Page 56 of Zen's Crash

My sluggish, traumatized brain starts putting the pieces of the puzzle together. “MadHitter is your son?”

“Terry always did like stupid screen names.”

I immediately realize that whoever this is—this man who looks like my father—is the actual killer. I’m equal parts horrified to find I’ve been taken by this monster and relieved that my father is vindicated regarding being the killer.

It hits me pretty damn quick that if I don’t get away from this crazy killer, no one will ever know. I start pulling against his grip, trying to break free so I can run back to the clubhouse before we get too far away.

His hand clamps down all the harder. “Stop fighting me, or I’ll tase you again.”

Although the thought of getting tased again is terrifying, I can’t let him bully and threaten me into letting him take me. I continue fighting for all I’m worth, and just when he’s reaching for his taser, gunshots ring out.

A loud voice comes from behind us. “Let the woman go, or I’m going to blow your fucking head off.”

My would-be abductor grabs me and whirls around to use me as a shield. I can see now that the man shooting at us is Wade, one of the prospects. The look on his face is furious. “I said let the woman go, asshole.”

The next thing I know, this guy has a huge knife and he’s bringing it to my throat. “You want the girl back? Then you’d best do exactly what I say.”

“Don’t listen to him,” I shout. “He’s a serial killer.”

His arms tighten around me, and the knife presses against the tender skin of my neck. Memories run through my mind of people talking about slitting someone’s throat. I have a vague idea of how gruesome that would be.

I see other prospects coming up behind Wade. They have their weapons drawn and pointing at us as well. If I’m being honest, having so many guns pointed in my direction makes me feel extremely unsafe, but not more so than being abducted by this man. If he’s the one who killed those women instead of his son, I’ve seen pictures of his handiwork, and I’m not a fan.

My kidnapper is totally calm, as if he doesn’t feel fear or have any instinct for survival. He wants me for some reason and is willing to risk everything to get me. He tells Wade, “Tell them to lower their weapons. Do it now.”

A deep voice comes from behind, just as a massive hand wraps around my abductor’s wrist and yanks his arm away. I don’t know who came to my rescue, but I know I need to put as much distance as possible between me and the man who looks like my dad. I start running towards the prospects, who surge forward to meet me. Only when they get to me, they keep running towards the grappling pair.

That’s when I realize the man who stepped in is Crow, the brother they left in charge of the clubhouse. He’s supervising the prospects while the others are gone. Crow and my would-be abductor are in a knockdown fight. For an older man, my abductor is vicious. But it doesn’t take long for Crow to gain the upper hand. When he does, he doesn’t let up. I almost feel bad for the older man when Crow has him on the ground, kicking him in his side.

Almost… but not quite.

When Wade raises his gun, Crow throws his hand up. “Don’t shoot him. I’m pretty sure Siege and Rigs are gonna want to beat some fucking information out of this one.”

They roll him over and zip-tie his hands behind his back. When they jerk him to his feet, Crow just shakes his head. “You’re good at looking tough, but it’s pretty damn clear you haven’t had your ass beat nearly enough in life.”

Wade backhands my would-be abductor across the face when he tries to break free of their hold. “Stupid fucker’s clearly spent way too much of his time focused on looking mean and beating on women to be any real use in a fight.”

Once he’s properly subdued, I walk up and stare at him from a couple of yards away.

Wade says, “You got something you want to say to this fucker? Now’s the time.”

Another prospect chimes in, “Better say it while you can, girlie. Because I’m going to do everything in my power to make sure his ticket gets punched real fast when the brothers get back.”

Looking from the prospects and then to the asshole they just zip-tied, I ask, “Why? Why are you doing this? And why me? What did I ever do to you?”

He has a look of pure disgust on his face. “Don’t ask stupid questions, girl. You know why. Or at least you should, if your old man did right by you.”

“What do you mean? He did do right by me.”

An evil grin spreads across his face. “You don’t know, do you? Well, I’m not obligated to tell you a damn thing.”

Crow speaks up. “Take him to the lockup. Standing out here in the cold trying to talk sense to an idiot ain’t no way to spend our time.”

Wade and the other prospect jerk him forward and walk off with him. “We need to call Zen and let him know there might be more than one guy,” Wade says.

Honestly, it never occurred to me that we might be dealing with more than one perp. It hits me hard and fast that this is the piece we’ve been missing. When the details didn’t quite add up, it was because more than one person was involved. My mind goes back to what he said just before he tased me, MadHitter… Terry. His son is Terrance Harris.

I’ve been speaking to my father’s killer or his son for years.

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