Night Is Darkest by Jayne Rylon (books recommended by bts .TXT) 📕

Jeremy sat on the edge of the coffee table. He rested his elbows on his knees and dropped his head in his hands. Gina kept right on going as though she no longer saw the room in front of her but, instead, the horrifying night she described.

“Rob pushed me out of the way. He screamed for me to run. I thought he could subdue one skinny woman. I figured he’d be fine, so I did it. But, when I turned back, I saw he didn’t even fight her. He raised his arms to block the knife but he wouldn’t hurt her to disarm her. He never broke his promise. Even when the knife glanced off his forearm and buried in his neck. He just took it. I couldn’t watch. I ran.”

Lacey had thought the uncertainty of not knowing her brother’s fate was the worst part of his death. But hearing, knowing what his last moments had entailed, scarred her deeper. She could imagine every gory detail of Gina’s retelling as though she watched it herself. There’d be no erasing this from her mind. No escaping the nightmares it would inspire. The truth shattered her. She collapsed in Tyler’s shaking arms but Gina kept talking as though she hadn’t just destroyed a piece of Lacey’s heart.

“After the funeral, I was so messed up. I loved Rob. He was the only man who’s ever cared for me unconditionally. I was scared. If he couldn’t stop Jackson, who would? That bastard called me from jail to rub it in my face.” Her tortured eyes begged Lacey to understand. “He convinced me his next step was to reach out to you. He said he would email you, rekindle your relationship—that you were going to testify for him. After seeing that psycho woman, I believed. I’m so sorry. I believed his lies again.”

Lacey commiserated. She’d been swayed by him only hours before.

“I put a virus on your computer at the wake so that you couldn’t talk to him anymore but he kept taunting me. He told me it was too late. I was desperate. I just wanted to keep you away from him and the trial. I bought some Harmytal, I was going to take you away. I thought I could convince you. It all sounds insane now but I couldn’t see any other way. I—”

She cut off as everyone in the room held their breath.

“I put the drugs on your cup. I did it. I never expected you’d be leaving early. I almost got you killed. God, Lacey, please forgive me. Rob never would. He loved you so much.” She gestured to her ruined face. “I deserve this. The men, who did this, I think they intended to kill me, too. Why didn’t they just get it over with? What if they come back?”

Gina’s face turned white as a ghost. Her head lolled against the pillows. The pain pills had kicked in. Her unregulated emotions swung from despair to regret to self-loathing to terror.

“No one’s going to hurt you again.” Razor dared any of them to contradict him when he claimed, “I’m going to watch over you. I’ll take care of you until we catch these bastards.”

She struggled to keep her heavy lid open. “Really?”

“You sleep now. You’re safe here. I’ll call the chief and work out the details.”

“Thank you. All of you. Don’t deserve…” She drifted off mid-sentence.

Lacey watched the ensuing commotion through overwhelming numbness. A cacophony of ring tones formed a macabre symphony as the cops made arrangements—with their superiors, with a safe house, with a doctor, with each other—to ensure the protection of the women.

Then Mason’s measured voice cut through the clamor. She overheard him relate Gina’s culpability for the accident to the chief. Although he’d developed obvious empathy for the woman’s situation, he wouldn’t forget that she, too, had committed crimes against his loved ones. He kept his urgent explanation quiet to avoid Razor overhearing.

The patterns of deception had sickness roiling in Lacey’s stomach. She had to escape the insanity.

Chapter Twenty-Two

Lacey retreated to the relative quiet of her bedroom. She collapsed onto her bed, a little disappointed not to encounter the solid butt of Rob’s Sig beneath her pillow. Her fingers had gotten used to tracing countless circuits around the grooves in the cold metal when she couldn’t sleep. Before she could muster the energy to search around for its new resting place, sluggish footsteps tracked along the hallway.

Mason and Tyler filled the room with their tense energy but she rolled to avoid facing them.

“It’s okay, doll. Everyone’s gone now. Razor took Gina to a safe house. JRad is tracing the email files Gina gave Rob. The chief dispatched two other cars to stake out your property. You can relax.” The bed dipped when Mason sat on the edge behind her.

“You don’t get it! So many secrets. Each one rippled outward, affecting someone else. I hid Jackson from you guys. You hid your relationship from me. Rob hid his investigation from us. The chief hid his involvement from the detectives on Rob’s case. Gina hid so many things. It’s a vicious cycle. None of this had to happen.” Lacey curled into a ball in an attempt to snuff the agony searing her guts.

The guys surrounded her. Mason lay at her back while Tyler tried to gather her stiff form close.

“We’re being honest now, little one. We love you and we’re not going anywhere, no matter what anyone thinks. No more secrets. No more lies.” Ty nuzzled her cheek. “We have each other, and that’s all we need.”

“You have everything you need, Tyler?” Dread curled around her frantic heart as she recognized the root of her distress. She knew it wasn’t true. They weren’t complete yet.

“I have you, little one. I have Mason. That’s all I need.”

“Liar!” She bolted up but Mason halted her progress when he wrestled her back