Promising today, p.37
Promising Today, page 37
Jude grabbed the mead and chugged it. The empty glass clanged against the coffee table. “Tell me where she is.”
“He didn’t tell me—but she’s gone.”
“No!” Jude surged to his feet and fell onto his knees. An anguished cry scraped from his throat.
“Jude!” Nova moved to him, but her head swam. The room spun. She couldn’t have a panic attack right now—
Her head swirled and the pounding in her head grew. Nova clutched her chest, her heart racing.
“Jude?”
But he didn’t answer. Jude lay facedown on the beige carpet. Nova spun around to look for the other two women on the couch, but something heavy connected with her skull.
And everything went black.
52
NOVA
Pain was the first thing Nova registered. A pulsing, splitting headache thumped against her skull, making her teeth ache. Her stomach churned.
This is the worst hangover of my life. What had happened? She hadn’t drunk a lot since New Year’s Eve. Drinking wasn’t usually her go-to. The last thing I remember was sitting down at Amanda’s and then—
Nova gasped, opening her eyes and shifting forward. She immediately regretted it. The one hanging light bulb in the dank cement room pierced her vision, making her headache rage with vengeance. She tried to cover her eyes but Nova’s hands were tied behind her, and her legs were also bound. Moving only caused the binds to tighten on her limbs. She fell back onto the damp concrete floor, pain lighting up her wrists and ankles. She slammed her eyes closed.
I’ve been kidnapped.
Panic set in, her breaths coming faster. Is Jude here too? Nova risked peeking through one cracked eyelid, slowly letting her vision adjust. It hurt, but she pushed through the pain—she had to if she wanted to survive. Focus, Nova.
Wasn’t Larry in the hospital? Had Kim gotten out of FBI custody? No. That didn’t make sense. Someone in that room had to have attacked her—put something in her drink.
Fuck. How could I have been so stupid and let my guard down?
Nova scanned the space. Two women lay prone on a dirty mattress a few yards from her. No sign of Jude. Her worry only intensified.
Spiderweb cracks filled the walls, moss growing through some. There were no windows. Black filthy puddles had formed in the corners of the room, brown stains leading from them. Black mold dotted the ceiling. Cobwebs covered every nook and cranny except around a rusty metal door that looked more like an antique bank vault. And the stench of human waste was rancid and overpowering. The bucket in the corner probably had something to do with it. The room was out of a horror novel.
Nova swallowed despite her throat being desert dry. Someone could walk through that door any minute. She needed to find a way to free herself and give her and the other women a fighting chance.
Nova lifted her feet, kicking and wiggling. The motion sent her stomach churning. Vomit climbed her throat, but she fought against it, barely holding herself together. Her head thumped and the room tilted. She gritted her teeth and forced a deep breath out of her lungs.
The sound of clanging metal hitting the wet cement floor brought tears of gratitude to her eyes. Her lucky knife Ricky had gifted her years ago. She never left home without it.
Because you never know when some psycho is going to kidnap you.
Now was not the time for humor, but it was one way to not completely fall apart with fear.
Nova wiggled and rolled, lining up her tied hands with the knife on the ground. The metal was warm from being tucked in her boot. She gripped it, flicking it open behind her back. She lowered her arms behind her and blindly sawed the binds on her feet.
A moan slipped free from one of the women on the mattress.
Nova stopped what she was doing and rolled to them, pushing through the pain and motion sickness. Carrie was closest, her back to Nova, unmoving.
“Wake up,” Nova said, nudging Carrie with her shoulder before sitting up to check on Amanda. But it wasn’t Amanda blinking her eyes open. Green eyes met hers, sunken and dull, hidden behind a mass of black hair.
“Salem?”
Salem’s eyes widened and darted to the door. Nova’s ears rang as she took in the skeletal frame of her old friend.
“Oh, fuck.” Tears sprung to Nova’s eyes. She needed to get free and get them out of there. “You’re alive.”
“If you can call this living.” Salem’s voice rasped before she coughed. Her lungs made a hacking noise. She wasn’t tied, like Carrie and Nova. A rusted metal chain rattled with Salem’s movement. She’d been starved and chained up like an animal these past six weeks?
“Jude will find us. He’s been looking for you. He’s got a whole motorcycle club searching. Salem, you have to hold on. We’re gonna get out of here,” Nova promised.
“Is she dead?” Salem asked.
Nova eyed Carrie’s chest as it barely lifted and fell. She was alive but for how long? “Not yet, but she will be if we don’t get the fuck out of here.” Nova refocused on cutting the ties on her ankles.
The heavy metal door creaked. The wheel in place of a doorknob spun slowly as Carrie stirred.
Salem’s back went ramrod straight as she scurried up the end of the mattress, her dirty, boney knees bent as she made herself as small as possible. Her movements were so much like they had been when they were stuck in that hellhole together.
“It won’t end like this, Salem. We fight. We survive.” Nova tried to encourage her friend, resuming her work on the ankle binds. But the fight was gone from Salem’s eyes. The poor woman had been terrorized and possibly tortured based on the marks visible under the tattered material of the T-shirt and shorts she had on and the filth coating her.
Nova rolled to her knees, the knife behind her back, working one strand of her binds free. A burst of satisfaction lit her up inside as she focused on the rest. She held her breath as a blonde head peeked through the door.
“Amanda?” Nova asked, surprised.
Salem’s chains rattled as she shook.
Amanda rushed in, her eyes wide and panicked. “Oh my God! We have to go. He’s coming!”
Confusion didn’t help Nova’s pounding head. Chills raced through her as every hair stood on end.
“Untie them,” Nova said.
Amanda’s concerned face morphed into a sadistic grin, her eyes lifeless and devoid of human emotion once again—dead eyes. “Now why would I do that when I’ve worked so hard to bring us all together?”
Nova’s heart raced. Shards of ice slid through her veins. Amanda was the killer. Amanda had drugged them.
“You bitch!” Nova spat. “Where’s Jude?”
“Where he fell.” She lifted her arms. “I may be strong, but I can’t lift a giant, even with the help of my sound equipment trunks. Couldn’t lift him over the edge of them. But that’s okay. I think it’s better to leave you with the knowledge he’ll blame himself. I took you right under his nose.”
Bile rose in Nova’s throat. No. That would destroy Jude.
“I’m going to kill you, fucking pregnant or not.”
Amanda laughed. “There’s no baby. No fiancé either—”
“No one wanted your psycho ass? What a surprise.” I can’t believe this was all an act—and I swallowed it up hook, line, and sinker.
Amanda stepped forward, glaring at Nova. Nova paused her cutting, not wanting to give away the fact she had a weapon until the opportune moment—when her limbs were free.
“If Anastasia taught me anything, it was that death wasn’t the best revenge. Rather anticlimactic actually,” Amanda sneered, flicking a switchblade from behind her back. Her eyes gleamed with darkness. “Suffering, however? Now that is satisfying. And I’m going to enjoy every moment of yours.”
“Why?” Nova asked. “What did I ever do to you? Or Salem and Carrie? The other girls? I got you out of that house—”
“You ruined everything!” she screamed, slapping Nova hard across the face.
Nova bit her lip, holding back a cry of agony. The pressure in her head built. She squeezed her eyes closed and then forced them open. She couldn’t afford to take her eyes off Amanda, not when the other woman had a weapon in her hands.
Amanda backed up and walked to the other side of the room before spinning back around. “I loved staying with my aunt and uncle. It was so much better than my pathetic mother. She was useless. Always in my business. Aunt Kim taught me about plants and gardening. She inspired the idea of using plants to get what I wanted—and I got to stay with them.”
“You killed your mother?” Nova asked, appalled.
“And I got to live with Aunt Kim. Do as I like. Kim gave me freedom.”
“And that was worth living with Larry?” Nova asked. If she kept Amanda talking, Nova would be able to get free. Her movements had to be slow and measured. If Amanda found her knife, Nova didn’t like the odds of fighting without the use of her feet—especially when Amanda also had a weapon.
Amanda smiled wistfully. “Uncle Larry was the best part—he gave me the ultimate control. But Aunt Kim never would have understood. Uncle Larry had needs that were dark like mine. We had a lot in common. Those needs were his weakness. Control the man’s needs—control the man.”
“All those times you begged him to use you instead of us . . .” Nova’s stomach churned.
“It was brilliant, wasn’t it? It earned me trust from you all, and made for a great show for Uncle Larry. He became addicted, wanted more of our little games. He’s the one that convinced Aunt Kim to take in more girls.”
“You’re a sick fuck.”
Amanda laughed. “Oh, you naive little orphan. You fell for it. Too bad you had to ruin it all.” Her lips straightened into a thin line. “Because of your little stunt, I was removed from their home and sent away. I lost everything. I went from his number one girl to just another mouth to feed in a group home.”
Nova’s stomach churned. “I’d play a violin for your sob story but I don’t have one small enough.”
Amanda glared with malice. “It’s gonna be really fun to break you.”
“Go ahead and try, you cunt,” Nova spit.
“You always were mouthy.” Amanda shook her head. “I wanted you to know I was coming for you. That’s why I left the markings.” Amanda rolled her eyes. “Those stupid agents wouldn’t have connected my work otherwise. I had to help them along of course. I wish I could have been there when you heard the news about Ana’s body. And then Simone’s. You even helped me out reporting Hannah missing. Sped things up.”
“What the hell happened to make you this fucking psycho? Were you born a lunatic?”
“You call it psychosis—I call it brilliance.” She clapped and laughed.
“Why now after all these years?” Nova asked, the knife slipping in her sweaty hands. She caught it before it fell, her heart racing. But the tip of the blade stabbed her calf. She sucked in a breath. Now was not the time to be clumsy.
“I had nothing after I was sent away. I couldn’t afford college. I had no prospects, no future. And then I saw the engagement announcement for Ana and your brother. I didn’t even know he was your adoptive brother until later—that was just the icing on the cake.”
“She was innocent.”
“Ana was a selfish bitch, just like the rest of you. She didn’t deserve to be happy—not when I was still suffering. So I reached out to her, asking to meet up. She turned me down of course, at first. Ignored me like you did.” Amanda’s eyes narrowed on Nova. “But I guess she got in a fight with your brother and decided to message me. I picked her up from the bar and she told me she knew a quiet place we could go.” Amanda stared right into Nova’s eyes with glee. “The first time I killed was with my bare hands. She was going on and on about Nash and how she’d cheated and ruined everything. She just wanted the pain to stop. She asked if I ever thought about what had happened in that house, if I was ever able to move on.” Amanda’s cold expression turned Nova’s stomach. “I was so overcome with a flood of emotion. The pure rage I felt—I drowned in it until my hands wrapped around her throat. For the first time in decades, I was free.”
“I hope you die a slow, painful death.”
“We’re all gonna die one day, Nova. But yours is coming so much sooner than mine. And it will be my greatest work. Just ask Salem here.” Amanda motioned to the shivering woman against the wall.
“You leave her alone,” Nova ordered.
Amanda gave her a patronizing look and shook her head. “I don’t think I will.” She walked towards the women on the mattress. The chains rattled louder.
“Don’t think Carrie will hang on much longer. She drank her whole glass, after all. Heartbreak grass, also known as Gelsemium, is a plant that is native to both North America and China. It’s been used to kill some powerful people. I thought it was fitting to use in this project of mine.”
“They’re innocent. You want to hurt someone, hurt me.”
“Oh, I will. But see, I’ve learned the way to cut you deepest is to keep you powerless while I destroy everyone around you,” Amanda said, smoothing her hand over Carrie’s chest, pushing the unconscious woman to her back. The knife hovered in her hand. “That’s true power.”
Nova sawed the knife against her bindings. “Don’t—”
Amanda plunged the knife into Carrie’s shoulder.
“No!” Nova screamed, pulling at the restraints on her ankles, but they wouldn’t give. Panic raced through her, horror and revulsion.
Amanda pulled the knife out with a wet sound. Crimson red pooled from the wound as Carrie’s body jerked before she moaned and blinked her eyes open.
Nova’s ears rang. She was unable to believe what she was seeing.
Amanda’s expression relaxed into contentment as if she were getting a relaxing massage not stabbing a helpless woman. She ran her fingers through the blood on the blade, holding the knife up in the dim basement lighting. “It’s so pretty, isn’t it? I should have tried a knife out sooner, huh, Salem?”
Salem whimpered, tucking tighter into herself.
“I’ve never killed more than one at a time. Maybe I’ll paint the whole room red and leave it for your boyfriend to find,” Amanda mused before raising the knife again to Carrie’s cheek. “This is going to be so much fun.”
“No!” A scream ripped from Nova’s throat as Carrie thrashed, an inaudible moan slipping from her.
Powerlessness suffocated her. Help me!
She still had so much to live for. She wanted a life with Jude beyond today. She wanted to hug her parents one more time and tease her brothers. Watch her nieces and nephew grow up. Nova wanted to live.
Jude’s face flashed in her mind, the sweet, affectionate way he’d looked at her while he held her in his strong, protective arms. She’d give anything to be back there again. But for the first time in her life, she wasn’t sure she would survive the day.
53
JUDE
Flashes of red filled Jude’s mind. Explosions rocked him from all sides. One minute he was in the sandy desert all his dreams brought him to, and the next he was soaked and running through the jungle. His heart raced in his chest. His stomach twisted violently. He couldn’t stop. He needed to keep going or something bad was going to happen. But what?
Jude looked over his shoulder. Encroaching darkness rushed at him. No. He couldn’t stop. He needed to get . . . where? Scanning the thick jungle, he caught a wisp of a shadow ahead of him. A slight bounce of curly hair. A flicker of whiskey eyes. Nova.
Something was wrong, and he needed to protect her. An explosion lit his vision, white piercing light and then throbbing pain in the front of his head.
Jude blinked blurry eyes open. His cheek pressed against a thick carpet as the room came into focus. Amanda’s apartment. Drinks. And then—Jude surged forward to sitting and groaned as pain pierced his skull like a thousand knives stabbing his forehead.
His stomach sloshed before he vomited all over the floor.
“Nova!” Jude rolled to his knees, going as fast as possible despite how heavy his limbs were, how much the avalanche of visceral pain in his head slammed into him. Nova was in danger. He crawled to the first room, opening the door. A simple blow-up twin mattress sat against the wall with tangled sheets at the foot of it. Otherwise, the room was bare. Jude gripped the doorframe and pulled himself up, forcing one foot in front of the other. His heart stuttered—no doubt from whatever he was drugged with. He needed to find Nova now. The next room was just as empty, a simple bathroom with less toiletries than a hotel. The last room was completely bare. Jude stumbled back to the kitchen. Something was very wrong about this place.
An anguished cry ripped from his throat as he fell to his knees. I failed her. The fucking killer was right in front of us and we never knew it.
Jude fisted his hair and pulled, screaming. “I’m sorry! I’m so fucking sorry! I should have known!”
He’d failed Salem and now Nova.
Jude’s eyes shot open and he pulled out his phone. Ten missed calls from Reaper. Shit. Jude dialed his friend back. He was done waiting. He had nothing left to lose. And he sure as fuck wasn’t giving up on Nova—not when she needed him most. I’ll find her. “Hang on, baby.”
“Where the fuck have you been?” Reaper answered.
“She’s gone.” The confession grated from his throat.
“When?”
Jude glanced at his watch. “Shit. Two hours ago.”
“Fuck. Where are you?”
“Dark Cove, apartment six in an old building on Picket Street.”
“We’re five minutes away. Break it down for me.”
Jude took a deep breath and gave his friend the rundown, naming every detail he could remember.
“It has to be Amanda. She gave us the laced drink and didn’t partake. The apartment is bare except for the main rooms, which made it look a little lived in.”
“Let me up.” The buzzer rang.
Jude pressed the button to let his friend in.
