Page 46 of Guarding The Phoenix: Vol. 2

We made a stop in Seattle and spent the afternoon stocking up on more foodstuffs at the world-renowned farmer’s market. It was a place I wanted to return to and explore when there was more time.

Yet now, the yacht hugged the Alaskan coastline as we neared the house. It was located right off the Gulf of Alaska along the shore between Yakutat and Valdez, a short way north of Sitka.

As the shore approached, what I thought from a distance was a tiny log cabin morphed into a huge house that must be seven or eight thousand square feet. A wooden dock extended from the shore. And that was the direction we headed. I was thankful for the coat I picked up in Seattle given the cooler temperatures.

I wasn’t a fan of cold weather. But then, I’d spent the bulk of my life in California. When temperatures went below sixty, I dressed like an Eskimo.

The guys worked together to bring the yacht into port and docked us. The wooden dock was state-of-the-art. But it was the house beyond that gave me pause. It was massive, with a high security fence extending from the water on either side of the dock and disappearing around the back of the home.

The view was stunning with snow-capped mountains off in the distance and a forest of evergreens beyond the property, serving as a secondary line of defense. At the same time those trees kept the property hidden from passersby on land. Just what the hell had Carlos used this house for, anyway.

“Let’s head inside and assess the situation, then we can see what needs to be brought in from the yacht.” Gideon came up behind me on the dock and held out his hand.

I took it without question. Where he led, I would follow. It was his leadership that helped us escape Santos. It was his foresight in readying the yacht with supplies that played a critical role in our survival. I trusted Gideon with every part of my being.

The air was crisp and cool, but I was thrilled to be on solid land again. It was the first time in a week. We had sailed along the coast from Washington state, past British Columbia, Canada. What I had seen from the yacht anytime we ventured close to the shoreline was a beautiful country.

The house had been constructed to look like a large, two-story, log cabin. But I knew looks could be deceiving. My husband had been a strikingly handsome man. His good looks had hidden the monster within until it was too late.

Gideon opened the front door with the key he found in my husband’s office and my thumbprint. The guys were on high alert. Axel hung back to keep lookout while we entered the house. Inside, the home was fully furnished in dark woods, leather and stone. It was a total bachelor pad with deer antlers mounted on the wall. There was a stuffed grizzly bear that a taxidermist had positioned with its mouth open on a silent bellow.

“We each take a floor and conduct a full sweep of the property. I want you sticking with me, babe. Chase take the top floor. Mateo search the basement. We’ll take the main floor.”

“On it.” Chase saluted and headed for the stairs.

“Hollar if you need me.” Mateo descended the stairwell to the basement.

“Lead the way,” I said, unwilling to release his hand. Carlos’s stamp was on everything here. It even smelled like him. I’d forgotten how much I had grown to loathe the scent of his cologne.

We left the foyer with its deep maroon walls and dark hardwood floors and walked through the luxurious living room. There were walnut leather couches with deep seats. And an eighty-inch flatscreen mounted on the wall. A stone fireplace had a moose head above it.

I didn’t understand the need to stuff a dead animal like a trophy. But then my husband had been a sick, twisted bastard. Animal trophies were just the kind of thing he would have enjoyed.

I thanked the fates that sadistic fucker was six feet under. Not a day passed when I wasn’t grateful that he was gone.

We walked through the first floor, searching rooms. The kitchen was fully furnished. There was a walk-in deep freeze like one would expect to find in a restaurant. And it was loaded with frozen goods.

It hit me that this was one of the places Carlos went on his business trips. Every time he left on one, I breathed a sigh of relief, praying to whatever god would listen that he wouldn’t return.

But we completed a full circuit and found nothing untoward.

We circled back around into the living room again. Gideon grabbed the remote and switched on the television. He flipped through the different apps available.

Then stopped at the one marked cameras.

He clicked on the application and opened it. The screen changed. Loads of videos were listed that looked like home movies. Did he save surveillance footage?

“What the hell?” Gideon started one of the videos.

On the big screen my husband appeared, and he wasn’t alone. He had a young woman about my age bent over the couch. And he fucked her violently while she moaned up a storm.

Gideon brought up another video. This time Carlos was fucking two women at once, just as brutally. Gideon searched through video after video. Some had been taped in the living room. But there were others where the scene shifted into a bedroom. In each one he fucked a different woman. It was never the same woman twice.

“This was where he hooked up with women. It was essentially his bachelor pad for fucking other women,” I said almost to myself. Each one of the videos was dated. I’d bet that they were dated when he’d been out of town on business trips during our marriage. Anger filled me. All the instances when he beat me and I begged him for divorce, he had acted like our vows were sacred. When all along he never stopped fucking other women. There was one dated a week after we got married, when I was still in love with him. When I still believed his lies and looked at him as if he was my savior.

“Sorry.”

“Don’t be. It gave me a measure of peace whenever he wasn’t around.” Those were the happiest times for me. Often, he would find a reason to hit me before he left on a business trip. So, while I was home nursing bruises and praying he wound up in a horrific accident, he traveled up here and fucked a bunch of women.

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