Dirty, Reckless Love (Boys of Jackson Harbor 3)

I tap on the link, and my phone automatically pulls up a map indicating a storage facility outside of town. I stand. “I have to go, Molly. I think she’s in trouble.”

She laughs. “But she’s with Detective Huxley. Surely a member of law enforcement would be able to keep her safe.”

Once, I might have thought so. But until we have more answers, I can’t trust anyone. I dial quickly and put the phone to my ear.

“Who are you calling?”

“The police.”

“To tell them what? That Ellie’s been abducted by one of Jackson Harbor PD’s finest?” The smile falls from her face. “Is that really what you think? Huxley’s the bad guy?”

I don’t answer. I’m already on my way out the door.

Ellie

“You’re smart, you know?” Detective Huxley unlocks the storage unit with a key on his key ring. “Getting this unit under your sister’s name? She has a different last name than you, and I never would have thought to look for it until I paid a visit to your mother. She was kind enough to let me search the belongings you left behind, and I found a key to this place. From there, it was as simple as going through storage unit agreements until I found one under a name that seemed familiar.”

“Why didn’t you just come get what you wanted yourself?” I ask, abandoning the pretense of not remembering the unit. “Why bring me here?”

“Oh, you know how storage units work.” He pops the lock open and waves me inside. If this were a movie, he’d take his gun out and point it at me to get me to enter that tiny, dark space. But this isn’t a movie, and fear can motivate you as well as a gun pointed at your head. Sometimes fear is as simple as the memory of the back of a hand cracking against your jaw. Sometimes it’s as simple as drug-glazed eyes demanding information you can’t share.

“What do you mean?” It’s so dark in here, but I remember the contents clearly. The forgeries of the Discovery collection are wrapped in blankets in the far-right corner, and behind them is the hard drive with all the information Colton had gathered against his father. I haven’t been here since the night I first opened the unit.

“You come to pick something up, you drop something else off.”

I turn and take a step toward the door, horrified of the idea of that door closing and him locking me in here.

“The cameras were tougher to deal with. People are always shocked at the number of cameras that can track you through town and watch you deliver someone to a storage unit. People think witnesses are their biggest concern, but there’s nothing as damning as digital footage. It took some work on my part to deal with the cameras so I could make this happen.”

I hear a sharp cry and turn to see the silhouette of a man in the corner. I step closer, but I know it’s Colton even before my eyes adjust enough to take in the duct tape over his mouth and the rope tethering his legs and wrists.

“Luckily, Levi helped me out by letting me know where I could find Colton. I reported it to my unit, of course, but only after I’d brought him here. I couldn’t have him telling my colleagues his secrets.”

I never saw Colton’s face the night he grabbed me in the woods, but I see it now, and the darkness can’t hide how awful he looks. Thin. Exhausted. But alive . . . for now. I lunge toward him. “Colton.”

“That’s right. Go be with your honey. It’s kind of tragic, really. You young lovers are finally reunited, only to have your story end with such a waste of life. Then again, the media always seems to gobble up the macabre beauty of murder-suicides. Just sit down, Ellie. Like I told you the night at your house, brutality isn’t my style. I was just trying to get some information, but you were stubborn. Too stubborn. I’m sure you’d agree now that withholding information from a police officer is never worth it in the end.”

“Why didn’t you just kill me, then?” I ask. “Why not just frame Colton? Everyone thought he hurt me. Why draw it out?”

“I needed you to find Colton, and I couldn’t risk the police finding Colton alive.”

“What about Nelson? Where’s he?” I ask, turning away from Colton to face this evil man with a badge. Over his shoulder, I spot Levi, a cadre of officers behind him with guns raised. Thank God.

“He was as hard to track as his son, but I took care of him. I imagine they’ll find his body in the lake soon, and everyone will be so glad that his evil son is already dead.” He gives a gleeful smile. “My secrets will die with you and Colton.”

I meet Levi’s eyes. “There’s no secret that time won’t reveal.”

“Unless you’re dead,” Huxley says cheerfully, waving the gun at me. “Now sit by your fiancé.”

“Hands up,” an officer says behind him.

Detective Huxley’s eyes go wide and he spins around. There are at least half a dozen guns aimed right at his chest, but Huxley aims his right back.

“Get down!” Levi shouts, and I drop to the floor just as bullets go flying all around me.

Ellie

Monday, October 29th