“I don’t believe my brother did this.”Brother?
Tears stream down my face.
“I-I don’t understand.”
“Sit.” He points to an old wooden chair, and when my eyes go to the gun at his waist, I do as I’m told. “Adam came to live with us when he was six. I was already a teenager by that point, but I loved Adam like he had always been my brother.” Garrett begins to pace, and I try to hold back my tears as I listen to his story. “My mom was a drug addict. She met Adam’s dad at some crack house, and next thing I knew, I had a step-dad and brother. Our home life wasn’t great. But we always had each other. Adam wasn’t a violent person. He got angry a lot, but I never imagined he was capable of what he did to you.”
My heart constricts at the story he’s painted.. How did I never know what Adam’s homelife was like? Or that he had a brother?
“When we pulled up to the scene at your house and that boy was there, blaming my brother, I didn’t want to believe it. It just wasn’t possible. But his prints were everywhere.
“Those women.” His head shakes, and he pulls up a chair in front of me, brushing back my hair with his thumb. I fight against a flinch. “I never even recognized you all these years. Your hair is so different. It wasn’t until that first victim. Those stab wounds took me back to that day ten years ago. I couldn’t shake the feeling that it was Adam, so I called my mom. She left Adam’s dad after the murders. I sent her to a rehab program in Vancouver, and then she relocated to Hadley when she got out.I wanted to be close to her, so I applied to Lavender Falls PD. We didn’t know where Adam was. But when I called her after that first murder, she said she ran into Brian a couple months ago. She said she told him where we were living but he never mentioned Adam at all. They didn’t talk about it. And then West had me look for red cars, and I fucking knew. He was here.”
“You’re right.” I nod desperately, voice cracking, hoping by some miracle he will let me go, still not understanding what it is he wants from me. “What are we doing here, Garrett?”
“I’m keeping you safe.”
I shake my head, and a tear slides down my cheek. “I was safe. West was going to protect me.”
Slamming his hands down onto his knees, Garrett pushes back from the chair he was sitting in, making me flinch. “Don’t you see it? This is fate, Hadley. I saved you once, and God put me in your path to save you again.”
“No, Garrett.” I cry. “West was going to keep me safe. You didn’t have to do this.”
Garrett moves fast, and I bite my tongue against a sharp sting across my face.
“You’re mine, Hadley! Why can’t you see that? I’m meant to be your protector.”
“Garrett, please. Let me go,” I beg, no longer holding in the tears that steadily flow down my face.
His head shakes back and forth, and he looks agitated and crazed. Like this isn’t really him. “I can’t do that.”
“No, please. Don’t do this, Garrett. West is your friend.” My voice breaks.
“Here is how this is going to go.” He walks over and begins to bind my hands to the chair. “I am going to go back to work, and when West realizes you are missing, I’m going to help him search for you. Except we are never going to find you. After a few weeks, I’m going to quit my job and tell them I’m relocating. Bythen, he’ll have forgotten about you and we will be able to run together. I’ve already got a place for us to go in Saskatchewan. Adam will never find us.”
Sobs wrack my body, and I know what I have to do to get out of here.
I play his game.
“Adam won’t find us again?” I ask, my voice quivering.
“No. I’ll keep you safe,” he says as he finishes bounding my arms and starts on my legs.
“I think your plan is really good, then,” I manage to croak out, hoping he can’t tell it’s a lie.
His head snaps up to mine, and he looks at me suspiciously. “Yeah?”
“Yes.” I nod desperately.
“Good. I’m glad.” He smiles and hums as he finishes securing me to the chair. “Okay. I have to go back now, but I’ll return as soon as I can.”
When he starts to move in for a kiss, I fight the urge to vomit and allow him to press his lips against mine. The second I hear his tires crunch against the gravel as he leaves me behind, I let the tears take over as I begin to scream for help.
I’m up front talking to Beatrice when Sarah bursts through the doors, out of breath and in a flurry. Her eyes meet mine, and the terror I see in them has my body stiffening.
“Sarah, what is it?”
“It’s Jade!” she cries. “She’s gone!”
