Read Online Carved in Darkness by Maegan Beaumont - Free Book Online Page B

generations of Walker women under his knife. He thought it was sweet. It felt right. The way things should be.
    “Alright, Miss Lucy, time to get serious. What’d you say to O’Shea when you called him?”
    “Told ’em the man … killed his sister … in my sittin’ room … send the law,” she said between labored breaths, and he laughed.
    “ Send the law … good one, Miss Lucy.” He set his plate down and picked up the hammer. “How ’bout I use this to shatter your knee. Bet you’ll tell me then.”
    He stepped toward her, purposely bringing the heavy sole of his boot down on the tops of her feet.
    “No, no, I lied … I didn’t tell him anything. I swear—nothing, I swear.” She was babbling and crying, her face twisted tight with terror, eyes squeezed shut against the sight of him.
    “Liar, liar.” He brought the hammer down. It hit the kitchen table, the loud crack of it echoed in the small space. Her eyes popped wide, and she yelped like a whipped dog.
    “I promise, I promise, please … please, don’t,” she said in a pleading rush. He dropped the hammer onto the table and smiled at her.
    Finally, he was getting somewhere.
    “Why’d you call him?” He knew he should be focusing on where to find Melissa, but the phone call was bothering him.
    “He’s … my friend.” The tears started again.
    “That ain’t sayin’ much. Up until about an hour ago, I was your friend, too,” he said with a sad shake of his head. “Do I have to worry about him busting in here tryin’ to save the day?” When she didn’t answer right away, he applied pressure to her feet with his boot. Already, the area surrounding the nail holes were bruised and swollen. When she cried out, she croaked so she sounded like a frog on the wrong end of a gigging fork.
    “No.”
    He watched her face for lies, but she only shook her head. The hopelessness in her eyes told him she was telling the truth. “That’s good. Real good, Miss Lucy.” He leaned back against the table and pulled the picture from his pocket. “This is Melissa.” It wasn’t a question but he held the photo up to her face for confirmation anyway. She said nothing, but when he stepped heavily on her wounds, she croaked again and nodded. “She’s calling herself Sabrina these days?”
    She said nothing, even when he twisted the heel of his boot, putting pressure on the head of the nail, driving it deeper into her foot. “That’s alright. I know the answer. Got it right here.” He fished the note from his back pocket and waved it at her. “I hear she’s living in California. What’ve you got to say about that?”
    She must’ve found her second wind, because she spat at him again.
    “Lord, save me from stubborn women,” he said under his breath. He flipped the picture over to read it out loud. “ Jason and Riley Vaughn, age 16 . Riley sure is a peach, ain’t she? Don’t think I’ve seen a beauty like her since … well, you know.” He looked up from the photo and smiled at her. “Either you tell me where Melissa is, or when I do find her, I’ll add little Riley here to my list. What I did to her big sister won’t even come close to what I’ll do to her,” he said. She looked him in the eye and swallowed hard, running her tongue over her teeth, trying to clean away some of the blood.
    “She won’t let you.” Her ironclad belief that even if he did manage to find the woman in the picture, he would be no match for her—that she was better— brought the rage screaming to the surface.
    The picture crumpled in his fist and he stepped into the swing, landing a haymaker on the side of her head. The force of the blow would’ve knocked her over in her chair if not for the nails. She was unconscious now, but he slapped her again anyway. He picked up the knife and grabbed her by her hair and shook her. Used the grip he had on her scalp to revive her.
    “Wakey, wakey, Miss Lucy.” He grinned when her eyes fluttered open. She was