Slice (The Elledge Family #1) (56 page)

“We haven't talked to him.” Mark spat. “Now get your hands off of him officer.”

McMillan stepped back. “I can’t wait to see him go down.”

“What is he wanted for, speaking as his lawyer?”

“Capitol murder.” He paused. “But you knew that already didn’t you Mark? Always playing guardian even when it’s at your demise? You let him kill Shia?”

“Excuse me?” Mark’s look of terror was a clear indicator that he knew nothing about it. “What did you say?”

“Aw, this is perfect.” McMillan paused and fixed his jacket. “Your brother is suspected to be the murderer of your girlfriend. He was last seen at the park, she was murdered at… Sweep the entire place. Leave nothing untouched. You two remain on the ground.” He started pulling the cushions off of the couch and sifting through things.

Mark’s face was red with fear and regret. The pain flushed to his face. And I couldn’t blame him. I actually felt sorry for him. “You okay?” I asked.

“I’m fine.” He spat.

“Cypress how great it is for you to join us. And you brought the kids.” McMillan paused as he looked Cypress over. “Is there not anywhere you can put them?”

“You are not taking my kids.” Cypress cradled them both in her arms.
      
“Of course not.” He nodded his head. “But the state can and more than likely will take them once they figure out what kind of environment they have been living in… You know where he is don’t you?”

“I don't know where Lucas is and I wish I did.” She paused. “He could clear this whole story up and we could get away from here. Every since I came here, there has been nothing but complete drama all because some over worked Agent has a hard on for my husband.” A smirk appeared across her face and she nodded her head. “But to answer your question… No, I haven't heard from him.”

“You really love this sick son of a bitch don’t you.”

“As his wife… I don’t have to say shit to you. That was actually just a courtesy to tell you that I don’t know where he is… And I want to see your warrant for searching a place that he doesn’t even live in!” Willow cooed quietly and Cypress rolled her eyes.

“Stop talking Cypress.” Mark barked. “I want to request a lawyer for us three. We don't know what the fuck is going on.”

“So to the station?”

“No!” I said. “Can we not take care of this now? We don't know, honestly.”

“Asher, shut up!” Mark snapped.

Cypress handed me Willow. “Check his mom’s house. If I were in trouble, I would be there with my mom.” She said.

“He isn't there.”

“Well, that's the only other place he could hide.” Cypress shrugged her shoulders at McMillan. “So I guess you are out of luck… huh?”

Lucas

What the fuck had this word come to? I was a suspect and they had no evidence. What was this? I watched from across the street as they walked back and forth from my loft. Cypress and my children were there and I was here in this cafe, wearing a fucking hoodie and a pair of glasses. I was fucked. I retraced my steps. Persephone had scratched. I cut off her fingertips and soaked them in fucking bleach in the sink. There was nothing else that tied me to her rather than the damn tip she gave.

I sipped my coffee and the patrons looked at me.

“Pardon me, is there a fucking problem?” I tossed money down on the table and nodded my head as I left the building. I would have to be on foot there was no way in hell that they would not notice the jeep. I clinched the letter in my pocket and slid it in the post office box.

Now where in the fuck could I go? I clenched my eyes. There was a warehouse downtown that I had considered buying not too long ago. I kept walking and turned onto an alley. The cool breeze hit my face and I realized that if I was to hide there, Cypress would never find me. I knew that it was only a matter of time before she found a way to get to me.  The fucking ravine. I smirked. That place meant the world to us both now and it was secluded. She would know to go there. Hell, I went there so much it could be a second home. There was a cabin there a mile passed my normal hang out spot. It was generally empty during this time of the year. The owners only spent holidays there. I could easily slip inside and hide.

I whistled for a cab, it screeched to a halt and I hopped inside. “Lights Ravine, please?”

“That's thirty minutes out.”

“I know that.” I snapped.

“Alright, hop in,” The Hispanic started his timer. “I used to go there as a kid. I didn't know that people still went.”

“Yeah, I like it.” I tried not to roll my eyes, I slid the glasses back on and slid down in the seat. There was a small chance that I would even make it out of here alive. They had check points all over the city and then there was the agent that wanted my head on a splint.

“Hold the cab!” I heard from behind me.

“Please don’t…” My heart raced as my palms became sweaty.

“Special Agent McDonald.” Declan flashed a shiny badge. “I’ll be joining you.”

“Dear God…”

“Exactly…” Declan slid into the vehicle and closed the door behind him. “Carry on.”

Cypress

They questioned me for what seemed like hours about things that I was clueless about thankfully. The less I knew, the less there was to hide. The marriage had worked in our favor because they wanted to know everything about him and there was nothing that I could offer them. The only thing that I was certain of was that I needed to find him before they did. Mark held Nathaniel in his arms. A smile over his face that almost hid his tears. Perhaps Asher was right about everything. He might have wanted Shia. I hadn’t really thought about his feelings in this matter and neither had Lucas.

“Do you know where he could be?” Mark whispered, his voice was small and there was pain behind his words. The lobby of the club held only us three and the kids. His voice echoed.

“I'm sorry.” He knew what my apology was for, my voice shook as it broke and I exhaled. “I really am so sorry.”

“I knew he would do it. I just didn't want to be a part of it.” Mark wiped his face.

He was just as cold hearted as Lucas he just never went through with it, for him to overcome whatever lived inside him made him a bigger person than Lucas. It made him human. It was something in Mark that I feared no longer lived with Lucas, a sense of humanity. “It doesn't mean that you don't hurt.”

Asher shook his head. “You should leave Cy.”

“I am. I’m going to get him. But I know that they are going to follow my every move.” I laughed. “Could you keep them?” I pointed to my children and regretted the fact that I had to leave instantly.

“I can.” Mark said. “If you promise to punch him for me?”

“That promise I can keep.”

“What’re you going to do?” Asher asked. “I mean what are you going to say to him to make him come home. Because at this level of a break, I don’t think he can be reached, even by you Cypress.”

“I can perhaps ask him to turn himself in.” Shit, I didn’t know what I was about to do. I just knew that I had to do something.

“He will never do that. He sees that he has done nothing wrong? That’s what a psychopath is Cypress. Do you get that? That is the most dangerous thing about him. He shows no remorse in anything that he does. He is a killer.”

I looked at Asher. “He feels something Asher, so I don’t really give a damn at whatever your psych babble is. He might be unhinged and that’s fine.” I rolled my eyes. “But he shows remorse for certain things Asher! He grieved his father and his mother. He loves me and these kids. He even fucking loves you.” I snapped and the room grew silent. Perhaps I was too harsh, but there were a million and one negative thoughts racing through my head. I didn’t need Asher adding fuel to the fire. “I’m sorry.” I paused. “I know where he could be and more than likely where he is. I just don't know how to get away from the agents without them trailing my ass. They will follow my every move and I’ll lead them to him…”

“There is a side exit no one is guarding. You could take the company van.”

“Thanks Mark,” I said.

“There are road blocks everywhere.” Asher added. “So take the county road out to the ravine.” He smiled at me. Asher knew him so well. “And hit that bastard for me too.”

I chuckled. “Thank you… and I will.”

I hated sneaking anywhere and out of the city was a hard one. They had surrounded the city with blocks. The county road was unscathed and the extra time it took to get there gave me time to think about whatever the fuck I was going to say to Lucas if he was even there.

It took forty-five minutes. I had tossed my cell phone out the window out of fear that they could be tracking me through it. I looked a horrible mess. My eyes were red from tears, the reality of everything. It had been a year and my life was completely different from what it had been. It now was a perfectly sculptured mess.

I parked the car and there was no sign that anyone was here at all. There was not a car in sight. I hopped out of the car and looked all around. “LUCAS!!” I yelled. My voice echoed. “Lucas!”

There was nothing except nature. I could hear nothing but the stupid fucking birds chirping and the water crashing on the rocks below me. I wept, my tears streamed down my face. I sat down on the damp floor and screamed. All of my anger and grief poured out and it was what I needed. There was too much bottled in me.

“Now what are you crying for love?” I heard his stupid accent behind me and my heart skipped a beat or two. “There are wild animals out here love.”

“Baby!” My arms wrapped around his neck and I exhaled. “I thought...” I wiped my face. “What the fuck happened?”

“Such dirty words, I love the influence I’ve had on you.” He kissed my cheek. “Come on, I can't stand out here.” He whispered. “There is a house unoccupied about a half mile out… can you walk that far?”

“Yeah...”
      

“Good come on, no one followed you out here right?”

I nodded and gripped his hand. “We have to talk.”

“In the house please.”

The small white house was comfy and apparently belonged to a family that never spent time here. It was spotless and barely furnished. I sat down on the only couch in it and looked at Lucas. “What happened?”

“There is something in me that no one can understand Cypress.”

“I get it.”

“You don't and you never will.” He snapped. “I can't stop myself sometimes and it has become my downfall. I couldn't leave America with Persephone still alive. I felt like if I did… I would have come back to finish. So I offed her.”

The remorse was not there. His eyes were cold. “Why?”

“I can't explain. I don't know how to explain it to you. Perhaps this is why my father never got too close to my mom. I can't stop. It's addicting and like an addict was feening for that feeling…”

“We can still leave.”

“Interpol would be on me before I made it anywhere. I'm done.”

“Done?”

“Dead, might as well be.” He shrugged. “I wanted to talk to you before talking to you alone is not a privilege.”

“What do you mean?”

“Just listen...”
      

I could hear the sirens as they whaled somewhere nearby. There was something in his eyes that I had not yet seen before. It was fear. He was terrified. He stared at me. “What is it?”

He slid against the wall. “I never wanted any of this shit to happen the way it did. I would have never planned a future for us elsewhere if I had not been wanting to include myself.”

“Then why did you do it?”

“I'm a monster.” He mumbled. “You...” his word lingered in the air and the room filled with sirens. “When my mom died...” He paused. “I felt for the first time in years. Have you ever heard of asperatus clouds?”

I paused. “No Luke, I haven't. What do they have to do with anything?”

“The clouds filled the skies in Cumbria and the welled up like waves in the sky and the skies began to cry. This woman was so loved that even the earth literally wept for her.” the streams of tears swam down his face. “They mourned her death and she was remembered as the flower lady on the corner of Magna Avenue.”

“Luke.”

“Shut it for one bloody moment Cypress.” His face was red. “I won't be remembered as the man you loved. I won't be remembered for being Nathaniel and Willow's father or the guy who wrote a best seller. I killed 54 people.”

My spine grew rigid. “Don't tell me anymore.”

“I love you and I don't want Nathaniel to remember me as the man that was a monster that you see in movies. So do me a favor, Forget me.” Tears streamed from his face and I jumped at his words. “I'm so sorry that you had to find out who I was. I'm sorry that there was something for you to find out.”

“I don't… I will mourn you Lucas… but you aren't dying.”

“I want you to go before they get here. If you are caught with me then they'll count you as an accessory. You need to be a mother to our kids. And not associated with any of this shit. So get out.”

“No.”

“I didn't ask you Cypress! Get the fuck out of here!” He grabbed me by my arm. “Leave, before your fate is worse than mine.” His lips crashed into mine and their desperation that bled through. “Please, don't make it hard.”