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“Camryn. Camryn. Listen to me, you need to be quiet.” Scott’s groggy voice prods at the edge of my consciousness, and I try to latch on to it, letting it draw me back as I block out the pain. “Stay still, Camryn. Focus on me, just breathe, I’ll get you out. Stay with me, you’re fine.” Scott’s voice is lower now, and I wonder if I’m losing consciousness.
I hear tyres crunching on gravel and the low hum of an engine as light flashes through the window. The sound of a car door closing echoes through the air before muffled footsteps and twigs snapping underfoot reaches me. My heart pounds in my ears, as I reach for the seat belt button, pushing down on it, but it holds firm. I begin frantically pushing it again and again until it finally clicks, releasing me. I can’t hear Scott anymore, and when I look over to him, he’s slumped over the wheel. Fuck!
“Scott. Scott, wake up, someone’s coming,” I hiss, reaching forward to shake his shoulder. I grit my teeth as pain flares in my leg. I ignore it, grabbing his seat and using it to pull myself forward. “Scott, fucking wake up,” I rasp, as more pain assaults me.
Movement outside the car draws my attention as the silhouette of a man stalks through the trees. I try waking Scott one more time with no luck before dropping back into my seat. I begin searching for something I can use as a weapon but come up empty. There’s no way I can run as I look down at the shard of glass sticking out of my leg, and if I’m right and this is Sean taking back his property, then I know whomever is out there won’t kill me. I just hope they don’t hurt Scott. Sagging back in my seat, I try to slow my breathing and hope that the darkness hides any evidence of the pain I’m in.
I wait for what feels like a lifetime before the sound of the car door being wrenched open comes. I keep completely still, then I feel the seat beside me dip as someone leans in. When their breath whispers over my cheek, it takes every ounce of restraint not to cringe and move away. Their scent invades my senses, and I freeze instantly as cold dread rolls through me.Lewis.
“Sweet, sweet, Kasey,” he mocks, as a hand fists the front of my top, dragging me across the seats. I can’t help the cry that bursts from me at the movement. “Tut, tut, tut, thinking you can fool me. You might have changed your name but you’re still the same stupid bitch you always were,” he snickers, as I’m pulled from the car, crashing to the ground when he lets me go.
“Fuck you, Lewis!” I spit at him; I’m almost certain he can’t kill me. He’s already hurt me in every way possible in the past, so screw cowering to him or anyone else anymore. He lets out a full belly laugh, then he fists my hair in his hand as he starts hauling me through the trees towards his car. “Aaargh!” I shriek, “You sick piece of shit. Getting off on hurting woman makes you a fucking coward.” Ignoring the throbbing in my leg, I start kicking and thrashing about. If he thinks I’m going to come quietly, he couldn’t be more fucking wrong. I scream out, over and over until my voice is hoarse, but I don’t give up.
Suddenly the hold on my hair is gone, and I’m dropped to the ground, only to receive a boot to the ribs as I try to catch my breath. My side aches, but I scramble backwards, kicking out with my good leg, catching him in the knee and causing him to stumble. Slamming into a tree, I grip the base, shimmying my hands up and getting to my feet just in time to dodge the fist flying towards my face. The action causes me to lose my balance slightly, but I hobble upright, turning to try and make a run for it when the snick of a gun sounds behind me.
“I’ll blow your fucking brains out, cunt, if you so much as twitch.” The threat clear as the barrel pushes into the back of my head.
I freeze, I’m prepared to fight, but I’m not stupid. I heave out a sigh, my hot breath coming out in a cloud as it meets the cold night air. “You can’t kill me, Lewis, it would be more than your life’s worth and you know it,” I state, hoping to buy some time while I search for a way out.
“Maybe, maybe not,” he wagers. “Do you think I couldn’t make it look like an accident? Believe me, I’ve had plenty of practice getting rid of whores that cause problems. Sean likes his bitches to be submissive, compliant and do as their fucking told. Disposing of sluts that become more trouble than they are worth is a piece of piss, especially, interfering mothers and their whinging daughter,” he jibes.
His words hit their mark as I suck in a breath that catches in my throat. My chest aches, my heart breaking apart thinking about my mum and daughter, but then something about what he said has me pausing. Forgetting about the gun to my head, I go to spin round just as a deafening crack echoes through the night.
I’m falling and then everything goes black.
Twenty-Six
Blue
I woke around 11am, only managing a few hours of decent sleep. That thread of worry hasn’t left me, in fact, if anything it’s worse today. I called Scott around lunchtime to check on Cam, he told me she overslept, but otherwise, everything was fine. I let him know that I’ll be leaving at 4pm and depending on traffic, I should be home around 8pm tonight.
I spend a couple of hours in the gym, hoping to work out some of the left-over aggression from last night and shake off this feeling that something is wrong.
When I come downstairs after my shower, Sully is just coming in the front door.
“Hey, man. Did you manage to get some sleep?” he asks, meeting me at the bottom of the stairs. “Ooh, nice bruises. I don’t need to ask how the other guys look,” he says, laughing.
“Yeah, a few hours anyway. What you got there?” I say, pointing to the folder in his hands. He waves it in the air, beckoning for me to follow him as he strides away towards his office. Inside he rounds the desk, sitting down and motioning for me to sit too. That’s never a good sign.
“What’s going on? ‘Cause I got to tell you, something is seriously fucking with my head. I think we are missing something,” I tell him, dropping into the seat and resting my elbows on my knees, eager to hear what he has to say.
“So, this morning someone sent me these.” He slides the folder across the desk to me. “We already knew that there was something suspicious about the accident that killed Faye and Lorraine, but this…” he gestures to the papers I’m currently flicking through, “proves we were right.”
The folder contains a dozen or more articles covering the accident, some have highlighted sections. But the one thing that has my attention is the last document. It’s an autopsy report of Cam’s mum, Lorraine, stating cause of death as asphyxiation.
“How is this possible? The autopsy report we have states she died of internal bleeding, so how can this be?” The question is completely rhetorical because we already know how. What we still don’t fully understand is the why. Sean’s a fucking psycho, but I’m not sure he’s crazy enough to kill his own daughter. I guess it’s something I couldn’t possibly comprehend.
“It gets worse, whoever sent these to me also sent the newspaper articles to Cam,” he tells me, eyebrows raised in question.
“Fuck! Cam must be freaking the fuck out. Scott said she overslept this morning, and I bet this is why.” I wave the stack of papers at him.
“No doubt. Does she know you know about Faye? Has she mentioned her at all?” His questions are tentative knowing it’s a sore subject. I just shake my head at him, running a hand through my hair. “Ry, you need to tell her. If you really care about her.” My gaze snaps to his. “I’m not questioning it, I’m just saying that it needs to come from you, man.”
I throw the articles down on the desk, leaning back in my chair. “She blows my mind, Sully. I used to think that everything we saw and went through on tour was bad, but this crazy, beautiful, strong woman has suffered more pain than even the strongest of men could endure. She calms my demons, but raises the beast in me, ready to fight to the death for her. If she feels even half of what I feel for her, it’s going to break her heart when she finds out just how much I know. I don’t want to be responsible for that, man.”
“I get it, Ry, I really do, but that’s not reason enough to hold back. You said yourself she’s strong, she’ll deal with it, but if you want her, to keep her after this is done, then she’s going to need to know she can trust you. Trust me, nothing good will come from hiding the truth, even when you think you’re protecting the people you love.” Sadness laces his words, and I’m all too aware where his mind just went.
“You’ve changed your tune from the last time we spoke about her, so what gives?” I leave the question to hang there, but when he doesn’t reply and just gives me raised brows, I continue as though I hadn’t asked. “I’ll tell her, soon. Now, what are we going to do about this?” I ask, glancing at my watch and seeing it’s almost four.
