Page 24 of Pike’s Redemption

“Is it the guy from prison? Holder?”

“What? Who?” Eli shook his head like he was having a hard time hearing. Then he continued, annoyed, “No, listen to me. This is important to your safety and those girls’ safety.” That made me take a step forward.

“The girls? Nat and Ronnie? Those girls? What girls, Eli? You aren’t to touch them,” the words came out harsher than I meant. I’d stepped too close, crowding him against the wall so close that I could see that there was another faint but deep scar that cut along my brother’s collar under his shirt. Stepping back, I took a breath.

“I won’t hurt them, but he might,” he hedged. Then he asked, “What’s the blonde girl’s name? The pretty one.”

I narrowed my eyes at him. Was he talking about Ronnie? Must be. “They’re both pretty, but the blonde is Veronica. Never mind about that. Tell me who is going to hurt them. Who are you talking about?”

"There's a kid I used to run with," Eli explained. "When I got away from Kent, I fell in with a rough crowd. There was one kid, in particular, who got close to me. We were friends.” He stuck his hands behind his back, a classic Eli move. “I ended up confiding in him about everything—how we grew up, the things Kent did. His name is Victor." The seriousness in his voice sent chills down my spine. I was trying to process things. When I got away, so if he didn’t drown, then he didn’t get away. That’s what he was saying. So when the police came and took me away to a new placement after Kent because of the ‘drowning’ he’d been stuck there. I’d been moved to Arizona, and my baby brother had been stuck in a nightmare. Oh my God.

He watched my face and tracked my thoughts because he said it easily. “Kent is the one who is responsible,” he reassured me. “I know you feel like you didn’t do enough, but I didn’t get in touch on purpose. I remembered you.” Suddenly, I was angry—not with myself or Kent, but with him.

“Why? Why the fuck not? I’m your brother. I love you.”

“I don’t want to talk about that.” His face closed down. Suddenly, I realized how little power I had over this situation, and it didn’t sit well.

Fine. Fine. Fine. He could think that we wouldn’t talk about it, set his face in stone like that, but we would talk about it. I poked my finger at him. “If you think this isn’t a conversation we will have, then you’re wrong.”

“Victor is here because of me, and that’s why I’m here now,” he continued calmly, ignoring that I was pacing, scrubbing the back of my neck like I had poison ivy. “He’s going back through our past and killing these people using a method that I’d use.” My skin chilled. What the actual fuck was my little brother telling me. That he killed people? I’d thought about this. What would my brother be like as an adult if he was messed up? If he killed people, but was that what he was telling me? That he went around scooping up eyes like they were collectibles?

My confusion grew. “This Victor? You think he's the one doing this?"

"I don't just think," Eli said grimly. "I know. He's copying the killings to make it look like I'm the one behind them. He's using everything I told him, all my nightmares, to throw you off."

"Why?" I asked, anger bubbling up. "Why would he do that?"

"Victor's twisted," Eli said, his voice filled with regret. “He thinks he’s doing me a favor, giving me some justice, hoping to return to my good graces. It’s also hard to understand how he thinks. He’s theatrical. He knew this would get my attention.” I wasn’t sure that I was even following. That he was copying the killings to frame Eli? Or was he trying to get into Eli’s good graces … which was it? But Eli didn’t see that I struggled to catch up or even believe his words.

“We had a falling out. But he’s dangerous, Pike—more dangerous than you can imagine." I wasn’t sure where to go with any of that. All of it was a minefield. That some weirdo was trying to do him a favor by killing people from his past or that he’d had a falling out with a killer. Jesus.

I clenched my fists, my mind reeling. "Why didn't you come to me sooner?"

"I was trying to find him, to stop him," Eli said. “But he’s slippery, and I didn’t want to put you in more danger. But now… now he’s getting closer. I had to warn you. He might come after you, too. There was a time that I blamed you.”

A heavy silence fell between us. I looked at my brother, really looked at him, and saw the pain and fear etched into his face. He had been through hell and back and was here, risking everything to warn me.

“He’ll go after Kent?” I asked, my voice barely audible. I wouldn’t say it outright, but I had a tracker on Kent. If Victor was going after Kent, that gave us a solid warning to try to set a trap, and I had no issue using that asshole as bait. Victor wanted to kill him, and that was as fine as a frog’s hair to me.

“Look, I’m fine with Victor going after Kent. I can lock that down, no problem,” I shrugged. “That’s great information.” Eli looked skeptically at me. “I’ve had Kent in my sights since I was a teenager. I’d visit him — give him a beating and let him loose. Break a few bones. On the anniversary of your ‘death,’ I’d visit him. Fucker never said a word that you weren’t dead, though,” I said sullenly. Granted, I hadn’t tortured him for information. Maybe that should have been my goal. I should have taken Dimitri. The guy was wicked with a knife.

Eli gave me a ghost of a smile. “He wouldn’t have told you. Kent knew who to be scared of. He’s probably pissing himself right now.” The thought brought me immense satisfaction, and then I remembered that I almost went back to prison for Victor’s stupid stunts.

“Well, let’s go touch base with Nat and Ronnie then. You’ll stay with me,” I said. Eli looked shocked, shaking his head.

“No, I’ve managed not to alert Victor to my presence in Morinrock, and I will keep it that way. Hopefully, I can catch him first, but I needed to let you know what you were dealing with. The blonde girl was starting to ask too many questions about me in certain chat groups,” he hedged, and I made a mental note to talk to Ronnie.

“Veronica,” I reinforced. “Or Ronnie. Not the blonde girl. She has a name.”

“Right. Look, I’ll see you soon.” Eli stepped closer, his eyes locking onto mine. “And it would be best if you were ready. Victor's coming, Pike. And when he does, you need to be prepared to fight."

“I’m pretty good at fighting now.” Long ago, I was a child unprepared for the evil in the world, but now I was a man who had seen what the world had to dish out. I had survived and learned that there was nothing but standing your ground and fighting one battle after another. “We can fight together.”

Eli's smile was faint, and a shadow of doubt crossed his face. "I don't know, Pike. I might be as twisted as Victor. Maybe more."

The words hit me like a punch to the gut. The uncertainty in his voice, the self-doubt—it made me realize his scars ran deep. "You're my brother, Eli. We’ll figure it out."

He looked away, his jaw clenched. "I hope you're right.”

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