Untainted: (Crime Romance: The Photographer Trilogy #3) (7 page)

“Here, maybe this will jog your memory.” Frank walked to the other side of the room and rummaged through one of the desk drawers, leaving her imprisoned against the pipe.

“I’ve waited so many years for this. I’ve practiced over and over again. Each and every one of those pictures on the wall- that’s because of you. I’ve been preparing myself for you, but then the day comes and you just don’t fucking die. You’re here, alive, and he is dead. Because of you.” Frank spoke solemnly as he crossed the room again, carrying a photograph that she couldn’t yet see, over to her.

“You’re sick.” She muttered , glaring at him.

“And you are a murderer.” Frank told her, flipping the photograph around to face her and holding it up.

Kate’s jaw dropped as she took in the grainy image, then glanced back up at Frank. The resemblance was uncanny, she couldn’t believe that she had ever missed it.

Her stomach felt as if it had sunk straight to the floor and her body sagged against the wall as the bindings on her wrists became her only support, holding her up.

“Now, do you understand?”

CHAPTER SEVEN

Kate was here.

Annie knew it in her gut as she pulled up to the stable and turned her car to park, surveying the dilapidated structure and forgotten grounds. Trees were on their sides, leaves unraked, and random farming equipment sat rusting throughout the property.

The sun was high over the field behind the stable, causing the yellow stalks of weeds and random crops to stand up taller and glisten as if they were beading with sweat. Nerves trembled through her as she wiped her own sweat from her brow with the back of her sleeve.

Her small frame quietly slid out of the car, gently closing the door behind her in an attempt to keep attention off of her. She continued to scan the property as she walked to one edge of the tree line and approached the side of the stable.

Glimpsing a pick-up truck behind the building, she realized it was the only thing around her that looked like it had come from this decade. She felt her face flush warm as she knew she was on the right track.

Annie reached the edge of the structure quickly and slid along the side until she came to a large open door, big enough for horses to walk through. Peering around the door frame, she only saw a wide empty hallway with multiple stall entries lining the walls. Slowly, she stepped inside and found herself suddenly hit with a scent she was all too familiar with today.

The source of the odor was quickly apparent as she came upon the first stall door and streaks of blood were sprayed across the walls. The tiny room was empty, but the smell of the memories it held almost knocked her over with a wave of nausea.

Annie closed her eyes, swallowing her fear, as she continued down the hall. She passed several more stall doors, but refused to look inside, knowing she couldn’t handle whatever horror this place held.

Kate wasn’t in there, she knew that. Kate was still alive and these halls only reeked of death. She could feel Kate’s heartbeat in her very core, felt it beating with hers, and knew that her sister was still breathing. Annie knew that she was close.

Her pocket vibrated and Annie reached quickly to silence it, seeing Derrick’s name pop up on the screen. She glanced around, but couldn’t think of a way to answer the phone without someone hearing her so she hit the ignore button instead.

She was halfway down the hallway at this point and she could hear slight movements and sounds she couldn’t place, coming from the end. Annie pressed forward, calming her nerves as she focused on her mission.
      Focused on finding Kate.

~~~~~~

“Shit, Annie! Answer the phone!” Derrick groaned as he threw his cell phone onto the dashboard of Frank’s car and pressed harder on the gas pedal.

It was already flush against the car floor, but he needed to do something to convince himself that he was moving faster.

His heart was in his throat and all he could think about was losing them both. He wouldn’t survive it, he knew it in every fiber of his being. Kate was his other half, his soul mate, his reason for breathing.

Then Annie was his sister now and his love for her was just as much, in a different way. Both girls meant the world to him and if something happened to either of them, he knew it would be his fault.
      He was the man of the family now that Lenny was dead and he had to protect Kate and Annie just like Lenny had tried to do.
      He wouldn’t fail Kate again.

~~~~~~

The door at the end of the hallway to one side was open, casting a light into the shadowy hallway of the stable. Sunshine slipped in through the cracks of all the walls, but didn’t do much to lighten the building’s insides.

Annie could hear shuffling, but was unable to distinguish what was causing the sound. She crept closer and closer toward the lit entry, keeping her back flush against the wall as she sidestepped the rest of the way.

Finally, reaching the door post, Annie closed her eyes for a moment and took a deep, but silent, breath. She gritted her teeth as she opened her eyes again and forced courage to help her peer into the room.

Her eyes instantly cringed at the very bright light that was aimed directly at the door, throwing off her focus. She placed her hand over her eyes, like the brim of a hat, to refocus and take in her surroundings as she stepped inside the room, still hugging her back to the wall.

Within seconds, everything came to view and Annie felt her heart leap into her throat as she rushed forward toward her sister. Kate was slumped against the wall, restrained to a pipe running the length from the floor to ceiling, next to a large lamp that had been turned to aim at the door.

She had thick, gray tape over her mouth and her eyes were wide with terror. Everything about her look exhausted, there were bruises already forming on her pale skin, after only being missing a few hours. Kate was scuffling her feet against the ground, trying to stand up and pull away from her ties, while frantically looking at Annie and shaking her head.

“Kate!” Annie reached her sister and instantly went for the ties that bound her to the pipe, trying to loosen them enough to free Kate.

“I’m so glad I found you! Kate, we were so worried that-” Annie fiddled quickly with the restraints, but Kate was groaning loudly through the tape on her mouth and shaking her head furiously.

Annie tilted her head as she glanced up at her, confusion etched on her face.

“Oh sorry, the tape!” Annie said, realizing Kate probably wanted the tape on her face removed first before the bindings on her hand.

She gently pulled at one corner and Kate held still, but continued to make unidentifiable sounds as she looked past Annie.

“Hold on, I’ve almost got it. This is going to hurt, but I will make it fast.” Annie assured her and then with one quick tug, yanked the tape from Kate’s mouth.

“Run!” Kate screamed the moment she was able to talk again.

Annie startled, taking a step backward and looking confused. Her confusion only lasted a quick second as her eyes suddenly glazed over and a loud, dull thud resonated through the room. Annie’s mouth fell open and her knees crumpled as she met the ground, while Kate screamed for her.

“She is right, this is going to hurt. But I’m not going to make it fast.” Frank grinned up at Kate as he placed up against the wall the baseball bat he had just slammed into the back of Annie’s head.

“No!” Her sister’s screams and sobs didn’t wake Annie as she lay only inches out of Kate’s grasp.

“I told you to shut up, do you want to be next?” Frank shouted at her, but she wasn’t listening as she cried.

Tears flowed down her cheeks faster than she knew was possible, as she choked on her own sobs. Kate didn’t even bother trying to stand anymore, but just sagged against the wall and allowed the ropes around her wrists to dangle her inches from the ground. She couldn’t even feel the pain of the restraints cutting into her wrists over the aching in her heart.

“Why are you doing this?” She moaned through tears as he pulled a duffel bag out from an industrial cabinet against the far wall and sat it on the desk.

“You already know.” He glared at her, then went back to his task.

“He was your father, he hurt me! Why the hell would you want to carry on his legacy? You’re just as bad as he was!” She screamed at him, anger seeping through every pore in her body as she tried to reach out to her unconscious sister.

“Shut your lying mouth, whore!” Frank was suddenly in front of her, a knife she hadn’t seen before pressed against her throat as her head was slammed backward into the wall.

She went silent, but only because the wind had been knocked out of her and the room was spinning from the smack to her head. He removed the knife and took a step back, his eyes fiery. The same fiery look that they had been when she first met him in her bedroom those few, short weeks ago.

“This is where it happened. Right in the middle of the hallway, in front of this office door. I came in through the side one day, just minding my business. I was a teenager and he was all the family I had. We had our fights, sure. But he was there for me.” Frank started talking, reminiscing and becoming lost in thought as he paced the room.

“It was the first time I ever saw a dead body. Although definitely not the last.” Frank chuckled at his joke and Kate was sure that she was going to vomit again.

“But there he was, hanging from a rope a few feet above the ground. His neck completely snapped. Fucking dead.” Frank mused, seemingly emotionless, as he walked back over to Kate.

His eyes never left hers, he didn’t even blink as he recanted his tale.

“That’s why I saved that fucking rope. Just for you. It’s quite fitting that the rope that killed my father is now around your wrists. You’re going to die the same way he did. An eye for an eye, isn’t that how it goes?” He closed the gap between their faces and placed a warm, dry kiss on her mouth as she recoiled as much as possible.

“Get off me!” She shouted, spitting on the ground, disgusted at the feeling of his lips on hers again.

Even more disgusted at the idea that she was bound with a rope that had been in contact with a man she hated even more than Frank.

“What did he do, huh? Did he start off just telling you that you looked sexy? Did he tell you that he liked your flat chest? Did your hairless body turn him on?” Frank ignored her as he pressed her body against the wall and his hands roamed across her breasts and down her sides.

“You sick bastard.” She whispered coldly, a lone tear slipping down her stained cheek.

“That’s what you told the fucking cops, isn’t it? That he touched you in your ‘private parts’?” Frank grinned, an evil glint in his eye as he licked his lips.

“Your father was a pedophile. A fucking child molester. He did a lot fucking more than just touch me and you’re just like him.” Kate seethed through gritted teeth.

Frank’s hand slammed loudly against the wall directly next to Kate’s head.

“Shut up! You are a lying whore! You’re lying now and you were lying back then too!” He screamed so close to her face that his breath oozed into her nostrils and drops of spit spattered onto her.

“I was six years old, Frank! And I wasn’t the only girl who came forward, did he ever tell you that?” She shouted back, refusing to be afraid.

“Oh, I know. Because people love to play the victim. You were the first and everyone just jumped on your fucking bandwagon,” Frank stepped back, eying her.

“But you, you started it. You ended his job, our family, you ended his fucking life. I was only a teenager, Kate, when I walked in on him hanging there, fucking dead. Because of you!” Frank was coming at her again, shouting angrily.

His fist made contact with her cheek and her head hit the wall again. Kate tasted blood in her mouth, but swallowed it quickly. She savored the taste, mixing it with her hatred as she felt her every muscle contract with fury.

She didn’t fight back, not that she really could in her tight restraints. Her eyes stayed fixed on Annie’s still form on the ground as Frank continued his assault with a few more hits.

She only finally removed her gaze when she felt Frank’s attack stop and instead his hand was on her leg, traveling north quickly. She squirmed to get away from him, but he pressed his body into her forcing her against the wall with no way to escape. She could feel his arousal against her stomach and instantly tasted vomit in the back of her throat at the image.

“Get off me!” Frank ignored her pleading as his fingers dug into her skin and pressed up her inner thigh underneath her skirt, finding her panties and ripping them off with a quick tug.

Kate was crying again, thrashing her body in an attempt to get him to stop. His dark, hooded eyes looked up into hers and she felt an unnatural chill travel through her as she stared into the emptiness inside him.

“Don’t fight me, Kate. I already told you, you’re going to die today.” 

CHAPTER EIGHT

Derrick hated Mondays more than anything, knowing he had to walk in to face his job again. He had coffee every morning at home when he first woke up, but on Mondays he stopped at a local coffee shop for a double dose of caffeine.

He would need it since he had recently started working at a new law firm that worked in conjunction with prosecutors to help bring criminals to justice and defend victims.

He had once thought it to be a noble cause back when he was in law school, priding himself on helping his community. The truth was, though, that there is no good versus evil, even the victims he helped were usually guilty of something.

It was a tough realization to find out that even the good guys get swallowed up by the world’s darkness. It made him wonder if there was ever such a thing as pure or innocent anymore.