Denouement (The Darkness Series Book 3) (28 page)

Sam stepped forward and stood over her, aiming the gun at her face. Bennett raised his own weapon, intent on taking Sam out, but West rushed him, tackling him around the waist. Mila’s mouth formed an ‘O’ of pain as she stared up at Sam. “My son. My son,” she whimpered, locking eyes with Brady. Brady stared coldly back at her, not giving her any reassurances at all that he would look after the boy; regardless if he was the father or not.

“That was for my wife, you fucking bitch.” Her eyes widened in shock at Sam’s words. “Oh, I know. You thought you had me, you thought I was under your thumb. Well I fucking played you. It took me a year and a half but I fucking did it. This is the end of the line for you, Mila. You fucked with the wrong people when you fucked with my family. Good riddance. See you in hell.” He raised the gun and fired a shot right through her forehead. Ending her reign of terror and mayhem for good.

On the floor, Bennett and West were still wrestling while Brady and Theo were working on getting the bomb off Aubrey. “Go help West, I got this,” Theo told Brady as he pulled a tiny knife from his pocket.

Brady nodded and rushing past Sam grabbed Bennett by the scruff of the neck halting the punches he was raining down on his brother. West gained his feet and the two squared off, each with a handgun trained on the other. “Bennett, just put it down. Don’t make me do this.”

“Fuck you. You always thought you were the big man, and that I was just some kid trying to follow in your footsteps. Well I’m the man now! I’m the one everyone talks about. ME! You’re irrelevant, West. I don’t need you. No one does.” He raised the gun a little higher. “I’ll be doing everyone a favor. Goodbye, brother.” He snapped off the safety of his gun but West fired first, just one shot straight through the heart. Bennett crashed to the floor in a heap, right next to Mila. West hung his head and a tear rolled down his cheek. No matter the reason, he’d just killed his own brother. The brother he’d grieved for years. He’d been out to destroy his life and by the sounds of it, he may have succeeded with what he’d been forced to be a part of.

“Booyah, got ya, motherfucker!” Theo shouted, startling everyone. “Oh, sorry,” he said, looking around. “The bomb is dead,” he explained and unstrapped it from Aubrey’s chest, tossing it aside. She stood up, clutching her injured arm where Bennett had burned her repeatedly with matches.

The diner’s door chimed and several deputies filed in, followed by a pissed off Agent Taylor. “What the hell happened here, people? Sheriff James, why wasn’t I notified that this fire was directly related to the Matchstick Man case? I don’t appreciate being given the slip.”

“You can give me shit later, Agent. Right now, we’ve got some people that need medical attention. Those two are dead,” he motioned to the floor. “Aubrey, honey, come with me.” He put his arm around her shoulders and led her outdoors. “Theo, take West and Sam to the station for holding until we can sort this shit out.”

Theo nodded and they all separated, still reeling from the events that had gone down in that diner.

Several hours later, Brady opened the door to the holding cells where Sam and West were. “I’ve got an update,” he told them getting straight to the point. “West, the blood we had them draw from you, the results have come back. You have scopolamine in your system which has been known to make an individual susceptible to any suggestion from another person. It also causes memory loss which would explain the blackouts. We won’t be moving forward with any criminal charges at this time, but that could change as the FBI does want to pursue first-degree murder charges. We will have to wait it out.

Sam, I understand you had a contact with the Florida PD that you’ve been in touch with this entire time you were undercover. They didn’t authorize all of what you’ve done so at this time, we will need to move forward with charging you as an accessory, it was a fight to get that charge down from first-degree murder as well. Had you not had that contact in Florida, there would have been nothing I could do for you. I’ll be doing what I can to get those charges dropped, West. Sam, you need to come upstairs for processing.”

He opened the cells and they both walked out, each with their own heavy weights on their shoulders. West had no idea how he would ever face Aubrey knowing that he could have done something to save her sister.

“West, Aubrey asked that you go see her. She’s in the burn unit at the hospital. Theo can drive you over there,” Brady told him.

The ride to the hospital was stone cold silence. Theo finally cleared his throat. “Dude, I don’t know how to even say this, but you know it’s not really your fault you helped kill people, right? They set you up.”

“Yeah I know what Brady told me about the drugs. But I hate myself. Aubrey must hate me and I have no idea what I’m going to say to her.”

“So don’t say anything and just listen. Let her start things off and go from there. It’s all you can do, bro.”

West nodded and got out of the car, calling back a thank you for the ride. When he reached Aubrey’s room, he stood outside it for five full minutes, debating just going back to Stockton Crossing, packing a bag and disappearing for good.

Aubrey deserved closure though, so he opened the door and entered her room. She was sitting up in bed looking out the window, her long read hair draped over one shoulder.

“Um, hey,” he said, sitting down in the one chair the room had to offer.

“Hi. West, I know about the drugs and what they make people do. Brady stopped by and explained it all to me.”

“Oh,” he replied lamely, not sure what to say.

“I know you must be beating yourself up right now pretty badly and I think you should know that I so badly want to hate you. I want to tear every hair from your head and scratch out your eyes and feed them to the nearest dog, but I can’t. I can’t because deep down I know this isn’t your fault. You’re a victim as much as Autumn was. So instead, I want you to hold me. I want you to put your arms around me and tell me that however fucking hard this is going to be for us; that we will work through it. We’ll work through it together. I can’t bear to lose anyone else.” She was crying softly as she spoke and it broke West’s heart.

“Aubrey, I’m sorry. I’m so damn sorry for all of this. My brother…me, we murdered your sister and all those other people. How can you even stand to look at me? I can’t stand to look at myself.” He hung his head in shame and guilt.

“I’m not saying it’s going to be easy, like I said, it’s going to be the hardest thing we ever do. But I don’t want to let them win. I want to work through this with you and see if we have a shot at a happy ending. There has to be something good to come out of all of this pain and misery. So please, West, will you give us a chance to see if we can create light from all this dark?”

He looked into her eyes and saw that she was being as open as honest as she could be. The love she had for him was shining through and he was helpless to deny the fact that he felt the same way. She was it for him. He wanted the opportunity to build a life with her as well. He climbed into bed with her and pulled her head against his chest the way she liked.

“Alright, Aubrey. Let’s find our happy ending.” She melted into his arms and behind her, his grin was cold.

Twenty Years Later

L
ayla Hunt struggled
against the chains, fighting like hell to get free. The two monsters that had been holding her prisoner had done unspeakable things to her. She knew that if she didn’t do something soon they would get bored and then they’d dispose of her. The news reports of these killings said the girls hadn’t been in captivity longer than two days and her first day was already over. She was running out of time and she knew it. Her parents would be so angry if they knew she had snuck out to meet a boy, which was why she did it in the first place. As the daughter of Chief Weston Hunt, she was going through a rebellious stage to end all rebellious stages.

The first man entered again and took up residence at his perch from across the room where all he did was observe, he never participated. He just liked to watch; the sick fuck.

Several minutes later the second man entered the room, although he was much, much younger than the other man. She’d say he was a few years older than her sixteen years, early twenties if that. He was terrifying and not afraid to show how merciless he really was.

He stepped towards her and crouched down, running a fingertip down Layla’s cheek in a soft manner. He pretended to be nice, but then…he showed his true colours every time.

“Dane,” the man from the corner warned.

“I know, Marcus, okay. I’m not getting attached. Her skin…it’s just so soft.” He smiled at her, a real genuine smile and all it did was make her blood run cold. From behind his back he raised a machete, waving it in front of her fear-filled eyes.

“It’s time for me to explain to you all about my blood lust, precious.”

THE END

You may think that a writer walks their journey alone, but that’s the farthest thing from the truth. I wouldn’t be here, following my dream without the help of some amazing people. 2015 has been a rough year for me personally, however I managed to pull through it with the support of everyone I’m about to mention. I’m truly so grateful to be surrounded by so many amazing people that have now become like family to me. Don’t ever underestimate the power of a kind word; it does more good than you may know.

Jerzie, Charlee, Jessica
 – Girls, I can’t believe I’m writing the acknowledgements for my third book! It’s been quite a year and I don’t know how I’d be doing what I am without your support and love. Thank you for listening to my crazy rambles and encouraging me when I doubted myself. I love you all xoxo

Toni Thompson
 – You lady, I have no words for how much I’ve come to value our friendship. You’re more than just a PA (although you’re a pretty badass one!), you’re an amazing friend. Thank you for all you’ve done for me from being a listening ear to dropping everything to overnight me bookmarks for a signing event. You deserve all the happiness in the world. I love you, lady.

River Savage, Gilly Jones, Alissa Evanson Smith
 – Where do I even start. No one knows or understands me better than you three. Whether I need to just vent or cry or just not even make sensible words, you are always there ready to offer me whatever support is needed at the time. There is no one more amazing and kind that you and I’m privileged to call you my friends. Bring on NYC and our Aussie/Canadian Christmas…I can’t wait! Xoxo

Lance Jones
 – Thank you so much for working with me on Denouement’s cover. You’re the perfect West and I couldn’t be happier with how it all turned out. You’ve become one of my closest friends and I’m truly grateful for all the support. Looking forward to working with you on upcoming books xo

Ted Scanon
 – You’re an amazing photographer! Your image of Lance is perfect for the cover of Denouement and I’m so happy that we worked together. Thank you for taking the time to answer my endless questions and for all the support in helping to get the word out about the book. Hope to work with you again in the future!

L.J. Anderson at Mayhem Cover Creations
 – Lady, we’ve created magic once again! Thank you for all your hard work in making sure that Denouement’s cover was perfect for the series finale. You’ve truly amazed me and I’m so happy with the result. This series is very dear to my heart and you never once batted an eye when I changed my mind over and over. Thank you for helping me bring my vision for this cover to life. You are amazing :)

Judi Perkins
 – There’s not even words for me to say how much I love you, lady. The day I came across your page was the best day ever as I found not only an amazing publicist, but a one-in-a-million friend. Thank you for being my crutch to lean on when I needed it or giving me a kick in the ass when I was panicking. Your work is outstanding and I couldn’t be happier with how you’ve put everything together for this book’s release. But most of all, thank you for being there as a fantastic friend. PS – honorable mention for your hubby, Josh – who is also pretty damn fantastic xo

To My Betas
 – I couldn’t ask for a better team to hold me accountable and make sure that I gave this series the ending it deserved. Thank you for not holding back in your feedback and for pushing me where I needed to be pushed. Denouement is the book it is because of all of you. I know you hated me at some parts, but you stuck by me throughout this journey and I’m so honoured that you gave my work a chance. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Sirens
 – Who could ask for a more amazing fan group?? You ladies make me smile every day. Every single one of you has become part of my extended family. Thank you for sharing your lives with me and allowing me to share mine with you. I look forward to each day hanging out with you in the group sharing laughs and pics of our fave eye candy. Most of all, thank you for the support of my books. You’ve all come to love this series as much as me and for that I’ll always be grateful.