Part 31 (1/2)

But which one is Roy?

The one she'd fought at Ann's place, the one who had punched her in the eye, the one who had driven her here-had that been Roy?

If she had been dealing with one of them all along, she had to try and keep track of which was which. She had to try to regain his sympathy.

Stay calm. Just try to stay calm.

Gradually, the initial shock pa.s.sed and she noticed that one of them seemed more animated than the other. Yes, the one on the left was looking at her with absolute bewilderment. Why?

He grabbed the other by the elbow, ”Come with me,” she heard him say gruffly, and he pulled his twin out of the room.

CHAPTER 62.

”What the h.e.l.l is she doing here!?” Roy exclaimed.

”The girl? She was a witness,” Daniel said plainly. ”I had to take her, and she's a pretty one, too, isn't she?” He smiled. ”It was a perfect stroke of luck. Now, my brother, I get to show you what I do with the girls. It's great fun. You'll see...”

Roy felt ill.

”My G.o.d, Danny, that's Makedde!”

His brother's expression was blank. The name meant nothing to him, Roy had not told him about Makedde. In fact, Roy had not told him much about any of the girls he had seen over the past few years, for fear that it would make him jealous or cause some discontent. After all, he wanted his brother to be safe and happy up at the cabin, not thinking about what he was missing in the big city, and not feeling as if he were losing his brother to someone else.

”I know her. I know that woman,” Roy tried to explain, shaking his head with disbelief. ”What have you done? What have you done by bringing her here?”

Makedde had been kidnapped. She had witnessed Daniel do whatever it was he had done to Dr Morgan. She had seen all of it, and he knew that his brother's plan was to kill her now. And if they didn't kill her, she would have them both in jail for the rest of their lives. He will have ultimately let him and their mother down in the worst possible way.

If they didn't kill Makedde now, they would be locked up forever, and worst of all, they would be separated.

CHAPTER 63.

Andy could hear the helicopter. He stood on the bridge that led to the floating helipad, bracing himself against the cold Canadian wind.

Where is she?

He hoped to G.o.d that they were all overreacting. He hoped to G.o.d that Makedde was okay. Perhaps she was with this man-this Roy Blake-and she was sleeping peacefully, and he was guilty of nothing more than driving around the Nahatlatch and being a security guard at her university. Andy tried to imagine her safe in the man's arms, but his jealousy would not allow it.

The helicopter descended over the water, causing it to ripple into small waves. His hair whipped, with the turbulence and the sound of the blades was deafening. Andy stood with his hands in his pockets, his jaw tensed, wondering how his life had come to this moment; watching a helicopter land in the middle of the night carrying the father of the woman he loved-a woman who did not love him back...a woman who might well be in danger yet again.

CHAPTER 64.

Makedde sat up when the Blake twins entered.

Here we go...

They filed in, one behind the other, and she met their eyes with a steady glare. They stopped less than two feet from her chair, one of them standing slightly behind the other. Her gaze flicked back and forth, trying to find some familiarity, trying to figure out which one of these horrible, identical men was Roy Blake.

Boy I can pick 'em. Or they can pick me.

Can't handle rejection, can you? Makedde thought. You can't handle anything where you are not in control, you psychopathic b.a.s.t.a.r.d.

She chose the one she thought might be Roy-the less confident one who was standing back a touch, and she shot daggers of hate at him with her eyes. ”So you think you could pick a psychopath, then?” he had asked her. Did he know that's what he was? Was that some kind of perverse test?

The two of you combined don't even equal half of a real human being, she wanted to say, but the rifles gave her pause. She would say it before she died, she decided, if that's where this was headed. When the time came, she would say anything she wanted, but she should just observe now. She would watch what they did, she would look for an opening. It wasn't over yet.

The one she guessed was Daniel walked around behind her. She watched the other one again. What are you two up to? What comes next in this little charade? The other one appeared to be looking at whatever his brother was doing behind her back.

She heard a door open and close. She wondered where that door could lead. The outdoors? No, there was no draft. A closet s.p.a.ce? A bedroom? What was he doing?

Both twins disappeared behind her. She heard something metallic clink, then felt the hard shape of a gun barrel between her shoulderblades. One of the twins bent down in front of her, and she felt the urge to kick him in the face. He reached his hands around her ankles. ”You be good now, and we won't have to kill you...”

Bulls.h.i.+t.

Her legs were free, but she did not move. She watched them carefully. They would have to undo her arms before they did anything else. The same twin, be it Roy or Daniel, went around to her back, and she felt his hands on her wrists, twisting them, and then the handcuffs came off; a momentary tightening, and then release. Her hands were free.

”Get up.”

This is what they did to all of them, she thought with grim surety. This is when they kill them. This is when they kill me.

”Get up. If you cooperate, you'll have a chance.”

They will lead me into the woods and execute me. It's not so messy in the woods. They won't want to kill me in here-not with that shotgun. I would mess up their precious rugs and trophies.

A numbness had taken the place of everything else. She wondered if her nerves had been fried, if she had become incapable of feeling. She decided that this new-found serenity in the face of horror was a proud and beautiful thing that she would hold dear forever, whether it be in this life or the next.

”So what's your game, then? Why the charade? You know me, so talk to me.”

One of them went to open his mouth, and the other stopped him. ”Cuff her.”

He grabbed her wrists and shackled them together again.

d.a.m.n.

f.u.c.k you. f.u.c.k you and f.u.c.k your brother, and f.u.c.k the Stiletto Killer and all the wuss-bags like you who are afraid to act like real human beings.

”Walk.”

She hesitated. ”You're making a big mistake. You were seen with me.” She directed it at both of them. ”Talk to me. Tell me why you are doing this. I want to understand.”