Withholding Secrets (32 page)

Keri didn’t have a very stout body. In fact, she was almost as scrawny as Sky was...

She was going to put herself out there, pretending to be Sky. That was why she had taken the girl’s phone. She was going to contact whoever was talking to Sky and lure them in so that they would take her instead.

“Sky, please. Tell me who has been contacting you. You’re not going to get in trouble over it, but I have to know. I need to know right now.” There was a short rope dangling in front of me, and I had to grab hold and not let go. It was the only way to get to Keri before anything happened.

“It doesn’t matter. Keri left me, and it hurts so bad.”

Rubbing my chest, I could feel my heart pounding through the muscle. If Sky had only known what Keri was doing for her, what she was really up to, the little girl would never forgive herself. She loved Keri so much, and knowing that Keri was putting herself in the way of danger, and whatever else was coming, would devastate Sky. She would hold herself accountable for Keri’s death for the rest of her life. It was just how soft and kind hearted the little girl was.

“Sky, it does matter. I need to know. Please, just tell me who has been contacting you. I need to know so that I can protect Keri.”

“You’re going to go and get her?” Her dark eyes opened as they looked at me. “Kane, go get her. Bring her back. Please. I need her.”

“So do I, Sky, but you have to help me here. She’s…” How did I say what I had to without scaring my little girl even more than I already had tonight? Sky scared easily, and when she was to a certain point, she shut down. And Keri was the only one who could get that girl to function after that. “When she said that she would protect you at any lengths, Sky … she meant it. I need to stop her before—”

“My dad. It was my dad. I told him to leave me alone and not to talk to me. It was just that one time. He was asking where we were at, and I didn’t tell him. I just deleted his messages. I hate him, Coach Kane. I hate him so much. He hurt Keri. I don’t want him to hurt her anymore.” Crawling over the bed, she wrapped her arms around my neck, shaking and sobbing into my shoulder.

“I need you to listen to me, Sky. I need you to stay right here. I need you to stay locked in the house with my mom and Jordan. Do not talk to anyone else except for them. Do not let anyone inside. Do not be alone. Can you do that for me?” Rubbing her back, the trembling was still running through her petite body, reminding me of Keri. Keri was built to be very petite, though she could wreck everything in a china shop if needed. But, all it took was picking Keri off her feet to stop her from charging.

“Coach Kane, don’t leave me, too.” Pulling back, her dark eyes met mine, and the pain gripped my chest and held on tight.

“I am not leaving you. I need to go and find Keri before…” Before she got herself killed. It was my fault that I hadn’t seen this coming. I hadn’t seen those signs that she gave all of those times. Creating that huge fight, insisting that I wanted something more with Sky. It was all a façade, and I bought right into it. “You all need to stay locked down. Turn the alarms on and do not let anyone inside. I don’t care who it is. I will alert security.”

Passing Sky over to my mom, I swallowed hard, knowing what Keri was up to now. She was going to put herself in Sky’s place and let herself get abducted. That was her whole reason why she attacked Ben the way she did. She knew that the abductors were there already. She had known that something was going to happen to Sky, and she
was
going to tell me. It was in her eyes when she came to the rink after work Tuesday. She was going to talk to me about what she found out, but then Sky said that Alicia hadn’t called her at all. That was what had changed her mind. Finding out that Alicia was missing was what set her mind toward doing the unthinkable just for those two girls. How could I not be proud of her? But, she was going to get herself killed, and I couldn’t let us lose her for good. I had to find her before everything went down. I just needed to think like her. If I was Keri, how could I lure in a predator?

Dressed in Sky’s little shorts and tank top, I looked like her. My hair was just as dark as hers, but I was a little more filled out. Then again, Joe hadn’t seen her in quite a few months. I was just lucky that I lost all that weight when I had first taken them in, before Kane entered our lives.

How I desperately missed him. I missed Jordan. I missed Sky. When they found out what I did for them, they wouldn’t hate me. They would love me forever.

I sent the text message, and I knew that he was coming. I knew that he would be there any minute. Now what? I could take him out, but I could only take him out as long as he was alone. If he and Mr. George had the pleasure of stopping by then I might not make it to find Alicia, and I had to. I had to find her. I had to find out anything that I could for Ben. Kane would keep Sky safe no matter what. He was smart, and he would figure it out by looking for me.

Tucking myself into Sky’s old bed, my stomach clenched as the downstairs door creaked. What the hell was I doing? How could I do this?

What if Joe killed me before I could find out where they were holding the girls? I had to find that out, no matter what, and leave it in a number message for Sky. Once Kane found out that I was here, he would see the message and know that Sky could crack it.

But if Sky heard that I died, her mind wouldn’t be able to focus. But she had Kane and he could calm her down once he figured out how to do it. They would be able to figure everything out. They had to in order to save Alicia and the other missing girls. I just wished I had a better plan to go by. Maybe I should have told Kane all I found out so he could use the legal resources to bring this down. I still could have been the pawn, but with Kane’s help, I would have had a tracking device on me. But, I didn’t think about that. I just needed to do what I could in order to save my own daughter.

The footsteps on the staircase were heavy and a larger man’s, Joe’s footsteps. He was coming. He was on his way for me—for Sky. I couldn’t wait until he figured out that it was me. Those times that he slapped me, choked me, and that night he forced himself on me … oh, he was going to pay. I would make damn sure that he would know that it was me before I took him out. I would make damn sure that he never thought about his daughter again either. I can take his shit. That girl … I  kill him for his thoughts about her. Prison or death for me, but I would make damn sure that I killed him for her.

My heart picked up a notch as the steps came closer and closer. I could feel him in the room. I could feel him looking me over. It was disgusting. It was as if I was that little girl lying there, having a monster’s eyes roaming over my innocence. It felt … so familiar.

I wanted to scream, but the fear was lodged in my throat and I couldn’t make a sound. I wanted to just get up and stab him, over and over, until I had no strength left. I wanted his last breath for Sky, for what he did to me, for Alicia, for all those other girls. When I got the chance to, I would make sure that I had gotten a hit for each of them, and a couple extra for Sky.

“Daddy’s here, baby.” His voice was sickening and putrid as he lowered himself onto the bed. “I missed you so much.”

My body stiffened. The slime layered over me in a blanket of sweat. What if I couldn’t do this? What if I couldn’t stop this? Alicia would never be seen again, and Sky would always have to live in fear. I had to. I had to let him do what he wanted right now. I had to let him touch me, thinking it was her.

Hot tears rolled down my blistering cheeks as his hand slipped under the blankets and rested on my hip. His body shifted a little closer, surrounding me in the scent of onions, garlic, beer, fish, and smoke. I wanted to gag. I wanted to throw up. He was her dad for Christ sakes. Her father!

As his hand slithered up my side and to my chest, I froze. I couldn’t do this. I couldn’t let him … I had to. I had to for Sky and those girls. This was just … way too perceptible, but not the hand of the monster who I had been married to. This hand he was using was gentler, more caressing, and more loving than the hand he used on me as his wife.

Closing my eyes, I let his hand roam over my breasts through the thin cotton of the tank top as the soft moans came from him. His hardness pressed into my buttocks, and his raunchy breath swarmed around my neck and down my back. This was disgusting. This was her dad, and he believed that I was his daughter lying there. His thirteen-year-old daughter!

“You are filling out so nice. It’s been so long since I have seen you. You are just perfect. You know that, baby?” Lust filled into his voice as he pressed his dry lips to my bare shoulder. “I am just glad that you are here.”

Gritting my teeth, I nodded slightly as his hand finally moved away from my breasts and headed down to my shorts. That son of a bitch was going to get it any second. Any second. But the hand that was traveling into the waist of my shorts was something else that felt familiar. It wasn’t like I never had sex. I had a great love life with Kane, but this … me posing to be a thirteen-year-old girl lying there … almost as if this happened to me before.

“Nice. Very nice.” His fingers brushed against the short hairs at the crevice between my legs. “You are just perfect. Maybe we could just go away and—”

“Do you want to fuck me, Joe? Do you want to do that to your daughter? You sick bastard!” Turning over, I snapped my elbow back as hard as I could, catching him right in the nose. Blood sprayed out as he cursed loudly.

Scampering out of the bed, he held a hand over his nose which was pouring with dark red syrup. “Fucking bitch!”

“Oh. I don’t think that I am that, Joe. Maybe I am just a mother put into a position to do something to protect her daughter’s innocence.” Throwing the blanket back, I crawled out of the bed and smirked, watching the blood drip through and down his stained white and gray button down shirt. I got him damn hard, hard enough to feel the actual bones break, and seeing that blood coming from him was worth it.

“You’re crazy! I never should have left the kids with you.” Just as he tried to get to the door, I blocked him as I snatched the hockey stick out from behind the door.

Smiling, I looked it over while feeling the power in my hands. For Sky, I would torture him for a bit before I killed him. I would get every second of his roaming hands for that little girl.

“Ah, but you did and that is what is screwing up your plans. You just didn’t think that when you walked out on us that I would actually keep them, did you?” Reaching the stick out, I brought the head under his chin and lifted his look to me. “You actually thought that I was going to get rid of them so it would be easier for you to abduct your own daughter.”

“I didn’t want the kids! I didn’t want anything to do with them!”

“You wanted Sky!” Raising my brows, the anger was filling through my veins as I looked at the tears coming down his face. He was crying. He was crying, and I wished that I could get this on film for Sky, for Jordan, for everything he put us through. “You wanted that little girl!”

“I got that offer after I left. I got that offer about her later. I was hurting for money, Keri. You didn’t put any in the account! You fucked me over, and I had to do what I had to do! I owed them!”

Bringing the stick up in the air and back down as hard as I could, connecting with his right shoulder, the loud snap of bones echoed in the tiny room. A loud scream ripped through him as he fell to the floor. “I fucked you? You left us! You walked out on us! I stayed for those kids that you didn’t give a shit about! I let you hit me, treat me like shit, and … how can I forget that night you raped me, you sick bastard?!”

Bringing the stick up, I slammed it down on his back, making his scream in pain again. “Let me ask you this: when you walked out on us, what were you thinking?”

“You’re fucked up, Keri!” His cries became more enraged, and the  pleasure was surging through my veins even more with each word.

“I’m not the one who is
fucked
up, Joe. You were the one who was in here a minute ago, touching your thirteen-year-old daughter!” Bringing the stick down on his back again, I heard a loud snap, but I didn’t care. I was too far gone, and he was going to pay for touching his own little girl. “When you took every cent out of my account, what were you thinking? I wouldn’t be able to keep the kids and I would give them up?” Reaching down, I grabbed a hand full of his hair and lifted his head, making him look at me. “Huh? Did you plan to sell her off before or after you walked out on us?”

“You’re sick, Keri!” The tears rained down his face, mixing in with the blood, causing a spray of fine crimson mist with each breath he took.

Dropping my hold, I stood and held the stick like Kane taught me when we had our family day. “Do you know that Jordan is damn good at playing hockey just as well as he does in school? Do you know that he stays up late at night after I check on him just to get some more studying in?”

Nodding, I felt the tears trickle down my cheeks. Redemption for them, right? Swinging with all my might, I connected with his face as the blood splattered over the light tan carpeting. “He is so smart that I can’t help but be proud of him, but you don’t give a shit about him, do you? You just want the little girl.”

“Stop! Just stop!” Covering his face, he cried. He actually was crying. Nothing had been more satisfactory than to see him bawling like a baby. He deserved it. He deserved to shed those tears. His own kids shed plenty because of that man. It was his turn now. It was his turn to hurt and feel the pain deep inside. “Please, Keri! Please stop!”

“I want answers, Joe! For each one that I don’t get, I will make you pay.” Resting the stick head on the floor by his face, I smiled while holding back the vomit. This was my chance. I had him right where I needed him. With him being this weak I could find out where Alicia was and leave my message for Sky. Someone would figure it out and save her. I just hoped that it wouldn’t take them too long. “The blonde, Sky’s friend, do you know where she is?”

“I didn’t have anything to do with that!”

Striking him across the face, I watched the blood pool on the carpet, along with the few teeth that fell out. The cries came harder and the pain deepened. Bringing the stick down hard on his back, I heard the breath rush from him in the last cry he was able to get out. “Don’t lie to me! You are not in the position to lie to me! Where the fuck is the blonde that was taken Monday?”

“Stop. Please … please. Stop and I will tell you.” Sobbing, he eased onto the floor, lying in his own blood and spit. Urine scented the room, and I cringed. Another thing that I made him do. I made that bastard piss himself.

“Where is she?”

“They have her with the rest of them. They are being kept at a secret location here for training, and then they are going to take them to Mexico for the final leg of the training before they are sold off to their masters.” Struggling with his breathing, he reached out, his hand trembling and the pain holding him down on to the floor.

“Where is this place? Where are the girls?” My heart slammed hard in my chest. He knew, and he was going to tell me everything. Now, I just had to figure out how to get a message to Kane and let him know. He would be able to call his people to go and find Alicia, along with the other kidnapped ones.

“They are kept in this place north of town. North. I don’t know where. It’s hidden. It’s in the woods, and there’s a barn with a basement in it.” Just as his fingertips brushed my ankle, I spun the stick in warning for him to give me every last bit of details. But when the whines came out and nothing more, my chest clenched down hard.

“Not helping.” Lifting the stick, Joe cried out, begging for me to put it back down.

“Please, Keri. It’s George’s farm. It’s Justin George’s farm. That’s all I know, Keri.” He rattled off an address as he cried some more, and I managed to get the gist of what he was saying.

“I have just one more question.” Digging my fingers into his hair, I lifted his head and looked at him in his bloodied, swollen, and barely recognizable face. “Is George the one who is selling the girls?”

“No. We are just using his farm. That’s all, Keri. He wanted one, but I don’t know if that trade happened. Please, Keri. Something’s wrong with me.” His syrupy, cakey gooped hand wrapped around my wrist as the beady eyes fought through the sheets of blood to look at me.

“Who have you been talking to online? Why Sky? Why was she a target? What do they want with her?” More questions and not enough answers. I needed to know why she was the prime target.

“I don’t know! I told you all that I knew! Let me go. Let me go and I will disappear.”

“Sure.” Standing up, I sucked back a breath. If Justin George wasn’t involved in the abductions, then who was? Was this farther than I imagined it to be? Bringing the stick down on his back again as hard as I could, earning another crack of bones. I took a step back and assessed the stout body. The hot tears ran down my face, cleaning the blood from their paths. “I don’t think so, you sick bastard. This is for Sky.”

Striking him across the face a few more times, I brought it down on his back a couple more times until I realized that he wasn’t moving anymore. Hell. I killed the bastard with my son’s hockey stick. He deserved it. He deserved to die for touching what he thought was his daughter.

“You
fucked
with the wrong woman. And you chose the wrong girl to touch.” Dropping the stick next to him, I let out a breath. For what the man had done to his children, this was worth it. Plenty worth it. Now, I had an address where the missing girls were being held, and I needed to get it to Kane. He would be able to save those girls, and I might have a chance to see my kids again.