Spoilt (28 page)

Chelsea gasped. “Wes?
I don’t believe you,” she protested.

“
Yeah he slit his throat. He called me after and I saw for
myself. I visited him every week while he was in juvie. Then after
he got out and met you, I never heard from him again. That is how
he repaid me for my loyalty to him, for our years and years of
friendship. For our love for each other. That is what you spoilt
bitches do. You tear people apart for your own amusement, and you
don’t give a shit. You even enjoy it. It’s all about you, isn’t it?
There is nothing in the world of a spoilt bitch other than her. You
get everything you want at the expense of others.”

Chelsea couldn’t
believe it. All her composure fell away. She
couldn’t believe this man’s hatred, his twisted mind. She screamed
and fought against her bindings.

Andrew
grinned wickedly. “So there was Wes, my best friend, my
cousin, my world, and along you came. With your beauty, your fancy
rich world and that was it. No more Wes. Wouldn’t talk to me.
Wouldn’t have anything to do with me. I soon got the message. But
then I decided it was time to send some messages of my own so I let
him know our friendship was really over.” Andrew’s mouth lifted in
a sardonic smile. “I slit his throat. That was fitting, wasn’t
it?”

Chelsea’s heart nearly stopped and her eyes stung with
tears. Wes was dead? He hadn’t left her? This maniac had taken away
her love, for what? Because he was jealous? Because he resented
Wes’ happiness and that he might for once be able to enjoy the good
things in life, the things her family had worked hard for and were
willing to share with the people they loved, no matter who they
were? He had destroyed her life once and now planned to do so
again.

She shook her head desperately trying to shake the memories
of Wes out of it.
She couldn’t mourn him now. She had to think
clearly.

“
How could you do it?” she whispered.

Andrew laughed. “He begged me not to do it, said he loved
you. Well, that wasn’t a reason to spare him, was it? But it was a
reason to kill him, and to kill the one who started it all, the
person who took him away from me, who deserved to suffer for what
you had done. You’re just like my mum. You take exactly what you
want, then you toss everything else aside like worthless trash.
You’d have tossed Wes aside one day too, but it would have been too
late for me. Nobody betrays me like that and nobody treats me the
way you did. He needed to die and you needed to suffer.”

Chelsea shook her head in disbelief.

“
So I invited him over for old times’ sake. All he could
talk about was you and how cool it was that he had his life
together and that he would be marrying into money. He was so
surprised when I cut him.”

Chelsea screamed and shook her head even more violently to
rid herself of every memory, of every thought, of every part of
this horror. She needed a clear head to get away from this animal.
She wished again that she wasn’t bound so she could block her ears.
She didn’t want to hear any more but he kept going
anyway.

“
They never found his body. They’ll find yours, though, but
they won’t find me. Oh, I will enjoy watching every last drop of
your blood spilling, you spoilt bitch.”

Oh god,
Wes ... Lucas, I need you
…. Thinking about what happened to Wes,
and remembering Lucas, was almost too much to endure.

“
When the fun of watching you cry over Wes wore off, it was
time for you to die, so I started practicing, to get it just right.
Seeing the terror in their eyes, watching their blood spill and
hearing their last breath was like sweet medicine to my soul. I
enjoyed cutting those other girls as I thought about you. Now you
are my last, Chelsea. My ultimate prize. It has been worth the
wait. Soon, you too, will taste the feeling of
nothingness.”

He
continued to undo his pants and Chelsea braced herself for
what was to follow, when she heard a knock on the front
door.

Andrew
looked up alert and tense. “Don’t make a sound or whoever
it is gets it,” he said to her with threatening look and removed
the gun from the waistband of his pants. He disappeared out the
room.

Didn’t he say if I yelled no-one would hear me? Should I
try?

Confusion reigned. If she called out would she be putting
someone in jeopardy? Was she willing to take the chance, to save
her own life at the risk to another?

* * *

Andrew
peered through the peephole and saw two detectives standing
at the door, one of them the bitch’s lover.
So you think you have found me?
Well think again. Chad Wilson lives here, not Andrew or Wesley, for
that matter. I bet you are looking for Wesley. I shall be very
disappointed if you aren’t. I knew eventually you would find out
about his record and assume it was him. Exactly what I wanted, I
will get away with murder and you will continue to look for a dead
man.
He
caught a glimpse of Hudson as he ventured down the side of the
house and around the back.
Look all you like, you won’t see anything.
After a several
minutes he watched them leave.
Now I can finish what I
started
.

* * *

“
Your boyfriend was here but he’s gone now. No-one is going
to save you,” Andrew said when he returned. “Time to hear you
scream again.”

Two emotions raged through Chelsea
:
relief because he wasn’t going to rape her
and fear regarding the pain she was about to endure again. She
didn’t know which one was winning.

When he took out his knife, fear won.

Lucas …..I love you ... If only I could see you one last
time ...
Wes
….

She tried to block out the pain. It was excruciating and
she didn’t know how much longer she could take it. She screamed
again, from the pain, from the anger, for Wesley and, most of all,
at the thought of never seeing her loved ones again. She could feel
the blood streaming from the incision in her chest and, for a
slight moment, hoped she would bleed out and the nightmare would be
over. He stopped the bleeding and cleaned the wound as her emotions
switched between relief and despair. He then left her alone without
saying another word.

Lucas ... come back.

If he came once, he might come back. Lucas was thorough and
would not give up. Something led him here, maybe it would again.
She needed to hope, it was all she had left. Andrew wasn’t going to
see reason. If someone didn’t find her soon she was going to die
here.

Hours passed and the pain from her wounds dissipated whilst
her desolation overwhelmed her. There was no escape.

Later that day – at least she presumed it was the same day -
she heard another knock on the door. She yelled out until she was
hoarse but the knocking soon stopped and whoever it was went away
again. She possessed no clue as to the time or how much of it had
gone passed. Her mouth was so parched and her throat hurt when she
swallowed. All she could do was think and hope. She thought about
his beautiful amber eyes, his sexy smile, his passion and
tenderness while tears rolled down her face. She screamed in
frustration. Regardless of the uselessness of it, she screamed for
help again. Endless minutes passed. Her yelling became a squeak as
her voice finally gave out. Her wrists began to bleed again from
pulling relentlessly at her bindings.

Chelsea lost all hope of ever being found alive. Hot tears
slid down her cheeks and her croaky sobs filled the empty room.
Goodbye, my love.

* * *

“
It’s getting late and there isn’t much else we can do
tonight. I’m going home so I can get an early start in the morning.
Perhaps you should do the same,” Maggie said after hours of
fruitless scouring of files and interviews.

“
I’m just going to go through everything one more time. I
think we’re missing something. I can’t just sit around at
home
.
I have to find
her.”

“
Suit yourself,” she replied. “I’ll see you in the
morning.”

Oh God, Chelsea, where are you? What is he doing to you? I
can’t lose you too.

Lucas read through every report and interview on file. He
called the techs working on the stolen car and advised them to run
any fingerprints found against Wesley Robinson’s - now accessible
since his file had been re-opened. He cursed when he saw, due to
the age of the case, that there was no DNA from Robinson’s juvenile
record. They would have nothing to check the hairs that had been
found against unless they found Wesley. Even if they had a
comparison it wouldn’t tell them where he was but at least they
would know if they were looking in the right place. Now he had
nothing to check to be sure.

While reading through the files for what felt like the
hundredth time, one of the techs arrived with the results from the
car. Plenty of fingerprints but none of them were Wesley’s. Was it
even the kidnapper’s car or had he been wearing gloves?

As the night progressed and each minute passed, his
despondency grew. What was he missing? His gut told him the house
across from Chelsea could be where he was holding her but he
couldn’t bust in there on instinct alone. He needed a reason and at
the moment he didn’t have one. All he had were dead ends and his
despair. According to the neighbour, he wasn’t blond. Could he be
wearing a disguise? He was, after all, using a different name?
Anything was possible, but it wasn’t enough to obtain a warrant or
to enter the house. His hands were tied. A dark haired man who kept
to himself who lived across the road from Chelsea hadn’t answered
the door. No probable cause there. He checked his phone for the
hundredth time, urging the detectives watching the house to call.
Lucas contemplated waiting there himself but knew he wouldn’t be
able to stop himself from kicking down the door. He could barely
contain the urge now.

Returning his attention to the files in front of him, he
searched them again, looking for something, anything that could
give them a clue, a reason to charge in there.

I know she’s there. I can feel it. Forget the job. I have to
know.

If he didn’t check, he was going to lose his mind. He swiftly
stood up, ready to charge into the suspect house, consequences be
damned.

Captain Shaw intercepted Lucas as he strode towards the
exit.

“
Where you off to, Hudson?” he boomed. “Have you found a
lead?”

“
Yeah, I think so.”

“
You’re going alone?’

“
Yes, Captain.”

“
You’re not going to do anything to jeopardise your career are
you, Detective?”

“
Um, I would prefer not to answer that.”

“
I am aware of what is happening with this case, Hudson. I
realise you have a hunch about where the perp may be but I’m
advising you strongly to follow procedure.”

“
He’s going to kill her!”

“
Give it one more night, Lucas. We have men on the house and
they will keep trying. If they don’t get lucky, well it’s up to you
then.”

“
I can’t give it one more night. Do you know what he did to
those other girls?”

“
Of course I do. If I have to, I’ll take you off the case then
if you go there tonight you will be doing more than breaking
procedure. I’m doing this for you, Lucas. You’re one of my best men
and I would hate to see you go because you lost your head. If this
were a different girl you would wait.”

“
It’s not a different girl.”

“
I know, but please just wait.”

“
Ah fuck it all!” He stormed out of the precinct.

* * *

Charlotte opened her eyes to see her whole family by her
bedside. Harold, Bradley and Hayden had driven down first thing
that morning and had been sitting vigil by her bedside since they’d
arrived.

Her Pa was snoozing in a chair in the corner and her parents
were sitting either side of her. Hayden was sitting in the opposite
corner looking downcast and miserable.

“
Where’s Chelsea?” she asked.

“
I’m sorry, honey, there’s been no news yet,” said Sarah, her
voice filled with distress.

“
Mum, Dad, what will we do without Chelsea?”

“
Lucas will find her. You have to believe that, Charlotte”
Sarah said.

* * *

Carrie was just about to go to bed when there was a soft knock
at the door. She opened it to find her brother looking worse than
she’d ever seen him and still wearing the same clothes from when
she’d brought him home the night before. He appeared haggard,
unshaven and dishevelled. His expression was the worst of all and
it broke her heart. His torment was apparent in every
feature.

“
Oh, Lucas, honey.”

He walked in, sat on the couch and put his head in his hands
before groaning in anguish.

“
I might know where she is,” he said through his hands, “but
due to fucking procedure I can’t go in because if I do and we catch
him, he could get away with it. I almost went there tonight anyway
at the risk of ruining this case and my career. I still want to ...
I don’t care about my job, my life ... if she ...”