Page 33 of Fractured Memories

Not yet. She adjusted the hold on her weapon, her gaze shooting to the hallway. With the sky darkened by the storm and the electricity in the house out, visibility was poor. She sensed another person’s presence. Her brain registered the strange scent she couldn’t initially place.

Cologne. A man’s cologne.

Where was he?

A closet was tucked along the far wall of the bedroom. The door was closed. Checking it would allow someone to sneak in from the hallway. Going to the hallway would give someone in the closet an opening. Either way, she couldn’t clear both without putting herself at risk. Her mind whipped through the options in half a heartbeat. There was only one choice.

She turned toward Harper. Felicity dropped to one knee and reached for the little girl’s wrist as if to check for a pulse. The air behind her shifted. Anticipating the attack, she whirled around as Daniel rushed her from the dark hallway. Felicity fired. Her bullet slammed into his center mass and he stumbled back, but no blood bloomed on his shirt. Instead, he swung wide with the baseball bat in his hands.

She ducked, but the weapon connected with her shoulder. Pain exploded in her body. The gun slipped from her numb fingers to the ground. Daniel kept coming. She barely dodged a second swing at her head. Felicity lowered her shoulder and rushed the man.

Her body collided with something unnaturally hard. A bulletproof vest. Felicity registered the protection evenas her mind calculated the options available. Daniel growled as he grappled with her in an attempt to stay on his feet. His grip was bruising. The roar of her heartbeat filled her ears. Training and instinct took over. Felicity used her free hand to punch him square in the groin.

He let out an explicative and crumpled to the ground. She ripped the baseball bat from his hand.

The sound of a round chambering came from the doorway. Felicity whirled around, already raising the bat to defend herself. Her gaze locked on the handgun and then shot to the person holding it.

Kurtis Ferguson.

The sight was familiar. Memories poured through her mind in rapid succession, as if a key had twisted in the lock of an overflowing trunk. Dark rage clouded the edges of Felicity’s vision. “It was you. You killed Brooke.”

TWENTY-FOUR

Kurtis smirked. “I see your memories have finally returned. They say later is better than never, but in your case, I don’t think that’s true.” He leveled the gun to her chest. “Drop the bat.”

“Or what? You’ll kill me? I’m sure that’s the plan anyway.” Felicity’s mind whirled as she struggled to put the pieces together. There were holes she could only make educated guesses about. “You and Melanie are the leaders of Triple 6. You’ve been working together for a long time. Since before Brooke’s murder. What happened, Kurtis? Did she uncover what you were doing and confront you?” It fit with her memories. Felicity’s gaze flickered to Daniel, who struggled to his feet. “She knew you’d involved her brother and was angry.”

“Yes. Initially, she thought it was just me, but then my industrious ex-girlfriend discovered that Melanie had created fake bank accounts using Brooke’s credentials. She confronted me while I was there picking up my stuff.Told me to stop using her name and involving her brother or she’d go to the police.”

“Jeremy overheard your conversation while fixing the gutters.” Felicity’s heart broke for the man. He’d probably been keeping watch over Brooke’s house from his parents’. Jeremy had known she was in trouble. “You came back later that night. What did you tell Brooke to get her to open the door?”

“That I’d forgotten something.”

Just as Felicity had suspected. “The argument between the two of you kicked off again. I overheard part of it. Brooke kept saying you can’t do this.” She stared at the horrible man holding her at gunpoint. “She loved you. And Melanie. She understood the magnitude of what you two were doing and wanted to give you an opportunity to get out of the drug business before the police got involved. You used her kindness against her.”

Kurtis shrugged. “She was stupid. Melanie and I were making a fortune. Neither of us were interested in giving it up.”

He’d shot her instead. Felicity heard it, came downstairs, and found Brooke’s body. Jeremy must’ve also seen or heard something because he came in the back door. There was a noise in the rear bedroom. Jeremy gripped Felicity’s shoulders and told her to hide. She’d run upstairs to the closet. “You were looking for something in Brooke’s bedroom. She had proof, didn’t she?”

“Records I found and destroyed.” Kurtis glowered. “My only mistake was leaving you and Jeremy alive. I didn’t realize either of you were in the house until thenext day. Jeremy wasn’t too much of a concern. The police knew he was crazy. But you… I nearly killed you too, but your dad cleared out of town and I figured the whole thing was done.”

“Until I came back and reopened the case.”

Kurtis glanced at Daniel. “Tie her up and then get the truck ready. I want the police searching for her body for a while.”

They were going to kill her and dump her some place in the woods. Felicity shifted in preparation to resist, but then Kurtis shifted his gun to Harper, who was still lying on the carpet. “I don’t want to shoot this child, but I will do what is necessary to get your cooperation.”

His tone was deadly serious. Felicity dropped the bat.

Daniel punched her in the face and stars exploded across her vision. Blood filled her mouth. Rough hands grabbed her wrists and pulled them behind her. Felicity put all her focus on bending her elbows to create a wide gap. Daniel zip-tied her hands together.

She spat a mix of saliva and blood onto the carpet. DNA. Noah and Grady would eventually find this place. They’d know she’d been there.

Daniel collected the bat from the floor and raised it, preparing to hit her. His pupils were pinpricks. Felicity realized he was high. He hadn’t been arrested for possession in a long time but clearly was still using. Fear shot straight through her. She wouldn’t be able to defend herself against an attack from a bat with her hands tied.

“Don’t.” Kurtis’s tone was sharp.

Daniel whirled to face him. “You said I could have some fun.”

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