Am I?
“Did I kill him?” I choke out, tears gathering in my eyes.
“Shh,” he whispers, gathering me in his arms and hugging me close to his chest. “No, you didn’t kill him. It’s okay, baby. I’ll take care of it. I’ve got you, sweetheart. You hear me?” I nod despite myself. “Wait here—”
I stand still as Kyle inspects Rick where he lies on the floor, and I shiver with relief and a little fear when I see Rick’s chest rise and fall. Kyle quickly grabs a couple extension cords and binds Rick’s hands and feet together, then pulls out his phone and makes a call.
This is a nightmare.
I wish I could wake up to the morning in that hotel in Denver, with the sun rising and lighting the entire room in a pretty yellow hue. Kyle’s arms wrapped around my body, his soft breath brushing against the back of my head. He’s hard behind me and when I roll my hips, he groans in his sleep, arms tightening around me and holding me close like I’m the most precious thing in the world.
Yes, I would love to wake up to that reality. For all of this to be nothing but a bad dream.
Except when I open my eyes, I’m still in the cabin. And my mother’s boyfriend is tied up on the ground.
Oh God.
Kyle is on the phone with Knox. “Yes. I’ve tied him up.” His eyes meet mine and something in me settles when they do. “Right, no. Vivienne is okay. Okay, I’ll take care of it.” He ends the call and walks back over to me, brushing some hair out of my face and cupping my cheek softly.
I lean into his touch when he rubs at my arm. “He’s really not dead then?”
“No, he has a strong pulse. We’ll call the cops and ambulance for him, but we need to be gone before they get here.”
“What about…” My eyes widen when I remember what Rick screamed at me before the fight. “Wait, I took something from him. It’s in my bag. Grab it for me?” Kyle brings me the backpack that holds my few possessions, and I open it and take out the small metal box, fiddling with the lock. “I don’t know how to open it. I don’t even know why I took it, really. I just wanted to hurt him in some way.”
“Let me see that.” He takes the box and uses the butt of his gun to break the small padlock, then lifts the lid.
I peer in at the contents of the box. Some cash is tucked to the side, along with white plastic bags containing some white powder, but most alarming are the photos. The first is of a girl in bed with Rick, but when I reach for it, Kyle grabs my wrist.
“Don’t want your prints on anything inside the box,” he says, then he tips the box and starts to scatter the pictures on the floor without touching them. My palm flies to my mouth when I realize what it is I’m staring at. “He’s a sick fuck.”
Sick doesn’t cover it. The photos are of Rick and the guys I’ve seen him hang around with, all in compromising positions with women who don’t seem to be aware the pictures are being taken.
“Wait, I know some of these women,” I whisper, leaning forward for a closer look. “I’ve seen her in the news before,” I tell Kyle, pointing at one of the photos with a naked woman kneeling in front of Rick. “Her family reported her missing, I think. No, I’m sure. I’ve seen it on the news. Her too.” I point to another picture, my heart racing as I realize that this is bigger than just some explicit pictures.
“Take a shower and get dressed,” Kyle instructs. “I’ve already spoken to Knox. We have a hacker in the club, and he’s going toerase our digital presence here, but we need to wipe everything down and take the sheets and towels we used with us. We need to be gone before the cops arrive.”
“But what about—”
Kyle’s mouth crashes down on mine in a hot, greedy kiss that seems to scramble all thoughts from my brain and leaves me trembling. “I don’t want you to worry about anything,” he breathes into the kiss. “I'll take care of it.”
I nod. Trusting him.
In half an hour, we’re already driving away from the cabin. Kyle left the photos, the drugs, and the money scattered all over the living room for the cops to find. I don’t know how much my mother knew about the extent of Rick’s crimes, but regardless, she enabled and supported him for far too long. Though I’m relieved to finally be free of them both, I hope she’s better off once her asshole of a boyfriend is in prison.
I didn’t want to glance at Rick on my way out but I couldn’t help myself, and I’m glad I did. He looked so pathetic, slumped on the ground with his arms and legs tied. Nothing like the monster that plagued my nightmares. Now I will always remember him like that. Lost and pathetic.
“You didn’t get much sleep last night. Why don’t you try to get some rest?” Kyle says, reaching over to grab my hand in his. “I’ll wake you when we get there.”
I’m afraid of what I’ll see when I close my eyes, but Kyle’s presence calms me a bit and I find myself drifting. I don’t dream of Rick or my mother—they’re gone, and even my subconscious knows I don’t need to worry about them anymore. Instead, I’m pulled into the past, to a time when I had my big brother by my side. A period in which that little child felt treasured. Knox was always bigger and taller than everyone I knew. The only personwho never seemed annoyed with me, even when I followed him around and asked endless questions.
Despite the sixteen-year age gap, he loved me.
“Don’t you think it’s time to wake up?”
The voice pulls me from my dream, and I whine. I don’t want the dream to end.
Someone chuckles before I feel a tap on my shoulder. “You always were cranky whenever I had to wake you up.”
