Chapter 20

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Chapter 20

Beckett

"How do you know where you're going?" Blake demands as we push our way through the dark woods. "You get us lost, I'm going to be pissed!"

"I'm not getting us lost! God, you're whiny!" Annoyed with my brother, I stopped walking to explain myself. "Aubrey taught me how to get through the woods. See the broken branches, and the footprints? Someone came through here recently."

Blake shines his light on the prints and kneels down. "This print isn't a woman's. It's too big."

"Exactly. Ethan's." I decided without wanting to acknowledge the question on his face.

"Or someone else. Beckett, we don't know what we're getting into. We don't know these woods. We aren't trackers. We need someone from around here to help us. Or they're going to be looking for us next." He isn't wrong. I won't admit that.

I can't go back without Ethan. He would do the same for me. "You want to tell Aubrey and Will we gave up? Do you want to tell Brynn?"

"Tell me what?" Both of us shine our lights in her face. "Hey! Do you mind? What's wrong with you two? You're making enough noise, if Lindsey is out here, she knows you are too!"

Brynn isn't wrong either. We're making too much noise. Standing up, we quiet down and mutually agree that the person we needed is here. Brynn walks these woods as much as I do. She has walked them with Aubrey and Ethan. She's lived here longer and knows the trails.

"Can you track like Ethan does?" I whisper, hoping he taught her something.

"Better than you two. You're going the wrong way. Ethan went that way." She points to the east. "See the prints, toes that direction. And the direction the grass is flattened. Someone else went that way, circled back and went this way. More than one person is out here. A woman's print is right there. Another is there, not the same one. Different sizes, different shoes."

Once Brynn points it out, I notice she's right. There's several sets of prints. Which way is the right one is another story. Letting Brynn lead the way, we follow her quietly through the dark. Pausing here and there to take a longer look when the prints seem to cross over each other.

"They're going the same direction but cutting back and circling around. This isn't even a trail, there's no reason for them to cover their prints out here. It's like they're purposely trying to lead someone astray." Brynn shines her light in one direction then the other. "She isn't stupid. That way leads to the creek and wraps back behind Aubrey's house. This way leads to the main road and where the crash happened." She turns around and points behind us. "This way goes deeper into the forest and closer to the ranger station."

"Which way do we go?" Blake asks, shining his light around the ground looking at the mass of prints that overlap. "It looks like they have been back and forth here. This is a heavily used trail. Is it a trail that hikers use?"

"No. This is one that someone made, recently too. See the breaks here, they're fresh." Brynn points at the branches. Ethan did teach her to track.

Following her through the dark, we duck under low hanging branches and step over a fallen log. She keeps her eyes on everything. Not just the prints in the mud but the branches and the trees, the moon overhead and the plants around us.

Brynn signals us to stop and be quiet. We listen carefully to the night. The distant howl of a coyote, the hoot of an owl. There's a lot of animals out here tonight. She motions to her left and goes off the trail.

We hike down a ravine and kneel out of sight behind a fallen tree. Brynn leans in, and in a whisper that I can barely hear, explains. "Lights!" Brynn snaps and turns off her flashlight. Blake and I follow her lead and turn ours off as well. "Someone is coming. Stay still, don't move. Don't even breathe loud. Charlie is a tracker. He will know we're here immediately if you make a sound."

I believe her.

We stay hidden for ten minutes, then twenty, before we hear anything. There's a snap of a twig, and rustling of a bush. Still we don't move. Plastering herself against a tree, Brynn slowly rises up to look around. She drops down fast and points to her right.

Someone is right on top of us.

We're lucky the moon is just a slice tonight. Between the little lights it gives us and the shadows from the trees, we are well hidden. Waiting another fifteen minutes before Brynn checks again, she motions that we can move on. Without the help of our flashlights, we walk on.

"Who was it?" I question as soon as we start moving again.

"Lindsey, I think. Hard to tell in the dark. They didn't have a light on." Brynn whispered, feeling her way through the night. "They knew where they're going."

"This is dangerous." Blake points out as I just miss getting a mouthful of tree.

"You think, captain obvious?" Sarcastically, I growl at him before letting a branch swat him in the face.

"Fucker!" Blake mutters, smacking the branch from his face.

"You have to keep quiet and watch where you step. She can easily do what we did and get behind us again." Brynn keeps moving quietly and carefully so as not to disturb the branches or trees around us.

We hike in silence for an hour. As the night passes we can see less in front of us. The woods thicken and the shadows swallow us up.

"When this is over, I want a nice quiet life with my family." Whispering what is going through my head, I feel Blake pat my shoulder.

"No such thing in this family." He reminds me of the challenges the family has faced lately. "You have to remember those women in our lives, the ones who chose us, they're smarter and stronger than we are. They are the glue that keeps us from falling."

He nailed that right on the head. The Bradford women are the best there is. They put up with us and all the crazy bullshit that comes with us. But this, this is a level of danger and craziness this family hasn't dealt with. I hope it's over soon.

We stayed in the dark for another twenty minutes before we hit a dirt road. Brynn stayed at the tree line just off the road and looked up and down the road. We are met by utter silence. Even the animals are quiet now.

"Where does this lead?" Blake asks her, looking down at the darkness beyond.

"That way puts you on a road back to town. This way goes to the ranger station." She says without stepping out in either direction.

Brynn took one step into the road before we saw him. Grabbing Brynn around the waist, I pulled her back into the shadows and we quickly slipped behind the tree.

Charlie is walking right toward us. He must be looking for Lindsey. If those two are wandering around out here, where the hell is Ethan?

Huddled behind a bush, I'm out of sight but can see his outline in faint moonlight. Then I hear him and I don't understand what he's doing.

"Lindsey? Linds, where are you?" He calls out.

Charlie stops walking and pulls out his phone. Turning slowly in a circle, he keeps his eyes on lookout as he speaks. "Lindsey, where are you? I went to the ranger station like we agreed. We have to leave town before those Bradford's figure this out. They're too close, Lindsey. Beckett and Georgia are going to put this together. We have to leave tonight, baby. Just get here."

Without waiting for Brynn to move, Blake and I moved as one. Pulling the .45's out of our bags and stepping onto the road, we come at him from different angles. Charlie spins around as soon as he hears us, his gun level on me.

"Don't move, Beckett! I don't want to shoot you." Charlie's hand shakes just slightly.

"Then you better put your gun down too, sheriff! You shoot my brother, I shoot you. Beckett might give you a little slack being as he knows you. I won't." Blake issues his threat. "You put my family in danger over and over again for Lindsey Markham. The game is over for you."

Charlie looks over his shoulder at Blake then back at me. He doesn't move. Blake takes another step forward and readies himself for the recoil. Planting his feet, shoulder width apart, Blake aims directly at Charlie's back.

"My mama taught me how to shoot. I don't shoot to wound, sheriff. If I pull this trigger, I'll kill you where you stand!" Blake isn't bluffing. He's going to kill him.

"I'd listen to him, Charlie. Blake will kill you. You don't want that. Neither do we. Just put the gun down and tell us where Ethan is." I try to get him to cooperate. "You want to help Lindsey, right? You can't do that if you're dead."

His eyes, hard and cold, turn to meet mine. This isn't the man I know. "She's already killed once. Do you think she cares if she kills him? Ethan is a dead man. You don't know who you're dealing with."

"Neither do you!" Brynn steps out of the shadows, the barrel of her gun pressed against the back of Charlie's head. "Drop the gun! Now!"

He did as he was told. With Brynn holding him, Blake got the gun while I zip tied his hands. He isn't going to get far now. Sticking the good sheriff's gun into his pack, Blake hands me mine and we each take an arm.

"Where's Lindsey hiding, Charlie?" I ask again.

He laughs at me as if he isn't the one tied up and unarmed. I'm beginning to think Lindsey isn't the only crazy person in this town. Blake pats the sheriff down and finds the three baggies shoved in his pocket.

A knife, a piece of material and an earring. I'm betting the earring is Lindsey's. The evidence Will said Charlie picked up that Ethan told him about. Stashing the baggies into the pack, Blake shook his head at the uniformed man.

"You're a fucking lawman! You have oaths that you take to protect and defend the people in this town! Is she really worth your career, your marriage, your life?" He growls, disgusted with the man in front of him.

"Yes." Charlie answers. Before we can stop her, Brynn pulls her arm back, fist clenched, and thrusts her fist into Charlie's face, knocking him back and on his ass.

"You're a son of a bitch!" Brynn, hurt, angry and ready to lose control, goes off. "She almost killed me! She could have killed Aubrey and her baby. Quinn and her babies. Don't you see what a deranged lunatic she is?"

"She has her reasons. You don't understand."

I can't listen to more of this. Yanking the former lawman up by one arm, I push him forward. "Neither do you! Start walking. You're taking us to Lindsey now!"

Ethan

I'm getting out of here and right back to Brynn. I won't let Lindsey win. Not now that everything is within my grasp.

Going along with Lindsey, I wrap my arms around her skinny frame and realize this isn't the woman I know. She doesn't kiss the same. She doesn't feel the same against me. Granted it was years ago when I held her this way but I would remember how she felt, wouldn't I?

"You're thinking again." She sings against my neck. "What are you thinking about?"

Looking at the body limp and lifeless just feet away from us, I need answers. "Why is your dad on the floor?"

She pulls back, the expression on her face says I've offended her. Lindsey pushes against my chest and grumbles to herself as she paces.

"I knew I should have gotten rid of him too." Too? She's killed someone else? "He wasn't cooperating. He said he loved me but he lied! Lied! After everything I've done for him! She was more important than me!" Lindsey once again motions behind me.

Glancing over my shoulder, I see  the big floor to ceiling mirror. Lindsey's reflection in it. Does she have another personality? Is that what this is? She's not just crazy but there's two of her in there?

"Who was more important? Her?" I point to the mirror and watch Lindsey's face change as if she just realized I was there.

"Ethan? What are you doing here?" Holy shit! Lindsey's entire demeanor changes. The way she walks, as if she's a model on the runway, way she flips her hair off her shoulder, and the way she freaks out seeing her father. "Oh my God! Oh my God! Oh my God! No! No! Daddy?"

Sliding to her knees, Lindsey rolls the stiff body over. His throat is slit. The amount of blood, the sheer stench of death makes me want to puke. Cradling her fathers head in her lap Lindsey begins to rock.

"Lindsey, we need to call the police. We have to call Charlie." Maybe this is why he took the evidence. Maybe Charlie knows how broken Lindsey is and he is protecting her. She is a danger to herself and everyone around her. She can't be free.

"No! We can't do that! He did this, Ethan. Charlie killed him! I remember... what... what... what!" She slaps the palm of her hands against her forehead. "He cut the brakes!"

What?

Getting to her feet, Lindsey grabs the front of my shirt and wipes blood all over me. "He did it for me. Everything he did, Brynn and Quinn... Aubrey, he did it for me!"

She no longer looks scared, her expression has changed and she looks pleased, excited about what she's saying. I can't keep up with who I'm talking to. She's completely lost her mind.

"Daddy was upset about being challenged. He told Charlie he had to fix it. He had to protect her!" Again she points at the mirror. "Don't look at me that way! You did this! You ruined everything! Everything, everything!"

She's talking to her reflection. Dual personality or something like that. She's lost her mind. "Lindsey?"

"Stop calling me that!" The rage is thrust at me as she throws a glass vase at my head.

Quick reflexes react as I duck just as it blows past me and shatters against the mirror, cracking it in places. She stops instantly, seeing the damage she's done and steps closer, closer as the glass shards crunch under her bare feet. She doesn't notice that her feet are bleeding. She doesn't react when her feet are cut deeper with every step.

"She's in there, you know. She's always watching. Watching me, watching you. Tick tok, tick tok. Who's afraid of the big bad cock?" She giggles as if this is the funniest thing she's ever heard.

"No naughty behavior for you! Zipped up tight, she is such a prude! Pretty, pleasing Lindsey. She wanted you so much but she wouldn't act. I showed her what she could have if she would just give it up." I didn't sleep with Lindsey, I slept with her!

Wandering around the room, Lindsey clutches a piece of glass in her hand, the blood drips down to the floor. Waving it around as she talks I realize the danger I'm in. I'm not taking on the Lindsey I knew. This woman has no boundaries, no limits she won't pass. She'll kill me in a heartbeat and then go after those I love.

I need a weapon. Something that will stop her before she can get too close to me. Something I can use before she gets me. Looking around the room, I search for weapon, anything I can use against her. She's going to kill me. I have no doubt about that. She's lost her mind and will kill everyone in her path.

"Lindsey? Let's just sit down and talk about this." My suggestion falls on deaf ears.

"Talk about what? That's over. The past. We need to get our future. You're coming with me, Ethan. We have everything in front of us now that all those people who were in our way are dead." She comes closer and wraps her arms around me. "Just us, Ethan. Exactly as we planned."

I don't think so. I'm not going anywhere with her. But I'm not sure what options I have. Holding Lindsey with one arm, I try to reach the poker with the other. It's too low. I can't bend to get it. Damn it!

Feeling me shift away from her, Lindsey pulls away looking suspiciously at me.  "What are you doing?"

I do the only thing I can think of and drop to my knee. "I wanted to make this special for you. I wasn't planning on doing it tonight but... fuck it. I'm doing it." Digging into my front pocket, I pull out the small black box.

When she sees the box Lindsey stops questioning me and steps back. I'm not sure which version of her personality I'm going to get. Popping the box open with my thumb, I hold it up to her.

"We're meant to be, babe." I don't know what to call her now. "Marry me."

She stares at the ring, the one I bought for the woman I love. The only woman I will ever love. And Lindsey smiles, I notice it now. The way her eyes go cold. The way her emotions shut off. She hasn't move, yet. She doesn't speak but she watches me like a predator watches its prey.

"You want me to believe you came out here to propose to me?" Her voice is void of any kind of emotion. She is hard, cold and distant.

"I'm here on my knees, aren't I? And why else would I have a diamond ring in my pocket?" I reason with her but she doesn't budge. "Christ woman, yes or no? My knee is killing me."

Lindsey steps back, walks back to the mirror and watches me through the broken glass. Reaching behind my back I feel the poker in my grasp. Slowly I get to my feet and keep my weapon behind my back and the ring in front of me.

"We have to kill Charlie first." Her cool demand doesn't phase her. "He knows too much. He'll arrest you and me. He knows what you did for me."

What I did? What did I do?

"You killed Aubrey and her horrible baby. You killed Quinn and that spawn of hers. You removed every obstacle in our way to our happily ever after. You will do that, won't you?" If I say no, she knows I'm playing her. If I agree too fast she'll suspect something is wrong.

"We don't need them. We can leave tonight and go to Mexico or Italy, anywhere you want. We don't have to come back here ever." The offer only makes her smile. "What do you say?"

Coming to me, Lindsey wraps her arms around my neck and kisses me. "I think you should have stuck with hating me."

Out of time, I drop the ring and bring the poker around to stab her in the back. I feel the heat searing my shoulder but I ignore it. She has a weapon too. It doesn't matter now. I'm ending this. Pulling the poker out, the gross sound of the wound sucking at the blood turns my stomach as I plunge the poker in again.

"You will never terrorize anyone again, Lindsey. I'm killing you and ending this." A third thrust of the poker I release her from my hold as she crumples to the floor. You're done this time.

Picking up the ring I dropped, I tuck it into my pocket and look around the room. Death and pain is all that's left here now.

Dropping the poker to the floor, I grab the bottle of wine from the table and pour it over her body, over the mayors. Finding an unopened bottle of champagne, I broke the neck of the bottle and poured more liquor in a stream of it across the floor and to the kitchen.

Going into the other room, I turn on the stove, lighting the gas pilots on every burner. This place will blow instantly. They will find the bodies. They might find evidence of arson but they won't find my prints. They won't connect me to this crime.

Going out the back door with a line of alcohol behind me, I pull out the matches. Saying a silent goodbye, I strike the match, tossing it in the fallen leaves, I run as fast and as far as I can get.

I got behind a tree and dove as the cabin blew up. Shards of wood flying out in all directions. The hot heat from the blast, burning along my arm. I roll in the cool damp of the grass and put the flames that hit me out.

Rolling over, I laid where I was and watched it burn. The fire ate the dry wood like a starving man. I could see her outside thrashing around as the fire consumed her and waited. Not willing to let her live another day. This is the end.

Pulling out my phone, I wait for him to answer. "It's over, Dad. It's over. Lindsey's dead."

I told him what I knew as I watched the fire and listened to the sirens get louder. "There's no twin sister, Dad. She had multiple personalities. She was crazy. She's gone, so is the mayor. Charlie knew. I think he was protecting her. But he knew."

Hearing my name being called out in the distance, I get to my feet and see my friends. Running toward me, Beckett pushes Charlie to the ground face first holding him down as Brynn grabs me in a hard hug. As I fall back I hear Brynn cry out that I'm injured. I can't keep my eyes open.

"You're a stupid son of a bitch! You should have told us what you were doing! She could've killed you!" Beckett scolded me. Lightheaded from the loss of blood, I feel the darkness wrap around me.

Lindsey had hurt me more than I realized. I barely heard them calling out for help, I didn't feel myself getting lifted on a gurney or carried to the road. Brynn is right by my side, holding my hand as she climbs in the ambulance with me.

Her head near mine, she whispers words I don't understand. Something about Charlie and Lindsey, a woman and Leo. I can't make sense of it.

Breathing her in, I find my strength, my heart and my soul. She is it for me. I'll never fuck up with her again. My hold on her weakens, my eyes are too heavy for me to stay awake.

I'm so tired and just want to sleep but I need just one more minute, one more answer. Digging into my pocket, I pull out the ring and press the ring into Brynn's hand.

"Marry me." I barely whispered the words.

"Yes. Of course, yes!" She said against my ear before I closed my eyes again and drifted off.

I lifted my head once as they were about to close the doors of the ambulance and I swear I saw Lindsey standing at the tree line watching us.

"It's over, Ethan. You're going to be fine." I hear the paramedic assure Brynn of my condition.

All I can do is think...

No it isn't. Not by a long shot.

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