Pretty Little Things

I walked back into the hall, and my eyes went to the third-floor steps. The office. I took them two at a time, pausing as I made it to the doorway. This was my last hope of finding him. He hadn’t returned any of my calls or messages. I turned on the light and stepped inside. The desk had a few folders on top of it. Flipping them open, I realized they were for unrelated cases. I glanced around the room, hoping something would stand out. The file cabinet had locks on each drawer, and the coffee table that sat in front of a brown leather love seat only held magazines. I rounded the desk, cringing at the memory of the girl on her knees. I pulled open each drawer, groaning when I was met with only office supplies. Shit. My shoulders sagged as I walked back to the light switch before eyeing the copy machine. I flipped the lid up, but there was nothing in it. I hit the button to print the last scan, and out came an address and the letters “D.O.G.” scrawled across the top in Connor’s handwriting.

I glanced around the office as I tried to come up with a plan. I’d been driving Connor’s car to school when I actually felt up to attending. I didn’t allow myself to have a second thought. I hurried down the steps and into Colin’s room. His gun was still on top of his dresser in his closet. I carried it across the hall to my room and tucked it into my book bag. Next, I grabbed my laptop and googled directions. It was about forty-five minutes away, just outside of Jackson. That was plenty of time to find Colin and convince him to come back to me.

It was killing me not to leave immediately, but the last thing I needed was someone realizing I was gone and reporting the car stolen. I lay down in my bed and stared up at the textured white ceiling as I recalled the last day I was face-to-face with Taylor Woodward.

“There you are.” Taylor’s hand came down on my shoulder. I looked around for Colin, but he had been busy all morning with tasks Taylor had given him. “I’ve been wanting to catch up with you, see how you’re adjusting.”

“I-I’m doing well. Colin has helped me a lot.” I took a deep, cleansing breath so I would stop stuttering. “How is my mother?”

He looked down at the floor before his eyes met mine. “That’s one of the reasons I came to see you. Have a seat.”

I sat down on Colin’s bed. I spent almost all of my time in that tiny cabin as opposed to the large single-room women’s bay that offered no privacy. Taylor sat next to me, and I slid away from him fractionally. He placed his hand on my knee, and a shiver ran up my spine.

“Your mother had a long struggle, but she was having trouble keeping anything down. I called in a specialist, who prescribed her medicine, but her body couldn’t fight anymore, and she passed away.”

“What?”

His grip on my leg tightened, and I suddenly felt like I might vomit. “That’s not possible. Food poisoning doesn’t last for weeks.” I was trying to make sense of what he was telling me, but I couldn’t wrap my head around the news.

“Are you saying I’m a liar?” he asked, his head cocked at an angle, and a challenging glare in his eye.

“N-no. Of course not.”

“Because if that’s the case, perhaps you staying here isn’t the best idea.”

Oh God. My mother was dead, and now I was going to be kicked out on the street. I felt dizzy.

“I really need to see Colin. Where’s Colin?” I rubbed my hands over my eyes as I struggled not to break down.

“Colin is with his girlfriend.”

My heart stopped, ripped from my chest.

“Didn’t you know?” he asked, and I shook my head, tears unabashedly streaming down my face now. “It’s all right. He’ll be back later. I’m here now.” He wrapped his arms around me in a tight hug that pinned my arms to my sides as he pressed a kiss to my temple, pushing me onto my side and his weight coming down on top of me.

“What are you doing? Stop it!” Panic set in, and I screamed Colin’s name at the top of my lungs until a hand that smelled of mildew covered my mouth. I struggled in his grip, kicking my foot repeatedly into his shin as I lay on my side, immobilized.

Finally, like an answered prayer, the door flew open, and Colin blocked out the sun as his frame filled the doorway. His eyes were wide, and he lunged at Taylor, prying him off me. I scrambled to get out of their way, rolling onto the floor and gasping for air.

Colin was on top of Taylor, his fist pummeling into his face and blood soaking into the blanket.

I could hear myself screaming, but I sat frozen, watching in horror as Colin turned into a monster. Finally, my words got through to him, and he paused, his hand still in the air ready to hit again, his breathing ragged. He glanced down at Taylor, who lay unconscious, and then Colin’s eyes were on me again.

“Did he?” He looked me over. Assessing me.

“I’m OK. I’m OK,” I cried, and he pushed from the bed and gathered me in his arms, squeezing me so tightly I couldn’t draw a breath.

“Did you…d-did you kill him?”

“Not yet.”

“What if someone comes? Oh God. What’s going to happen to us?”

He pulled back, his large hands on either side of my face. “No one will hurt you. I promise. But we need to go.”

I nodded, but my body didn’t move. Colin spun around and reached under his bed, pulling out my small bag, which contained my only remaining earthly possessions. He grabbed a few of his own things and shoved them inside before taking my arm and guiding me to the doorway.

We ran across the grassy field to the main house. I kept a lookout as Colin slipped inside, grabbing a set of keys from a hook on the wall. He grabbed my hand and pulled me from the house. Our escape was a blur of sadness and fear, the adrenaline carrying me when my limbs were too tired to move on their own.

Colin tried three keys before the padlock on the gate that lined the property popped open. We slipped out and stopped at an old beige Cadillac. Our eyes met, and he smiled, for once catching a break.

“Get in.” He smirked, and I rushed to the passenger side, flinging open the door and diving in.

We drove for nearly a half hour until the car began to buck and lurch.

“No, no, no, no,” he muttered as we drifted off to the side of a desolate road. “Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck!” He slammed his hands against the steering wheel with each curse. He fell silent, and his heavy breathing was the only sound in the car. “We’re going to be fine.”

I wasn’t sure if he was trying to convince me or himself.

“What about your girlfriend?” I asked, hating how my chest tightened just saying the word.

“What?” He looked around as if thinking and then laughed to himself. “Annabel, there is no one else. You are all I have.” He held my gaze until the sound of an engine in the distance caught our attention. “We have to flag them down.” He opened his door, but I reached across the seat and grabbed his hand.

“You can’t. What if it’s one of them?”

“If it’s one of them, there are two of us.”

I nodded, knowing we had no other choice. He hopped from the car and waved his hands in the air. The car, a shiny black sedan, slowed and pulled off on the shoulder ahead of us. Colin glanced at me before walking toward the car. An older man wearing a suit got out and glanced back toward me. Colin spoke to him for a few minutes before the man nodded, and Colin waved for me to join them.

That was how we met Connor Blakely and how he became the most famous lawyer in Mississippi by exposing a cult in the heart of Dixieland. But he was careful to keep us out of the story.

By the time it was raided, Taylor was long gone, and he hadn’t surfaced since that night.

Chapter 22 - Jacob

“If you fail, then we failed as parents,” my dad spat angrily as I slumped over on the couch.

“School isn’t important, and I think it’s time to throw in the towel on this one. I’m a lost cause.” I shook my head and laughed as my high settled deep into my chest. I dug my pack of cigarettes from my pocket and knocked the box against my hand.

“Don’t smoke in this damn house,” he yelled as his face turned red with anger. I glanced up at him through heavy eyelids. My father’s shirt was only half tucked in, and the bags under his eyes made him look twenty years older than he was. I watched as he slowly fell apart, much like me. The man who was once my childhood hero was now nothing more than a shell of his former self. My mother’s death and the downward spiral of his son had worn him down until he no longer functioned.

My head was spinning with my visit with Annie last night. I was anxious to get to spend the entire day with her and find out whether she was upset that I had been talking to Nat. I scrubbed the heels of my hands over my eyes, hoping to sober myself.

“What do I have to do to get through to you?”

I stared up at my father with blurred vision, waiting for him to stop lecturing me so he could leave for work and I could call Annie.

When I didn’t respond, he shook his head and walked out of the back door angrily.

“Thank fucking God.” I pulled my cell phone out of my pocket and texted Annie to let her know she could come over. I got up and walked to the door, staring across the field. I pushed open the screen door and flicked my cigarette out onto the dirt road.

I slipped on my sneakers and walked toward our “bear” tree, hoping to catch her on her way over. When I reached the fence and still hadn’t received a reply, I decided to slip through and continue walking through the trees on her property.

As I walked up the steps to her porch, I smoothed my hands over my shirt before knocking on the oversized wooden door. After a few seconds an older man answered, causing me to take a step back.

“Hi, um…I’m looking for Annie.”

He eyed me for a moment. “She’s in school.”

My eyes narrowed as I scratched the back of my head. “Are you sure? She…uh…said something about not feeling well and wanted me to take her homework in.”

He walked by me, coughing into his fist, and went down the steps of the porch. I followed behind him as he walked to the garage and opened the door.

“The car’s gone.” He glanced from the garage to me again. “Where is your uniform?”

“Shit…” I shook my head.

“You have one minute to tell me where she is, or I’m calling the police.”

“My old man is the police, and I don’t know. She was supposed to meet me. We were going to spend the day together.” My gut turned as I realized she must really be upset with me.

Pulling a cell phone from his pocket, he dialed a number, his eyes fixed on me.

“Is Annabel with you?” There was a pause before he spoke again. “There’s a boy here saying she was supposed to come see him today and never showed. My car’s gone.” There was another pause, and I shifted my weight from foot to foot.

“I’ll call the school.” He held the phone away from his mouth. “When was the last time you saw her?”

“Yesterday. She was watching the news and was acting weird about some girl who went missing that looked like her. She left and promised she’d come back today.” I conveniently left out the part about Nat, guilt gnawing at me.

“Call your father. We have a problem.”

Chapter 23 - Colin

She was supposed to be safe. Now she was walking right back to Taylor because of me. I slammed the car in drive and took off down the road, the tires squealing against the asphalt.

I hung up the call with Connor after explaining about the address I had found in his file. I dialed Annie’s number and listened to it ring, holding my breath as I waited to hear her voice, but it went to voicemail.

“Fuck.” I slammed my hands against the steering wheel as I yelled. If something happened to her, I couldn’t live with myself. I hit redial and held the phone to my ear, flying down the road with no concern for my safety. It transferred to voicemail again, and I hung up as I sent a text to her telling her I was coming for her. I still had a twenty-minute drive to think about how badly I had fucked up.