Page 81 of Face Her Fear

Sandrine’s voice was small. “You monster.”

Brian scoffed. “Oh, I’m the monster? Do you have any idea how many lives you ruined when you killed our mother and her new husband?”

Josie shifted the lid against her shoulder and studied Brian’s position. He was off-balance with one foot on Alice’s neck. If she swung the lid hard enough, she might knock him over. Then she would have an advantage. Before he even got up, she could be on him, swinging again and again. But Alice. She was in the middle of everything. Josie couldn’t risk getting her injured or even killed.

“You never even knew them!” Sandrine said. “You were lucky that you didn’t! You have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“I guess you killed them before they had a chance to tell you, then,” Brian said.

Then again, Alice was going to run out of breath if Josie didn’t do something soon.

Sandrine stood up straighter but stayed in the corner. “What’s that? Their big news? That they were having another child? That wasn’t good news for anyone.”

“They weren’thavinganother child,” Brian said.

While Brian’s focus was on Sandrine, Josie inched her way closer, making a small arc so that she was more to his right side than in front of him. She would have to swing at his head and make sure that she got the angle right so that when he fell, his body would go backward, relieving the weight on Alice’s throat instead of adding more pressure.

“They weregettinganother child,” Brian continued. “Me.”

Josie bent her knees, running through the scenario in her head. She’d probably have to jump if she wanted to get a good swing at his head. Good enough to knock him off-balance.

“Oh please,” Sandrine responded. “You’re just as crazy as she was!”

“No, I’m not!” Brian said, voice rising now. “They came for me! Delilah and Ben came to the group home to get me. She had told Ben about me. She knew I was still young enough to be in the system somewhere. They tracked me down and saw I had never been adopted. They found me. They came to the home and met with me. She told me she was my real mother and that she was sorry that she had to leave me behind, but she was in a better place now. She introduced me to Ben. They wanted us all to be a family. They told me I had three sisters although they hadn’t yet found Tara, but they promised they were going to locate her and bring all of us together.”

“No,” Sandrine breathed. “No. No. That didn’t happen. She wouldn’t do that. She wasn’t like that!”

“It did happen, and she was like that. She told me the only thing was that because we were in two different states, it would be harder. They had to get a lawyer. She would have to fight to get me back, but she was going to do it. They were going to do it.”

Alice squeaked again, the sound going right through Josie like a jolt of pain.

“No,” Sandrine said.

“Yes!” Brian said. “Except then they went home, and they never came back because they died. My counselor told me. I never even knew their last name. I was so stunned when they came to see me. I was young. If they told me their last name, I didn’t remember it. I didn’t care. All that mattered was that my mother had come back for me. When my counselor told me she was dead, I asked him to tell me her full name at least and he said there was no point. So I burned that entire fucking place to the ground.”

“Oh God.” Sandrine put a hand against the wall to steady herself. “You started the fire at the main house, too, didn’t you?”

He laughed. “What do you think?”

All his talk about being triggered by the smell of the fire had been an act, Josie realized. A convincing one, at that.

“You’re just like her,” Sandrine said. “A monster.”

While his venomous stare was locked onto Sandrine, Josie took her chance. She sprang forward, leaping into the air. She timed the swing of the lid just right, making solid contact with the side of his skull. He flew backward, banging into the door, and setting it askew. Josie landed beside him. She was on her knees before he had a chance to recover, bringing the lid back over her shoulder. As he tried to get up, Josie swung at his head again, knocking him flat. She got to her feet and pulled at the door until there was enough room for someone to pass through it.

“Run!” she shouted. “Alice! Sandrine! Run. Get out!”

Alice staggered to her feet. Sandrine stared warily at the floor where Nicola lay in a heap.

Brian started to get to his feet again, one hand reaching toward Josie, nearly catching the edge of her coat. She jumped back, waving the lid between them.

“Stop!” she commanded.

From one knee, Brian sprang up and rushed at her, knocking her back. Her body crashed into the wall. She tried to sidestep him but instead, tripped over the bed frame and fell on her back. He was immediately on top of her. He was so much taller, and in the small space it felt like he was everywhere at once, limbs like an octopus. Josie held the lid up near her face, trying to block the blows he rained down on her head.

“You’re dead,” he growled.

Josie was vaguely aware of Alice and Sandrine shrieking as their hands wrapped around his arms and shoulders, pulling him back, away from her. With a single swat, he knocked Sandrine clear across the room. Alice kept trying, staying behind him to keep him from getting enough power behind his backhand to hurt her. She moved with him, keeping out of reach while controlling his left arm. While his attention was on Alice, Josie got to one knee and raised the lid high over her head. She brought it down on the side of Brian’s left knee. She was rewarded with the sickening sound of bones crunching. As he started to go down, she sprang up and advanced on him, delivering a kick to his groin. The cabin shook as he landed on his back. He immediately curled his body onto its side, howling in agony.

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