Beyond Love Lies Deceit (17 page)

“Ryan... I” I immediately try to make an excuse but he cuts me off.

“Enough.” His voice echoes through the car, rendering me silent. “It’s my turn to talk now.” He turns off into a warehouse parking lot, the area concealed by several run down brick buildings that seem to sit in an almost circle pattern.

Powering off the car, he turns slightly inward to face me.

“I have to say, I’m impressed. I have never had a girl actually drug me before.” He laughs, shaking his head when I instinctively reach for the door handle, finding it locked.

“The great thing about being rich, you can customize anything.” He laughs again when I pull at the handle, knowing by his statement that my attempts are futile.

“By all means keep trying. I kind of like watching you squirm.” He cocks his head to the side, a sick smile turning up his mouth.

“How did you know?” I finally face the music, hoping there is still a chance I can get out of this situation unscathed.

“You think a man as rich and powerful as I am doesn’t take certain precautionary measures?” He shakes his head slowly. “My entire apartment is wired with security cameras. Every. Single. Room.” His smile widens.

“When I woke up this morning, at first I thought exactly what you wanted me to think; that we drank too much, we fucked and then we passed out. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized that I remembered nothing beyond drinking the glass of scotch that you poured for me. I decided to review the footage. Do you want to know what I found?” He pauses.

“I found you rummaging through my apartment after you had slipped something into my drink and then stripped me naked on my couch. I hope you enjoyed that, you’re welcome.” He winks causing my stomach to twist violently.

“I can explain.” I start, but once again he doesn’t let me finish.

“Not your turn yet.” He ticks his finger at me. “When I realized you stole my flash drive, something clicked. I had my head of security do a little more digging and they came across the most interesting thing.” He pauses for dramatic effect.

“What?” My voice is weak and broken, my hands shaking so violently that I can’t even attempt to control it.

“They found out that Allie Reynolds, the one you claim to be, died two years ago. So unless you’re just visiting from the grave, I think it’s safe to say you’re not Allie Reynolds. Isn’t that right?” He pauses for a long moment.

“Samantha.” He tacks on.

The back of his hand instantly connects with my mouth, knocking me backwards before I can react.

I don’t have a chance to recover from the blow before his hand shoots out to grab the back of my head, tangling a handful of my hair in his fingers.

“You’re as stupid as your fucking brother.” He yells in my face before slamming my forehead into the dashboard of his car, the impact causing my head to ring violently.

“You should have left well enough alone Samantha. Now you’ve left me with no choice.” He tisks his tongue, tightening the grip he has on my hair.

“Please let me go.” I plead, tears clouding my vision as the pain in my head starts to spread. “Please.”

“You really do think I’m stupid.” He lets out a high pitched laugh.

I push at his chest, trying to free myself from his grip but he only tightens it more, the pull on my hair so intense I swear chunks must be ripping away from my scalp.

“Hold still honey, this will only hurt worse if you struggle.” He says, my eyes catching sight of the syringe just moments before it plunges into the side of my neck, sending a pain shooting through me.

“I thought perhaps I should repay the favor.” He says, pulling the needle from my flesh and holding the now empty syringe in front of me.

“What did you do?” I immediately feel the drowsiness start to set in.

“Why nothing you haven’t done to me sweetheart.” He says, patronizing me with his tone.

“What is happening?” I slur.

The inside of the car starts to spin slightly and my stomach lurches violently, panic taking a forefront just before I feel my body go limp and my mind start to fog.

“Nighty night Samantha.” I hear Ryan’s voice once more before everything fades to black.

––––––––

S
amantha

I can taste iron. My mouth is cracked and dry. When I run my tongue along my lower lip I cringe at the sting the contact creates. Slowly opening my eyes, it takes only moments before I realize my hands are bound behind me, restrained by rope that appears to be twisted around both of my wrists.

My mind is a blur, trying desperately to piece together what happened and how I ended up here. Like flashes from a dream things slowly start coming into view; Ryan, the syringe he jammed into my neck, the fact that he now knows exactly who I am.

One thought and one thought only takes the forefront in my mind...

I have to get out of here.

I tug, realizing instantly that the rope is far too tight for me to try to slip my hands out. Lifting my head, for the first time since coming to, I finally look at my surroundings. I am in a dimly lit room that is bare of any furnishings. Something about this place seems oddly familiar and yet I can’t seem to place it. That is, until I feel the sway of the floor below me.

I must be on the yacht, below deck somewhere. By the way the vessel seems to be rocking in place it doesn’t appear as though we are moving. Praying that we are still docked, I try lifting the chair I am bound to in an attempt to move.

It takes only seconds for me to realize that there is also a rope weaving around my ankles holding me against the legs of the chair I am sitting in. Trying to rock myself forward in an attempt to loosen the rope and to try and find a weak point, I immediately stop moving when the restraints on my wrists become so unbearably tight I can feel the rope tearing into my flesh. Relaxing back into the chair, I try to look behind me to see what exactly the chair is anchored to but my attention is pulled forward when I realize someone is coming.

I jump, my breathing immediately accelerating when I hear a nearby door open and close followed by footsteps, each one getting closer and closer until the sound is just feet from me. When the door opens, I am temporarily blinded by the light that pours inside making it difficult for me to see anything.

It’s daylight?

I feel like it’s been only minutes since the moment I climbed into Ryan’s car.

What time is it?

How much time has actually passed?

By the feeling of my body I would say I have been here for several hours but I can’t be sure.

Ryan’s chilling laugh immediately fills the space as the door latches closed behind him, the light dying off instantly making it easier for me to make out his face.

“You’re awake.” His voice is light and carefree like everything is completely natural.

“Where am I? What is going on?” My panic shows through as I start to realize just how serious this situation is.

“Where you are doesn’t matter. Now why... That’s a bit of a different story.” His laughter is haunting, causing fear to cripple me.

“Why are you doing this?” My voice is broken and hoarse, the words barely able to escape my lips.

I swallow hard, realizing how dry and painful my throat feels.

“Why am
I
doing this?” Ryan laughs again, grabbing a chair similar to the one I am sitting in, or maybe it’s the same I can’t be sure, before taking a seat just feet in front of me.

“I didn’t do anything my dear Samantha, you did. You sealed your fate when you decided to take me on. You see, you’re not the first to come after me but you’re definitely the first to get this far. I will commend you for that.” He tilts his head like he’s truly impressed.

“Let me go.” I demand, not willing to show him the weakness I feel inside.

“Or what?” He questions. “Tell me what could possibly happen to me if I don’t? Because from where I am sitting, you are in no place to make demands.”

“You won’t get away with this.” I threaten.

“But I already have. You’ve been gone for nearly two days and not one person even cares. I can’t imagine what that must feel like for you.” He taunts me. “What’s that like Samantha? What’s it like existing in a world where you know not one living soul cares if you live or die?”

“Fuck you.” I spit, his behavior making my anger flare from deep inside of me.

“Fuck me?” He clicks his tongue against the roof of his mouth.

Reaching out, he slides his fingertips across my chest, the feeling of his touch through the thin material of my dress causing a violent shutter to run through my body.

“Such a waste.” He shakes his head slowly, dropping his hand away on a long pause.

I sit in silence, holding my breath, anticipating his next move.

“It’s too easy really.” He finally continues. “No one will even know you’re gone. You did all the work for me. I mean, Allie Reynolds is already dead.” His words send a panic that constricts my chest making it difficult to breath.

“It won’t be like Sarah.” He continues, smiling when he sees the shock and fear that display so clearly across my face.

“Still haven’t put it together have you? And here I thought you had it all figured out.” His wicked smile spreads.

“What did you do?” The words fall weakly from my lips.

“There you go putting it on me again.” He shakes his head slowly back and forth, relaxing back into his chair as he crosses his arms in front of himself, his eyes remaining firmly fixed on my face.

“I don’t understand why you just automatically assume that I am the bad guy here.” He plays innocent, the smile on his face showing me he knows the truth.

“Because you are.” My statement comes out thick, the words hard to form through the rawness of my throat.

“I guess from where you’re sitting.” He laughs lightly, clearly amused at seeing me in my current predicament. “Anyways, I digress.” He continues.

“Sarah Trammell was a lot like you; young, beautiful, stubborn as hell. Well, at least until I stuck a needle in her arm. I’ll never forget that feeling. Knowing that in that moment I had all the power. I could choose to save her or I could let her die and never have to worry about her causing problems for me again. I’m certain you can figure out what route I chose.” His smile sickens me and it takes everything I have to keep my eyes on his face, fearful of what he will do if I don’t give him the attention he so clearly expects right now.

“She deserved it.” He continues without even a hint of remorse. “Telling her roommate I raped her and that she was going to go to the authorities. Hell, if I had let her live she would have seen to it that she destroyed me and any future I hoped to have. She had to go. She left me with no choice. Just another college student who couldn’t take the pressure and turned to drugs to cope. No one even questioned it. Well, with the exception of your brother that is.” He says, raising his eyebrows at me in a way that I can only describe as excitement.

“You see.” He continues. “Sean knew her very well, so you can imagine his reaction when the girl he was head over heels for, who never did drugs, suddenly turned up dead of an overdose.”

“He tried to piece it together of course. But with no proof, there was very little he could do. But that didn’t stop him from poking around where he shouldn’t have. What is it with you Cole siblings not being able to leave well enough alone?” He cocks his head to the side, his eyes burning holes into my face.

When I don’t respond immediately, he continues speaking like he didn’t stop to ask the question at all.

“Sean started pushing the authorities to look further into Sarah’s death and he wasn’t quiet about it. Knowing I had to act fast, I invited Sean out for drinks, which was nothing out of the ordinary for us so obviously he thought nothing of my invite. After knocking a few back, Sean opened up to me about Sarah, even going as far as to tell me that he had proof her death was not an accidental overdose as it had been ruled. He truly believed she had been murdered but still hadn’t pieced together who had done it. After that I knew what needed to be done. There was only one way I was going to be able to silence Sean Cole. So, being the good friend I was, I proceeded to pump him full of shots and then when he could barely hold his head up, I offered him a ride home, which he accepted.  It wasn’t until we got a few miles outside of the city that things took a turn. In his drunken state, he asked me in complete seriousness if I had something to do with Sarah’s death. I didn’t say yes but there must have been something in my reaction that made him believe it was me because within moments he was accusing me of killing her. He turned violent, demanding that I pull the car over. I guess we both know what happened next.” He stops, gauging how that comment sits with me.

“You see my dear Samantha, the accident that killed your brother was actually his own fault. It ended up working out better for me in the end. Even if he had not grabbed the wheel and pulled us off the road that night, he was still going to meet the same fate.” He smirks as tears flow freely down my face.

“You’re a lot like your brother. You have good instincts but have a bad habit of making enemies of the wrong people. You could have had a long happy life and now you are doomed to the same fate as your brother. It’s sad really.” He shakes his head, his smile showing clearly that he’s not the least bit sad.

“You’re sick.” I spit, anger boiling in my throat as I fight against my restraints.

“I do what I have to do to protect myself.” His smugness turns to anger as he pushes his chair backwards, the wood skidding across the floor.

He steps towards me and violently grabs my face, squeezing so hard I feel like my cheekbones are going to cave in.

“You came at me remember? You started this. You have no one but yourself to blame.” He screams in my face before shoving it to the side, his hand finally releasing its hold on me.

When I turn back towards him he is still hovering above me, his face just inches from mine.

“You know it is a shame really.” He pauses, running his tongue along his lower lip. “The things I could have done to this body.” He rasps, roughly pressing his lips to mine.