Page 57 of Give Me Peace

“Best Friend!” He jumps up, grinning around the strawberry lollipop he’s so fond of. I throw my hand out when he’s within a few feet of me. I can’t think straight when they’re touching me, and I need all my faculties for this conversation. “Saylor?” Kash’s eyebrows furrow, his feet coming to a dead stop. I hear the others stand and shuffle closer. Hear their voices asking me what’s wrong, but I keep my eyes trained on Kash.

“Am I?” The question comes out so choked it’s barely a whisper. Kash cocks his head, a confused look marring his face. “Am I your best friend? Because best friends don’t keep secrets. Is there anything you want to tell me?” I fill in the blanks, watching him closely as the words leave my lips. His posture goes rigid, his jaw clenching. The epitome of guilt. My bottom lip starts tremble, so I tuck it between my teeth. I don’t want them to see how I hurt I am.

“What’s in your hand, Saylor?” Lochlan steps forward, looking as put together as ever in a pair of grey chinos, a plain v-neck hugging his top half perfectly. His pants rolled at the ankles, his bare feet giving off the illusion he’s relaxed. But I notice the way his head is tilted down, glasses sliding lower. The flex of his fisted hands, despite them being shoved in his pockets. I hold the papers up, turning them so they can see exactly what I have. Roan swears, his hands going to the top of his head as he paces at the back of the group. Any doubt I’d been clinging to is thoroughly erased with his reaction.

“I was looking for a water. Found these instead.” I toss them to my right, watching as they scatter across the dining table. “What the hell is that?” I direct my question to Lochlan, knowing whatever decision was made to keep me in the dark ultimately came from him.

“We got a postcard a while back. It came to the PO box. We didn’t know about it for several days, but immediately informed Denvers as soon as we discovered it. We relayed the coordinates written on the back, and the local department was dispatched to investigate. They found the body of Anna Beth Parker.” Lochlan’s voice is strong and doesn’t waver once, like he’s not the least bit ashamed.

“How long is ‘a while back’?” I grit out, my anger rising by the second.

“Technically, it came the Monday after you got here. But we didn’t notice it until Wednesday.” My eyes widen and I stumble back a step. Kash jerks forward, like he wants to reach out and steady me, but I give him a look that screams he needs to back the hell up. His gaze falls to the floor immediately. I left the hospital on a Saturday. How the hell would Liam have known where I was going before I did? It’d take at least three days for mail to get to Florida from North Dakota. The timeline doesn’t make sense.

“Who are those girls?” Deep down, I know. But I’m hoping, by some miracle, I’m completely off track and there’s another answer that won’t leave me racked with guilt.

“We think they’re substitutions. Women Liam chose that look like you, since he no longer has access to what he really wants.” Oh, God. I suck in a sharp breath, but it feels like needles are pricking my chest. “He wants to lure you out, Saylor. He obviously knows you’re staying with us, but not the address to the actual house. You’re still safe here.”

“But he knows the city,” I state, the realization nearly knocking me on my ass. “He’s got me pinpointed to a roundabout location. Why not just come here?”

“Because he’s toying with you. He’s escalated. Dramatically.” I snort derisively. Understatement of the century. “He doesn’t know for sure that you’re here in Florida. We have the house in Washington as well, and a PO box for when we’re there. Denvers had a contact check it for us. They found the same postcard from North Dakota. I think he sent them to both locations because he isn’t sure where we are.”

“And the other one from Iowa? It was there, too?” I ask, a hint of relief leaking through. Lochlan shakes his head, stealing it back just as quickly.

“It could’ve gotten lost in the mail,” he replies, but his reasoning convinces neither of us.

Or…he’s somehow figured out we’re in Florida.

“Why?” My eyes fill with tears, but I raise my chin defiantly. “Why not tell me?” Lochlan’s eyes flash. He yanks his hands from his pockets, erasing the cool demeanor he’d been intent on keeping. He steps closer, leaving just a few inches between us. I hold my ground, even though I’m trembling with nerves and anxiety.

“That psycho fuck is taunting you. He wants to guilt you into doing something stupid.” My hackles rise at the implication I’d be so reckless. “He’ll keep taking girls who look like you, doing despicable things to them, just to try and draw you out. I told you I’d do everything in my power to keep you safe. Well, sweetheart, this is me doing that. I couldn’t risk you offering yourself up to him.” I flinch.

“And you all agreed?” I look at each of the guys, wanting—needing—to know if they were all on board with this. Their hesitant nods feel like a knife to the heart.

“Wow,” I whisper, crossing my arms over my chest. The need to protect myself is bearing down on me. “Did it ever occur to you that I’m not that stupid? I spent five years with Liam Price. I experienced firsthand how evil that man is, and now you’re telling me he’s escalated? I’m one person. If I walked out of here, made my location known, what would that accomplish? No one knows where he is, so it’s not like we could set him up and use me as bait. Honestly, it’s insulting that you think I’d risk not only me, but all of you as well, in what would no doubt amount to nothing more than a suicide mission.

“I’m heartbroken that he’s taken the lives of two innocent women, but I refuse to make his actions my fault any longer. He did those things to them, not me. If we could figure out a way to stop him, that ensured our safety as well, I’d be all for it. But I won’t willingly go to him after just escaping the hell I’d resigned myself to. Except none of you thought to discuss this with me, the one person this effects the most and has every right to be kept in the loop.”

“Saylor,” Lochlan croaks, emotion clogging his throat. He extends his hand, but I step back.

“You asked me to trust you.” I stare directly into those honey-colored eyes. “I did. Blindly. Yet you keep giving me reasons why I shouldn’t. It works both ways, Lochlan. How am I supposed to trust you, when you obviously have none in me?” My words trail off as the first tear rolls down my cheek. I tried so hard to keep them at bay.

“You’re killing me, pretty girl.” Havok looks wrecked, but I can’t cater to him when I feel just as defeated.

“I need to be alone right now,” I mumble, walking backwards until I’m certain they’re going to stay where they are. I glance at Krew, his usually unreadable face showing more than it ever has.

Guilt.

Regret.

Remorse.

I close my eyes, severing the connection, before spinning around and sprinting for my room. My heart is racing, my mind trying to absorb everything that’s been thrown at me. I knew Liam was still in play. He obviously hasn’t been caught, but I just assumed he was running from the cops. Not actively pursuing me. And to this extent…so publicly and without a single care that his face is plastered all over the country as a wanted fugitive. Images of those girl’s flash behind my closed eyelids, the morbid scene making my stomach cramp. I hurry to the bathroom, locking the door behind me and slide to the floor, just in case I need the toilet. My head thumps against the wall.

They were young. Too young. So much life left to live. Mistakes to make. And that asshole took it all away. I’ve known for five years how cruel and heartless Liam is, but I can’t believe he’s taken things this far. Cornered dogs bite, and he’s definitely cornered. His anonymity is gone, the hold and power he held over Laiken County, all of it. There’s nothing more dangerous than a person who has nothing to lose. Why now, though? He had years to act out the things that he did to those women on me.

Every time the lock turned and that heavy steel door slid open, I braced for the inevitable. The day he’d take things beyond the invasion of his fingers or when his hits would do irreparable damage. But it never came. It’s clear Liam is capable of far worse violence than he showed me. I’m not sure I want to think too long on why it is that he never hurt me the way he did Anna Beth and Kenzie. The idea that he might have saw me as ‘special’ makes me sick.

And the guys...