Page 115 of Caged
“I’m positive he thinks it’s me,” she states. “If it were just Barrett, he’d speculate, but after Harrison, the crime scene alone would be enough to be conclusive in his mind. This is good, though. This is what we want,” she says with conviction. “It will work in our favor.”
“How?” I stammer.
“Because we’ll be able to walk right in, through the front door no less,” she insists as if it’s obvious.
“Again, how?” I ask. I see the wheels turning, but I’m worried wheels are the only thing taking up space in Monroe’s brain at the moment.
“He’ll throw a party as bait. Hewantsme to come get him, and he knows an open party gives us easy access. Watch. I bet it will be tomorrow. He’ll think it’s the perfect response to the accusations against Barrett and Harrison, playing them off like they’re a hoax from a deranged fanboy. Sigma as a whole will need to appear unbothered.”
“You do know him well.” I have to give her that much. “But do you really think he’d be so chauvinistic?”
“Do I think the man who put me in a dog cage to starve while killing women for fun believes he’s invincible and would be stupid enough to let us walk right in? Yes! This is agameto him! He might as well pull out a megaphone and start begging.”
“I still don’t understand why you don’t just kill him. You clearly don’t have an aversion to blood or torture. End him and get this nightmare over with!”
“I didn’t kill Barret or Harrison. Maybe I left them inches away from death, but they’ll pull through. I’m not a murderer. I’m not like them, even if these guys do deserve to die, I don’t have it in me to take a life. I’m not God. Besides, death is the easy way out for people like Kieren. He stole my life, Gabi! If I manage to make it through, I’ll never be able to go back to being who I was. Monroe as you knew her is dead and buried, she died in that fucking dog cage.”
She pauses, then admits, “I had my step-cousins help me establish a new identity.”
“What do you mean ‘establish a new identity’? Like steal someone’s identity?”
“Same thing.”
“Monroe! Who are you and when did you become okay with being a criminal? If you’re caught, you’ll go to prison!”
“Umm, news flash Gabi, we just tortured two men and defaced personal property. We’re fucking criminals!”
“I guess you’re right,” I lament, flopping back onto the oversized, stiff chair.
“Let’s go over the order of operations again,” Monroe states. “If things go south tomorrow, I plan to take the fall.”
“Absolutely not,” I protest.
“Gabi! I’ve got nothing to live for! You do!”
“What happens if we’re caught and they put us in one of those dog cages?” I ask, terrified by the high probability of this outcome.
“Survive,” Monroe deadpans. “Survive and play off their insecurities. If Kieren catches me, I’m dead, and I’ve accepted that outcome. If you’re caught, I’d bet Jace will insist on being the one to inflict your punishment, and if that scenario happens, you know what you have to do, right?”
I nod with trepidation I hope Monroe doesn’t see. In theory, one could argue I’ve been conducting psychological warfare on Jace Carver for over two years, toying with his emotions for my own satisfaction. But if I’m on his turf and subjected to torture like Monroe, I don’t know if I’ll be able to withstand his wrath. Trapped in his bedroom, forced into a dog cage and starved?
I can’t let myself think of that outcome. It won’t happen. Our plan tomorrow will work, and then I’ll never have to see Jace Carver’s face again.
57
JACE
Present Day
Forty-five minutes on this fucking bike, and I’m still just as angry as I was when I dropped Kieren off at Sigma. He’s out of his mind and in over his head. He knows it too, but Kieren Hunt will never admit defeat. I’m not sure he’s even still human underneath his shell of narcissism. It would do him good to lay off the pain pills and drugs. I know he has chronic jaw issues from when he wrapped his car around a tree in high school, but he’s well past the point of using prescription medication for its intended purpose.
Monroe destroyed him when she left, but in fairness, they destroyed each other. Kieren has always been controlling, but the extent of cruelty he put Monroe through was hard to bear witness. The black eye he got from Knox this past summer was more than deserved. I still can’t believe Kieren had the balls to publicly brag about his inhumane treatment of her. He’ll never conceded his true feelings, and certainly not now. He’s too far gone at this point. Maybe at first he acted out of desperationbecause his inheritance was on the line, but now he wears his psychopathy with pride. The Hunts are a fucked-up bunch of people, more so than my family, and I thought no one could top the cold brutality of my father.
I suspected one day Monroe would come back, but never did I see her returning as a bloodthirsty vigilante. How the fuck do you even pull off something of that severity?
Kieren, like a fucking dog with a bone, is convinced it’s Monroe because he wants it to be her. But, I’m not completely convinced. I saw the fear and horror in her eyes when she was locked up. He’s going to do something stupid, I can feel it, in the name of luring her to Sigma, where he’ll have the home turf advantage.
My bike idles to a stop at the red light on College Avenue. I hadn’t intended to come this way, but now that I’m here, the need for peace of mind overrides all other thoughts. Hopefully, she locked her window like I fucking told her to, which means I’ll have to use the front door.
