Page 250 of Obsession

The situation had changed radically.

From criminal, Harris had become a savior, an avenger. Maybe a better person would have said that he had no right to take someone’s life under any circumstances, but I wasn’t that person.

Sometimes people really were so rotten and vile that it was better to kill them.

I didn’t care about this Marcus. Whether he had been a good guy before he became a rapist, whether he had a family or people who loved him, I couldn’t muster the strength to care.

A rapist rarely had just one victim, and although I didn’t know if V had been the first of them, others would have surely followed.

I exhaled slowly and placed my palm on his wounds. The blood had dried, and it felt harsh.

“They didn’t get you with that?”

“No. Some witnesses said he went with me, but it didn’t matter. No one knew he’d raped V because he didn’t tell anyone, and neither did we. I said I only took him home because he was too drunk to do it himself. Joshua was the only one who knew what he’d done.”

“He was there?”

Harris clenched his fists under my palms.

“He was guarding the door.”

I understood and wished I had Joshua in front of me at that moment. I probably would have killed him myself. He was standing at the door, why V had been raped.

“I should have figured it out as soon as that photographer mentioned the colored dust.”

“Now I understand the basis of his plan, but I still don’t understand what he wanted to do to me. Why did he go to such lengths to get Adam, and why the photos?”

Harris rubbed his face.

“First, because he’s a psychopath, he had a detailed plan to torture me. He studied you and probably figured out that you would only have allowed Adam to photograph you like that because he’s a friend of yours. What he intended to do with those pictures, I don’t even want to think about right now. I’ll find out soon before I give him the same ending his brother had.”

I couldn’t stop myself from shaking. I couldn’t fight for Joshua either – if I ever did – not after I found out what a psychopath he really was and what he wanted revenge for. I wasn’t stupid enough not to realize that his plan ultimately involved rape.

“If you do it now, Shane will know you did it.”

“I don’t care.”

From the way he said it, I realized that he really didn’t care. He was determined to end it.

“And Olsen? What was his role in all this?”

Harris rubbed his face again.

“To confuse me, I guess. To send me on a ghost hunt, because by the time I finally put it all together, it was too late. Olsen had been the Wallards’ accountant at one point. After his father died, the business went to shit and they were drowning in debt and Olsen was nowhere to be found. No matter how much I tortured him, he wouldn’t tell me anything. He wouldn’t tell me what Joshua had on him, but Ty did some digging and found out he had an ex-wife and a thirteen-year-old kid in town. I am guessing Joshua threatened them to get an ally who he used as the perfect trap for me.”

My heart sank in an inexplicable way.

“He was trying to protect his family,” I whispered.

Harris turned and cupped my cheek with his palm.

“He was a crook, a thief, and a drunk. His wife left him for a reason, but it doesn’t matter. He could have been the best man in the world and I still wouldn’t have cared. I will never care if someone attacks you.”

He was serious, then he sighed.

“And it hurts that I didn’t do it sooner, that I… forgot.”

“Forgot?” I repeated, confused, and he nodded.

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