Page 123 of Commit
A tug on my foot makes me pause, wondering if I’m losing it. For a brief moment, I think it’s Derek, but I know he’s dead. I saw the mess of his head.
Then I feel it again—two sharp tugs.
Landon said there was a boat. Oh God, it has to be Atlas or Kenzo. I blow out a steadying breath and try to keep calm.
“Kyle and Conner were the ones I knew would get your attention. I kept a list of all the people you’ve known over the years and searched for the perfect in. And they were perfect. One was getting a divorce; the other had filed harassment charges against a former officer. I offered to work for them both pro bono.”
“You’re a fucking idiot. All this just to get my attention?” Hudson rasps.
“Now that’s not nice. I haven’t even told you the best part yet.” He lifts the knife and drags it down my face, making me freeze. “It’s through the twins that I first saw Starling. They went to a community center to see some shrink, and that’s when I saw her. She was so tiny, so breakable, and arguably more fucked-up than all of us.
“I planned to take her and keep her for myself, so I followed her. Imagine my surprise when I found her selling her pussy on a street corner.”
I close my eyes as humiliation threatens to choke me. I can’t look at Hudson, not now that my shame is being shared with the world.
“She intrigued me even more. But I wasn’t going to touch her anymore. I didn’t want to catch anything. But I knew she’d be useful, so I dug into her tragic little life.
“Did she tell you about her uncle? How he had a thing for little girls, so he used to fuck her and share her with his friends? Then, when she got too old for him, he became her pimp and tossed her out onto the streets to earn a paycheck on her back—or knees. He wasn’t picky.”
“Here, hold this for a moment.”
He drives the knife into my shoulder before pulling a gun from behind his back and presses it to my temple. The searing pain that threatens to drop me to my knees drowns Hudson’s roar of anguish.
“She was fifteen,” he continues, like he didn’t just fucking stab me. “She reminded me of the photos of Mom back in the day. A part of me just knew you’d want her. Like her uncle, you have a type. Young, weak, and pathetic.”
A glimpse of movement catches my eye at the side of the boat. There’s something—or someone—there.
“Your uncle sold you to me for a steal, Starling. I returned the favor by making him bleed. By that time, I’d already convinced Derek to pretend to be your father because he fucking owed me. And then I introduced him to my mother at a fundraiser. And the rest is history.”
“And what was your endgame supposed to be? You’re just going to kill me. Why go through all the trouble?”
“Kill you? I’m not going to kill you. I want to be just like you. I want us to be a team. You and me. Father and son.”
“And Abbot? How does he play into all this?”
“That faggot? He nearly took Starling from you. That wasn’t supposed to happen. He figured things out too quickly and was going to tell you, but I couldn’t let him. So I tied him up and left him at the beach house while I waited for you to figure out the clues I left. When you called, I knew it was time. I cut the brakes on his car and rammed him off the road. You don’t need him anyway. You have me. You never wanted him. We all knew that.”
The light reflects off something metal, and I realize it’s a gun. The movement I see is a man with a gun.
“Abbot didn’t die, Landon,” Hudson tells him, the growing pool of blood around him making me feel lightheaded. There’s too much. Landon must have hit something vital when he stabbed him.
Landon growls, “That’s an easy fix.”
“What about Starling? Hasn’t she been through enough? Let her go, and it can be just you and me like you want.”
“I can’t. She knows too much now. Besides, I need you to know what it feels like to have your whole world taken from you. You need to feel that pain, Dad, so you don’t try to leave me again.”
“If you hurt her, I’ll kill you.”
“You’ll be mad, but you’ll get over her. She’s just a dumb whore.”
“I’ll leave, and you’ll never see me again.”
“No.” Landon swings the gun toward Hudson.
I won’t get another chance. I swing my arm back and elbow Landon in the stomach as I try to twist away from him.
Bullets fire, the sound deafening as Hudson pulls his gun and Atlas steps out from the shadows. I feel Landon jerk and fall, and I breathe a sigh of relief. But then I’m falling too, over the railing and into the water, to the sound of Hudson’s panicked voice yelling.