AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“So he’s got an Oedipus complex?” Avery looked disgusted as she went to join the girl group forming around Scout’s computer.
“Doubtful,” Fitz said, turning the screen back around as he continued to work on something only he could seem to see. “That would be assuming he holds attraction to his mother.We’reworking under the assumption that he killed his mother via the car accident, right?”
“Yes,” Cabot answered as John yelled out, “What?”
“Caroline Harrington died on impact when her car went off the road and slammed into a tree. I hate to be the one to state the thoughts of a sick mind, but that probably fulfilled none of the feelings he’d been anticipating when he did it. Then Lake grows up, looking like the mother who abandoned him, she’s blunt and probably made no mistake in showing her disdain for Parker.” Fitz looked at Scout who nodded at his assessment. “She became his new target, plus you can add in the fact that Caroline picked Lake over him.”
“You can’t make the assumption that he even feels that way.” Cabot glared at the other man, challenging him.
“It’s an educated guess based on his previous behavior. It’s a fucking profile, Cabot.”
“Children,” I grunted, sending them both looks, promising pain if they didn’t stop. Instead of getting glares in return, they both cracked a smile before Fitz continued.
“Let’s say you’re Dominic. You got no satisfaction from killing the person you were betrayed by. Then you have a brilliant second chance at revenge, but you have to be slower about it this time. Really draw out the pain.” He shifted his head from side to side. “It makes sense why he watched her and killed surrogates. Dominic is calculating to a point. The fact that he’s killed all these other women shows that his control snaps and he has to take it out on women who look like Lake just to get himself back under control again.”
“Yeah, you guys aren’t dealing with Oedipus. You’ve got a Ted Bundy, Edmund Kemper, Ed Gein hybrid on your hands,” Ellie spoke from where she’d been huddled next to Scout. “Well Kemper’s mommy issues and Bundy’s thing for targeting a type and losing control.” She tilted her head to the side. “And Ed Gein because I’m getting real Norman Bates vibes from this Parker guy.”
I looked from her to Fitz then back to her. “What?”
“Sorry,” she squeaked, seeming to remember her involvement in this was non-existent. Her pale skin became red immediately and she pretended to find Scout’s black computer screen completely fascinating. I looked back at Fitz to see him smiling and shaking his head.
“She’s not wrong,” he said, shooting her a wink when she looked up at him in surprise.
“Sweet Jesus,” John whispered, bringing us back to the topic at hand. “How many women has he killed?”
“Come here dad and I’ll introduce you to the serial killer you’ve invited to dinner.” Scout kept her voice light, but she shot me a look that told me she was keeping him away from the impending explosion. And she was right, I was about to blow.
All of Fitz’s profiling had brought one very sick sad truth to the forefront of the conversation. Dominic had his endgame. He had Lake. The long game was over and her life could very well be over already too.
Fitz stood up suddenly and snapped his fingers at the poor guy who had been sitting next to the constantly working printer. The young mad snatched three papers from the printer and Fitz immediately thrust them in my face. “Three aliases of Parker’s had property under their names. Scattered all over the damn country. I swear his con artist game is on point. I see how he could afford to hire an assassin.” I heard John gasp from his seat next to Scout but kept my eyes on Fitz. “I arranged them by proximity to our current location, but I would start with this address.”
“Why this one?” I asked as I looked at the Rhode Island address.
“Because this address also happened to be the address of Caroline Williams before she met and married Robert Harrington.”
CHAPTER 34
LAKE
Ihad no idea how long he’d left me in here with my dead father. It felt like days, but since I hadn’t faded from lack of food or water, I doubted it was really that long. Three days without water was the limit, wasn’t it? I could deal with that. It would have been far better, feeling my organs shut down one by one, then laying here wishing for the dissociation that had been such a burden to my mental health before.
I’d wanted to be present and checked in so I could figure out an escape, but it had been wasted effort when I was just punished with a corpse at my bedside. Since I’d let hopelessness fester inside me, I’d waited for my vision to tunnel and the feeling of stepping out of myself. It never came. I was forced to stay in this room, chained down and half naked, Robert only a few feet away, still held up in the chair by the bindings. A stronger woman would have had a complete mental break at this situation, yet my fractured mind seemed ready to stick around.
So I fixed my eyes upward and focused on the good parts of my life. The parts Dominic hadn’t touched and infected. I thought about Scout and the protection she’d offered with her friendship and the Landow’s home in general that had become a sanctuary. But the comfort turned to dread as I was thrown right back into the fear that she was dead right along with Ryan. Then the moments before I was pulled from safety came flooding back into my mind. Jack and Evan going down, Dominic holding the gun, running, hitting the ground…
Angry at myself for not keeping my thoughts on the good, I growled into the silence. It was a sick hollow silence that surrounded me. Even if I didn’t look at him, I knew my father was still there with me. The lack of life from where a body sat was a torture in and of itself. It seemed like it should be no different from sitting next to a mannequin or that’s what my crumbling brain had argued. But no, there was a tension radiating from me as I waited for a breath or movement that would never come.
The sound of metal sweeping against cement told me Dominic was back, and when I heard something rolling in with him, I wondered if I’d have a new cellmate soon. I’d cry when he took my father away, I knew I would. It would break me to lose him forever; even if he’d been the worst dad for me, he was all I had left in the way of family. I’d never be ready to lose him. My eyes were still trained on the ceiling above me, but I could see Dominic in my periphery pulling the chair with my father further into the corner, out from the direct light of the single naked bulb. After he’d made room he pulled some machine over to the spot where Robert had been and I finally turned to look at him.
“You know why I like these old prison beds?” He nodded at the frame I was connected to. “They weren’t made as cheaply as things are now. Composites and replacements all to save a buck and make a bigger one. No, Lake, this bed, while uncomfortable, is the real thing. Well it’s aluminum, not iron. Iron is a bitch to get down here.”
Rolling my eyes, I focus back toward the blank canvas of concrete above him. I was now completely positive that Dominic Parker talked to hear himself speak. Apparently my lack of interest in his history class on prison decor was unacceptable because the sting of the back of his hand cracking against my cheek was enough to pull my attention.
“Aluminum is a conductor, baby sister.”
I glanced past him to the machine. Two cords that looked like jumper cables rested on top of the machine and I focused my eyes on his. Dominic was excited, the need to cause destruction sparkled in his evil eyes. Vaguely, my mind went to the other women and wondered if they’d endured the electricity that was sure to follow.
I was terrified, cold, exhausted, starving and dehydrated. I couldn’t have been blamed for the quiver of my lip or the tears that would have escaped if I had a single drop of water in me to spare. I’d endured a lot over the past two months, and I was due for a breakdown. I fought so hard to keep my fear from showing in front of Dominic, so I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of seeing it. I would give him nothing to feed on. But I couldn’t control my body any longer as I heard the chains binding my hands and feet start to rattle from the tremors racking my body.
