Pretty Little Things

He walked by me, coughing into his fist, and went down the steps of the porch. I followed behind him as he walked to the garage and opened the door.

“The car’s gone.” He glanced from the garage to me again. “Where is your uniform?”

“Shit…” I shook my head.

“You have one minute to tell me where she is, or I’m calling the police.”

“My old man is the police, and I don’t know. She was supposed to meet me. We were going to spend the day together.” My gut turned as I realized she must really be upset with me.

Pulling a cell phone from his pocket, he dialed a number, his eyes fixed on me.

“Is A

“I’ll call the school.” He held the phone away from his mouth. “When was the last time you saw her?”

“Yesterday. She was watching the news and was acting weird about some girl who went missing that looked like her. She left and promised she’d come back today.” I conveniently left out the part about Nat, guilt gnawing at me.

“Call your father. We have a problem.”

Chapter 23 - Colin

She was supposed to be safe. Now she was walking right back to Taylor because of me. I slammed the car in drive and took off down the road, the tires squealing against the asphalt.

I hung up the call with Co

“Fuck.” I slammed my hands against the steering wheel as I yelled. If something happened to her, I couldn’t live with myself. I hit redial and held the phone to my ear, flying down the road with no concern for my safety. It transferred to voicemail again, and I hung up as I sent a text to her telling her I was coming for her. I still had a twenty-minute drive to think about how badly I had fucked up.

The miles drifted by painfully slowly, and by the time I had reached the old, dilapidated farm house, I realized I didn’t have my gun or any way to defend myself, but one look at Co

“The prodigal son returns,” Taylor called out from in front of me, and I walked cautiously toward the open door. “Isn’t this a pleasant family reunion?”

My eyes went to A

“I’m sorry,” she sobbed, and my heart cracked. I took a step forward, and Taylor waved the gun at me, forcing me to stop. I looked to him, his hair slightly longer and graying along the sides, but other than that he was the same sick son of a bitch he was before, only now he didn’t have an army of followers to hide behind.

“She’s not sorry yet, Colin. But she will be. We were just waiting for you to show up. It’s not a party without you. You remember, don’t you?”

“Shut up.”

“That’s no way to talk to your father.” He ran his palm over his dingy, yellowing shirt.

A

“Shut up,” I bit out.

“You never told her? I raised you better than that. Your mother’s necklace was a nice touch.”

I glanced at the silver cross that hung from her neck onto the bed. Taylor smiled as he reached down and ran his finger over her collarbone, tracing the silver chain. She squeezed her eyes closed as a sob ripped from her chest.

“Don’t touch her.” I swallowed against the lump in my throat as I held up my hand to him. “It’s supposed to be me, remember?”

Taylor stood, cocking his head to the side as he thought about my words. “All this time you’ve had her.”

“I couldn’t let her go.” My gaze darted to A

“You left on one hell of a parting note,” he said skeptically.

“I couldn’t let you have her. She was mine.” The words made my physically ill and the pain in her eyes radiated throughout my entire body.

Taylor’s tongue ran out over his lips as he smiled. “Then let’s not keep her waiting.”

I held both hands up to show him I wasn’t going to harm him as I stepped closer to the bed. “I want to untie her first.”

“No,” he snapped as he squared his gun. “She stays like this.”

“Okay.” I nodded and took another slow step towards her until my shins pressed against the mattress. This was my punishment for all the things I had done wrong. I was naïve to think that saving A

“Please help me, please,” she begged, and I forced myself to not show any emotion.

“I told you I wasn’t the good guy, little one.”

“Colin.” I’d never heard her sound so small and fragile, and I knew her fear wasn’t just for Taylor anymore.

“Idle hands do the devil’s work,” Taylor called out with a little too much enthusiasm. “You’re stalling.”

I stood up and my hands went to the button of my jeans as the cold metal end of the gun pressed into my arm. “I’m savoring the moment.” I’d hoped the police wouldn’t be so far behind me, but I knew there was never any saving me.

All the years I was worried I would rub off on A

“Have you filled A

He laughed from behind me, the barrel of the gun slipping from my flesh. “She put up a good fight.”

A

“Your mother prayed just like that before I sent her to meet her God.”

“Say it. Tell her what you did to her.”

“I sacrificed her for you. I got her out of the way so A

“Where is she buried?” I asked, my jaw clenched as I struggled to maintain my composure.

“Why?” he asked skeptically.

“So I can show A

A

“She wasn’t buried.” A wicked laugh escaped his throat. “It’s very expensive to feed so many mouths. We made do with what we had.”

“What about my mother?” I turned to face him, and his smile faded.

“She didn’t share our vision.”