Dean enjoyed catching a glimpse of her to reassure himself that she was fine or to let him know where to go to track her down.
He went into the office, the monitor for the security system already on. Countless camera views lined the screen, and Dean took the mouse to click through them, searching. He spotted Bradley out at the stables and Olin reading a book in the hammock near the house.
No sign of the brat, though.
He narrowed his eyes, scanning through one set after another.
When he finally landed on the right one, he took a deep breath. Something about seeing her always did that to him, allowed him to release tension he hadn’t even realized he held onto. She was like an instant anti-anxiety medication.
Though that relief didn’t last long, not when the top edge of the camera caught the tires of a black car on the back road just outside the fence line. Someone was there?
The car door opened, and black shoes appeared. Still, Dean couldn’t tell who it was, and with Kat facing the other way, he couldn’t guess from her expression. Still, he couldn’t shake an unease.
The figure walked closer, and the moment their face came into view, Dean had his phone in his hand, his feet already moving as he bolted from the house.
A fear unlike anything he’d ever known before took him over, and nothing mattered but getting to Kat.
* * * *
“What are you doing here?” Kat hated that her voice cracked at the question. Even after all her work, all the growing she’d done, he still frightened her.
Jerry smiled, though it had tense edges. “Don’t ask stupid questions, Katherine. They’re beneath you.”
The way he said her name stung as it always had, reminding her too much of her parents, mixing with the way he’d said it when he’d dragged that knife down her front.
It made her stomach churn, made her worry she’d throw up her breakfast if she couldn’t calm herself down.
Max growled, lifting his lips, the hair on his back standing up straight. However, when a man in the front passenger seat got out, a gun in his hand, Kat gripped Max’s collar and told him to calm.
The dog did, though there was no doubting he was still on edge.
“You said you’d let me decide,” Kat said, knowing how stupid those words were. He was a murder—what did promises mean to him?
“And I am. A good businessman knows when to apply direct pressure. You’re tougher than I thought, more stubborn than I realized. I guess that’s why I like you, though, why I can’t stop thinking about you. So I came to persuade you.”
Kat shook her head. “I’m not going to give in to you.”
She recalled how she’d nearly done exactly what he wanted before, when that body had been left on her front porch. The thing was…she hadn’t thought she had anything worth living for back then.
She’d thought she was just a burden on those around her, just waiting until they left her. Now, though?
Now it was different… Now she wanted the life she’d seen with the men she loved, the ones who loved her, flaws and all.
Jerry let out a laugh that chilled her before he turned around and reached into the car. A cry left the lips of someone inside—clearly a woman—a moment before he stood straight again, yanking someone from the car.
The woman was naked with blood on her, but she was standing and alive. Her hair was white, though Kat couldsmellthe chemicals from the dye used. It made her want to vomit all the more.
“I’m not above negotiating,” Jerry said, his expression one of a man sure he’d already won. “So here is the deal. You come with me, and I leave her here. Maybe just seeing the aftermath isn’t real enough for you. Maybe you somehow think that it would happen if I had you or not, so here is my chance to show you the truth, so you can look her in the eyes and tell her you won’t save her.”
The woman cowered, not even bothering to try to hide her nakedness. It showed just how broken down she was from Jerry’s abuse.
Still, Kat tried to stay calm, to think things through. “If I come with you, you’ll just kill me and be right back at it. It won’t stop anything.” She spat out the words Olin had said, even if she wasn’t sure she believed them.
“I only play with these toys because they’re cheap knock-offs. I break them because I don’t give a damn about them—they’re replaceable. You are not. I assure you, I would not break you in the same way.”
No…he’d break her in another way. He might not kill her, at least not right away, but he’d torment her. He’d destroy her piece by piece until there was nothing left of the woman she was, until she was a hollow doll for him to toy with as he pleased.
And yet, knowing that didn’t stop her feet from moving. She told the dog to go home, having to order it three times to get it going. She didn’t need the dog to get hurt—she had enough blood on her hands already.