Always For You (Books 1-3) (29 page)

But Cain, I was scared for him now. I
knew how he'd be feeling, how angry he could get. Not only was I
here, but Emily. I knew how he felt about her, I knew he'd do
anything for her, anything for me. Knowing he was coming, it made me
fear for him as much as us.
Please Cain, please be careful.

Cain

“What happened?” asked Chase, his
concern for Grace now fully sparked to life.

“Someone's got them,” I said
slowly. “This is all about me Chase, someone wants to see me
suffer.”

“Who is it,” he asked frantically,
“what shall we do?”

“I don't know. He wants to see me,
I've got to go.”

“Wait,” he said as I turned towards
the door to leave, “I'm coming too.”

“That's not a good idea Chase, not in
your state. I've got to sort this out, alone.”

“Like fuck you will,” he said,
stepping forward. “That's Grace he's got, and whatever she means to
you, she means a lot more to me. I'm coming.”

I looked at him, his eyes open and
alert once more, the thought of Grace in danger sobering him up
immediately. “OK,” I said. I knew that I'd do the same if it was
Emily, unable to just sit by and let things happen.

“So where is he?” he asked.

I grabbed my phone and looked at the
text message that had recently appeared. I showed it to Chase. “Do
you know where this is?”

He nodded slowly. “It's an old
industrial area outside of town, all disused now. It's not too far
away, maybe 20 minutes by car.”

“We'll take mine,” he continued,
“I'm not getting on your bike.”

“Alright, but I'm driving. I'm not
getting in a car with you behind the wheel.”

We rushed off out of the apartment and
down towards the lobby, the concierge downstairs waving us goodbye as
we dashed out of the door and into Chase's car. It was fast and
powerful, much nicer than any car I'd ever driven.

We shot off down the road and out of
town, Chase directing as we went. He seemed fully sober now, his
thoughts locked on Grace. If nothing else came of this, I knew that
the death of John Avery would be less of a problem now. Whatever he
felt about it all, his feelings for Grace were overriding everything.

There was a mix of emotions running
through my body as I drove. I felt an overwhelming sense of concern
for Emily and Grace, worried that something had happened to them,
that this man had already done something to make them suffer, to make
me suffer. At the same time I was desperate to know who it was, who
would do this. I continued to rack my brain as we went, scanning my
past for an answer, but none came. Then there was anger, a growing
fury inside me that I needed to control. I knew that whatever
happened, I needed to stay calm and levelheaded.

We continued on out of town and into
the country. I drove fast around quiet roads, passing fewer and fewer
cars the further we went, the closer we got to the destination. I
couldn't help but be reminded of that night a few months ago when I'd
trailed John Avery's car up similar paths, again in a bid to save
Grace, to make sure she was OK. That Chase, his protege, was now
sitting beside me, knowing what had happened that night, was hugely
ironic.

The night was dark as the clock
continued to tick towards midnight, clouds hanging over us as a
smattering of rain began to cascade down onto the windshield. There
was silence in the car between us, both of us focused on Grace and
Emily, our own differences put to one side for now.

“Chase,” I said as we got closer,
“he told me to come alone. He can't see you. I need you to stay
back, try to find the girls as I keep him distracted. Can you do
that?”

“OK,” he said, “a steadiness and
focus to his voice. “I can do that.”

“Don't let him see you Chase. He has
to think I've come alone. I have no idea what he's got set up in
there, so make absolutely sure that you stay back.”

He nodded. “Cain, don't worry, I got
this.” Less than an hour ago when I'd seen him at John's apartment,
I would never have believed him. But now – now he had a look in his
eye that made me trust him.

“OK, here we go,” I said. We were
coming up towards an industrial area, with several warehouse like
buildings scattered within an enclosed, fenced off area. It was well
out in the country, nestled in between rolling hills and a long way
from the main road. There were no lights on anywhere, no sign of
life. It was completely isolated.

“I'm gonna stop here, OK.” I said
looking down the path towards the front gate. “He might be
watching, so stay in the car until you see me go inside. When I'm
inside, sneak out low and make your way around the fence to try to
find another way in. The girls could be anywhere, so you need to be
quick. If you hear voices, stay quiet and stay hidden. I don't know
what to expect Chase, so do what you think is right if you find us,
if you find him.”

I
was making this all up as I went along. I had no idea what I was
doing, no idea what to expect. I looked down the dark path towards
the looming buildings ahead.
Head
for the front gate, walk in through the main door. I'll see you
there
.
That had been the message, the instruction. What awaited me, I didn't
know.

I nodded at Chase once more and caught his steely eyes
before stepping from the car. The rain was falling heavily now,
crashing down on my head and shoulders as I stepped forward along the
path towards the main gate. My heart was racing fast as I walked
through the gate, already opened, and towards the main door at the
front of the central building in the complex. Any fears I held for
myself were overtaken by my desire to see Emily and Grace safe, to
make sure that they were unharmed, unhurt. I didn't care for my own
safety, not if it meant they were OK.

I paced forward towards the door,
noticing that it was already slightly ajar as I got closer, the rain
battering it's cold metal surface, sneaking in through the crack and
wetting the concrete floor within. I opened it further, the hinges
creaking loudly, and slowly stepped into the darkness.

There were no lights on inside,
seemingly no power running through this long disused building. I left
the door open behind me, the weak light from the moon just about
filtering in enough for me to see ahead. I could see a long corridor,
doors either side, stretching off into the darkness beyond. Then,
suddenly, I heard a voice in the distance ahead of me, cutting
through the air and making me jump slightly.

“Hello Cain, good of you to come.”

I steadied myself, staring forward to
see if I could make out a shape. I saw nothing, he was too far off
out of sight.

“Where are they,” I shouted back,
“I'm here now, let them go.”

“I'm afraid I can't do that quite
yet. I will, but not yet.”

“So what do you want with me,” I
shouted once more, “who are you?”

“I'll tell you soon enough.”

I
heard footsteps in the darkness, moving further back away from me.
“Come this way Cain, come through the door at the end of the
corridor, and we can talk, face to face.” There was a menace to his
final words.
Face
to face
.

I stepped forward in the darkness,
reaching for my phone to illuminate the path. The bright glow of my
cell cast a light along the corridor, all the way towards a door at
the end. I could see it was ajar as well, the mystery man standing
somewhere beyond it.

I walked down the corridor and
carefully pushed the door open, shining my light ahead to reveal a
large, open room, old boxes stacked to each side. It looked like an
old storage warehouse, now cleared out and left to rot.

Then I heard the voice again, cold and
raspy, at the other side of the room. “Are you afraid?”

I turned my light to the direction of
his words and saw him standing there at the other end of the room,
stepping out from behind a couple of boxes. He wore dark clothes, the
hood of his top shrouding his face. Below it, however, I could see a
mask, black and white, obscuring his features. I recognized the mask
immediately.

“So it is you,” I said. “Rex?”

He laughed throatily as he stepped
forward towards me. “Rex, yes, just a silly name I made up.”

“So who are you really?” I asked
again, still looking for an answer.

He continued to slowly pace towards me,
his footsteps light. “I doubt you'd know me to look at me,” he
said, “but then, I don't look like I used to.”

With that he reached up slowly and
pulled back his hood, dropping it down behind his neck. I watched on
as he grabbed the mask and dragged the material from his face,
revealing his battered and broken features below. His nose was
misshapen, his left cheekbone and eye swollen and disfigured. His
mouth was crooked, his jaw lopsided, and there were scars running
across his face, lingering wounds that would never properly heal.

“
This
is what you made me Cain, this is what you did to me.” His words
remained calm, collected, as I looked up this grotesque figure, his
eyes staring at me through his scars. “Do you remember, do you
remember me Cain?” he said, his voice growing in anger.

“I – I don't,” I responded,
stepping back slightly, a look of shock on my face, a guilt setting
in me, “I'm sorry.”

“You're sorry?” he said, his voice
continuing to rise, “YOU'RE SORRY?”

He stopped short of me, about five
meters away, standing in the cold, dark, warehouse. “Do you have
any idea what you've taken from me,” he continued, his voice still
raised.

I felt a wave of guilt hit me as I
looked at him, wanting to turn away. His face was so broken, ruined,
and it must have been me who'd done it. I waited for him to talk
again, his eyes blazing like fires in the darkness.

“I couldn't pay to fix my face after
what you did,” he said finally, “there was nothing they could do
to make me look normal again. My girlfriend, she left me. Couldn't
stand to look at me. I lost her, her and my unborn child. I couldn't
work, couldn't get a job. You ruined my life.”

I didn't know what to say, there was
nothing I could say. I racked my brain for someone I'd fought,
someone I could have inflicted that much damage on. No fight I'd had
recently had ended like that, not with my opponents face so broken. I
thought back into my past: a drunken brawl perhaps, one I couldn't
remember. Then, suddenly, like a bolt it came to me.

That night I met Grace almost two years
ago, that night she'd been mugged. I'd almost killed that guy,
punched him so much I felt his cheekbones and jaw crack against my
fists. It was him. It could only be him.

“You were that mugger?” I asked,
coming to my realization. “You were the one trying to take Grace's
bag, take her phone?”

My guilt began to be assuaged, pegged
back by anger.

He continued to stare at me, his eyes
burning. “That was me,” he said, “I needed the money.”

I hated anyone who would attack a
woman, anyone who'd lay their hands on them or try to hurt them. When
I next spoke, my words were no longer soft and guilt ridden, but
hardened by the harsh truth of what this guy had done.

“You attacked my sister,” I said,
“maybe you got what you deserved.”

His expression contorted in anger. “Got
what I deserved?” he said loudly, his words full of fury. “A
stolen purse for a broken face, lost girlfriend, lost child, lost
future?”

His hands were shaking now, his body
tensing as if he was about to spring at me. “You fucked up my
entire life. I was never going to hurt that girl, I just needed some
fucking money. And now, look at me!”

I stared upon his face, still
illuminated by the light on my phone. “I didn't mean for that to
happen,” I said. “I lose it sometimes, when I see a girl attacked
I can't control myself.”

He smiled, his lopsided mouth revealing
a set of lost and broken teeth, and laughed. “Well, lets see if you
can control yourself now, shall we? I tried to repay the compliment
when we fought on Christmas Eve. Now, there's no one here but us, no
one to pull me off you, no one to stop me from finishing the job.”

“You want to fight?” I asked.

He nodded slowly, his eyes lit with
anticipation. “And Emily, Grace?” I continued, “where are
they?”

“They're safe, nearby. I don't care
about them, I have no desire to hurt them. When I'm done with you,
I'll let them go.”

“So why the fuck did you take them in
the first place,” I asked, my anger growing once more.

He laughed again at me, at my growing
rage. “To see you squirm, see you suffer. I wanted to get you out
there, just the two of us. They were bait, nothing more.”

And with that, he stepped over to a box
and flicked the switch of a large portable lamp. It lit up, bathing
the center of the room in light.

“I'm going to enjoy this, Cain. I'm
going to make you suffer,” he said, as he menacingly walked towards
me, his fists clenching. “You won't see those girls again. Not
after tonight.”

January
14
^th
2014

Grace

The rain was pouring down outside,
crashing against the roof of the building Emily and I were trapped
in. The man had come in a while ago, giving us some water, his face
still hidden by a black and white mask under his hood.

“Your boyfriend is coming,” he'd
said to Emily as she whimpered lightly, “and soon I'll set you
free.”

“Can you at least give us some
light,” I'd pleaded, “so we can see each other.”

He held a torch that lit up the room,
and I saw his head shake lightly as he spoke. “That's not possible.
There's no power here, there is no light to be had.”