Untwist Read online

  Untwist

  Kathy Coopmans

  Contents

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Epilogue

  About the Author

  Untwist

  © 2019 Kathy Coopmans

  Cover Design- Jill Sava

  Editing done by My Brother’s Editor

  Proofreader- Cat Parisi.

  Formatting- HJ Bellus

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real.

  Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. All rights reserved.

  The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. No part of this book may be used or reproduced electronically or in print without written permission by the author. All rights are reserved. This eBook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only.

  This eBook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each reader. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to eStore and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  Prologue

  Logan

  Pulling the velvet box out of my pocket, I flip open the lid, admiring the ring inside — a perfect ring for the perfect woman.

  Out of sheer luck, something I was beginning to give up on, this ring was delivered to me a week ago. I’m not sure when I plan on giving this to Ellie, now doesn’t seem like the right time.

  Emotions grip me by the throat. Damn near choking me.

  I rough a palm down my face still trying to rein in what one of the few friends I have in this town stumbled upon. It doesn’t break up the ping of pain in my chest; it makes me realize that this place is where Ellie and I should have been all along.

  Things would have been different. Not sure how many times I’ve told myself that. At least a dozen.

  Guilt trip. Doubt if life will ever make the wheels stop and give us a minute to breathe. To settle down and live as we should be.

  Peaceful and carefree.

  Closing it, and squeezing my fisted palm, I watch Ellie with a heavy heart as she slowly makes her way toward the house. I can’t seem to look away.

  My fingers are itching to feel her pulse, to bury my face in the smell of her wind-whipped hair. To tell her there’s going to come a day hopefully soon that everything is going to be okay. Mostly, there will come a time soon; that she’ll never have to feel an ounce of pain hitting that beautiful soul, doing its best to strike her down ever again. As fucked up as it is, as much as a man I claim to be, I can’t tell her when I don’t fully believe it myself.

  “I have a surprise for you, baby. It might not take away your grief; it’ll surely plant a smile on your gorgeous face. I just need to figure out how to do you right.” The thing is, it wouldn’t matter to her how, it would be the why that did.

  Although I knew Ellie and I were going to be alright, I needed to hear her say it. I needed a little peace of mind that she didn’t blame me the way I blame myself. When she looked up at me with those eyes so broken and full of trust, weeping harder than she had in my truck at the hospital, my brain hay-wired, and knots formed in my stomach. And that’s when I knew what Ellie meant about being lost. Losing our baby hurt in a way I would never be able to explain.

  It leaves a person raw, achy, and rotting in despair.

  Fault twists my heart, and no matter how hard I try to unbind it, the death of our child, the monsters to blame, mainly Shadow, they hang above me, threatening to swallow me whole.

  Havoc.

  I might not ever believe my life wasn’t supposed to be in the midst of it.

  My throat goes tight as a shout builds deep and tears fill my eyes. If I weren’t afraid Ellie would turn around, I’d drop to my knees and weep.

  Blowing out a breath, I dig my phone out of my pocket when the vibration hits my thigh. Pulling it out and shoving the ring in my other pocket, I smile when I see it’s Lane. Without taking my eyes off Ellie, I swipe the screen while watching her climb the steps leading into the house.

  “Please tell me you’re calling with good news, Lane. Did someone plunge a shank through Shadow’s throat? How about Sadie overdosed, and they couldn’t save the crazy bitch.” Now that would be luck amongst wishful thinking.

  “Where are you? Where’s Ellie?” The frantic desperation in his voice stalls my breath. It lifts the hairs on my arms, and I swallow.

  Awareness.

  It has me scanning the beach.

  “Jesus, Lane, you’re scaring the hell out of me. I’m on the beach; she’s about to walk into the house, why?” As if I’m directed by the primal need to protect, I start making my way toward the house. A bad feeling sinks into my gut with every step I take.

  My mouth goes dry, and my heart kicks into a sprint I can’t control.

  “Get out of there and get your ass back home. Shadow is out of prison; he lied about his release date.”

  His words hit me like the startling crack of thunder in the distance. I tumble backward a step, my brain shooting a warning that hell is about to break loose to my heart.

  “What?” I trip over my feet as I take off in a deadly run.

  Slow-motion, fast forward, rewind. They all gang up, confusing my troubled mind.

  When I hear Ellie scream, followed by the echo of a gunshot, the phone slips out of my hand. My mind shifts into the present — adrenaline surges in my veins.

  “Ellie, fuck, no. Christ almighty, no,” I yell. Fear and rage urge me to push forward with all that I have.

  I don’t know how far I run before chaos strikes around me, and I realize I’m nothing but a sitting duck out here in the open. Shot after gunshot goes off at my feet. Rapid-fire whizzing past my head. The bullets are missing me by inches. They kick up dirt and flowers, obviously meant to slow me down, but I don’t stop running, because I know Shadow is in our house and he will take Ellie. Worse, he’ll do things to fuck up her mind before he kills her.

  By the time my feet hit the dewy grass, my mind is circling with all sorts of bullshit I can’t string together: torture and torment and a lifetime of constant pain.

  “I’ll rip your heart out of your chest, Shadow, if you touch her. I swear to God.” Something cold and clammy blasts through my veins and worry fist my chest.

  I almost make it to the pool before one of those teasing bullets nails me in my shoulder, it scorches like a motherfucker. I fist my hands as I feel an explosion inside of me. It’s an agonizing pain. I’ll be damned if it stops me from killing the little cockroach the second I get my hands on him.

  Another bullet splices through me just as I hit the stairs leading up the deck; it knocks me on my ass. When I hit the ground, it’s Ellie’s blood that pours out of me. It’s Ellie’s beautiful face I see.

  Over the noise, the pain, the panic, the loss, and the dread, I hear Shadow’s voice, his laughter a primal sound — one that bleeds through my ears.

  “I told you you’d pay for what you’ve done. Don’t worry; I’ll take excellent care of what belongs to
me before I cut Ellie to pieces. Isn’t that what you did with my sister? Took care of her before you decided you’d had enough? I could kill you right now, but I have plans to make you suffer. Payback’s a bitch, Logan. You started this war; I’m going to end it. Victoriously. Welcome to the prison of your mind, motherfucker. It’s worse than living behind bars.”

  Chapter 1

  Ellie

  A spike of terror races down my body, keeping me still as stone. Knowing Shadow is feet away from me has those immediate shockwaves of thinking I was this close to seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, only it was a figment of my imagination.

  He isn’t supposed to be out for several months. Did he escape? If he did, wouldn’t we have known? My mind is hysterical and running in loops as it bangs from side to side against my skull.

  I’m about to go insane.

  All my hopes and dreams are being tossed back in my face while wielding worry, dread, and fear like blades in my direction.

  My conscious nips at my sanity and my stomach coils into a thousand untwistable knots.

  I close my eyes when I hear the sharpness of his shoes cross the floor. The air is suddenly turning arctic around me as I sense his body leaning over me.

  Icy shards stab my brain. I’m going to die right here under the roof of the place I call home.

  Please, God, don’t let him touch me.

  The mere thought of it makes me nauseous.

  Roiling my insides until the taste of acid burns my tongue.

  “Goddamn, you are beautiful, even with those bruises. You deserved them, Ellie, and you’re going to have more by the time you and I reacquaint.” He sighs, brushes the hair out of my face, and runs the back of his hand down my cheek, delaying briefly, as if he expects me to flinch.

  I’m surprised; I’m not. Then again, I have to be in shock that Shadow’s here in my safe place.

  I stop breathing, my heart slowly dying, my skin wanting to crawl right off my bones as I wait for him to make another move.

  “I bet you’d do anything for one of your daddy’s guns right now, wouldn’t you? Be a good girl, and I might let you hold one. Unloaded, of course.” He chuckles.

  For years every time I heard footsteps behind me or thought I saw someone’s shadow beside my own, I’d catch that laugh. It was one of the many things that haunted me at night. It rebounds in my ears as he replaces his hand with the cold barrel of a gun.

  That cannot be my dad’s, can it?

  I remain still while my heart bleeds all over the floor, knowing Shadow might have my dad’s guns. An angry realization settles over me, and I can’t help but wonder what else of my father’s things he might have. Does he have some of my mother’s things too? Knowing his mother and sister, they stuffed my family’s things away in storage to rot. Punishing me by claiming they sold everything when they didn’t. I want to claw his eyes out, shoot him with the guns he keeps running up and down my face at least a hundred times, and watch him bleed to death out of every single hole.

  “I’ll be right back. If you run from me, I will track you down and kill you.”

  My stomach pitches, and the rumble from being hungry surges into a ball of panic.

  Maybe I’m not thinking clearly; perhaps my hormones are out of whack. It could be I’m afraid Shadow is going to sneak up on Logan and shoot him. Whatever the reason doesn’t matter, if he leaves me lying here, I’m going to find a way to kill him, to release that final chunk of him from my soul. For me, Logan, and our family once and for all, and then I’ll tear this town apart to find my father’s guns.

  I let out a breath, my eyes springing open when he steps over me, pausing briefly before slamming the door behind him.

  I always told myself that if I saw Shadow again, I’d fear for my life. I’d run and hide and let it rule me. The last time I saw him, I did. Well, not this time.

  There’s no time for fear. Not when Logan is out there unprotected.

  Shadow may have stripped my innocence away from me years ago, but he’s meeting a different person this time. A woman who found true love, and that is one thing I plan on keeping. “You will not take another thing away from me or Logan, Shadow.”

  I catch sight of him descending the stairs on the deck as I peek over my shoulder. Pushing up, I move as quickly as my body will allow, grab a knife out of the block and my phone off the table.

  With shaky fingers, I slide my phone open, hit Gabe’s number and lift the phone to my ear.

  “Ellie, Jesus Christ, I’ve been trying to call you. Wherever you are, I need you to run. Do you hear me?”

  Excitement sloshes in my veins. He knows, oh, thank God.

  “Gabe. He, he, Shadow went outside. Logan is out there. I’m not leaving him behind.” There’s not a chance I’d leave him.

  A gunshot plummets my heart into my stomach, and I jump. Everything inside of me cracking.

  “Oh, my God, Logan.”

  Pins and needles. They prick across my flesh as I wipe away the tears of gloom sliding down my cheeks.

  I scream as gunshots go off one after another — boom after boom after boom, echoing and piercing me deeply. I drop the phone and cradle my hands over my ears. My heart rivals with my brain telling me to get down or run for help, to not take a chance by going outside because it’s uncertain of what I’ll find.

  I lift the knife, ready to use it and ignore the primitive part of my brain. I’ll sacrifice my life to save Logan’s if that’s what it takes.

  Lord knows he’s sacrificed enough of his to save mine.

  I propel out the door with a steady determination; no other thoughts run through my mind except to get to Logan.

  “God, if this is a nightmare, please let me wake up. I’ve had enough pain by the hands of that vicious beast with no heart to last the rest of my life.”

  I barely make it one step when an answer comes for my half-assed prayer, and I’m thrown to the wooden deck boards, the knife slipping from my hands.

  Body aching, mind on the verge of panicking, I kick at my assailant who is wearing all black. There’s a ski mask concealing his face. He’s a lot taller than Shadow, making me wonder how many people are here. Are there more in my house? How long have they been here? Do they know what kind of animal they are helping? They must if they are here.

  Bastards.

  “Get away from me,” I scream and crawl on my sore belly, nearly curling into the fetal position when a shot of pain so fierce hits my lower abdomen blurring my vision. Somehow I make it to the end of the deck before a boot strikes me in the side of my head. An astounding throb spreads across my skull as my already raw and aching frame sails through the air, and I smack my head into the railing, leaving me dizzy and disoriented.

  I blink as another wave of shock hits my system. I try to clear the fog as I’m pulled to stand by the front of my dress and flung against the house, but I feel off balance. My ribcage rattles and my lungs struggle to work from the lack of oxygen as my back is pressed hard into the siding, knocking the wind right out of me.

  “You won’t get away with this,” I scream and choke and gasp for air, bucking like a wild horse trying to get whoever this is off of me.

  “Underestimation will make what Shadow and I are going to do to you so much sweeter. Keep telling yourself I won’t get away with this if it makes you feel better. Now, kneel, or I’ll drag you to that knife and force you.”

  There’s something about the way he says force that heats my cheeks with anger.

  I laugh. It’s humorless and bitter.

  “Fuck you. I’ll die by that knife before I ever kneel for you.” I don’t know who this man is, but I know if I do what he says, my life as I know it will end the minute my knees hit the ground. If by chance I were to survive, I’d never know what happened to Logan, and that thought alone would have me curling into myself and begging to die.

  With all the strength I can muster, I lift my leg and knee him in the balls. The surprise has him dropping like the sack of s
hit he is.

  I run, disoriented and feeling so out of sorts as I scramble down the steps begging my tattered body to keep moving. I make it less than ten feet when I realize the gunshots have stopped and the only sound I hear now is coming from Logan as he lies on his back in the grass, wheezing, coughing, and gasping for air. Blood is soaking his shirt, and his eyes are wide open. Shadow is nowhere in sight.

  “Logan,” I scream, but before I can reach him, arms wrap around my waist, my body lunging forward, and tumbling into the grass. The crushing weight spirals me into a full-fledged panic attack from not only the familiar smell on top of me but because I’m close enough to see the slight rise and fall of Logan’s chest. The twitching of the muscles in his face and worse, the way he slowly tilts his head toward me.

  His eyes are glassed over. Lifeless and looking right through me.

  “You can’t die on me, Logan Mitchell,” I whimper, defeat slowly draining out of me as I reach out and take hold of his hand. My equilibrium might be shaken up, but Logan’s hand is warm, that has to be a sign he’s going to be alright. I hope. “I’m right here, Logan. We’re going to be okay, remember. It’s all going to be okay.” Tears fall like a rapid river as I squeeze and he doesn’t squeeze back. Scared-stiff as I watch the life drain out of Logan’s blank eyes.

  “No.” I repeat the word over and over until a hand clamps over my mouth.

  Please let me wake up. Please. I don’t want to be in this nightmare anymore.

  “Take a good long look; this is the last time you will see him. Finally having my hands on you couldn’t have worked out better for me. It’s too bad we can’t stay in the home where we first met. Tell me, should I burn it to the ground before the storm hits? Should I shoot Logan in the head right now and put him out of his misery or should I let him stay here and wonder where you are and what I’m doing to you until he takes his last breath? The choice is yours.”