Eye of the Storm (The Storm Series) (18 page)

“Are you going to help Kat?” Evie called to her.

“No.”

After a few minutes of searching, she felt something different at the back of the drawers that were on the wall. It felt like a button. “Guys, I think I’ve got something.” She pressed the button and heard a click, the wall in question started to slowly open. “Anthony!”

The three of them pushed forward to go into a small room. Evie felt like she was going to be sick. Photos covered the walls. Women in all sorts of torture and pain. There were so many of them. She didn’t want to look at the ones of Lexi. She knew what she had been through, had seen her right after, but seeing it being done to her was something else. She focused on the other women. Putting names to faces. There was Tiffani, Natalie, Monique, Chelle, and Heather. Not to mention the others she could only assume were of the women they found at his childhood home.

She heard a whimper behind her and turned to see Kat standing there with tears running down her face staring at the photos on the wall. Evie turned back around to see which ones she was looking at. Tilting her head, she moved forward to get a closer look. Kat had been looking at the pictures of Chelle Michaels. Getting closer Evie saw a naked woman stretched out on a bed before Jeremy had started hurting her. Evie’s eyes widened.
It couldn’t be.
She turned and looked at Kat. Seeing the expression on her face, she knew it must be.

Chelle Michaels and Kat Snyder had the same birthmark on their stomach. The same birthmark Evie had noticed when they had been trying on swimsuits a few months ago.

“You bitch.” Evie screamed as she launched herself at Kat. Strong arms came around her and lifted her up off of the ground. “Let me go, Anthony, I don’t want to hurt
you.
”

“What the fuck is going on?” he hissed in her ear.

Still wiggling to get out of his hold she said, “That bitch over there is Chelle Michaels. You know one of the women we thought was
dead
. She’s known all along. She’s been protecting Lexi. She never said a word!”

Kat started to back out of the room. Jackson walked over behind her effectively making it so she couldn’t leave.

“Maybe you should explain how you came to that conclusion Evie,” Jackson said calmly.

“Kat has the exact same birthmark as Chelle on her stomach. I’ve seen it. See?” She pointed to the picture. “It’s one of those large red ones. I noticed because it looks like a cat. I thought it was interesting that her name was Kat. Now I see a picture of Chelle, and she has the
exact same one
!”

“Do you have anything to say Kat?” Anthony asked.

“No.”

“Well you’d better start talking and fast otherwise does obstruction of justice mean anything to you?” Venom filled Evie’s words.

“How the hell do we know she isn’t working with Jeremy? How else would he always know what we were planning to do? It’s her! She’s telling him everything.” Evie screamed at Kat.

Kat’s tears were flowing faster. “No, no, no, no. I’d never have anything to do with that bastard. I want him found, I want him to suffer. I want him dead like I’ve wanted nothing else in my life.” She looked to the men. “You’ve got to believe me. There is no way I’d be associated with that bastard.” She stared into Jackson’s eyes. “Please. Please believe me. I don’t want anyone hurt but him.”

“I believe her,” Jackson said.

“What are you crazy? She could be making this all up. No way is she getting anywhere near Lexi. Fuck no.”

“Evie, calm down. Think with your head. If she was going to harm Lexi, wouldn’t she have done it months ago?” Seeing his sister’s stubborn look he continued. “Why don’t we just listen to her story, and then decide what to do?”

Kat shook her head, “I only want to tell my story once. Can we please just go back to Noah’s? I’ll tell everything then.”

“You’d better tell us everything, otherwise what Jeremy did to you will be nothing like what I will. And you’d better not get within ten feet of Lexi.” Evie finally got out of Anthony’s hold and pushed past Kat.

~*~

They decided not to let the police know what they found until after everyone heard Kat’s story. To stay one step ahead of Jeremy they wanted everything they could find out before letting the authorities know. They took photos on their cell phones so that they had them to reference back to later. They were lucky and were able to get a flight out within a few hours. It was a long trip back across the country. Anthony couldn’t believe everything they had found and discovered. Kat was actually Chelle Michaels. She seemed so different now than the teacher he had met in Los Angeles all those years ago.

Trying to piece together what he knew about that case and Kat he was coming up with blanks. He wanted to press her for information but she had refused to answer any questions. She had allowed Jackson to sit by her but she just looked out the window, crying, not saying a word.

If she had recovered enough by the time Lexi was attacked the first time, she might have seen something that could’ve proven his innocence then, and he would have never gone to prison. They could have been looking for Jeremy years ago, not just now.

He felt his anger building. Maybe Lexi didn’t even have to be attacked the second time. Maybe those other women didn’t have to die. How could she not say anything?

His sense of justice was growing to where all he could think about was ending this bastard’s life so everyone would be safe.

Lost in thought, the next thing he knew the captain came on saying they were preparing for descent. Making sure his and Evie’s seatbelts were secured he waited to land, knowing a storm was brewing and wondering who was going to come out of it alive.

~*~

Once again, they were all gathered in the great room of Noah’s house. The atmosphere was tense with only four of them knowing what was found and the rest wondering why they looked so angry.

Evie pulled Noah aside. “You’ll want to stick by Lexi.”

“Why? What’s going on?”

Glaring at Kat, she debated letting Noah know before everyone else. “Well, let me put it to you this way. Kat isn’t who she says she is and knows more than she ever let on.”

Noah grabbed Evie by the arm. “Tell me.”

Shaking her head she said, “I don’t know much more than that. Kat said she wanted to tell everyone at once. I don’t think it’s good; Lexi is going to need you. And you might need to find a new bodyguard.”

“Shit.”

“Yeah. Come on, let’s get some information.”

Evie walked over to Anthony. She knew she was going to need to lean on him, and hopefully he would lean on her. Dreading what was coming, they sat down to hear Kat’s story.

Kat twisted her fingers together, she didn’t want to do this. She’d hoped she’d never have to tell these people what had happened to her and what she had to do. Hoping she could get through to them and they wouldn’t hate her, she accepted the glass of water Jackson handed her. He was the only one who wasn’t openly hostile towards her. She didn’t understand it but decided she’d take it.

Looking around the room at the people she’d spent so much time with the past year, she couldn’t help but have feelings for them. They were always so nice to her and treated her more like a friend than employee. Spending most of her time trying to keep them at arm’s length hadn’t worked; somehow they’d found a place in her heart.

Taking a deep breath, she knew she couldn’t put it off any longer. “I’m originally from Pittsburg. My family had always been into doing something to give back. Most of them were either police officers or fire fighters. But so many years ago, I was a first grade teacher. That was all I ever wanted. To teach children. To be around children. I wanted to fall in love and have a dozen of them. We were all a really close knit family, getting the whole gang together every weekend. They would all trade stories on catching the bad guy, making him pay or saving families from burning buildings. It was perfect.”

Kat kept her eyes down, looking at her fingers. She didn’t want to see the look in their eyes. She was sure some of them started to realize what was coming. “I had a great opportunity to go out to Los Angles. It was a teaching conference, the newest and best teaching tools to help kids. I remember wanting to go so badly. I had some kids that were having a really tough time. They didn’t have the best home life and I wanted to help them. I knew an education was the only way for them to break out of the cycle. I wanted to help them. That’s all I ever wanted was to help children. To have children.”

She was surprised when Jackson came over and sat down next to her. While she didn’t want to admit it, it helped knowing that maybe someone would, at least, listen to her. She hoped he wouldn’t judge too hard.

“So in L.A. the hotel double booked my room.” She nodded towards Anthony. “He was a gentleman. And so handsome. I have to admit I was hoping for a fairytale ending. You know, like something from a movie.” She paused. “But that didn’t happen. In fact, the opposite happened.”

“No.” whispered Lexi.

Kat looked up at her. “Yes. I was attacked and left for dead. I wanted to die. That was the only thing I knew when I woke up. But by that time my family was there, they swooped in and covered everything up. They didn’t want him to know I was alive. They had everything sealed and moved me back to heal. It took a while. Then they told me I could never have children. He took that away from me. The only thing I ever really wanted in life, and it was ripped from me. I couldn’t go back to teaching; I couldn’t face all those children. Children whose parents treated them terribly, who didn’t appreciate the miracle they had in their hands.” She clenched her hands into fists when she saw how much they were shaking.

“I had some money so I told my family I had to leave. While the attack didn’t happen there, it was too much. Seeing family and friends with babies, I couldn’t take it. I took what I’d learned from my family about law enforcement and online courses and started tracking Anthony. I changed my name and my attitude. I wanted him to suffer as much as I had.”

Looking over at Anthony she said, “I’m sorry. I hated you for so long. All that time looking in the wrong direction until one night. It was after your first date with Lexi. I noticed someone else watching. I couldn’t believe my eyes. He looked so much like you. If I couldn’t turn my head and see you I would never have believed it. I followed him; he must have known something was up because I lost him. I split my time between following Anthony and Lexi. I knew he’d have to show up at some point. I was there that night Lexi was attacked. I was pretty sure it wasn’t Anthony, but I couldn’t be sure. This time I was able to follow him to the airport where he boarded a flight to somewhere in the northwest. I couldn’t get on the flight so I went back to see what Anthony was up to. That was when I learned about Lexi’s attack. I couldn’t believe what had happened while I was sitting there watching from outside.”

“And you said nothing,” Noah said.

“No, I didn’t. I didn’t have enough information.”

“What about later? Obviously, at some point you knew more.” Noah stood up and started towards her. “Tell us the rest. Now.”

“As you already know, he disappeared while Anthony was in prison. I couldn’t find him. So I focused on Lexi. I figured he might come back for her at some point.”

“I never saw you, all those years.” Lexi said in a small voice.

“I always dressed up with the kids, so I was in disguises a lot. I couldn’t believe how lucky I was when he finally did show up. I almost had him so many times, but he’d always escape. It’s like that bastard has nine lives or something.”

Evie was on her feet stalking towards Kat. “You just sat back and let Lexi be attacked for the second time. After everything you’ve been through, how could you let him do that to another women?” Evie tried to shake off Anthony’s grasp. “Do you understand what you’ve done? How many woman have died because you were so hung up on your own revenge you didn’t say anything to anyone? Hell, my grandmother was almost killed!” Poking a finger into Kat’s chest, “That’s all on you. You talk about all you wanted was kids, well, what about those kids who have lost their mothers because you wouldn’t say anything? What about that?”

Kat was crying, her head hanging down. “I know. I was obsessed. I wanted nothing more than making him pay. Make him suffer for taking my chance to have children away from me.”

“Why? Why didn’t you say anything sooner? Lexi didn’t have to be attacked again. Hell, Anthony might not have ended up in prison! You could have been helping us. Instead you just stood there, doing
nothing
,” Evie screamed at her.

Kat stood up and got in Evie’s face. “Don’t you think I’m living with that every single day of my life? Not just what he took from me, but everyone else. He needs to pay and I want to be the one to make him suffer. I want to hurt him just as much as he’s hurt all these other women. I want him to beg for his life as I slowly kill him. I want my face to be the last he ever sees.” Exhausted, she sat back down on the chair.

Kat sat there while everyone started talking at once. Everyone knew now, there was nothing left to hide. Well, just one thing. She looked over at Jackson.

~*~

Evie followed Lexi into the kitchen when everyone started arguing with each other on what to do next. “How are you doing?”

“I don’t know. I can’t believe she’s been this close to me this whole time and never said anything.” She rubbed a hand over her belly. “And now that I’m pregnant, I can’t even begin to know what she has been feeling.”

“What about the fact she’s been lying?”

“It’s easier for you to hold onto the anger. You forget I’ve been where she’s been. I can completely understand where she’s coming from.”

“So what you’re saying it’s okay what she did?”

“No, I’m saying I understand. She was tortured, almost killed, and can’t have children. The first two alone can change a person, but you add the third and yeah, I can understand.”

“You’re going all soft on me.”

“No, just trying to show some compassion. I’m not saying I still want her as my bodyguard. I still think she is more interested in killing Jeremy than protecting me, but that also means I’m not going to kick her out on the street.”