Wrong Kind of Love

On a grin, Tom crouches beside me and holds up a mobile phone. “Why don’t we get things started with a phone call to dear old Jude?”

He puts the phone on speaker, and the ring echoes around the room. Voicemail picks up, and Tom grabs a handful of my hair, yanking my head back as he brings his face inches from mine. The beep sounds. “It was so very heroic of you to send your little Victoria away. Selfless even. Wouldn’t you agree, Tor?”

Tom pulls my hair until my scalp burns. “Say something to him.”

I know I’m not getting out of this alive, and I know Jude will blame himself. He tried to save me from Tom, time and time again. This might be the last chance I have to speak to him. “Jude, it’s not your fault...” I swallow around the lump in my throat. “I love you—” Tom’s hand slams over my mouth, and I hate the tears that sudden movement frees.

The line clicks. Someone’s picked up. "You fucking piece of shit when I find you..."

“I can’t wait.” He talks over Jude, who is shouting obscenities in the background. “I’ll give you directions.” Tom laughs, clearly thrilled with Jude’s reaction. "I’ll be waiting at the old furniture factory in Macon.” He disconnects the call and slips the phone back in his pocket. “And I have one more surprise for you, Victoria...”

The door opens, and one of Tom’s men shoves Caleb into the room. I thought I’d hit rock bottom, that all hope was gone, but this—this is rock bottom. Caleb can’t be here. I know what Tom will do to him..."You shouldn't be here," I whisper.

Caleb’s stern focus shifts to Tom. “You said you’d let her go if I came.”

"I did, didn't I? Sorry to say, I lied." With a slow smile, Tom moves toward Caleb. “I thought making your father suffer would be enough, that fucking your whore of a mother, and then your pretty little virginal sister would be enough."

Caleb swallows hard, unable to hide the pain that flits across his face.

"Oh, how she screamed," Tom whispers. "I broke Grace piece by piece until your mother begged me to kill her own daughter. Out of mercy.” He throws his head back on a laugh. The man is a monster of the worst kind, and everything in me breaks for Grace, for their mother, for Jude and Caleb. “And now, I’m going to have you fuck Jude’s precious little whore, and I'm going to film it. Oh, how it will shatter his cold little heart.”

A sick feeling settles in my gut.

“Fuck you!” Caleb’s nostrils flare, his jaw sets, and before I can tell him he’ll die if he doesn’t do it, Tom presses his gun against Caleb's temple, then cocks it.

"Fuck her, or I'll kill her."

In a heartbeat, I find myself staring down the barrel of his gun. I smile and lean forward until the cold metal pressed against my forehead. "Do it,” I whisper.

Death does not scare me but continuing to live in this hell does. Caleb begs for my life as I stare straight into Tom’s eyes, daring him to end it right here, right now. But he drops the gun to his side on a smirk, then brings his lips to my ear.

"I'm not done with you yet, little bird. You're worth more to me alive."

My heart plummets. Tom’s face is still inches from mine when he lifts his arm, and the bang of the gun echoes around the empty warehouse. Caleb falls to the ground in a heap, a trail of blood oozing from his head. I go to rush toward him, but Tom grabs the back of my neck. Something sharp pricks the side of my throat. Seconds later, a hot flush burns through my veins, my limbs go weak, and my vision swims.

“I’ll see you again soon, Tor.”

23

Jude

It’s been two hours since Tom called. Two hours of my blood pressure being near stroke level while Marney drives one-hundred and twenty down I-475. And I’m still at a loss. I checked that her flight landed—I even paid someone on that end to make sure she had debarked…

I slam a palm over the dashboard for underestimating Tom’s abilities. I thought sending her to the other side of the world would be enough, and maybe had she made it, it would have been. Marney turns off the interstate. Swarms of insects catch in the glow of the headlights as we barrel down the deserted county road, and I try my brother again. No answer. Marney says Caleb left last night with one of the girls from Elysium, but an unsettled feeling kinks my gut. That feeling only deepens, thickening like heavy molasses when we eventually come up to the abandoned warehouse. Years of inactivity has allowed the surrounding woodland to overtake the dark, vacant lot. I don’t know what I expected. But it wasn’t an empty parking lot.