Page 41 of Vengeful Lies

Now that Essie was finished it was her turn. This wasn't something she was looking forward to doing even as she wanted to get it done so that they were one step closer to finding Cade and bringing him home.

Having to think of the faces of the men who had hurt her had nausea churning in her stomach and she knew the fact that she was still unable to eat much of anything hadn't gone unnoticed by any of Cade’s brothers or their girlfriends.

After explaining the process to her, she spent the next couple of hours forcing herself to confront memories she’d rather pretend didn't exist as she studied the faces of the men who had abducted her and gave every piece of detail to the sketch artist that she could. The woman made adjustments on her computerfor each new description Gabriella gave, only stopping when the picture looked as close to each man she remembered as possible.

All five of their abductors were done and she had run out of time.

It was time to confess what had happened in the room the first morning after they were taken. As badly as she didn't want them to know what had happened to her, they at least had to know that there had been an extra man that morning. One she hadn't seen again.

“There was one more,” she admitted, ignoring all the eyes on her. “I only saw him once. The morning after we were kidnapped.”

Sensing all the questions the guys wanted to toss at her, thankfully, they held back as the sketch artist brought up another face, and once again, they adjusted it until it was as close as they could get to the real thing.

“That’s him,” Gabriella said with shudder. There was something about that man in particular that had freaked her out. Something darker and more sinister than the others, although they were all terrifying.

“Essie didn't mention him,” Jake said.

“She wasn't in the room at the time, so she didn't see him,” she explained.

When the sketch artist turned her laptop around so that everyone else could see the image she’d just helped create they all gasped, but it was Becca who spoke first.

“That’s John. He looks a little thinner, and John had blue eyes, and darker hair, no graying at his temples, but that’s definitely John.”

“John?” Gabriella asked. None of the men had given her their name, so to her, they were all just one group of despicable human beings who had tortured her and threatened Essie.

“The man who called the other night, who wanted to meet with Becca, and claimed to be Cassandra’s half-brother,” Jax explained.

While she knew the basics of what was going on with the Charleston Holloway family, they never hid any of it from her, she didn't always push for details because the whole thing had terrified her. As badly as she wanted them all to get the answers they needed, she’d been so afraid of losing any of them.

“That’s who Cade was supposed to meet with when you and Essie were grabbed,” Cole added. “John insisted on meeting with Becca, but we weren't going to allow that when we didn't know enough about him, so Cade went in her place only he never showed up.”

“Because he was too busy organizing to have me and Essie taken,” Gabriella said softly.

“We knew he had to be involved somehow because he was in Cambodia with Becca,” Connor said, wrapping an arm around his girlfriend’s shoulder and tugging her against his side as they both likely realized just how much danger Becca had been in and hadn't even known it.

“But we didn't know that he was in this deep,” Cooper said. “He had to be the one in charge, the one who orchestrated all of this because he wasn't involved in the actual abduction but turned up there.”

“He was,” Gabriella assured them, remembering his presence and the air of authority he gave out.

This revelation only left them with more questions than answers. Who was John? Was he really Cassandra’s half-brother? How was he connected to Cade’s mom’s rape and murder? And where did he have Cade right now?

Chapter

Eleven

September 6th

4:11 P.M.

“You know I find this whole thing quite distasteful.”

Cade fought the urge to roll his eyes at John’s ridiculous statement.

They’d been going back and forth with this charade for the last couple of hours. John would ask for answers, wanting to know what Cade and his family knew, then when Cade wouldn't provide any answers, he’d instruct one of his men to slash at him.

When that didn't work, John would throw a huff and storm out of the basement, only to return a while later to start the process all over again.

Rivulets of blood covered most of his body. They’d cut his clothes off him, leaving him in just his boxers, and trails of blood marred his chest, his arms, and his legs. None of the cuts were particularly deep, just enough to slice through skin. Although Cade had no doubt that given enough time, the wounds inflictedwould become deeper and deeper until eventually, they cut through an artery, and he bled out.

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