The Innocent Liar (24 page)

She stood then, tiptoeing to the door and peering out at the shop floor. The main overhead lights were off, and it was only the peripheral lights that were on. They didn’t do much to illuminate the large, tall room, and as she crept down the stairs, she felt as though her heart was going to burst in terror. She wasn’t sure she’d ever been so frightened in her life.

Ping.

The sound could have been anything, and it could have come from anywhere, but as she heard the distant sound of something small hitting the ground, she froze as a quiet gasp escaped her. She stood as still as a statue, silently sucking in one shuttering breath after another. She couldn’t seem to get a full lungful of air to save her life as though her diaphragm had turned to a tight seizing muscle that was too afraid to move. She took a step as tears filled her eyes, and she started to quietly sob.

All she wanted was to be home and safe with Eli. She could imagine it as though it was a thing so close to her reach, and all she had to do was get there. It could still be nothing. It had to be nothing. Had anything really happened? She’d heard a noise, her computer was off, someone put a completely non-threatening calendar entry on a reoccurring thirty minute cycle to play a joke on her. It really could be nothing at all. It had to be nothing. She crept one stair after another. Her body wanted to run. She wanted to bolt for the door, but it was such a long way across the room.

She remembered this sort of panic from childhood. She used to panic anytime she had to go into her basement when she was a child, and that panic would close in on her as she was bounding up the steps. She would imagine the demonic claws of a monster just over her shoulder as she’d race foot over stumbling foot up the stairs to safety, and now, moving one agonizingly slow step after another, she was reminded of it. Hell was encroaching in around her, but unlike the horror that was always chasing her from the dark within the basement, this horror seemed to surround her from every direction. She didn’t know what she was walking into. All she knew was she needed to get out—out into the frigid winter day where she could scream at the top of her lungs and run like hell to safety.

Each step was agonizing as her foot would make the quietest of sound as it hit the next metal stair down. Her eyes scanned the large open workshop, looking for anything and terrified of what she’d see. But eventually she was close to the floor; then another twenty feet over to the door that would take her through the vestibule and to freedom. It was nothing but her imagination, nothing but her imagination, nothing, nothing, nothing. She was chanting in her mind, trying to quiet the crazy that was surging through her and leaving her close to coming unglued. It was nothing. It could be absolutely fucking nothing at all.

But then it was most definitely something.

The hand grabbed her from behind the stairs, reaching through the opening between the rungs, and as it clasped harshly around her ankle, she shrieked. Her momentum was too forward to stop her body from falling, and as she lurched forward, she clutched and grabbed at the railing, turning as she fell until she was tumbling backward to the shop floor below.

She hit hard against the concrete floor. As the wind was knocked out of her, her head fell back, cracking against the floor. But she was conscious, and as quick as she’d fallen to the floor, she rolled to her stomach and started pushing herself up. A hand grabbed at her ankle again, and she was yanked back, skidding across the floor. She kicked, she wriggled, and she screamed as she fought to get away, and as her foot connected with something, she heard him release a huff of breath.

“Bitch!”

She knew that voice well, and when the clasp on her ankle loosened, she started crawling, clawing and trying to get to her feet so she could bolt away from him. She felt the force of his body meet the back of hers, and then she was thrown to the ground before she’d even made it five feet. He was on top of her. His hands closed around her throat from behind her, and she gagged.

He was straddling her bottom, his hands squeezing harder and harder on her neck as her mouth fell open and her eyes bulged. She tried to push herself up to her knees, but the most she could manage was to get her hands on the floor and push her chest up. The move did nothing to get air into her lungs, and she could feel her head start to buzz and tingle as he choked her.

“I’m going to fucking kill you, you worthless piece of shit.”

She was a goner. This was going to end badly, and there was no fighting back. She was panicking, but even as her heart raced and her body coursed with adrenalin, she started to fade away.

Chapter Forty-One

E
li came screeching to a stop in front of the warehouse. The car barely stopped moving before he was out and running toward the door. He fished in his pocket for the key, and as he fumbled with it, his fingers shook. It wasn’t the cold, it was absolute fear—more than he’d felt since he was a child. When he pushed through to the vestibule, he heard it, and his blood ran cold.

“Fucking bitch. I fucking hate you, you stupid cunt!”

The voice was screaming, and Eli burst through the door to the shop room floor before he’d even figured out what he was going to do. The sight he saw would likely haunt him for the rest of his life in much the same way his father’s lifeless eyes staring up at him did.

Brynn was on her stomach, her back arched as Lars’s hands enclosed her neck from behind her body. Her hands were scraping erratically against the floor, trying to find something, brace herself, just twitching with the last remaining strength in her body. Her eyes had rolled back, and her eyelids were fluttering as her mouth hung open with the panic still stuck on her expression though she was mere seconds from being out.

Eli ran toward them, yelling incoherently. As Eli approached, her husband’s eyes bulged as he registered what was happening. Eli reached down, and using the forward momentum of his body, he grabbed the front of Lars’s neck, yanking his body back and slamming him to the ground behind Brynn. Brynn’s body was pulled back with Lars’s by the grip he had on her neck, and she ended up beside them. Eli was yelling her name as he pounced on Lars and started punching.

Eli was barely looking at what he was punching, but he aimed for the gut. The sound of air being forced out of Lars’s mouth confirmed it was a solid hit. He hit again and again, and the man squirmed and tried to sit up, but every time Eli landed a new blow, Lars’s body was thrown back into the concrete.

All Eli could do was yell Brynn’s name over and over. She was too silent, and it was horrifying to think why. He punched Lars squarely on the jaw and sent his head into the side of the stair, and then Lars was out. Eli crawled to Brynn, pulling her up in his lap as he leaned back against the workshop table.

“Baby? Brynn. Come on, baby.”

Her chest was rising and falling slowly, and as he shook her and spoke, her eyelids fluttered. She woke in a start, and as she scrambled to sit up, she kicked, and she fought him until he wrapped his arms around her and shushed her with his lips to her ear.

“It’s me. You’re okay, baby. I’ve got you.”

She started coughing. When the fit passed, her shoulders started shaking as her tears fell.

Lars was a few feet from them, and when he started moaning, Eli stood, grabbed a roll of duct tape from the workbench, and returned to his crumpled body. He yanked Lars’s hands behind his back, hyperextending his shoulders as he cried out. Eli wound the tape tightly around his wrists, letting the wide tape dig into Lars’s wrists. Eli taped his wrists to the stair railing before returning to Brynn who was watching him as she leaned against the workbench. Her face was slack, as she watched with tears sitting on her lower eyelids.

Eli sank down beside her, pulling her back onto his lap and settling her between his legs to lean back against his chest. He snatched his cell phone from his pocket when it started ringing moments later.

“We’re okay. Brynn may need to see a doctor, but she’s okay. He was here. Jesus, Sam…I think I only just got here in time.” His voice started to break up as his imagination ran away with the what-ifs.

“Oh, God, Eli. She’s okay?” Sam’s voice was shaky and not at all as controlled and even as it usually was.

“Yeah.”

“I’m calling the police. Just hang tight, and don’t let that prick out of your sight.”

They hung up, and Eli held Brynn close to him. Lars was eyeing her venomously, glaring with a sneer on his face. He looked so normal, and Eli guessed he’d have to. He was a cop after all, and it wasn’t as if his own father looked on the outside like the monster he truly was on the inside. Lars was a large man, though not as tall as Eli was, but he was obviously fit. Eli stared back at the man and imagined Brynn living in absolute terror of the man curled up on the floor with his hands taped to the stair railing.

Brynn turned sideways, resting her cheek against Eli’s chest and closing her eyes. He stroked her back and brushed her hair away from her face.

“You fucking my wife?”

Eli looked at the man but didn’t respond. He just glared, refusing to give him anything.

“Yeah, you are. She’s a fucking whore. Not surprised that bitch would find herself a man after she ran away from me. She’s worthless for anything but fucking.”

“Shut up.” Eli’s voice was a seething furious thing.

Brynn’s fingers gripped into Eli’s side as she quietly sniffed through her tears. He remembered her fingers gripping his waist the very first time he met her. She’d been desperate then just like she was desperate now. She’d wanted a job on that day, today she just needed support. He hugged her tight to his body, and he kissed the top of her head.

Lars chuckled as he watched them. “She used to like to fuck my friends too. She was the life of the party. She tell you that? She
loved
it.”

He was taunting her, and Eli’s guts were clenching at what he was hearing. Brynn was groaning against his chest as her fingers dug into him.

“Hell, she’d take two guys at a time back in those days.”

And then she lunged as her groan turned to a furious growl. Eli grabbed her around the waist in just enough time to keep her from pouncing on Lars. He clutched her back to his body as her growl turned to sobs that racked her body and physically hurt Eli to hear.

“Whatdaya say? Wanna share her? Trust me, it’ll be the ride of your fucking life. You’ll have to ignore the tears, but believe me, you’ll get used to it. Hell, you might even like to hear her begging you to stop. I do.”

Eli snatched the tape from the floor and left Brynn for a moment to tape the fucker’s mouth shut, sealing it with one swift punch to his jaw. Brynn was curled up on the floor in the fetal position when he turned back to her, and he lifted her to his lap as he sat again.

She sobbed, and her shoulders shook as she cried against him, and when he pulled back wiping the tears from her cheeks, he kissed her.

“Hush now.” He whispered. He knew the fucker was watching, and he didn’t give a shit. “You’re safe.”

She nodded, and he kissed her again. He could hear sirens in the distance, and he waited with her wrapped in his arms.

This was all he needed in the world now. Her safe and with him. He was never going to let another person hurt her as long as he lived.

Chapter Forty-Two

B
rynn woke thinking she couldn’t breathe, and as she gasped and sucked in air, she sat up, clutching her chest.

“You’re okay. It’s just a bad dream. You’re safe.”

She loved when Eli said that because after so long of not thinking she’d ever be safe, she actually believed it now. She was safe, and she was going to be okay. She nuzzled into his chest, and he stroked her back.

The cops hadn’t kept them long. They’d answered questions, and after she refused to go to the hospital, they’d taken pictures of her neck. Eli had watched. He couldn’t seem to stop looking at her neck, touching it gently, and stroking his fingers over the quickly bruising marks. They’d given their statements, and when they’d asked her name, she’d paused for a second. She’d gotten used to thinking of herself as Brynn again, but she didn’t guess it was time to own that name quite yet. She was once again Fiona Finley and she hated it.

“Can I take her home now? I’m sorry, detectives, but we’ve had a long night. You know where to find us.” Eli was leering at one of the detectives.

As Brynn had glanced up at him, she noticed the detective was leering at Eli too.

“Yeah. We’ll be in touch.”

He’d taken her home then, running them a bath and then holding her against his body as she drifted away. Now he was propped up on his elbow, looking down at her and tracing the bruises along her neck. “I don’t think your husband and I are going to be friends.”

She chuckled quietly, anything more hurt her throat, and then she swallowed, also quite painful at the moment. “Everything he said was true.” She shook her head. The words had come out wrong, or she’d not been clear enough. “I mean, I didn’t want any of it, but Lars liked to…share me with his friends. The others. I didn’t want any of it. Not ever. I wasn’t a whore.”

He shushed her quickly, and she started to cry. She couldn’t help it. It actually felt kind of good to cry. This mess was finally losing its hold on her, but as she looked at him and saw the tears in his eyes, she felt bad.

“I’m so sorry, Brynn.”

She shook her head, nestling into his chest again before she closed her eyes.

When Brynn woke the sun was high in the sky, and the clock said she’d slept until late morning. She sat up, stretching. Her body ached, and her neck felt raw and swollen. She grabbed her clothes that Eli had left on the chaise. She pulled them on quickly as she headed out to the kitchen. He was there, talking on his cell phone as she entered.

“Okay. Yeah. We’ll see you soon. Yeah, bye.” He hung up, and then he lifted her to the counter. “My parents are coming tomorrow. Your parents will be coming soon too. They need to stick around to handle some things with the Denver PD, but they’ll be here as soon as they can.”

She nodded. He’d explained how Lars had discovered where she was on their way home the night before, and she’d cried as she imagined what her mother had discovered when she’d gotten home. She felt guilty, more than guilty, and it wasn’t until she’d talked to her mom, and they’d both cried for thirty minutes straight that she’d gotten enough of the pain out of her system to go to bed.

“How’s Laney?” Laney was her mother’s best friend, and Brynn had known her since childhood.

“Going to be fine. Broken jaw, lacerated spleen, lots of bumps and bruises, but Sam said she pulled through surgery fine and is expected to make a full recovery. It’ll take time, but she’s going to survive.”

At least Brynn didn’t have to add the guilt of Laney’s death onto her growing list. She’d hung up shortly after that as her tears had tapered off.

Now, her nerves were far calmer. When Eli kissed her, it was gentle. His fingers were still softly trailing along her neck, and she didn’t hold back when she kissed him in return. She pulled on his lips, sucking one between hers and then pushing her tongue into his mouth. He moaned, and he gripped her hips. She spread her legs, and he pulled her body close to his, holding her tight as their kiss turned passionate and needy.

The knock on the door was an unwelcome interruption, and she jumped as the loud rap startled her. “Hmm. Don’t move. I definitely need more of that.” He kissed her once more before he turned and walked from the room. She sat, listening to the silence, and then he opened the door.

“Officers. What can I help you with?”

“Is Brynn Kitritch here?” There was silence for a moment, and she held her breath. It wasn’t the name she’d given the police.

“Uh…no.” He sounded unsure.

She was too for that matter. She’d actually forgotten, under the circumstances, that her real name could cause her some serious damage. She’d been entirely too relieved to be alive to think there was any threat left, but that threat was standing at his front door.

“Mr. Hunter, we know Brynn Kitritch is here, and if you try to interfere—”

She hopped down from the counter quickly, walking to the foyer, and when she entered, Eli’s arms were crossed. He was glaring at the two officers in the doorway as they continued to tell him exactly what was going to happen if he continued to help her.

“He doesn’t know me by that name, so please stop threatening him.”

“God dammit!” Eli cursed as he spun toward her.

“Brynn Kitritch?”

“Duh.” It popped out before she could stop it.

Eli’s glare turned to all out fury that was aimed at her.

“You’re under arrest.”

She heard nothing else after that. She knew they explained something about the warrant out of Salt Lake City, and Eli argued, getting more and more angry until they had to threaten to arrest him as well, but she was in a daze at that point. As they led her from the house with her hands cuffed behind her back, Eli followed, walking barefoot in the snow as though there was no feeling in his feet.

“I’m sorry, but I wasn’t going to let you get in trouble for me. Lars obviously told them who I was.” She started crying then.

He ignored the cops as he clutched her by the back of the neck and leaned to her ear. “Fuck, Brynn.” He took a deep breath. “It’s okay. I’ll call Sam. We’ll figure this out. I promise.” He kissed her then. “I love you.”

She watched him standing there as they pulled away. His eyes were wide and he lifted his hand to his forehead, clutching it as though what he’d just seen hurt to comprehend, and then he bounded up the steps into his house.

She spent the next two hours of her morning arguing.

“You don’t understand. The man you arrested last night is behind these charges. He’s a cop out of Salt Lake City, and that’s why…these charges are bogus. This warrant is bullshit! You’re not listening.”

“No, you’re not listening! We’ve verified the warrant is active, and Salt Lake wants you extradited. Don’t you get it? If the warrant is active, and they want you, you’re going. It doesn’t matter that Lars Kitritch was arrested last night. He told us who you were. We can’t ignore the fact you lied about your identity and there’s an active warrant out for your arrest.”

The man left her sitting in the interrogation room then. She’d been having the same argument with them since they brought her in here, and it was useless. She understood. The charges were active, and until they weren’t, she was wanted on bogus drug possession with intent charges out of Salt Lake City.

She eventually made it to a holding cell, and by the time she’d been fingerprinted, strip searched by a sweet middle aged woman that actually made one of the worst things in the world remarkably tolerable, Brynn sank down on the bunk and cried. It was apparently quiet in Jackson and her holding cell was private. Not sharing a cell was about the only thing in the world she could come up with to be thankful about.

All she wanted was to talk to Eli, talk to Sam, talk to anyone of the few people in her life who knew who she was, and what she wasn’t. She was sure the fuck not a drug peddler. But she wasn’t at all surprised at the ease in which Lars’s four asshole buddies were able to plant the evidence. They’d painted her a co-conspirator in this mess, and then they’d hidden their own involvement. Everyone knew Lars was crooked. When he fled, he left little question, and his fate was sealed. The FBI might have only questioned his involvement, but he knew his time was short, and the second he was released by them, he hit the fucking road. But the others, stupid as they were, had made the far more intelligent decision of sticking around and playing cool. And she’d be damned if it wasn’t working.

She went from teary-eyed mess to bitter and angry as she lay staring at the ceiling above her. Her orange jumpsuit was a baggy disaster of an ensemble, and as she looked down at herself, she cussed and let her attention return to the ceiling. The ceiling didn’t seem to piss her off as much as her clothes, so she studied it as she willed her nerves to stay calm. God, she just wanted to be at home with Eli.