Page 109 of Faith
Gwendolyn smiledas she sipped her drink. It was a good night for visitors. She had the house ready for them, knowing her bait was more compelling than theirs had been.
Gwendolyn would miss Joyce, but she was a sacrifice Gwendolyn was willing to make. Dead weight, so to speak. Without any girls around to take care of, Joyce’s usefulness had run out. Gwendolyn made Joyce available for the men who wouldn’t accept that the supply wasn’t there and needed a woman’s body, willing or not.
But Joyce was gone, and Gwendolyn would not offer herself up as the next available body. She needed to regain her favorite girl.
Sometimes it was just too easy.
“Two people are approaching,” Fernando said. “Walking up but not as subtle as they think.”
“It’s Nina and her brother,” Gwendolyn said, watching the camera she installed down the street. The entire house was surrounded by them, with many more in places no one knew about. Like the camera on Shelter in the Storm, and the one outside Zeke and Montgomery’s house, the one atRose Protection Agency, and the ones near the police station. Gwendolyn didn’t take chances.
“Do you want me to kill them?” Fernando asked, his trigger-happy hand already reaching for the gun on his side.
“No. I want them to think they’re smarter than me and get inside. Then I want you to tie up the brother. Nina and I have things to discuss.”
Fernando nodded, then let himself out of the room silently.
Gwendolyn watched, and waited for her sister to come home to her.
It waseasy to get inside. Too easy. Every step Nina took told her the only thing waiting for them was a trap.
But she couldn’t turn back. She had to see it through. She had to stop Gwendolyn once and for all.
Nina fingered the knife in her pocket. Monty gave it to her on the ride. He had guns, but she refused. A knife wasn’t better, but it felt less threatening. After everything, Nina knew she wouldn’t be able to kill Gwendolyn.
She almost laughed. The night she left, she wanted to kill Gwendolyn, and probably would have if she’d had the chance. But a month with Zeke and Monty and the Curvy Vigilantes changed Nina. She saw the light in the world. She knew things could be different. She didn’t want Gwendolyn free, but Nina agreed with Frannie that Gwendolyn needed to face the consequences of her actions.
Nina could convince her. She had to. Tell Gwendolyn to stop killing people and take her in. If the FBI found her, Gwendolyn would not give up. But Nina could reason with her. She had to.
Nina’s old room was upstairs, at the back of the house, but she knew that wasn’t where Gwendolyn would be waiting for her. Gwendolyn didn’t come into Nina’s room often. When they were together, they were always in the family room. The cozy, sunken room was a converted old porch. It was cold in the winter, and hot in the summer, but Nina and Gwendolyn loved it. They spent all winter snuggling under blankets and watching movies about people falling in love and happy families and holidays neither of them had ever known.
It felt like a bonding experience back then. Not the manipulation it clearly was.
“Come in and sit, little sis,” Gwendolyn said once Nina got to the door. Her voice drifted from the darkness. “Bring your brother in, too.”
Nina took a step into the room, then heard an oof and a thud. She turned back and saw Monty on the floor. “Monty!”
“I wouldn’t do that,” Gwendolyn snarled.
Her threat was reinforced with a gun to Monty’s head. “Go sit, Nina,” Fernando growled.
Nina tore her gaze from Monty and walked into the room.
Gwendolyn lifted the blanket next to her for Nina to sit while Fernando dragged Monty into the room and propped him up in the armchair in the corner.
Nina stared at her brother and prayed he was just faking it. That he would jump up at any second and overpower Fernando and Gwendolyn and the whole thing would be over.
Zip-ties went around Monty’s wrists and ankles. He didn’t fight once, not even a groan.
“Is he dead?” Nina whispered. A trickle of blood ran down the side of Monty’s face.
“No reason to tie him up if he’s dead, sis. He’ll be fine. Killer headache, though.” Gwendolyn waved her fingers at Fernando.
He produced a small vial from his pocket.
Nina flinched and drew back. More drugs. No. She couldn’t leave Monty, but she couldn’t…
Fernando waved it under Monty’s nose.
