick reminder of what he planned to do to her. And looking at his face only made things worse. She thought she’d gotten over what happened in high school but seeing him again increased her terror. She hated that he looked like he should be on the cover of
GQ.
Serial killing rapists weren’t supposed to be attractive or good looking. They were supposed to be scary and ugly.

As she tried to move, splinters of pain dotted the back of her head, back and ribs. She didn’t remember him dragging her back to the cabin but he obviously hadn’t been very gentle.

“I’ve been waiting a long time to get you in this position.” James’s high pitch laugh resonated off the walls of the small cabin eerily.

From her position on the coffee table she watched as he stalked across the room and pulled out a half-empty bottle of what looked like whiskey. Trying not to make any sudden movements, she attempted to shift her arms to see if she could loosen the ties. They didn’t budge.

As he calmly poured himself a drink, a feeling of utter helplessness overwhelmed her. She wished he’d just shot her out in the woods. Her arms were already numbing from the lack of circulation and a cold sweat had descended over her entire body.

She vowed to stay as strong as she could. This sick freak craved her fear and the thought of giving him what he wanted made her nauseous. For some reason he’d stripped her when she’d been passed out but had left her panties on. Maybe this was some stupid psychological game he liked to play.

“Why’d you kill all those women connected to me and your brother?”

“Why not?” he said the question so calmly.

Keep him talking.
“Why’d you drag your brother into this? He never did anything to you.”

“Because fuck the golden boy! Everyone thought he was so fucking perfect, even you.”

Out of the corner of her eye she thought she saw a flash of movement by one of the windows but knew she must have imagined it. No one was coming for her. She was all alone and she was going to die at the hands of a madman. And nobody would ever know who had killed her because she’d been stupid enough to come out here on her own.

Her right arm throbbed from where he’d cut her when she’d been passed out. She wanted to ignore the pain but it was damn near impossible. “Why are you doing this? After all these years, why come after me?” Talking was the only thing keeping her focused. She knew she couldn’t talk James out of anything, but she wanted answers before she died. And maybe it would give Braden enough time to find her. Even though she hated clinging onto that tiny hope, it was all she had.

“The time wasn’t right.” He took a swig straight from the bottle and slammed it down.

She wasn’t looking directly at him, but in the next instant he turned his full attention on her. She could feel his penetrating, empty gaze on her as he continued. “Now the time is most definitely right. No one to hear you scream and no one to interrupt me. I’m going to finish what I started ten years ago.”

Lilly’s stomach twisted and rolled as he withdrew the knife from his belt holster. Instinctively she squeezed her eyes shut as if that could somehow block out the terror and pain.

Just as quickly she opened them. Not knowing what was coming would be worse. He slowly walked toward her, the knife glinting off the dull lights of the cabin.

Lilly squirmed against the unforgiving restraints. The harder she struggled, the worse the bindings cut into her skin. Her throat seized up as he tipped his glass and sloshed the amber liquid over her stomach and breasts.

Though the fluid was warm, it chilled her straight to her core. Goosebumps rose all over her skin and her nipples hardened. She glanced away in shame, hating James with every bone in her body.

“Watch or I’ll slice you open right now.” James’s words didn’t cause her to turn, but when she felt the edge of his knife over her hipbone, she bit back her humiliation and forced herself to meet his gaze.

His dark eyes stared back at her, hollow and soulless. With a smirk, he ran the flat edge of his knife along her hip until he hooked underneath the strap of her underwear. Flicking it over toward the blade side, he quickly sliced upward. The material made a soft snicking sound as it snapped apart. As cool air rushed over her most private area, she fought the bile rising in her throat.

“I spent sixty-six days in that military school because of you. I’ve been waiting a long time to do this.” Digging the knife into her lower abdomen, he made a shallow cut across her stomach to the bottom of one of her breasts.

She bit down on her tongue so hard she tasted blood.

“That’s okay. You’ll scream soon enough.” He grabbed one of her breasts and pinched her nipple.

She tried to twist away from him, from his vile touch.

“Nowhere to go, slut.” His words were angry and hard this time.

Make him talk. Make him lose focus. “Why did you try to frame Greg? Or was he your partner?” Tears rolled down her face as she asked the question but she forced back a cry of pain when he squeezed her harder. The feel of his hand on her was enough to make her vomit. Bile rose in her throat but she swallowed it back down.

Letting her go, he idly twisted the knife in his hand. “Greg deserves anything that happens to him. I figured if I threw the cops a bone it would throw them off my trail even if you somehow convinced Braden I was alive. And it was fun to fuck with my brother. Watching you guys chase after Greg was priceless.”

Her breast hurt but at least he wasn’t touching her. She kept her focus on that. “You knew Braden wouldn’t believe me.” And who would have? She wanted to be angry at Braden for that but couldn’t. He might not have believed her but he’d still been willing to hunt down leads after they’d caught Murphy. He’d known there had to be someone else involved.

James didn’t respond as he laid the tip of the blade against her outstretched wrist. Bypassing her vein, he ran it along her skin until settling against the side of her arm. Digging into her skin again, he made a deeper cut than before and ran it all the way up to her inner arm.

This time she did scream. She couldn’t hold it back. It felt like red hot fire blistered down her arm.

As more unbidden tears leaked out of her eyes, he leaned down until he was close to her ear. His hot breath on her skin made her dry heave. “I came pretty close to catching you before. Once. Now I’m glad I had to wait.”

Blinking, she shook her head. She needed him to talk. When he was talking, he wasn’t cutting her. “You’ve never come close.”

He made a low growling sound deep in his throat and punched her across the face. She grunted as her head jerked to the side. Her jaw stung but this pain was better than the blade. She’d had her leg broken with a pipe before. She could take a punch. Spots danced in front of her eyes as he spoke. “How do you think I got all those pictures of you at the beach? You were never alone though and then you were gone again. Always fucking traveling,” he muttered.

“But why’d you kill all those women if this is about me?” she gasped out. Her jaw throbbed and talking hurt.

“They deserved what they got! I might want you dead but I’m not going to stop with you. It took a few years but I’ve finally perfected the art of killing. I knew it was time to come home. Killing the whores connected to Braden was a bonus. Just because he was the oldest our parents gave him everything,” he spat.

They’d given James everything too but Lilly didn’t voice that. “That’s not your brother’s fault.”

He slapped her face this time. Pain fractured her skull and she grunted from the forceful impact. Wrong choice of words. “Nothing’s his fault right? My mom even blamed me for what happened between me and you. You were always around flaunting yourself in front of me. I wanted a taste of what Braden had but you ruined everything. If you hadn’t screamed they’d have never sent me to that shithole of a school.”

The man was completely delusional. She’d talked to sociopaths before but nobody on this level.

Foreign sounds from outside gave her hope. Before she had time to register what she was hearing, the back door flew open and slammed against the interior wall with a sickening bang.

“Drop the knife!” Her heart nearly leapt out of her chest at the sound of Braden’s voice.

Moving with a surprising quickness, James dove behind the coffee table near where her head lay. He pressed the knife to her neck. The blade pushed against her flesh but he didn’t draw blood.

Yet.

She knew he wouldn’t hesitate to, though.

From her flat position Lilly could partially see Braden, but James was blocking most of her view. Even when she’d been rescued in Africa, nothing compared to the hope and relief coursing through her now. She choked back a sob, not wanting to distract Braden.

“I’m not going to jail, Sheriff.” James’s words were monotone.

“Put down the knife.” Braden’s voice was icy calm.

“Why couldn’t you leave well enough alone? She’s a dirty whore. Never did understand why you wanted her,” James ground out.

“Drop it or I’ll shoot. Don’t think because we’re blood that I won’t.”

“Oh, I know that you will. Did precious Lilly ever tell you how she came on to me in high school?” His voice was taunting and high-pitched. As he spoke, he cut one of her hands free.

At first she wondered what he was doing then realized he was probably going to take her as a hostage. She’d rather die than go anywhere with him. Silently she prayed Braden kept him talking.

“Are you talking about when you tried to
rape
her?” Braden’s voice dripped with disgust as he took a few steps closer.

“Is that what she told you?”

“Damn it, James! What the hell happened to you? How’d you even survive that crash?” Even though Lilly could hear a twinge of anguish in Braden’s voice, she hoped he was only trying to stall him.

“I have more survival skills than you give me credit for, big brother.” He cut the other binding free. “Sit up slowly or I cut your throat and Braden gets to watch you bleed out,” he whispered in her ear.

Her arms tingled as blood started circulating again. Blood dripped down her stomach and arm as she sat up. His breath was hot on her neck as she did. With one hand he grabbed her around the waist and with the other he kept the knife pressed against her throat.

“Why’d you fake your own death?” Braden asked as James snarled in her ear.

“Why not?” James bit out. “I didn’t want any ties to my old life. No one to answer to and no one suspected me of
anything
this past year. I like being a ghost. After this, I’ll disappear again.” When James dug his hand into the wound on her stomach she groaned at the fresh shot of pain.

“Put down the knife,
now!
” Braden shouted.

“I’m afraid I can’t do that, big brother.” For a moment he moved his hand from around her waist and she heard him rustling behind her.

She risked a glance at Braden. She hated that she was naked and bloody and still half tied up for him to see. But Braden wasn’t looking at her. All his attention was on the spot directly behind her shoulder.

On James.

Braden had a laserlike focus as he stared at his brother. “There’s no way out of here, James. Put the knife down and we’ll get you the help you need.”

Help? She’d known Braden long enough that she knew he was full of shit. This guy was either leaving in a body bag or going to jail. There would be no “help” for him. Not after what he’d done.

James heard the lie in his voice too. “I don’t need any help. I’m going to walk right out of here with Lilly and you’re going to let me.”

“Why would you think that?” he asked calmly.

“If you don’t let me, I’ll slit her throat right now. You can watch your precious Lilly die.” He dug his fingers into her stomach again making her want to double over in pain but with the tight grip he had on her throat she couldn’t move. She sucked in a ragged breath. For a brief moment he released her then placed something small in her hand. A pocket knife. “Slowly lean forward and cut the bindings on your ankles. Try anything and you’re dead.”

He couldn’t move around her without exposing himself to Braden’s line of fire. But if she leaned forward to cut herself free, he’d still be blocked.

Smart thinking.

But he’d still given her a knife, however small it was. With shaking hands she leaned forward and snipped the first wire. Then the second. With slow movements, she drew her legs together. It felt like pins and needles pricked the bottom of her feet as blood rushed to them again. At least she had mobility.

“You’re going to stay right where you are while I leave with Lilly here,” he said to Braden.

“There’s nowhere you can run that I won’t find you.”

James laughed quietly. “I’ve been off the radar for a long time. Either I kill Lilly now or you see if you can hunt us down.”

Lilly wasn’t going anywhere with him. His grip across her stomach tightened. “Drop the knife and slowly get off the table.”

She swung her legs off the side but instead of getting up she took the only chance she might have. With what little strength she had left she jabbed his hand.

She didn’t know if he was startled or hurt but he jerked back. The pressure on her neck loosened and she took her one opportunity.

Too weak to dive away from him, she fell forward and rolled off the coffee table. She hit the floor with a thud and didn’t bother biting back a moan of pain.

Lilly shut her eyes and tensed for the coming impact. The muscles in her arms and legs corded tightly as she readied for him to stab her in the back. Either Braden made the shot or she was dead. Earsplitting cracks reverberated around her, then a loud thud sounded right next to her.

Her eyes flew open and she risked looking where she’d heard the sound.

She had a clear view of James’s motionless body on the floor only a few feet away from her. His dark eyes were wide open, staring lifelessly at the ceiling. Immediately she wrapped her arms around her bare breasts. The man was dead, but she still felt exposed. Before she could blink, Braden had draped his jacket around her shoulders.