Chapter 44

CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR

Kinley's eyelids fluttered as she slowly emerged from the fog of unconsciousness. She tried to move, but her body remained stubbornly immobile. Panic surged through her, only to be quashed by the horrifying realization that her wrists and ankles had been bound.

Her heart pounded in her chest, her thoughts a cacophony of fear and confusion as everything came rushing back. Where was David? She froze where she lay on her side and listened intently for the man.

For several seconds, she heard nothing—then, the slight creak of a board overhead. She could hear him moving across the attic, his footsteps echoing in the silence.

How long had she been out? Not very, if he'd left her and gone straight to the attic. Her throat still felt a little sore, but mostly from the pressure he'd put on her windpipe. She cleared her throat softly, checking for damage, but her voice seemed strong enough. He hadn't done any real damage, then. Maybe she could get to the phone and call for help before he got back.

Rolling to her back, Kinley scanned the room for her phone. Where the hell had she put it? There. She spied it sitting on the edge of the dresser.

Upstairs, she could hear David shuffling boxes and shifting things around. What was he doing up there? It didn't matter. She needed to call for help before he found whatever he was looking for and came back.

He'd tied her hands behind her, which hampered her movements drastically. She began to wiggle frantically, trying to roll to her stomach, and finally managed to get her knees under her. Her muscles ached from the effort, but she pushed through it. Tucking her toes under her, she rocked her body backward.

With her ankles still bound, she lost her balance as she rose to her feet. Her breath caught in her throat as she stumbled, hopping awkwardly in her attempt to stay upright. She bumped into the dresser, and tears burned her eyes as the corner dug into her hip.

Her movements had jolted the phone, and it skittered across the surface of the dresser. Damn it! Biting back the pain radiating from her hip, she focused on the phone. She turned her back, watching in the mirror as she grabbed for it. Just a few more inches…

The sound of David descending the stairs brought her back to the present, her pulse quickening with renewed fear. She made another grab for the phone and her heart leaped in her chest as her fingers brushed the black plastic.

A low chuckle came from the doorway, and Kinley whipped her head toward David. She turned her body, trying to shield the phone from his view, but he shook his head as he closed the distance between them.

"Now, now Kinley. Keeping secrets from me?"

She watched helplessly as he deftly reached around he and scooped up her phone, then pocketed it.

A flash of silver at his side stopped her heart mid-beat. In his hand, he carried a knife, the metal glinting ominously in the dim light.

"Play nice and I won't hurt you," he said softly, his tone deceptively gentle.

His words offered no comfort. Kinley's heart raced, her mind screaming at her to run, to fight, but she was completely at his mercy, a prisoner in her own home.

"Max, —"

"David."

She stared at him. "What?"

"My name is David Collins." He swept one arm in a wide arc. "I used to live here."

Oh, God. She'd heard Cam and Dare talking about the Collins family, and everyone in town knew about Misty Collins. "Wh-what do you want?"

David sighed, looking almost regretful as he began to speak. "It's unfortunate, really. You were just at the wrong place at the wrong time. Hayes, too—I couldn't risk either of you poking around and finding my secret."

He paced the room, the knife hanging loosely in his hand. "You see, Kinley, there are things about my past that no one knows. Things that I've had to keep hidden. And when you started renovating this house, I couldn't take the chance that you might uncover something."

Kinley's mind raced, trying to piece together his words. What could possibly be so important, so dangerous, that it would drive him to such lengths?

David stopped and looked at her, his eyes dark with an intensity that sent chills down her spine. "I'm sure you've heard about Misty, haven't you?"

She hesitated, then nodded at the rhetorical question, sensing that he was searching for some sort of acknowledgement. "I—I heard she was the woman they found in the lake. The one who was m-murdered."

"Such an ugly word." His face contorted into an expression of distaste. "It's not like I wanted to hurt her. I didn't have a choice."

He dropped down on the edge of the bed, his gaze distant as he began to speak. "I loved her, you know. She was kind and beautiful, everything my real mother wasn't. I thought…"

He trailed off for a long moment. "She loved me, I know she did. But when I found out about the baby…"

Kinley listened, her heart aching as she heard the pain and anger in his voice. She wanted to scream, to beg him to let her go, but all she could do was try to reason with him. Maybe if she won his trust, he would let her go.

"I didn't know about a baby," Kinley said softly.

He glanced up at her with a cold smile. "No one did. She kept it a secret from all of us." He gaze slid away again. "I wonder how long she would have waited had I not found her."

Kinley waited a beat, but he didn't continue. She felt compelled to fill in the eerie silence. "Was it… yours?"

He let out a cruel laugh that turned her stomach. "It should have been. But no. It was my father's—the baby would have been my brother or sister."

"What happened?" she pressed gently.

He gestured with the knife. "I came in through the back door that day—caught her red handed. She was sitting right there at the kitchen table reading a book. She tried to hide it, but I already knew."

He gave a little shake of his head. "She made me promise not to tell. Said to get out, or she'd tell my father that I was harassing her."

He clenched his fists, the knife trembling in his grip. "I didn't mean to hurt her. Really. I just wanted to stop her. I couldn't let her say those things about me."

The admission hung in the air like a dark cloud, suffocating Kinley with its weight. "I'm sorry."

"I didn't realize what I was doing until I had the knife in my hand." David held up the weapon in question. "Have you ever just… lost time? Like you're so focused on something, then all of a sudden you wake up? That's what it felt like."

He stood up, moving closer to Kinley. His eyes bored into hers, and for a moment, she saw a flicker of the man she had thought was kind and caring. But it was quickly replaced by the cold, calculating gaze of a killer. "It had to look like she'd left by herself, so I cleaned everything up and hid the knife, then went back to school and typed up the note. Then I put her in the car, drove her to the lake…" He shrugged one shoulder. "Then I was back at school before the final bell."

She shivered. "How could you be sure no one saw you?"

He reached out, brushing a strand of hair from her face. His touch was gentle, but it sent a wave of revulsion through her. "You know, that's the great thing about blending in. No one notices when you're gone."

"I-I won't tell anyone," Kinley stuttered. "I promise. No one knows who you are. I won't say a word."

"Of course you won't," he said softly. "I'll make sure of it."

Kinley's mind raced, desperate for a way out. She tried to jerk away from him, but her body refused to cooperate, still bound by the thick ropes. She teetered as she tried to run, then pitched forward, her chin glancing off the floor. Tears burned her eyes as David rolled her to her back.

"Silly girl. You're going to hurt yourself." David knelt beside her, then pulled a roll of duct tape from the pocket of his sweatshirt and tore off a strip. "I wish things could have been different, Kinley. But you've left me no choice."

She tossed her head, fighting against him, but she was no match for his strength. He easily overpowered her and secured the tape over her mouth. She watched helplessly as David stood up, the knife still in his hand. "Time to go."

Kinley struggled against the rough ropes binding her wrists and ankles, her heart pounding in her chest. Grabbing the rope lashed around her ankles, he dragged her out of the room.

The carpet scratched over her skin, burning her back, and she arched violently, her muffled cries barely audible behind the duct tape. The old wood creaked as they neared the stairs, and Kinley fought against him, bucking as hard as she could to get free.

With a vicious yank he pulled her forward, and tears sprang to her eyes as her flesh scraped along the hard wood. His footsteps thudded on the stairs, and dread curled through her stomach. She felt the top step drop away into nothingness; a moment later, the breath was stolen from her lungs as the hard treads of the stairs cut into her back.

Her head snapped back, hitting the hard floor, and agony ripped through her skull. David was relentless as he dragged her downward, and pain radiated through every cell of her body. They finally reached the bottom, where she flopped helplessly as a rag doll, tears streaming from her eyes.

Behind the tape, Kinley gagged but managed to battled the nausea back. That was the last thing she needed. David paused, listening intently, giving her a moment's reprieve. It didn't last long.

Satisfied that they were alone, he dragged her through the living room and kitchen, then opened the back door. The cool night air was like a balm to her burning, battered flesh, and she dragged in a lungful of the blessedly refreshing air.

A moment later she found herself dumped onto the lawn, the hard ground and cool, dewy grass forming a dichotomous sensation on her wounds. With another quick look around, David dragged her toward his car, using the key fob to unlock it. The trunk of his car stood open, a dark, yawning void waiting to swallow her whole.

With a grunt, David lifted her and unceremoniously dumped her inside the trunk. The lid slammed shut, plunging Kinley into darkness. The engine roared to life and a moment later she felt the car lurch forward as David drove away from the house.

Her teeth rattled at every bump and turn as the car sped along the road. Suddenly the car slowed, and Kinley's heart raced even faster. She heard the sound of David's door opening and closing, then felt the car shift slightly as he moved around it.

In the dark confines of the trunk, Kinley closed her eyes and tried to focus. She couldn't give up. There had to be a way out of this, some way to survive. But how?