Page 44 of No Mercy In Red

My feet were moving before my head could fully register what was happening, grabbing my keys and tearing through my door toward my car, not even having the chance to put my shoes on before leaving. I couldn’t take another minute longer than I had to. How the fuck did this happen, how did he find her basement, and why did he have her there? Joe wasn’t a bad person, so much so that I had outright mocked him for crying at videos of animals and small children. Yet there he was, with the love of my life, the centre of my universe, with a fucking knife at her throat? It didn’t make any sense. He had been adamant on catching who was killing these men, but never once had he mentioned anything about torturing them?

I pulled up to the house, my car screeching as I slammed the breaks. I threw myself out of the car door, not even bothering to turn off the vehicle before I was racing towards the house, the gravel stabbing into my bare feet. The house was a good twenty-minute drive from my apartment, and my heart was pounding with fear and adrenaline, praying that I wasn’t too late. Praying that he hadn’t hurt her even more than he already had. I pushed at the front door, the handle hanging off slightly like it had been kicked in. Muscle memory pulled me towards the door I knew was the basement. I could hear the faint mumble of Joe’s voice as I approached, and then I heard the noise I knew was going to haunt my dreams for the rest of my life. Maxine’s scream. I crashed my way through the basement door landing at the top of the stairs, when I took in the scene in front of me. The hammer on the floor, the blood dripping from her temple, her throat, her face.

I saw fucking red.

I charged down the stairs without a second thought. I was going to fucking kill him. How fucking dare he hurt her, how dare he make her bleed. He was no longer my brother, he was my fucking enemy, and I was out for blood. Joe spun around facing me, the smirk on his face telling me he somehow knew that I would be here. He moved quick, pulling a gun from the pocket of his jacket, placing it against Max’s temple as he positioned himself behind her.

“Joe—”

“I knew you’d turn up, Connor. Ever the fucking hero.” he cut me off, slurring his words.

“Are you drunk?” I asked, slowly taking a step toward him.

He flicked the safety off, “Move another inch, and I swear to god.”

I stilled, raising my hands slightly. I wanted to kill him. My hands shook with barely contained rage, but I needed to control myself for Max. I need to get her to safety, get her out of this god forsaken basement, then I could deal with Joe. My eyes slid to Max, her eyes smudged with mascara from her tears. They were filled with so much fear as she watched me from the chair, her body looking so broken and fragile. I ground my teeth, inhaling through my nose to calm myself.

“Now Maxine, let’s see just how much you know about your precious little boyfriend,” Joe snarled, pressing the gun a little harder against her head, pulling a whimper from her lips.

Bastard.

“Connor, what is he talking about?” She whispered, her voice sounding so broken, so delicate.

Fuck, I felt my heart shatter. The sight of her looking so helpless almost brought me to my knees. Gone was my brave, self assured Fox, instead, a broken woman sat in her place.

“Go on Connor,” Joe laughed. “Tell her, tell her everything that you’ve done. How you betrayed me. How you planted fucking cameras in her apartment, in here.” His voice grew louder with each word, his rage spilling from him as he swayed where he stood.

“How did you know about the cameras?” I asked.

Joe snorted, “You know, if you’re going to be some obsessed fucking weirdo, make sure you turn your PC off when you’re not at home. I came over to your place, a few nights ago, after receiving one of your apology texts. Thought it would be better to talk face to face, I’d even brought beer. I knocked, but you didn’t answer. I just assumed you were in bed being a lazy bastard like always, so I let myself in with the spare key. Colour me fucking surprised when I walked into your bedroom and saw your screen lit up with a little live feed. At first, I thought nothing of it you know, thought maybe it was some shit for your work. But then, then I got closer.” He spat each word at me with indescribable rage. “Imagine my fucking shock when I see you curled up on a sofa with non-other than the same woman I had spoken to you about just days before. Imagine my absolute fucking horror when I realised that you did, in fact, know her, Connor.”

“Joe, I can expl—”

“Shut the fuck up!” he roared. “I’m not finished. Imagine how I felt when I saw you all snuggled up with the fucking bitch I told you I thought was the murderer. At first, I thought maybe you were going undercover, trying to help me out you know? Especially when I saw the cameras you’d placed in here.” He waved his hand around dramatically.

My heart was pounding, my eyes flicking from Joe to Max, seeing the confusion etched in her eyes turn to painful betrayal. My jaw tensed, my fingers curling at my sides as I held myself back from ripping off his head. I stood firm, staring down the monster my best friend had turned into, watching him as he led the gun to her head, biding my time.

“Until I did further digging, and saw that in fact, you’d been watching her for fucking months. Not only that, but I found the panties on your nightstand, and that tube of lipstick that so perfectly matched the shade she loves to swipe over her fucking mouth.”

“Connor?” Max whispered, pain laced in her tone.

“Go on Connor, tell her. Tell her how you stabbed me in the back. Tell her how you were working alongside me to hunt down the towns infamous serial killer, but ended up fucking her instead.” His voice grew louder, “Is that what gets you off, Connor? Sticking your dick in evil little whores, becoming their little lapdogs?” He spat his words at me, his chest heaving with each sentence.

“Don’t you dare speak about her like that ever again, Joe. You don’t know shit.” I snarled, daring another step forward.

Joe pressed himself closer to Max “Or what?” He sneered bitterly. “You gonna let her kill me, too? How many people have to fucking die before you realise how twisted you’ve become, Connor?”

“Fuck you,” I spat, my hands balling into fists at my side.

“No, Connor. Fuck you! Now fucking tell her, tell her everything.” He shouted, spit flying from his mouth.

“It’s true, Max,” I whispered, my voice shaking. “I agreed to help Joe track down whoever was killing those men, to help him get the promotion he needed at work.”

“So everything, all of it, it was a lie?” She murmured, her eyes filling with tears.

“No! No, I fucking swear. I figured out it was you pretty quickly, so I watched you, planted the cameras to catch you. But once I started watching, I couldn’t stop. You became everything to me Max, everything. Before you even knew I existed, you became the centre of my entire world.” I breathed, desperation laced in my voice.

I couldn’t let this break us, I couldn’t lose her. I wouldn’t lose her. There was no force on this earth that could pull her from my grasp. Because my world no longer existed if I didn’t have Maxine. If she went down, I’d go down with her. I’d follow her down to the very pits of hell if that’s where she ended up, and I’d gladly burn alongside her for eternity.

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