CHAPTER THREE

COLE

Standing in my shower, I take deep breaths as the water washes away any remains of the man who we killed earlier. And although I should be happy, I’m not.

He was right. I’m not God. I shouldn’t get to choose who lives and who dies, but I do anyway. He deserved to die for his sins. As far as mine? I should have died. Everyone in this town feels that way. I wish I could answer the questions they are too afraid to ask me. Because they fear me. My rage. I’ve had it for as long as I can remember. But over time, it has just gotten worse, and I’m growing tired of holding it back. I found comfort in letting it free and allowing it to take over me. But then when it leaves me, I’m cold all over again. Nothing but emptiness.

I hang my head and let it hit the white tiled wall with a thud as the water runs over my head and back. I fist my cracked knuckles and enjoy the tightness in my joints. The pull of my broken skin. It’s the only reminder that I’m still alive. The only way that I know what I did was right.

Jeff deserved to die!

We didn’t have time to sit back and wait for it to happen. And pray that it was a slow and painful death. Although we did take his life too fast, if you ask me. I would have drawn it out longer if we had not been interrupted tonight.

Austin Lowes. She’s gonna be a fucking problem. But once I figure out what my options are with her, I plan to take care of her.

I turn off the water and open the glass door, picking my towel up off the floor and drying off. Wrapping it around my hips, I make my way into my room and grab a pair of sweatpants out of my closet. Noticing the clock on my nightstand, I see it’s almost 3:00 a.m. Kellan, Bennett, and Shane all had places to go and women to fuck after our get-together in the cemetery. Deke and I, however, went back to the clubhouse afterward. We had some things to discuss regarding Jeff and what we wanted to do next. He never once questioned the fact that I hadn’t wiped the blood off. He knew better than to ask.

Once dressed in my sweatpants, I grab my phone off my nightstand and see I have a message. I frown. The number is not saved as one of my contacts.

Opening it up, I notice it’s a video. And I just received it a few minutes ago. I press play.

It’s dark, so I squint to make out the image. I hear a match being lit followed by flames. The person holding the phone takes a step back from the burning object.

“Do you see that, Cole?” an unfamiliar voice asks over the sound of the crackling fire.

“What …?” I trail off as the person starts to circle the fire. But I still can’t place where they are or what is burning because it’s too dark and the fire is causing a glare.

It comes to a stop, and the camera spins around. My jaw tightens when I see it’s Austin. She looks the same as she did a little over three hours ago when I let her run off. All I can see is two black straps on her shoulders. Her face and neck smeared with his blood from my hands.

She smiles, the light from her phone making her green eyes shine like stars. It makes her look like an evil angel with perfect teeth and a blood-stained face. “What evidence, Cole?”

Then it goes dead.

I grip the phone in my hand, clenching my teeth. What the fuck did I just watch? What was she burning?

How did she get my number …? I had Deke call my cell from her phone. That’s how she got it.

And what evidence, Cole? What did that mean? Fire?

Realization hits me, and my heart starts to pound in my chest. I go to the number and press call.

“Hello, Cole.” She answers on the first ring as if she was expecting me to call. Her smooth voice is no longer high-pitched in fear or anger. She’s collected herself. Almost seductive.

“You fucking bitch …”

She laughs softly, and it runs over me like lava, burning my skin. “You know when I got back to the house, I thought what could I do that would clear my name if you decided to set me up?”

My jaw clenches.

“It occurred to me that if there’s no DNA to be found, then there’s no way for you to pin me for a murder. Did you know that it takes just a little over two hours to burn a body?”

I laugh nervously. “Fire doesn’t destroy everything, sweetheart.”

“I know.” I can hear the smile in her voice that lets me know she’s ahead of me again. “That’s why after it finished burning, I took a hammer and crushed what bones were left and then tossed the dust over the cliff into the ocean. Oh, and no worries, I also burned my clothes as well.”

“Fuck …”

“I know how to cover my ass, Cole. I’m a Lowes, after all.”

I stare ahead at my dark gray wall, trying to decide my next move, but she’s not done.

“But it was fun watching you think you had it all figured out.” Click.

“Goddammit!” I throw my phone across my room.

I’m not mad she destroyed the body. Fuck what she does to him. But as far as I know, she just recorded that conversation to prove that she was innocent all along. She could go to the police, and it would be her word against ours. The guys and I don’t have a good reputation in this town to begin with. The only reason we’re not in jail is because we have rich parents who bail us out of trouble. And it doesn’t hurt that Kellan’s uncle is the chief in another town not far from here.

“Think, Cole,” I say, starting to pace my room. What can I do to get her to keep her mouth shut? What could I do to make her understand why the bastard had to die?

My door opens, and I spin around to see Lilly standing in my doorway, her pink princess nightgown on, her blond hair a curly mess, and her brown eyes tired. “Cole?” she asks softly. “Are you okay? I heard something.” She brings her favorite bunny to her chest and hugs him tightly.

“Everything is fine,” I say, walking over to her. “Go back to bed.”

“Will you come with me?” she asks, holding out her right hand.

I sigh and bend down, picking her up. “Come on.” I walk her across the hall back to her room and lie down with her. I kiss her on the cheek as she curls up into my side. Placing my hands behind my head, I stare up at her pink ceiling. Austin Lowes, you just fucked up.

AUSTIN

I strip out of my hoodie and t-shirt. Then remove my jeans. I reach down into the garbage bag and put on a new pair of jeans but refrain from putting the clean shirt on. I’m still covered in his blood. I really didn’t think this through all that well, so I’m winging it. I’ve never had to burn evidence before.

I pull out my cell, and taking a deep breath, I press record. I show the dead man lying on the ground. It didn’t take me long to dig his ass up. I left him in the grave because they didn’t bury him very deep. Mistake on their part. I take the matches out and light one. Then toss it onto him. I start to circle the body making sure not to trip over the gas can. Once I show it all, I turn it to face me and smile. Fuck you, Cole! “What evidence, Cole?”

Then I stop the video and put my phone away. I place my clothes in the fire and sit down. I’m shivering from the cold, but the fire heats my body. It’s gonna take a while for him to burn completely. I grip the hammer and pound it into the wet ground just to waste time. When I’m ready, I’ll take the dirt to smother the fire, make my way back to the house, and send the video. And he’ll call me. He’s a cocky son of a bitch who won’t be able to stop himself. He’ll wanna talk to me. Feel me out. And I’ll be calm and collected and ready to show him that he shouldn’t have fucked with me.

My head snaps up, and I look around the darkness. Ever have that feeling someone is watching you? Making the hair on the back of your neck stand up. That’s how I feel right now.

“Hello?” I call out.

All I hear is the wind howling through the tall trees. I roll my eyes and go back to pounding the hammer into the ground.

You’re paranoid, Austin. Lighting a dead man on fire will do that to you.

 

I groan, standing outside the church while Celeste fixes the red cardigan that I wore over my black dress for service this morning. Not gonna lie, listening to the preacher speak about how Cain killed Abel didn’t set well with me when I only watched a guy get murdered hours ago and then burned his body to save my own ass. But living with two druggies, there’s not much that you don’t see. And you learn really quick that you do what you have to in order to survive. They don’t call it a dog-eat-dog world for nothing.

I laid in bed early this morning before the sun rose, contemplating on going to the police, but then thought better of it. There’s five of them. I’m sure one would cut a deal and get off free while the others took the fall. That would leave me in deep shit because someone would come after me. And I’ve watched enough shows on TV to know that I would get in trouble for tampering with evidence. I didn’t save my ass just to go down with them.

“Were you up late, honey? You look awful.” Celeste’s brown eyes look me over slowly, taking in my hair. I washed it before I went to bed after I burned the guy, then I fell asleep with it wet. All I did this morning was run a brush through it. I didn’t even put much makeup on. Bare minimum was gonna have to do.

“Thanks,” I mumble.

She frowns. “I’m sorry, I just meant that you didn’t look well. Are you sick?”

I wave her off her lame apology. I know I look like shit. “I knew what you meant. And no, I’m fine.”

She nods. “Did you like the service? Pastor Fritz is so nice.”

I’m sure he is. “Yeah,” I say, looking away from her. I almost played the sick card this morning. And now I know I could have pulled it off.

“I spoke to your father earlier, and he said that he won’t be home until next week.”

I nod. No surprise there. “Where is he?”

“Trying to close a deal in Vancouver,” she says excitedly. She’s so proud of him it’s sickening. “He wants to have a family dinner when he returns.”

I go to open my mouth to say no thanks when the hairs on the back of my neck stand, and then I hear his voice.

“Hello, Celeste.”

She looks over my shoulder, and a bright smile lights up her face. “Hello, Cole.”

My stomach drops at her confirmation.

“Have you met my stepdaughter?” She looks back at me and starts fluffing my hair. I push her hands away. Is she trying to set me up with a madman?

“I haven’t,” he says and then chuckles.

She grips my shoulders and spins me around so fast I almost trip over my black pumps.

“This is Austin. Austin, this is Cole Reynolds. He’s a senior with you this year.”

I look up at the man who had me pinned to the ground just hours ago. The same man sliced my arm open with a knife, trying to pin me for murder. And my mouth goes dry because he’s smiling down at me. Perfectly full lips pulled back to showcase a set of pearly whites. A straight nose and high cheekbones along with a square jaw. A pair of sunglasses shields his eyes, but I can feel them running over my body just like his hands did last night.

“It’s nice to meet you,” he says, reaching out and grabbing my right hand. He leans over and gently kisses my knuckles.

I yank my hand away, and he chuckles.

“Austin!” Celeste snaps. “I’m sorry, she’s not quite herself today,” she adds when I just stand there.

“It’s quite all right.” He continues to smile down at me, and I swallow nervously. What is he doing here? He’s probably here to teach me a lesson that no one fucks with Cole. I may not know him, but I learned enough last night.

“How is Lilly?” she asks him.

He turns his attention to her, dismissing me at the mention of this Lilly. “She’s doing well. Thanks for asking.”

“Great. You’ll have to bring her over, and we can all go swimming. I know how much she loves the water. Like you.”

He laughs and nods. “Absolutely.” Then I feel his eyes back on me. “How does that sound, Austin?”

The way he says my name sounds like he wants to drown me. I don’t answer.

He throws me another sinister smile as if he knows how much being here is affecting me. “Well, we should get going,” Celeste says.

“Actually, I was wondering if Austin would like to go to lunch. A bunch of us seniors are meeting up …”

“No,” I say, but Celeste speaks at the same time.

“That would be great.” She leans down, kisses my cheek, and then looks at Cole. “You crazy kids have fun.” Then she walks off, leaving me standing with a murderer.

The smile he’s had this entire time drops off his face like he just removed a mask. His defined jaw sharpens, and his chest bows out—ready for a fight.

I take a nervous step back. “How did you find me?” I ask, and I hate that my voice shakes. Any courage I had last night now long gone.

He doesn’t answer. Instead, he grips my forearm, the same one that he cut last night, and I know it was on purpose. I hiss in a breath as he turns and guides me down the stairs of the church and along the narrow walkway to the parked cars.

“I’m not going anywhere with you,” I snap.

“You don’t have a choice,” he growls. “Now get in the fucking car.” He yanks me to a stop and then shoves me through the driver’s side of the black two-door car. Then he’s falling into the driver’s seat, pushing me across the center console.

I scramble into the passenger seat awkwardly and quickly push down my dress to cover my thighs.

Before I can even reach for the door handle, he has the car in reverse and then squeals out of the parking lot.

I sit with my back plastered to his seat, my eyes on him as he races down the highway. His hand fisted on the clutch as he shifts gears. His dark blue t-shirt showcasing his toned forearms.

“What do you want, Cole?” He doesn’t answer. I see we are headed back the direction of my house, and I have a feeling he plans to place me in the grave he and Deke had dug for the guy who I burned. “I’m not going to tell the cops,” I say, letting out a long breath. I open my mouth to speak, but something warm gets my attention.

I yank up the sleeve of my red cardigan and hiss in a breath when I see blood running down my arm. His hand grabbing my forearm must have pulled my cut open.

“Fuck!” He hisses, noticing it, and demands, “You didn’t get that stitched up?”

I narrow my eyes on him. “Who the hell was going to stitch it up?”

He lets out a long breath and nods to the center console. “I’ve got a towel in there. Get it out and apply pressure to it.”

“Like you care if I bleed to death,” I snap.

“I don’t. But I don’t want that shit on my seats.”

“Bastard,” I mumble and open the console. When it pops up, I freeze as I stare down into it. There’s a black handgun and a knife along with a small black hand towel, a roll of duct tape, and a pair of handcuffs. Everything a serial killer needs.

He takes a quick look down and growls. He yanks out the hand towel, tosses it to me, and then slams the console closed, placing his right forearm over it.

I sit back in my seat and stare straight ahead, applying pressure to my forearm with the towel. “Where are we going?” I ask roughly. The car is too small for us to be this close together. All of a sudden, I realize I know nothing about this man, and whatever plan he had last night, I fucked it up. On purpose.

He doesn’t answer. Instead, he reaches over and presses a knob on his dash, and “Coming Undone” by Korn fills the speakers. He turns it up to drown out my heavy breathing as we fly down the highway.

_________________________________

The clouds have opened up, and the rain has started to fall. We passed a sign thirty minutes ago that said Marita fifty miles.

He still hasn’t spoken or even looked my way. I’ve sat completely still, hoping he would forget I’m in the car.

“Has it stopped bleeding?”

No such luck. “Yes.” Comes my clipped answer.

When he turns on his blinker and pulls off the highway, my heart starts to pound in my chest because I don’t know what he plans to do with me. But now that I know there’s a gun in the center console, I’ll do whatever I can to get to it. Even though I have no idea how to use one.

He slows down and pulls into a parking garage. I look around, noticing how deserted it is on this rainy Sunday afternoon.

We spiral up and up until we’re on the fifth floor. He pulls into a parking spot, the tires squealing at the sudden turn, and then he brings the car to a quick stop. The seat belt locks on my shoulder.

I look around, expecting his friends to circle us. My muscles tighten, ready to defend myself.

But nothing happens. He shuts the car off, and we just sit in silence. I swallow the lump in my throat. My hands shake, ready to reach for the door handle and run.

“Don’t,” he says calmly as if he knows what I’m thinking.

My head snaps to look over at him, but he stares straight ahead. “I’m not going to hurt you.” I snort, and he turns his head to look at me. “Not today, anyway,” he adds, and that nervousness bubbles up again.

He smiles at me, a soft one, and I fist my hands in my lap because I know he can feel my fear. Men like him feed off it. I reach out and yank his glasses off his face. It’s raining, for Christ’s sake; he doesn’t need them.

A set of baby blue eyes stare into mine.

He reaches out, and I jump in surprise. I expect him to laugh, but he doesn’t. Instead, his eyes drop to my cardigan as he takes a lock of my hair between his fingers. He twists the strands around it. “Red really is your color,” he says softly, and then his eyes are back on mine.

Warmth spreads down my back as he threads his fingers through my hair. I whimper, half scared to shit. The other half turned on.

What is wrong with me?

He leans into me, stopping his face just inches from mine. I let out a long breath, trying to stop my racing heart. “Cole …” I whisper his name.

He smiles at me. “Don’t be afraid, Austin. If I wanted you dead, I would have killed you last night. And I sure as hell wouldn’t do it while Celeste knows you’re with me.”

I close my eyes and whimper, trying not to show my fear, but it’s leaking from my pores. His car reeks of it.

“Look at me,” he orders, and I open my eyes. He’s still in my face, his hand still gripping my hair. “Although I did imagine sneaking into your room and making you pay for what you did. But thought better of it.”

I swallow. “What do you want from me?”

He tilts his head to the side as if to think about his answer. “For you to understand.” He pulls away from me, and I suck in a long breath. Sitting back in his seat, he looks straight ahead over the concrete barrier that comes up to the hood of the car. “See that man?” He points out at the building across from the parking garage.

I have to squint, but I see a man standing in his office. The glass windows showcasing everything. His hands in his hair. His suit jacket on his floor and white button up untucked. His suspenders hanging from his waist. “What about him?”

“That is Jeff’s brother.”

“Jeff?” I look at Cole.

“The guy we killed last night,” he answers without any remorse.

“Oh,” I say, looking back at the older man. And my breathing picks up. This is just another way for him to pull me in. Get me involved. “I don’t wanna know …”

“This man killed his wife.” He ignores me. “He beat her repeatedly. All the time. But he was smart about it. As smart as a bastard like him can be. He never touched her arms, legs, or face. He only touched where he knew she could cover up.” He runs a hand through his dark hair. “One day, she had had enough and went to tell the one person she thought she could trust. His brother, Jeff.” I look over at him. He stares straight ahead at the man. “She begged him to help her. Her husband kept her close because she had no family. Well, she had someone, but …” He trails off. “Anyway, so she turned to his family and asked for some money to leave her abusive husband. He told her to give him a few days.” His hand grips the steering wheel. “But he went to his brother and told him what his wife had asked him to do. So when he got home, he beat her. He beat her, not caring where the bruises showed up because he knew she wasn’t gonna survive this time.” My throat tightens. “Then after he beat her to within an inch of her life, he took a knife and slit her throat.” He speaks with no emotion, and tears sting my eyes. “He didn’t even give her a proper burial. He carried her to the old cemetery, dug a hole, and dropped her in it.”

I reach out and touch his arm. “I’m sorry …”

He yanks back from me, and his eyes meet mine. They have fire in them, and his breath has picked up.

I lower my eyes to my lap. “Who was she to you?”

“She was Eli’s older sister.”

“Eli?” I ask, looking up at him through my lashes.

“My best friend,” he says, his eyes back on the man who runs around aimlessly in his office.

I don’t remember that name from last night at the cemetery. “Why not kill him?” I ask.

“He doesn’t deserve death yet.” His eyes meet mine. “Death is no different than anything else. It too must be earned.”

I look over at the man, and he has his cell in his hand. He keeps putting it to his ear and then pulls it away. Repeating the motion. “What do you think he’s doing?”

“He’s trying to contact Jeff.”

I look over at Cole, and a soft smile covers his face. “They are business partners. And without Jeff, he’ll lose everything. Jeff was the mastermind behind their shit show.”

I look back at the guy who stands in his office. He reminds me of watching a hamster in his cage as he runs on his wheel, getting nowhere. He just keeps circling around, that phone still in his hand. “So you go around killing people who kill others?” I ask.

He snorts. “No. Jeff was … an exception.”

I run a hand through my hair, trying to understand what is going on and how I feel about it. “You still killed someone …”

“It wasn’t like he was innocent,” he snaps.

I narrow my eyes on him. “You cut my arm.”

He places his hand in my hair again, but instead of leaning into me, he yanks me across the center console. I gasp at the feel of his nails digging into my scalp. “I’ll do whatever I have to do, sweetheart. And I watched the video. You’re not as innocent as you claim to be.”

“I’ve never killed anyone,” I snap.

He chuckles, and his free hand comes up to my throat. “But you want to.”

My heart starts to pound. “You don’t know me …”

“You’re a Lowes, after all. Remember? Everyone in our town knows what kind of man your father is. Including you.”

I clamp my mouth shut because I know how terrible he can be. And I can’t count how many times I’ve wished him dead.

He leans in, his nose running along my jawline like he did last night. I shudder. “We are all the same, Austin. Some of us just choose not to pretend.”