Page 101 of Burn With Me

With the setting sun, the barn was beginning to glow softly. On any other occasion, I would’ve said it was romantic, but there was nothing romantic about this.

“Then tell me why you’d want to save a child abuser?”

I opened my mouth and closed it again. It felt like no matter what I said. This was a lose-lose situation.

“I didn’t know she was hurting her daughter until after. I interviewed Kim with Asher, and he was the one that saw it in her. I didn’t.”

“You should have!”

“Maybe, but I’d only met them a handful of times.”

“I’d never met her, and I knew.”

“Only because you suffered like her!” I yelled back, my chest heaving as we stared at one another. “For as terrible as you say my parents were, I was never abused. How was I supposed to know? I feel terrible that I didn’t, but I never saw anything or heard anything…Derek, I would have called the cops if I’d thought Kim was being hurt for even a second.” I took a deep breath as I tried to collect myself from the well of emotion. “Do I really seem like the type that would be okay with that? Did you find anything on me that would suggest I like abusive assholes?”

He didn’t say anything as he finished lighting the final lantern. Derek picked it up and walked toward me with the metal handle swinging from his hand. No horror movie could properly portray the fear that was coursing through my body.

“So is this it? You’re going to kill me now?”

“No.” A flush of relief washed through me as I thought that I’d gotten through to him. “I’m waiting on our audience to arrive. Asher needs to see you burn.”

If I’d had any hope of making it out of this alive, it died with those words. He was far more delusional than I’d originally thought.

Asher

The drive back to Miami had never felt so long. The adrenaline and dread coursing through my body kept my foot pressed to the floor and praying that I didn’t get stopped. I didn’t know if I’d even pull over.

So many things were falling into place and making sense. I felt stupid for not seeing the signs of who this was. It was like, from the very first fire he set, I knew my brother had been taunting me. Telling me he was back and just waiting to see how long it took for me to figure the puzzle out.

He always did like puzzles. It was the one thing he would sit and work at every night. Once he completed one, he’d pull it apart, put it in the box to shake up, and start all over again.

I turned onto the gravel road that led to the Giltberts and I didn’t think it could get any worse, but as soon as the big old barn on the hill came into view with the soft glow coming from inside, my stomach rolled. What did he have planned?

I’d been tempted to sneak my way up the driveway, but I could see the motion sensors lining the driveway, and the only other way in was too dangerous in the dark. I’d had more than one scare with an alligator on this property.

Parking the truck, I grabbed the tire iron off the floor in the back and jogged for the large open door. I could hear talking inside, so I slowed down and tried to listen to what was being said.

“No point in slinking around in the dark, Brother. I know you’re out there,” Derek called out, and a wave of fresh emotion lanced my heart.

It was really him, he was here, and he was alive. I wanted to hug him and tell him everything I had been longing to say for years. Instead, I walked through the large doors and saw Vi tied up, her face covered in dirt, and all I could think about was how much I hated him for putting me back in this position all over again.

My eyes locked with Vi’s before they swung back to Derek, who was casually leaning against a support beam. He looked so different and yet exactly the same. Gone was the scrawny teenage boy, replaced with a man that filled the room with his presence.

“I should’ve known it was you,” I said. “You left me so many clues, but I just didn’t think that my brother would be capable of killing that many people so callously.”

His nostrils flared. “So what, no warm welcome? You’re not coming across the barn and hugging me like old times and telling me you still love me and have missed me?”

“Honestly, I would’ve if you hadn’t been terrorizing all of Miami and then taking Vi.” I held the hand with the tire iron toward where she was sitting. “Did you really think I would be happy about any of this?”

“The complete opposite, actually. I wanted you to suffer,” Derek said.

My mind raced. “Derek, you killed two innocent people and then our mother. I mean, dad, I could see after what he did to you, but mom? She didn’t deserve that. She was just as much of a victim as we were.”

“She was no mother to me. Don’t use that word for her. She was nothing more than the devil’s whore. She could’ve run, or she could’ve tried to stop him when he did this.” Derek pointed to the side of his face.

“No, she left the room and let him do whatever he wanted,” He took a deep breath.

“ If you hadn’t stopped him…it doesn’t matter now. They got what they deserved,” he said with a smile.