Page 91 of A Heart So Savage

“Where’s Oliver?” he asked softly.

“Left about an hour ago. Didn’t say where he was going. We also received word from the man watching Carson’s house. Says a woman arrived by taxi a short time ago, and the cops watching the house let her through. Might have been one of his usual prostitutes, but maybe not.” Paulie’s worried tone echoed what everyone was thinking.

Clicking out of the building’s security system, Kingston pulled up the app for the tracker implanted in Ava’s neck. Within seconds, it revealed her location.

1212 Morning Brooke Lane. Bitter Springs.

Kingston got up from his desk, his heart pounding with both rage and fear.Oh, Ava. You foolish, foolish girl. When I get my hands on you, you won’t be able to step outside with a chain around your ankle and a leash around your neck.

“She’s gone home.”

ChapterThirty-Six

Evil awaits to be crushed.

Fear to be conquered.

Love to be protected.

Ava walkedpast the officers as she continued up the driveway toward the house. She heard the chatter of their police radios, but like before, she could not make out what was being said.

She was near the front door when she heard the police cruiser start up. Looking back over her shoulder, she watched the car slowly ease out of the driveway and onto the road. Through the bare trees shielding the house from the neighbors, she saw the car accelerate, then it was gone.

It was odd they were there to begin with, and even stranger they left so abruptly. Slipping her hand in her coat pocket, Ava fingered the steak knife’s handle. It was just as well they were gone. Especially since she planned on hurting her brother very badly.

Standing on the soaring open porch of the home she’d grown up in, Ava chewed her bottom lip as a sob bubbled in her throat. The place looked horrible, the paint on the front door and porch columns peeling off in ragged strips. Overgrown honeysuckle vines had taken over both the columns and shutters bracketing the wide windows. The overhead chandelier was covered in cobwebs with several of the lightbulbs missing. Dead leaves lay scattered across the porch’s floor. The overall look of the house was one of neglect and decay.

Hot tears stung Ava’s eyes. Coming home and seeing the state of disrepair of the once beautiful house was devastating. It shattered her heart into a million pieces.

Finding the front door unlocked was not surprising. After her parents died, Carson treated their home like a flophouse. People came and went at all hours, day and night. Drug users. Dealers. Prostitutes. Hangers-on with nowhere else to go. Even high school kids looking for a place to party and crash sometimes took over the house. Local law enforcement always looked the other way, and Ava contributed that to the men her brother had bribed over the years.

Carson didn’t care that he had ruined their home. He didn’t care that it was now ugly and broken down. His only concern was how much money and drugs and alcohol he could get his hands on—no matter the hurt it caused others.

It wasn’t difficult for Ava to piece everything together as she hesitated in the doorway. Every act of disrespect, every argument, every incident of cruelty committed by her brother came into sharp focus. The things he’d done to her. The things he allowed others to do. It was all so clear now. Carson despised Mom and Dad, but most of all, he hated her for reasons she couldn’t begin to understand.

Her brother was the true monster.

He had murdered their parents. And he wanted Ava to disappear forever, but only if there was money to be made from his crimes.

Ava squared her shoulders, brushing the tears from her cheeks. Keeping one hand in her coat pocket, she gripped the steak knife and slowly pushed open the door.

The foyer was eerily silent. Empty beer cans and broken bottles littered the space. Graffiti of all colors marred the once gleaming oak-paneled walls while cobwebs floated in the corners. The furniture was missing, as was the huge, gilded mirror which once hung over an antique Sheraton buffet. Seeing the deterioration, Ava faltered, suddenly unsure of her ability to make her brother pay for the destruction of their family.

She took a deep breath, standing straighter.

She was no longer a victim. She was stronger because of everything she endured. Carson’s abuse. Assault. Abduction. Loss. Betrayal.

None of that mattered anymore. She was Ava Bella Blue. And she would make her brother pay for everything he had done to hurt her and others. Payment for his sins would begin now.

“Carson!” Her voice echoed through the empty foyer, so loud and fierce it hurt her own ears. When there was no answer, she shouted for him again. It was a battle cry that rang through the silence and bounced off the walls.

A shuffling noise came from down the hall. Ava tensed as the footsteps came closer, and when Carson entered the foyer, hands shoved into the pockets of dirty blue jeans, his blond hair a messy mop, she was shocked by his appearance.

Red-rimmed eyes narrowed when he scowled at her. He was either drunk or high. Most likely both.

“Well, look who has come to visit. My sweet little sister.” His words slurred. “You taking a break from fucking my friend?” His laugh was raspy. Cruel. “I can’t imagine you’ve worked off very much of my debt, but I bet you’ve given it all during your suck and fuck sessions.”

Ava’s fingers tightened around the knife, listening to the filth he spouted until she had enough. “You killed Mom and Dad.”

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