Speak No Evil_ A Novel - Allison Brennan [116]
“I’m on my way.” She slammed the phone.
“I heard that,” Kyle said, and Carina mentally hit herself for not taking the call in another room. Cell phones were notoriously easy to eavesdrop on. “What’s with my mother?”
“We’ve been tracking Angie Vance’s online stalker. And we just tracked him all the way to your brother.”
Kyle shook his head as he paled. “No. I don’t believe it.”
“Believe it.” She turned to leave.
“Let me come with you.”
“Absolutely not.”
“Please, he’s my brother. He’ll listen to me. I-I don’t want anything to happen to him.”
“You sit in the cage,” Carina said, referring to the back of her police sedan. “One false move and I’ll nail you. Do what I say and nothing else.”
“I will, please.”
“Let’s go.”
THIRTY-TWO
HIS MOTHER CALLED HIS NAME. She was in the kitchen.
“Brandon, dammit, where are you?”
He waited, playing with the knife. Leah whimpered behind him.
“You parked in my spot, you idiot. I’ve been working all week catering to rich bitches and I can’t even park in my own garage!”
Brandon waited.
“What have you been doing while I’ve been gone?”
She was getting closer.
“Brandon! Damn you, open this door! If you have a slut in your bed I’m going to cut off your dick and shove it down her throat!”
She pounded on his bedroom door. He opened it wide and stood there, his hands at his sides.
“Hello,” he said.
Her face was red with anger as she began to berate him. Then she saw.
He stepped aside and let her see Leah tied and wrapped on his bed. “She’s like a present, isn’t she?” he said.
“What?” Her voice didn’t sound right. “What have you done?”
“You’re early.” He grabbed her wrist. His whole hand fit around it. He squeezed.
Regina stared at him, stunned into silence. Fear clouded her eyes. Good. She should be scared. He hoped she shit herself she was so scared.
It wouldn’t come close to the terror he’d felt growing up. But he was in charge now. He was no longer scared.
“You let strangers into the house while Dad was in prison. Men who fucked you and gave you money. You’re the whore, Mama.”
She tried to slap him with her free hand, but he caught her other wrist easily.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Brandon.”
“You betrayed Daddy.”
“I loved your father. You know that! I was the only one who defended him. Let me go!”
He shook his head slowly, back and forth. “You lied about the whores. You lied about Daddy. You’re just like them. You’re a slut and you’re going to get what’s coming to you.”
The fear and knowledge grew in her eyes. She rushed at him and fought him, but he was stronger.
She sucked in a breath to scream.
His hands came around her neck and he slammed her body into the wall. She couldn’t move. She clawed at him with her hands. He squeezed. Tighter. Harder. She kicked, trying to catch her breath. She couldn’t scream, couldn’t talk. Her head grew light, her eyes saw nothing but darkness. Her lungs shrank, failing to draw in air.
Brandon tightened the hold on his mother, watching her face turn bluish, as her arms and legs stopped moving. A bone cracked beneath his hands.
“One. Two. Three. Four.” He counted. How long would it take for the old bitch to die?
It took just over three minutes. It didn’t seem very long, so Brandon held on another minute, just in case.
When he let go, his mother’s body fell onto the floor with a heavy thud. He would take care of it later.
Elizabeth. She was waiting for his help. She needed him.
Leah. She lay there, frozen. He poked at her, to make sure she didn’t betray him by dying like Jodi. She jerked at his touch. Good, she was still alive.
He just had to put Elizabeth off for another few minutes.
Scout? Are you there? If you can’t help, I understand. I know you’re busy and everything.
He quickly typed.
I’m here. I just had to take care of something. I can help you demonstrate the theorem.
He typed out a simple explanation, then waited.
Thank you so much! This is great. Hold on, I need to check the test guidelines and make sure I didn’t forget something. Can you