Denouement (The Darkness Series Book 3) (22 page)

They both watched as West finally surfaced from the hell that had become their town center, covered in dust, ash, blood and grime. He was leading a team of men and after giving them orders, he waved over a few paramedics and the Chief M.E. who had been on the scene for quite some time.

After speaking to them, he held up a hand for them to wait and then headed over to where they were huddled.

“Nora.” He nodded at her. Crouching down, he put his hand on Aubrey’s knee. “We haven’t found her yet. We did find something in the basement, but I need some help to figure out exactly what we’re dealing with before I can give you any concrete answers. I think you should try calling her again, see if you can get her on the phone,” West spoke carefully and clearly.

Aubrey nodded in response but made no move to reach for her phone. He tugged her forward into his arms and let himself breathe in the scent of her. In a world that had turned to destruction and chaos, she was the light, the beacon of hope for the rest of them. He prayed to God that they found her sister in one piece even though the likelihood of that was slim if what he’d seen in the basement was any indication.

His eyes met Nora’s over the top of Aubrey’s head. A silent conversation passed between them and he watched as the realization of what he didn’t want to say sunk in for her. Tears pooled and spilled over as sorrow filled her eyes.

“I’ve got to get back,” he said, reluctant to leave them.

Nora nodded and cradled Aubrey back against her chest. “I’ve got her. Hurry back.” West left them, intercepting Theo, Brady and Sam as they pulled up to the scene.

“It’s bad,” he said, not bothering to sugar coat it. “I could use your help searching the rubble for any other survivors if you’re up for it. We are specifically looking for one person at the moment.”

They agreed immediately, heading to the firetruck to pull on some gear. West turned to rejoin the search, stopping when Theo called out to him.

“West, who are we looking for?”

His face was set in a grim line as he answered. “Autumn.”

*     *     *

Sheriff Brady James
sank heavily into the chair in West’s living room. The weight of the destruction he had just waded through was like lead sitting on his shoulders.

The mayhem.

The loss.

The devastation.

This killer. This sadistic son of a bitch…the lengths he was willing to go to were astonishing.

Brady swiped his arm across his forehead, wiping away the cold sweat that was forming at reliving the crime scene.

This case was threatening to break them all. To shatter any semblance of a life they had managed to build.

They would be lucky if everyone made it out of this one alive.

T
he search for
survivors from the bomb went well into the wee hours of the night. After coaxing Aubrey for what seemed like forever, Nora was finally able to get her to leave the scene and head home. There had been no word from Autumn and with each passing second, it became more and more real that she had been trapped in the theater when the blast occurred. Aubrey was a shell. She moved and spoke, but there was no life inside her. She knew without a doubt that Autumn had died that day, she knew it the moment it happened. A piece of her had died right along with her, blown to bits, eviscerated along with every part of the building. There was nothing left to do now but wait to hear the official word from West.

She sat stiffly in the living room of her home and stared at the wall, unable to move, unable to express any type of emotion. Her sister was dead. Her beautiful, vibrant sister was gone. Her twin, the other half of her soul. Gone without a moment’s notice. She recalled their morning together, the playful teasing they’d done and how Autumn had called out that she loved her before leaving the house. She hadn’t even said it back.

Nora brought her tea and tried to encourage her to eat something but she refused. She walked to the mantel of her brick fireplace and picked up a framed silver photograph of the two of them, it had been taken a few months earlier, a cute selfie with Autumn sticking her tongue out and Aubrey offering a big grin. Her sister had always brought out the best in her. She was the ying to her yang and now she was just gone. Vanished from earth in an instant.

She sat frozen clutching that photo for hours, Nora at her side. She never left her except to tend to the children once or twice, but Greta handled as much as she could to allow Nora to comfort Aubrey.

At three a.m., the front door opened and closed and West, Theo, Brady and Sam came in. They’d known they were coming as Theo had texted to see if they were still awake. They filed into the living room and stood except for West who immediately went to Aubrey’s side and took her ice-cold hand in his.

“Say it fast.” It was the first words Aubrey had spoken in over eight hours. Her voice was dry and raspy and came out as a croak.

“Aubrey…” West began but she cut him off.

“West, please. Say it fast. It was her. In the basement. It was Autumn.”

“We pulled some strings and got confirmation as quick as we could, but yes, Aubrey it was her. I’m so damn sorry, baby. So damn sorry.” He wasn’t ashamed that a lone tear trailed down his cheek as he delivered the news. Autumn was a fantastic woman. She didn’t deserve what happened to her. Her remains…well the very little amount they found—it was deplorable. He was disgusted at what had happened. He’d been the one to find the handcuffs, how those made it through the explosion he didn’t know, but they did and he had no doubt they’d been what had prevented Autumn from escaping before the bomb went off. They suspected it had been attached to her. A horrifying way to die. Not the end that anyone, let alone someone like Autumn deserved to have. They’d had to rely on dental records to identify her and even that had been a stretch as there hadn’t been many that they’d collected. When the results came back he was devastated. He could only imagine how Aubrey felt now.

Aubrey’s head hit her knees and she started to sob. She sobbed for the senseless loss of life she’d seen that day, for the horror she knew her sister would have endured and for the extreme heartache she felt at losing her other half. Images of Autumn danced behind her eyes as she poured out her grief through tears. The first time she’d learned to ride a bike, encouraging Aubrey to hurry up so that they could ride around the town together. The time she’d convinced her to wear high heels to school and then when she’d tripped and spilled her lunch all over herself, how she’d threatened to beat the ass of every single person that laughed at her. She was a magnetic force. The best damn person she’d ever known. And now, just like that, she was gone.

“Where is she now,” she asked between sobs. “I want to see her. I want to see my sister,” she demanded. The three men shared a look. No one knew what to say or how to tell her that there was nothing left for her to see. Nothing but a small pile of ash they’d collected so that Aubrey would have something of her sister’s remains.

“Aubrey,” Brady sat down beside her and pulled her upright. “We’ve taken care of everything for you. You don’t need to worry about a thing. Autumn will come home to you the only way she can now. But I need you to understand that there’s nothing to view. I need you to hear me when I tell you that what’s left now doesn’t matter. What matters is your memories and how much you loved Autumn and she loved you. She never would have left you this way, but this fucker took that choice from her. And believe me when I tell you that we will bury him for this; for you and for her. Do you understand what I’m telling you?”

Aubrey gave a jerky nod. No body. There was no body because there was nothing left. Nothing left to bury in a grave for her to visit. She was just gone. Just gone. Just gone.

“I understand. I’d like to be alone now, please.” She stood and walked to the sliding patio doors, looking out into the night.

“Aubrey, no. I’m sorry but I’ll be staying the night tonight as will Theo, Brady and Sam. We all need to be together right now,” West told her. He went to her and wrapped her in his arms, feeling her tremble and shake.

“Let me take you to lie down. Tomorrow we will face what’s coming together. But for tonight, let me just hold you. I need to hold you, Aubrey. Please don’t shut me out.”

Aubrey turned in his arms and buried her head in her chest, her sobs starting up again. Each one tore from her chest in agony and she clutched at his shirt as her heart broke all over him. Unable to stand it, he scooped her up in his arms and carried her from the room. “Lock up,” he called over his shoulder.

The days following the explosion were heartbreaking. Aubrey went through the motions of planning Autumn’s funeral, trying to do her best by her sister. Autumn would have wanted an affair to be remembered, but Aubrey couldn’t bring herself to plan any kind of a spectacle. In the end, she decided on a tasteful service at the town’s small church, followed by a wake in her home. There would be no burial, she would keep Autumn’s ashes and had selected a beautiful sand coloured urn to hold the last existence of her sister. She’d arranged for a plaque to be engraved and placed in the cemetery, knowing that she needed that place that she could go and visit her sister when she needed.

Six people died in the explosion, Autumn included. Several others had been seriously injured or disabled; some having lost vital limbs. Countless more had only minor scrapes and bruises. Those being the luckiest out of the survivors.

On the day of Autumn’s funeral, Aubrey sat in her bedroom wishing like hell she didn’t have to go through what she was about to. Their mother had abandoned them when they were infants and their father had died a few years earlier. While he’d done his best, the girls had always only really had each other. He’d been heartbroken over his wife leaving him and never got over it. The twins were a constant reminder of just what he’d lost. Now that Autumn was gone, she was completely and utterly alone.

She stood and looked in the mirror, smoothing down the front of her black lace dress. Autumn would have approved of it as it was one of hers. She’d paired it with her sister’s favorite silver necklace and tiny diamond studs. She’d be wearing flats; a fact that Autumn would have argued until she was blue in the face, but Aubrey needed to be comfortable. She couldn’t risk tripping over her own feet on top of everything else that she was going to endure today.

There was a gentle knock on the door and Nora poked her head in. “Hey, honey. You look lovely. Are you ready to come downstairs?”

“No. No I’m really not. But I’m coming. Just give me a minute,” she offered a small smile for Nora’s benefit. Nora returned it sympathetically and then closed the door again, giving her the moment alone she’d asked for.

Aubrey closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “You can do this, Aubs.” She deliberately called herself by Autumn’s nickname for her. “You can do this for her.”

The minister performed a lovely service at the church, or so Aubrey was later told. She didn’t hear a word of his sermon. She sat staring at the blown-up photos of Autumn and her friends. She’d always had the biggest smile out of anyone in the bunch. Next were the ones of the two of them. Her favorite was the one of them dressed exactly the same for Halloween. They’d done “switchies” that year as Autumn always called it, going to each other’s classes and trying to fool their teachers. Their arms were wrapped tight around their waists and their cheeks were smushed together as they grinned for the camera. At the last second before the flash went off, Autumn had winked. A sassy look that was just so her. The large framed photos circled a wooden table that was covered in roses and lilies. In the middle stood the urn that held Autumn’s remains—a shrine to a life lost too soon.

“Aubrey? Aubrey, honey—it’s time for your eulogy.” Nora broke her out of her thoughts. She nodded and stood, walking slowly to the front of the church. Stepping up to the podium, she looked out into the sea of faceless people, feeling numb. She cleared her throat and began.

“I’d like to thank everyone for coming today. The outpouring of support and love you’ve shown for my sister over these past few horrific days have been very comforting. I know Autumn would have appreciated it very much, as do I.