28. Chapter 27

CHAPTER 27

RILEY

I froze, adrenaline coursing through my veins as I registered the gun in my back held by the serial killer I accidentally stumbled across.

"Raymond," I said evenly.

"So the little shit's talked about me?" His breath smelled like rotten onions and I breathed through my mouth, trying to take even breaths to calm some of the adrenaline rushing through my brain.

"He doesn't actually, but I do my research." I said, not daring to move as he dug the gun deeper into my spine.

"I do mine too," He said, "That article in the paper was especially helpful."

I closed my eyes and held in a groan. Fucking Vicky. That's how he found out about me and the guys.

"I found out you're a whore just like her. She chose him too. Chose him over me." I had a feeling I knew who the ‘she' he was talking about was. His words were manic and his breathing was short and choppy. I had the sinking feeling he was unraveling which meant he was unpredictable. Unpredictable enough to do something in public.

"He doesn't get to have you though. I'm going to take you just like I took her."

"Took her where?" I asked, my voice catching despite my best efforts.

He just laughed, the sound grating in my ears. "Move," he ordered, jamming the gun into my spine. I hesitated, my eyes on the guys engrossed in their game. "Move, or I'll kill him." He ordered again and this time I let him guide me away. I couldn't do anything here but maybe if I could get him alone, I could do something. The self defense lessons I had taken for years were jumbling in my head and I tried to keep my breathing even so my brain stayed clear.

He guided me towards the back of the parking lot. I knew I couldn't get into a car with him. If he got me into a car, it was all going to be over. But I needed him to remove the gun from my spine before I could make my move.

He shoved me and I pretended to trip and fall. "Get up!" He shouted, his voice too loud, it was drawing attention. Someone shouted from my left and he glanced that direction. Grabbing a handful of the gravel and sand at my feet, I flung it up into his eyes. He stumbled backward and I followed up with a kick to his gut. I rushed him, forcing the hand holding the gun to the side. The gun went off and I heard people screaming but I couldn't look away. I brought my knee up into his groin, groaning as his other hand connected with my ribs, fuck that hurt. I spun into his chest and let my elbow fly backwards, catching him right in the nose. His grip on the gun loosened and I pried it out of his hands. His hand grabbed my arm, draggin me backwards and I threw my head back, connecting with his face. He cursed but his grip loosened and I got free, spinning to face him, the gun in my hands. He advanced on me but he was unsteady and I pulled the gun back and cold cocked him across the temple, dropping him to the ground .

"Stay down!" I ordered him, my hands shaking as I held the gun trained on his chest.

He groaned. "You bitch, you broke my nose!"

I huffed out a laugh. "That's not all I'll break if you try getting up."

He eyed my shaking hands. "You're not going to kill me."

"You're right, cause I'm not a killer. Not like you are. But I will shoot you if you try to move."

Running footsteps on gravel to my right drew my attention and I glanced that way quickly.

"I should have known when I heard the gunshot that you were going to be in the middle of it." Conrad ran up with two of his team behind him, his own gun drawn.

"What can I say, trouble seems to follow me." I said shakily, offering the gun to him as his team members trained theirs on Raymond.

"Have you ever considered that maybe you are the trouble?" He asked.

"Me? No."

Conrad looks past me. "Well, I would say that you're probably in trouble right now." I turned to see the guys standing behind me. Justin's face was unreadable as he watched Conrad's team members cuff his father. Colton's eyes darted from me to Justin. His brow was furrowed and his hands were clenched in fists.

I winced. "Maybe a little bit."

"Are you okay?" Conrad meant about my injuries but his eyes glanced towards the guys.

"I'm fine. He got a lucky shot to the ribs but it's fine."

"Aren't you glad I recommended that martial arts instructor to you?"

I laughed, wincing when my ribs ached. "Don't think that makes us even."

"Wouldn't dream of it. Gentlemen," He nodded and I knew the guys were behind me. "I'm Conrad Baxter, SAC out of Louisville. "

The guys just nodded, still not speaking and my stomach sank. I really fucked up.

"I'll come get your statement tomorrow okay? Least I can do when you wrapped up this case for me."

"I wouldn't say I wrapped it up completely but yeah, you do owe me one. Or several."

"I'll be in touch." Conrad led Justin's dad away.

I turned back to the guys. From their stiff shoulders and clenched jaws, I could tell they were pissed. I had some explaining to do.

"Can we talk?" My voice was barely above a whisper, drowned out by the sounds of the crowd gathering around us.

Colton's expression softened for a moment before he glanced over at Justin, whose jaw was set, his eyes unreadable in the dim light. "Maybe not here," Colton suggested, looking around at the people gathering around us. "Let's head towards the office."

We walked in silence, the gravel crunching under our shoes. When we reached the office, I leaned against Colton's truck and took a deep breath. The words I needed to say swirled in my mind like leaves in the wind.

"I didn't know how to explain this before," I began, my voice rapid and shaky. "I just had a gut feeling about Laura—Justin's mom. And, I just... I needed to do some digging. I have these contacts, from my old job, and I thought they could help uncover what really happened, so Justin could have some closure."

Justin finally spoke, his voice low. "What did you find, Riley?" Not sweetheart, Riley. I bit my lip and swallowed.

I hesitated, the weight of her discovery pressing down on her. "It's about your dad," I said, meeting Justin's gaze. "I think he... he was involved in some really bad things. Like some disappearances across the country. Originally I was just trying to find your mom and figure out what happened to her so I had my PI do some digging and she couldn't find her and Alyssa's the best so I asked her to start looking into your dad and she connected him to several disappearances."

Colton's brow furrowed. "Disappearances? You mean…"

"The FBI thinks he may have been responsible for them," I blurted out, the words tasting bitter. "I mean, they don't know for sure, but Conrad seemed pretty certain. I was going to tell you after this weekend but I didn't want to ruin all your hard work on the festival but then he showed up here. And I didn't know what to do."

"You should have told us," Colton cut in, his voice firm but not unkind. I winced. I really should have. They had every right to be furious at me, especially Justin.

Justin ran a hand through his hair, exhaling slowly. "I didn't need closure, Riley. I mean, I do appreciate what you tried to do but we should've been involved. You are way more important to me than whatever you discovered. I didn't need a PI to tell me that my father was a piece of shit. I mean, I never expected this but the man is a bastard through and through. I'm not upset you went digging, but I am upset you put yourself at risk. If my father had…"

I nodded, tears pricking my eyes. "I know. I'm so sorry. If you want me to leave?—"

"No," Justin said quickly, stepping closer, grabbing my hand. "That's not what we're saying—" He stopped and looked at Colton, who nodded. "We want you to move in with us."

"Wait, what?" Now it was my turn to be speechless. They wanted me to move in with them? They weren't mad?

Justin chuckled, "Yes, we want you to move in with us. Actually, we were going to tell you tomorrow, but it seems like we've got a bad history of not communicating fast enough." he narrowed his eyes at me and I dropped my head and nodded. "This doesn't change that. But from now on, no lone ranger stuff, okay? We're in this together."

I looked from Justin to Colton, seeing the earnest concern in their eyes. I had expected them to be livid, ready to kick me out, but they were more concerned about me. It was still a foreign concept to me but they were right. I should have involved them. I had people who cared about me now. They weren't my parents. They deserved my honesty and my trust.

"You're right. I should have involved you both. I won't shut you out again."

They both stepped forward, enveloping me in a hug that felt like it could shield me from the outside world. "We're more upset that you put yourself in danger," Colton murmured. "We love you, baby girl. We want to spend the rest of our lives with you. We even bought land, thinking of our future together."

"Really?" My voice was watery and Colton brushed a tear that escaped from the corner of my eye off my cheek.

"Really." He kissed my forehead. "So no more lone ranger shit okay? Or I'll have Justin spank you."

I laughed and buried my head in his chest, nodding as the guys held me tighter. "I think we might have to come up with a different punishment," Justin murmured. "She likes my spankings a little too much."

"I have no idea what you're talking about." I said, a thin thread of sass in my voice even as I sank into them.

Under the stars, in the quiet of the parking lot with only the distant sounds of the festival drifting over, I felt a surge of relief mixed with love. With them, my past doubts and fears didn't seem so big and our once murky future seemed clear and bright.

"Okay," I whispered, pulling back slightly to look at them both. "No more secrets. We face things together."

"Together," Justin promised. "Now let's go home. I've had enough excitement for one night and you can fill us in on everything you found."

I nodded, squeezing his hand. "I will. I'll show you everything." I had no doubt that there would be things I showed him that would hurt him. Even though he was handling it well, when the shock set in, there were going to be some rough times. But we could handle them together.