Page 92 of Chasing Creed

She heard something coming through the trees. In a flash of lightning, she saw a cascade of crumbling rock and mud and debris sliding down the wall on the other side. Brodie held up the bat, preparing herself. When the man hobbled into view, she could see Sara behind him, pushing him along.

“He fell,” Sara called to her.

Even if he hadn’t been hunched over in pain, he looked nothing like Brodie expected. Of course, all the mud caked to his clothes and his face could have something to do with how small and vulnerable he looked. He was shorter than Brodie. About as tall as Sara.

Sara forced him into the meadow. Brodie came closer, branch still held like a batter ready to slam a home run into his head. He looked up at her. Dark eyes. Weathered skin. Pain drew lines in his face that made her realize he was older than she expected.

“She’ll knock your head off if you move,” Sara threatened, carefully pulling zip-ties from her pockets.

He grunted when she muscled his hands behind his back. Grimaced when she pulled the plastic so tight it bit into his skin. That’s when Brodie noticed the tattoo. It snaked from his wrist all the way up his arm then disappearing into his T-shirt sleeve. Its tail peeked out onto his neck. But it wasn’t a snake. It was a dragon.

“Leave my feet,” he told Sara. He’d lost a shoe, and even through the sock it was easy to see the ankle started ballooning.

Sara didn’t leave his feet. She combined three zip-ties and shackled his legs together even as he shook his head at her.

“Why are you here, Sara?” he asked as if he knew her.

How did he know her?

“I thought you didn’t want to work together,” he said. “This Charlotte’s not even on your list.”

“What’s he talking about?” Brodie wanted to know. “Why does it sound like you know each other?”

“You didn’t tell her?” A grin broke out across the man’s face, not lasting long and giving in to another grimace. “I taught Sara everything she knows about the business.”

Brodie wasn’t looking at Orlando anymore. She stared at Sara. Sara, in turn, didn’t take her eyes off the man. With her feet spread, arms extended, she still pointed the gun at him despite his inability to move.

“Brodie, this is that time when you need to listen to me. You need to go and get your brother. You need to go now. I’ll stay and make sure he doesn’t go anywhere.”

“If she didn’t tell you that she knows me, she probably didn’t tell you that she killed a man. Did she?” Orlando lobbed the comment like a grenade.

Brodie hadn’t moved despite Sara’s instructions. Instead, she tightened the grip on her baseball bat. Stared at Sara. Felt the sting of betrayal. Waited out the thunder for an explanation. Let the rain soak through her clothes. Counted on its rhythm to steady the pounding in her chest.

“Tell her how you stabbed him. In cold blood. Through the heart.”

Finally, Sara glanced at Brodie. “There’s a lot to tell. And hopefully there’ll be a chance to tell it.” Her eyes darted around from Brodie to Orlando, to the forest, to the sky, and then back to Brodie. “Yes, I killed a man. With a steak knife. He tried to rape me.” She shot a look back at Orlando and said, “You always leave that part out.”

So many questions banged through Brodie’s mind, but she kept her focus on Sara. The one thing she could rely on was her ability to know when someone was lying to her. Sara wasn’t lying about this.

Then Brodie told her, “I killed Aaron.”

Sara’s eyes flew back to hers, and Brodie added, “With a pair of scissors.”

Aaron was Iris’ only son. Just a few years older than Brodie. There had been so many opportunities for him to set her free. To help her. And instead, he administered the drugs his mother ordered. He muscled and strongarmed her every time she tried to escape and dragged her back.

Now, as Brodie watched to see Sara’s reaction, she could see her expression soften.

Sara nodded and said, “I wondered what happened to that son of a bitch.”

66

Sara hated to see Brodie leave. Having her help was something Sara had never experienced.

“There’s something I need to tell you, Sara.” Orlando’s eyes watched the trees where Brodie had gone. If he thought he could bargain with her, he was dead wrong.

“You don’t have to tell me. I know.”

“You know?”