“She was meant to be a victim. I picked her up on a street corner with plans to practice my knife skills. My black heart had other plans. From the moment she spoke to me, I knew there would be no death for her that day.”
“Then why didn’t you help her? You parade around in designer suits and drive fancy cars the same as Jim. Why didn’t you get them off the fucking street?”
King turns his icy-blue gaze toward me. “Do you think I didn’t try? She refused to take a handout, and her various addictions prevented her from straightening out her life. And I’ll give you one guess as to why she couldn’t attend a proper rehabilitation program.”
“Her daughter.”
“She’d written me, asking if I’d help her fight to get Quinn back once she was well again. By the time I’d received the letter, it was too late. She’d already enacted her plan and become Desmond’s first victim. And there’s more to it than?—”
“Oh no!” Jim shouts from the next room, and the hairs on my neck stand on end before he even rushes in and says the next dreadful sentence. “You were right to worry, Aven. Desmond has her, and he’s taken her to the gondolas.”
“What?” King and I shout in unison.
“He had her at gunpoint. It looked like Kenny’s gun.” Jim runs his hands through his hair, and the mess it leaves behind is so unlike him that it makes me feel sick. He’s terrified enough to forgo his usual act of keeping up appearances, so I’m more than right to be terrified myself.
I turn to leave the room, and King shouts after me.
“Where are you going?” he asks.
I open the door and pause. Unlike them, I won’t keep anyone in the dark. “I’m going to the gondolas. To save Quinn.”
“Wait!” Jim shouts. “We haven’t run this situation through the simulator. We don’t know what could happen.”
“I don’t need a simulator to tell me that,” I say. “I’m going to save the girl, pay off my debt, and then she and I are taking a one-way flight to Scotland. If her brothers and sister wish to visit, I’ll send the fucking address.”
“About that,” King says. “There’s one more bit of information we’ve been withholding, and I think it’s time you knew. Desmond isn’t just tied to Quinn and me. He’s linked to you as well. You killed his father.”
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Quinn
Desmond pushes me forward, and I stumble onto the narrow metal platform running between the trees. The rust and general disrepair of this service area tell me Jim doesn’t know of its existence. Leaves and gnarled branches obscure it from view when you’re on the gondola. It wasn’t until Desmond opened the door and told me to get ready to step out that I saw it myself. I damn near missed the step when I hopped off, too.
Something tells me this service entrance wasn’t known by many. There’s no way someone would have okayed this death trap. The only way onto this walkway is to hop from the gondola, which is definitely an OSHA violation. This is one of those theme park “secrets,” like the tunnels under Disney.
“Keep moving,” Desmond says as he rams the gun’s barrel between my shoulder blades.
I point at the gaping hole in the metal grate under our feet. “I’d fucking love to, but I forgot my winged shoes this morning.”
“It’s a damn shame I want to fuck you so badly. Otherwise, I’d send your stupid ass to the forest floor. Jump.”
My jaw drops, not because he told me to jump the gap but because he thinks he’s getting anywhere near my pussy. And I’m the idiot? I may not have a weapon, but I’ll be damned if I’ll go down without a fight. If my stubby little nails can claw out his icy eyes, it will be enough.
“Do you even know who you’re fucking with?” I say before making the leap. I turn to face him after I land safely. “Do you know who my father is?”
Instead of looking concerned, he merely smirks and jumps over, putting his chest level with my nose when I refuse to back up. “Oh, I know exactly who your father is. The question is, do you?”
He grips my shoulders and spins me around, and I roll my eyes. Up until a week ago, the answer would have been no. Thank fuck Aven came through with my very own Maury Povich moment. It’s just a shame Daddy Dearest wasn’t there to run off screen, screaming about how it’s not true.
How will my brothers and sister react when they learn of their new sibling? I want to smile when I think of it, but there is a very real chance they won’t even know until after I’m dead.
“How’d you do it?” I ask. The curiosity is too much to bear. If he killed Aven and took the tiny cell phone, I want to know so that I can just jump off this platform right now. “The text message, I mean.”
“Jim had to set up something special for the two of you to communicate on the island. I merely tapped into it via one of the lobby computers.” He pulls a small phone from his pocket. It’s similar to the ones Aven and I use, but it’s not the same. “This certainly helped. Jim really should invest in some better locks for his supply rooms. Now quit stalling and start walking.”
The walkway pushes through the trees a bit more before our destination is revealed. Built into the canopy and completely hidden from view is a small wooden shack that looks like Satan’s Treehouse. The red paint may be faded, but I can still make out the dancing demons plastered over the aged boards. Their black eyes seem to stare at me as I draw closer.
As we step onto the porch, I hear a familiar screeching from inside.
