Page 31 of Final Girl

I frown. I’ve not had any contact with him since he was arrested. He tried to send me letters and to get other people to deliver his threats, but since I was his victim, none of those attempts ever made it to me. “Like what?” My stomach twists in knots as I think back about the note at the library. The flowers. “Did you send me pink roses?”

“What? No. Stay on topic. Was he ever married before your mother? Did he ever have kids?”

I close my eyes to think. “I don’t know. It’s possible. I remember my mom and him fighting about other women, and I thought I once heard her say something about his stupid brat of a daughter. When I questioned her about it, she said I must have imagined that.”

“Shit. I knew I was right. We should have talked to you about this and maybe we would have found this information out before now. Your mother was a cunt. Sorry to say that. I know you loved her, but she was.” I wince at her words.

Yes, my mom wasn’t a nice person. She would get mad sometimes and hit me with her belt. Nothing major. At least not until she got with Horace and let him beat on me. She did worse after he was sent to prison because she blamed me for his going away. Cunt is a harsh word, and I don’t think I’d go that far.

“Why? Talked about what?”

“Hope Forester is Horace’s biological daughter from his first marriage.”

My brows knot together. “No. That’s not possible. I know Hope. She’s strange, sure, but…” I trail off as all the behavior I wrote off as her being shy and awkward appears to me in a new light. “She hates me, and she knew. Why didn’t she ever speak up?” Chill bumps fan up and down my arms. “Has it been her watching me or him?” Before Talia can reply, I cover my mouth as bile burns up the back of my throat in a fiery trail. I run for the downstairs half bath.

Dropping to my knees at the base of the toilet, tears streak down my cheeks.

“Delaney,” Talia says from the doorway, staring down at me with pity as an arm snakes around her waist and a gun appears at her temple.

“Shit,” Talia whines.

“Neither of you make a fucking move,” a familiar voice growls. Horace. I stare at my stepfather in horror as he grins sardonically at me. “Longtime no see, sweet angel.”

I wipe vomit from the corners of my mouth, wanting to throw up all over again.

“What are you doing here?”

“Time to collect what’s due to me and reunite my family. I’m going to have both my girls together.” Talia struggles in his hold and his cups one of her breasts with his free hand. “Don’t be stupid, Talia.” He licks the shell of her ear, and she glowers, looking anywhere but at me. “Here’s how this is going down. The three of us are going to take a little ride to someplace private to meet up with Hope and her brother.”

Brother? I want to ask but am afraid to. Probably one of his mind games, but I can’t be sure. He’s never been known for telling the truth when it matters.

“I’m not going anywhere with you.”

He maneuvers the barrel of his weapon between Talia’s lips. “Are you sure about that?”

“I hate you. Pike will kill you.”

“Not if I kill him first. That bastard and I have a score to settle. Now let’s go. Don’t try anything stupid or her brains will splatter your pretty white walls.”

I gulp and do as he says. If something happened to Talia because of me, I’d never be able to live with myself. Pike would never want to be with me, either.

Chapter Twenty-six

Killing my lights, I pull off the side of the road a little ways before the gate that serves to keep trespassers off the property of the old farm. I poke around, searching for Jared. He said he’d meet me here for backup. I wanted to tell him not to bother. But I’ll deal with him if I have to. It’s time to end this once and for all.

Should have killed this motherfucker the first time I suspected he was roughing Delaney up. Would have saved us both a lot of time and misery. I can’t go back, but I sure as fuck can give her the life she always deserved.

Grabbing my kit, I strap on my weapons for easy access. I clutch my favorite knife. A serrated hunting knife that is great for skinning a kill. Pulling down my mask, I creep toward the fence, hoping to make quick work of taking these assholes out.

There aren’t any lights coming from the house. Not that I expected there to be electricity. I resist the urge to take out my Maglite. I can’t afford to draw attention to myself. Horace is my first target.

I make it through the yard, using the moonlight to guide me toward the big house. Going around the back, I nearly get taken out by a fucking clothesline. Fuck me, I can’t afford stupid mistakes. Not when I’m this close to having everything I’ve wanted. A life with Delaney. My ring on her finger. My baby in her belly. One of the kitchen windows has a rock sized hole in it. I try to look through it to peer inside, but it’s pitch black.

Looks like I’m going in blind. Not ideal, but not much choice.

The longer I prolong taking them out, the more time they have to prepare for an attack or to plan to hurt my girl. Neither are an option. I need a better way inside other than waltzing through the front or back door. Around the other side of the house, I find a sliding glass door, but something near the barn catches my eye.

Sam’s cruiser. Did Jared call him?