Page 33 of Beautiful Devastation

I found my voice, “You’re saying… you think he hurt Erin?”

“I think it’s odd he was so close, the first on the scene, almost like he was already watching the house. From what I understand, it didn’t take him long at all to arrive, after Gareth called nine-one-one.” Alistair’s voice grew quiet, and he took my neck in his hand, not choking, but holding onto it firmly. “Take this lesson to heart, Brianna: you can’t trust him. You can’t trust anyone. Everyone is out for themselves.”

“And what about you and Gareth?” I asked, fighting to keep my eyes open and not surrender to the warmth of his hand wrapped around my throat. It was doubly hard to stand there with him, seeing his open shirt and the skin underneath, the muscles I just wanted to touch.

“I will do anything for family. If you prove to me you have Gareth’s back, I will always have yours. I told you that from the beginning. And as for Gareth… I think you’re not giving him enough credit. Ever since you moved in, he’s changed, and I can only attribute that to you.”

I found it hard to believe he’d changed when he’d killed the cook all because I’d ignored his stupid texts. But I didn’t bring that up. Instead, I found myself whispering, “You haven’t been with my mom since the honeymoon?” I shouldn’t bring it up, but with his hand snug around my neck, standing so close to him, how could I not?

Alistair let out a hard breath, and behind the icy veil, I saw a flash of the domineering man who’d made me beg for him. The hand on my neck moved, sweeping around it until it cupped the back of my head. “How could I,” he murmured out the words, “when I had a taste of you?”

The way he said it made me squeeze my thighs together, like I wanted him to throw me against the nearest wall and fuck me into oblivion again, call me a good girl, call me his slut, call me whatever the hell he wanted to while I begged for more. To do all that and not give a single shit about my mom in the bathroom next door.

Alistair, however, released me then, taking two large steps back and muttering, “You should go, before…” He turned his head away. “You’re here for Gareth, not for me. Go, Brianna. If you find anything out about your friend, be sure to let me know.”

I didn’t want to leave, but now wasn’t the time to throw myself at Alistair, so I left, and once I was in the hall, I rushed to my bedroom, holding my breath until I had the door locked behind me. Only then did I release the breath I was holding. My nerves trembled. Being so close to Alistair wasn’t an easy feat, and to hear him say he didn’t want my mom filled me with a sense of smugness I couldn’t begin to describe.

He wanted me, not her. I think he wanted me from the beginning.

My feet took me to my bed, where I plopped down on my back and stared at the ceiling. He’d told me there was no body in the pool house, and I was inclined to believe him. He also said Gareth wouldn’t kill three people and leave their bodies and all that blood to go to waste… which I was inclined to believe, too. I was still pissed off at Gareth, but now doubt had seeded itself in my brain.

Rick had killed his own brother because he’d been in love with Gareth’s mom. The man was apparently capable of anything, just like Gareth and Alistair. He fit in with those psychos. It explained why I was so drawn to him, too. I had a thing for crazy guys, apparently.

Could Rick be the one responsible for Erin’s disappearance? Was it all a ploy to get me to search this house for incriminating evidence so he could finally be free of Alistair and Gareth? My head spun. I didn’t know what to think.

A part of me didn’t appreciate being lied to by Rick, and I promised myself I wouldn’t search this house again until I was certain I wasn’t being played. And if I was… if Rick was playing me… well, I’d have to do something.

Maybe I’d have to get my hands dirty after all.

It wasn’t until a whole week went by that I got the opportunity to see Rick again. Let’s just say I made the most of it.

Chapter Ten – Rick

Eastcreek was such a small town. It had its own festivals and street fairs. The street fairs were always an excuse for the townies to ride a few rides and eat some greasy fair food without actually going to a county fair. Usually they doubled as fundraisers for the local fire department or the school, and they were always held on the main street, right in front of the station. The fire department and sheriff’s station faced each other across the street.

It was a city-wide event that typically lasted at least three days, Friday to Sunday. The road got closed down, and it was pretty much from sun up to sun down, save for Friday, in which case it started in the afternoon.

Me and the boys took turns walking the street fairs, making sure everything was in order. The others liked going with their families and their girlfriends, but I hated the entire thing. There was nothing to celebrate, and I sure as hell wouldn’t contribute to any fundraiser.

No, my money was purely my own, and I’d been stashing it to get out of here someday. Hopefully. Alistair couldn’t own me for the rest of my life, could he?

Don’t answer that.

It was Friday night, and the street fair was hopping. It always got busy once dusk fell. Parents got home from their jobs and they brought the whole gang to it, parking in the local park and walking to the main street. The kids separated from their parents usually, going to hang out with their friends, like they hadn’t just seen their friends in school a few hours ago. There was food, carnival games, even a dunk tank where you could pay to dunk one of the teachers from the middle school—one that was widely hated, by the sound of it, due to the sheer amount of math homework he assigned each and every night, so it was a popular stand.

In the past, Alistair came on Sunday, the final day, to hand whoever was hosting the street fair for fundraising a big check. He always got rounds of applause, like he was the savior of the town, the only reason it was still here.

He kind of was, in a way, but I didn’t think anyone else knew the true depths of what he’d done here. Everyone was in his pocket, in one way or another. If you were anybody important, he either bought your loyalty, found something to blackmail you with, or got you fired and one of his loyalists took your job. It’s why I’d gotten head sheriff so young; Montgomery money. Never, ever underestimate the power of money.

But things were different now. As I walked along the fair, making sure everybody was doing what they were supposed to, I spotted Alistair and his new wife chatting to the fire chief just in front of the station. Neither he nor Nicole looked like they belonged in such a homey atmosphere. They both wore fancy clothes. He wore a black suit while she was clad in a fitting, light pink dress that ended near her knees, along with heels.

Yeah, heels and the street fair? The two didn’t really go together.

Neither of them noticed me, so I turned around and started to walk away, not wanting to chat with either of them right now. I didn’t have any new information about Erin Watts or her family. Her car was still nowhere to be found, meaning someone either drove it out of town or they were hiding it somewhere off the road. There were plenty of areas in Eastcreek that didn’t have easy road access, so it could be either one.

I didn’t doubt Alistair was here to showcase his new wife, his new family, and I wondered if that meant Brianna was here too. I didn’t think Gareth was the type to come to these things, but if Brianna was here somewhere, I’d bet anything he’d be, too.

Looking for her wasn’t a priority. Hell, I shouldn’t want to see her simply due to the fact that the last time we’d seen each other, things had escalated quite quickly. I’d been jealous of a high school boy, for fuck’s sake—and that was wrong on so many different levels.

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