Disturbed by the thought, he yanked open the car trunk, armed himself with as many weapons as he could without them being too obvious, then let the trunk slam shut behind him as he made his way through the dirt path.
To the right the clearing led to a lake, which usually allowed for campers to park their RVs, toast marshmallows by a fire, and dip their toes into water. But this afternoon the space was flat and empty, and the lack of noise lent a gloom to the area that Cody found quite the match to his mood. In fact, a morgue was quite the match to his mood.
He spotted Ivan sitting down on a red boulder, dressed like their mother used to dress them to go to Mass: in suits and ties.
Except Ivan was wearing Cody’s suit and tie.
So not only was his brother a murderer and a kidnapper, but he was a thief, too. A fact that Cody had noticed the day Ivan had broken into his home, but had not dwelled upon until now.
Yeah, in that silky blue tie that happened to be Megan’s favorite, Cody could tell Ivan thought he was the man. Cody planned to knock him down a peg or two.
“Nice tie, asshole.”
Ivan smiled. When he did, he looked regal. Decent. Exactly like the man that stared back at Cody from the mirror. “I hope you don’t mind it when I strangle you with it,” the bastard replied.
“Game on.” Cody took a step, flashing him a dangerous smile. “Now where’s Megan?”
Ivan signaled to his right, and Cody saw her, arms and legs tied, bundled inside a net and hanging from the branch of a mountain mahogany tree. “You all right, baby?”
She nodded, squeaked, and squirmed inside that net like a little fish.
“You know, I’ve heard my wooing tactics need a little softening,” Cody grimly told his brother. “I’ll bet yours need a one-eighty turn.”
A crimson color spread up Ivan’s jaw and neck, turning his face red.
“It’s over, Ivan,” Cody said, counting his steps to her—eighteen … nineteen … twenty …“ She’s not for you, man. And she’s not for me. She’s too good for both of us, so if she’s the reason you escaped, I suggest you do your time and reflect on what you did.”
“You made me do it!”
“Bullshit.” Hearing it, Cody realized that it was bullshit. He shook his head. “We were stupid boys, with hormones for brains.”
Ivan spat. “You lie. You took her already, didn’t you? She’s yours? She fucking loves you, doesn’t she? Doesn’t she?”
“No,” he began, intending to placate him while he found a way to set Megan loose, but Megan spoke out at the same time.
“Yes, I do. I love him. I’ve always loved you, Cody. Always.” Her voice broke near the end, and it could’ve been the last little string that held Cody’s sanity together.
A thousand emotions bombarded him at once. He felt hundreds of different sensations. Like when lightning strikes, and you land on a fire pit, and you’re trampled by a pack of elephants, and you fall from a parachute, all at once.
“You don’t love me, and what in Christ’s l
ast day were you doing at Marcel’s, Meg?” he demanded because she shouldn’t have been there.
She should not love him.
The monster, the monster had marked her little wrist, had bruised her lips …
“You were a bet, did you know that?” Ivan sneered. “Did loverboy here tell you?”
“She leaves, Ivan. Right now. This is between you and me.”
But Ivan was talking to Megan. “He knew I’d kill them if he took you out that day, and he still did it! He’s the monster, not I!” Ivan rammed his fist to his chest, shaking his head as he fought back tears. “I’ll bet fucking her has been the most exciting thing you’ve ever done in your life.” He shot the accusation like a missile at Cody and took a few steps forward. “How about I show you how a real man fucks?”
Shaking with fury, Cody spoke through his teeth. “How about you eat my shit.”
“Why don’t you eat this, brother?” Covering the space between them in a flash, he pulled out a Glock just like Cody’s and rammed the gun into his mouth and pulled the trigger.
Cody shut his eyes as he expected to explode.