The Wreck (38 page)

As Matt tied him, Brian kept his eyes on
Carly, willing her to stay strong no matter what. He winced when Matt pulled
his arms straight back and tightened a rope around his wrists. “Why are you
doing this? My dad thinks of you as one of his closest friends.”

“Your
dad
is an idiot who would’ve
lost that lofty job of his years ago without me. I’ve spent my whole career
making him look good.”

“He would never deny that.”

Matt snorted with disgust. “So then why
is he the chief and I’m just a peon?”

“You would’ve been the next chief. You
know that.”

“He’ll never retire. They’ll have to cart
him out of there in a pine box. By then I’ll be too old to give a shit.”

“Why did you kill Sam and the others?”

Matt’s smile was affable, almost
friendly. “I never intended to kill him. I just wanted to make one of you
perfect Westbury boys look bad. I was so sick and tired of listening to your
father go on and on about how great the two of you were. It was enough to make
me puke. Brian this, Sam that. Who the fuck cares?”

“You were in the road,” Brian said. “I
saw you.”

“I guess you were a better driver than
your brother. I wanted one of you to crash the car so your old man would shut
the fuck up about the two of you. The car bursting into flames with all those
jocks and cheerleaders inside was a bonus. I was only sorry the golden boy and
his whore weren’t with them.”

Carly whimpered.

The blast of rage had Brian wishing he
could lash out. He had no doubt he could beat this man to death if he hadn’t
been tied to a fucking chair.

Forcing himself to think like a
prosecutor, Brian pressed on, knowing his father would need the answers. “Why
every five years?”

“People forget a lot in five years’ time.
I have to give your old man credit, though. He figured out the pattern.”

“I guess he’s not as much of an idiot as
you give him credit for being.”

Matt took a fistful of Brian’s hair and
pulled hard. “Stay quiet or I’ll gag you, got me?”

Brian nodded and had to bite back a
scream when Matt turned and approached Carly. She inched back on the bed.

Matt tugged roughly on her arm. “Get up.”

“If it’s Chief Westbury you hate so much,
then what do you want with me?” she asked.

Matt’s eyes glittered, and Brian realized
he was staring at true evil. The shock of it was almost debilitating.

“What do you
think
I want with
you?” He ran his hands over Carly’s bare arms and cupped her breasts. “Take off
your clothes.”

“No!” Brian cried.

“
Shut the fuck up!
The only reason
you’re still alive is so you can watch your whore get it on with a real man.
So
shut up!”
He turned back to Carly. “I said to take off your clothes, and
hurry up about it, or I’ll tie you to the bed and cut them off like I did with
the others. Is that how you want it?”

Carly shook her head and reached for the
top button to her blouse.

“When was the last time you did him?”
Matt asked, nodding at Brian.

“Earlier tonight.”

“How did you do it? Was he on top or were
you? I know you like to be on top. I used to watch you under the willow.”

Brian strained against the rope, which
cut into his wrists. It was tied so tight, there was no way he could free
himself. As he watched Carly’s hands shake as she unbuttoned her blouse, Brian
wished Matt had shot him. He’d rather be dead than have to watch this.

“He was on top,” she said.

“Did you do it just once?”

“Twice. The second time in the shower.”

He grabbed her hair and pulled hard to
tip her face up. “You’re as much of a whore as you always were, aren’t you?”

“I’m not a whore. He’s the only man I’ve
ever made love with.”

“He
was
the only man. Tonight
you’re finally going to have a
real
man.” Kneading her bottom with a
bruising grip, he lifted her against his enormous erection.

Carly swallowed hard. “Why are you doing
this? What do you have against me?”

“You remind me of someone I used to know.
A long time ago.”

“Who was she?”

That’s the way, Carly
, Brian thought.
Keep him talking
.

“Someone just like you—a pretty
cheerleader who went around acting like her shit didn’t stink and giving it up
to a jock in the back of his daddy’s car.”

“You loved her,” Carly said.

“
I hated her
. She was the first
person I ever killed. Melissa Spellman back in Milwaukee. Funny how she became
a whore when she figured out I’d kill her if she didn’t give me what I wanted.
She looked just like you—right down to the curls. It was a great pleasure to
take what I wanted from her and then kill her.”

“Why did you kill Alicia?”

“Just like Melissa and that girl in
Pawtucket, she didn’t respect me, so I didn’t have any choice. The others
respected me, so I let them live.”

All Brian could think about as he watched
Matt Collins’s hands roam all over Carly was
where the fuck are the cops
?

Matt squeezed her breasts. Hard.

Tears filled Carly’s eyes. “Why do you
have to hurt me? I’m not fighting you or disrespecting you.”

“You will. They all do eventually.”

“Is that why you became a police officer?
For the respect?”

Matt seemed startled by her insight.
“That’s exactly why. You’d be surprised how people fall into line when it’s a
cop telling them what to do.” He unbuttoned his white uniform shirt and pulled
it loose from his pants. After putting his service revolver and handcuffs on
the bedside table, Matt unbuckled his pants. He caught Carly staring at his
rampant erection. “Feel it.”

She reached out to put her hand on him.

“How does that measure up to the jock
over there?”

“It’s impressive.” Her voice was dull and
impassive. “I’m sure you’ve left many women well satisfied.”

“A few.” He started to ease the top off
her shoulders.

Carly stiffened. “Don’t. Please.”

Tears blinded Brian.
Where the fuck
are the cops?

Matt stared at her breasts. “Nice, perky
tits. Bigger than I remember from the willow, but I like them this way. Melissa
had great big tits she let that asshole jock suck on for hours.” Matt licked
his lips in anticipation.

She finally looked over at Brian, and the
pleading in her eyes tore at his soul.

“Matt!” Brian cried. “They’re going to
find us. Why don’t you just stop this and get the hell out of here before you
get caught?”

Matt turned eyes filled with hate toward
Brian. “They won’t catch me. They’re too fucking stupid to realize only someone
on the inside would know how to commit the perfect crime—over and over and over
again. They’ve got nothing on me.” With his eyes still fixed on Brian, Matt
gripped Carly’s arms.

When she cried out in pain, Brian had no
choice but to look away.

Matt’s laughter echoed through the small
room. “Look at the golden boy now. The great and powerful prosecutor can’t even
take care of his own fiancée. Must be a terrible disappointment to find out
that despite what your asshole father thinks of you, you’re as human as the
next guy, huh?”

As Brian fought against the ropes, a warm
trickle of blood pooled in the palm of his hand.

“How do you like it?” Carly asked.

Brian’s head whipped up to find her
focused on Matt, running her finger through his thick chest hair. The only sign
of the tension that must have been coursing through her was her other hand,
which was curled into a fist behind her back. His heart racing, he strained for
a better look at her hand.
Holy shit!
She’s got the pepper spray!

“Do you like to be on the bottom or the
top?” she asked Matt.

“The bottom,” Matt said, all but panting
for her.

“Then get on the bed.”

Oh God
.
Carly! Do it now! Spray him!
Brian struggled
fiercely against the ropes and almost passed out from the pain of them ripping
into his bloody wrists.

With her top hanging open, Carly crawled
onto the bed and straddled Matt.

His eyes lit up with unrestrained lust.
“You’re not what I expected,” he rasped.

“I’m a whore,” she said in a low, throaty
voice. “Isn’t that what you said?”

Good, baby. That’s good. Distract him.

Matt reached up to cup her breasts, and
Brian fought back the urge to howl. “All you cheerleader types are whores.
There’s not one of you who’s different.”

“Then why are you surprised I want it as
much as you do?” she asked, positioning a hand on either side of his head.

“What about him?” Matt asked.

“Don’t worry about him. I’ll take care of
him.”

“I don’t want to have to kill you,
Missy.”

Brian almost stopped breathing.

Matt’s cheeks were wet with tears as he combed
his fingers through Carly’s long hair. “I want you to love me.
Why can’t you
love me?
Why do you have to give yourself to someone who doesn’t care about
you? He only wants your body.” He pulled at the Carly’s shorts. “Take them off
so I can make love to you. Let me love you, Missy.”

Carly brought her hands back to do as he
asked.

In the next instant, Matt let out a wild
shriek.

Carly leaped off the bed and grabbed
Matt’s handcuffs, her hands shaking wildly as she secured one end to his wrist
and the other around the brass bedpost.

With his free hand, Matt clawed at his
eyes.
“You fucking whore!”

Glancing over her shoulder to make sure
Matt wasn’t going anywhere, Carly dashed to Brian, knelt before him, and went
to work on the knots at his ankles. Her hands were trembling so hard that she
was all thumbs.

“
Hurry
, honey.”

“I’m
trying
,” she cried, “but
they’re so tight!” She looked around the cabin in desperate need of something
to cut the ropes. “I don’t know if I can do it.”

Matt’s screams faded into sobs.

A burst of adrenaline made Brian’s heart
pound so hard he was certain it would explode.

Carly grabbed a candle and rushed to a
dark corner of the cabin. “There’s a kitchen over here!”

He heard her rattling around before she
came running back, carrying a butcher knife.

She put down the candle, quickly cut his
legs loose, and then scooted behind him. “Oh, Bri. Oh, God, look at your arms!”

“I’m fine.” He grabbed her hand. “Let’s
get the hell out of here.”

“You fucking whore!”
Matt screamed, the handcuffs clanking
against the brass headboard.
“Just like all the others!”
He dissolved
into tears. “Just like all the others.”

Brian and Carly dashed into the darkness.

She screamed when strong arms embraced
her.

“It’s okay,” Nathan Barclay said, holding
her tight against him. “The place is surrounded by SWAT. You’re safe.”

“Brian needs medical care. His wrists are
bleeding.”

“What I need first is this.” Brian
reached for her. “You saved our lives, Carly. You were so incredible in there.
So incredibly brave.”

Carly clung to him and finally fell
apart.

They stood like that for a long time,
both trying to absorb that their long nightmare was over. The monster had been
caught, Sam’s name would be cleared, and there was nothing—and no one—left to
fear.

“Where’s my dad?” Brian asked Nate.

“He was right here a second ago.” Nate
turned on a large flashlight and shined it at the cabin.

Michael stood in the doorway, his back to
them.

Nate bolted toward the cabin. “Mike!
Wait!
Don’t!”

A gunshot pierced the night.

C
arly rested her head on Brian’s shoulder.

“Do you think it’s over for now?” He ran
a damp paper towel over her forehead. “We can take a later flight if you don’t
feel up to going.”

“That should be it for today,” she said,
weak and depleted after a vicious bout of vomiting.

“How long did you say this went on with
Zoë?”

“Three full months.”

“You’ve got to be kidding.”

“I wish I was.”

“
I feel so bad
,” he groaned. “I
wish there was something I could do for you.”

“Just hold me, Bri. That’s what I need.”

He tightened his arm around her and ran
his other thumb over her sparkling new wedding ring. “What you need is ten days
in Jamaica.”