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“Call it a hunch, but it isn’t the same guy. That guy back then didn’t brutally kill the girls he took. The psych reports we had said it was a power trip he was on. Maybe he had a bad relationship with his mom or sister. This guy is brutal, Chris. He doesn’t care how bad he hurts the girls before he murders them.”
“Okay. I get it.”
I know Chris has a lot of questions for me, but he's good at knowing when I've had enough. If I was at home or work, I'd walk away until I calm down. Unfortunately, I can't do either sitting in this truck.
I lean my head back on the head rest and close my eyes. Only now, I have all those pictures of Aria stuck in my head. He had her on all fours, her hands and legs tied to the ground. He had her every way possible, and there is no doubt in my mind that he would have killed her eventually. Why did he keep her alive for as long as he did? What was the purpose of any of this? What is his game now?
***
I walk into my house; somewhere that I usually feel content and happy. Only, this afternoon, I feel anything but. I want to protect Aria, but I just know everything I'm about to tell her is going to crush her even further, even to the point of no return.
"Hey." Clay looks between Chris and me curiously.
The tension radiating from me is palpable. The last time I snapped like that was at a bully in the school playground. I broke his nose because he pestered Aria for months. By the time I found out about it, he had stolen her phone, tossed her work in the trash, and called her every name under the sun. I saw red back then, which only makes me wonder what I could be capable of doing to this asshole now.
"Caleb, what happened?"
Aria stands up and walks over to me. She's just had a shower. Her hair is wet, hanging down in loose curls around her shoulders. Her small bump is now noticeable, but if you didn't know Aria you could confuse it with her just being a little pudgy. She looks cute, nothing like the pictures I just had to look at.
"Your mom and dad are okay. Well, they're upset, of course, but they love you. They're going to come by tomorrow."
“Seriously?”
“We tried to talk them around, but your mom wants to see you.” Chris steps in and takes over for me.
“Aria, I can’t force them to stay away.” I sigh. “They’re your parents.”
She balls up her fists at her side. I know she’s pissed off, but there is nothing I can do about it.
"So why so doom and gloom? What else aren’t you telling me?” she snaps and scowls at me.
I should be pissed that she’s mad at me for trying to help her, but call me crazy, I love seeing this feisty side of her personality. It shows me that Aria Marshall is still in their somewhere.
"Al called. He sent us an address for a location we now know you were held." Aria stumbles back a step and I grab her hands to keep her steady. "When you were there, did he have pictures of you on the walls?"
She tilts her head slightly and looks at me. "What? No. It was just wood. What pictures, Caleb?"
I shake my head. “It’s cool.”
“Tell me, Caleb!”
I feel sick telling her this, but I’m not going to be able to lie to her. "They were of you in various situations. They were..." I swallow the bile threatening to spill and turn away into the kitchen. I need a beer… or ten.
"Did you find Sophia? Is she okay?"
Fuck. I take in a deep breath. I open the bottle of beer and down most of it in one go. I need Dutch courage for this next blow. I need Dutch courage for all of it.
"She was at the cabin..."
"I need to see her, " she interrupts me, walking up closer to me. I turn around in time to see Chris catching her and sitting her down on the bar stool.
"I'm so sorry, honey." He sighs. "She didn't make it. The cabin was empty apart from her body."
“No." Her hands cup her mouth. "This is my fault. I shouldn’t have run. I should have stayed where I was told."
“None of this is your fault, Aria,” Chris tries to soothe her.
She pushes Chris out of the way and rushes to the bathroom. I bang my bottle down and follow her quickly, just in time to see her being sick, sobbing into the toilet. I hold her hair back from her face with one hand and rub her back with the other. Clay peeks his head around the door and hands me over a glass of water. He doesn't say anything; his stony face tells me everything I need to know. We all just want this ordeal to end. We need it to end for our own sanity. It’s driving everyone crazy.
