Freeing Destiny (Fate #2) (33 page)

I wasn’t buying it. I knew Stella. She had nothing to run from. Everyone she loved was here. Waiting for her return. Where would she have gone? Were there parts of her life I hadn’t gotten to know in our short time together? There were so many questions, so much confusion, I could hardly see straight. I also hadn’t slept in God knew how long. It was safe to say, I was a certifiable mess.

Regardless of what anyone else thought, I had my own plans on how to handle things. They could all sit and wait for her to show up, but I couldn’t just linger as if I wasn’t worried sick. I had to get back home. Maybe she was there. But my intention to get my ass back to California was grounded by a fucking storm! Yes, a full-blown, Nor’easter type snowstorm in November.
I’ll have to get over my hatred for the white, slushy shit when I move here with Stella.

Hopeful thoughts like that kept me going. I had to remain positive. She was missing, not dead. Misplaced, not forsaken. I would find her no matter what it took, but I was currently at a standstill because of uncontrollable forces.

“Jack, you okay?” Gabriella looked worse than I felt but still found it in her to console me with a squeeze around my shoulders.

“No, of course not, but there’s no use in complaining about it. We need to take action. That’s what we need to do. I have to get out of here somehow.”

The pained glint of grief that showed in her eyes tugged at my heart. She’d been through so much. It was cruel of whoever was responsible for this to put her through such torture. Whether it be God, Stella herself, or someone else, I wanted them to pay for putting that kind of anguish on Gabriella’s face.

Recognizing her sorrow, Caleb came to her side. We shared a quick nod of acknowledgement and I continued pacing.

I contemplated how we were supposed to spend this day.
Thanksgiving
. A feast. Gratitude for our blessings. Togetherness. My mind played unkind tricks on me as I pictured it in vivid flashes of imagination.
“Pass me the corn, Sunshine.” “Here you go, Flame.”
A stab of anxiety punctured my already weakened heart as I returned to our horrible reality.

But then something clicked. Or rather, someone. Emma was already searching high and low in my absence, and while my parents were of no assistance on holiday in France, I did have another sister who was desperate for forgiveness.

Aubrey owed me. She owed all of us. By some miracle, maybe she could win our forgiveness
and
bring my Sunshine back to me.

Stella

“Oh, how freaking cute. He has a nickname for you and everything. Must be the real deal.” The sound of Aubrey’s disdain made my ears sting.

I’d been moved from the bathroom to the kitchen, unwillingly but without a fight. Aubrey had delusions of grandeur and I was quickly catching on. Through her mumblings and lunacy, I gathered that she felt spurned by everyone. Her loneliness got the best of her and finally made her crack. I was here as an improvised houseguest, forced to keep her company during Thanksgiving.

It was sick.
So
sick and twisted that I seriously worried for my life. What would she do with me
after
today? I mean, she couldn’t exactly release me and send me on my way as if nothing had happened.

This was a kidnapping. I was a hostage. This bitch was off her rocker, but still had to know there would be repercussions—legal consequences—for capturing me like some stray animal and caging me for her enjoyment.

So I played nice. I went along with her demands because I didn’t want her to hurt me. It would only be a matter of time before someone came looking for me. All signs pointed to crazy legs over there. I had no enemies, no reason to run away, and an itinerary as proof. In my heart of hearts I knew Jack and my family were already on their way to rescue me from this deranged psycho, so I used that as the calming anecdote to my anxiety.
Play nice and go with the flow. Let her think she’s in control. Maybe she’ll veer off her distorted path and slip up, give you an out. Stay keen for any opening, Stella. She’s bound to fuck up. Focus.

I tried to ignore her fingers as she scrolled through my phone. I had no idea what she was doing, but one could only guess she had an ulterior motive. She’d obviously been searching through my texts with Jack because she mentioned the nickname.

What are you up to, Aubrey?

I wanted to flip out, but I couldn’t chance anything. She had a knife handy at all times, not just for her culinary madness today, and she was swiping through my phone like nobody’s business. For all I knew she’d been deleting all proof of my existence. So instead, I tried to grab her attention and throw her off. “Do you want my help with dinner?” I asked, confident on the outside, shaking in my boots on the inside.

“Well, you’re kind of . . . tied up.” She pointed to my hands that were handcuffed to the chair. The smirk on her face actually frightened me. I had no idea what she was capable of, and she seemed to be enjoying herself.

It didn’t matter, though. I had to let her think she had power over me while remaining unscathed. “If you give me one free hand, you’d be surprised what I can do,” I offered.

“Ha!” she cackled. “You really think I’m that stupid? Shut up, Stella. You can sit there and watch while I cook
and
pretend I’m you.”

What was she talking about, pretend she’s me? “If you were pretending to be me, wouldn’t you be handcuffed, too?” I forced a shy smile to goad her for more.

“Yeah, that’s true, but this is so much more fun. I just single handedly—pun totally intended—broke up with your boyfriend and told him to stop looking for you. He thinks you changed your mind. Apparently, you don’t want to be with him anymore. You thought about it and the distance will just be too much. You can’t focus on your career with him weighing you down and you feel suffocated. So, you decided not to go to New York for the holiday because you need time to yourself. To think it through. You didn’t tell anyone because you didn’t want to make them worry, but you’re still in California, laying low at a hotel. You were so selfish. You scared the shit out of everyone and now they’re all furious with you,
Sunshine
. Especially my heart broken brother.”

I had no words. I couldn’t react even if I wasn’t tied down. The blood slowly drained from my face and settled in my toes. “What have you done? You evil bitch. How could you do this to me?”

Aubrey didn’t answer. She simply shrugged as her fingers continued to pretend they were mine.

Tears flooded my eyes. My chest was heavy with fear and anger and so many other toxic emotions. She’d gone too far. There was no way out. But instead of feeling sorry for myself, all I could think about was Jack.
My beacon of hope. My Flame.
He probably hated me. He was forced to believe I broke his heart and turned my back on us. How could I fix this? It was hopeless. I was helpless. I refused to believe my destiny was to become a victim of Aubrey’s madness, but what other alternative was there?

Control your own destiny, or someone else will.

I wouldn’t go down without trying. It was time to fight.

Jack

“I’m not buying it. I just won’t.” When Stella’s text came through my heart lodged in my throat. She was alive! She was safe! She was . . . breaking up with me?

Initially, I was fuming. We all were. Wrath replaced fear as all of us pictured Stella sitting pretty in some hotel while we worried years off our lives searching for her.

But that was over an hour ago. And time did crazy things to a person who’s lost all hope. It played tricks on you. It distorted your visions. It created apparitions. Time fucked with your head. And I had plenty of it. So I used it to carefully calculate the situation.

When I called Aubrey earlier and told her Stella was missing she sounded genuinely upset. If not for Stella, for me. I asked her to swing by my apartment, scan the neighborhood. Go back to Gabriella’s old house. She was commissioned to retrace all the steps Emma had already taken and she did so willingly. When the search was over—whenever that happened—Aubrey would have a hand in finding her. All would be right with the world. Right?

Wrong.

Within an hour of calling Aubrey, the text from Stella came in.

My heart broke. My empty stomach nearly erupted onto Caleb and Gabriella’s shag carpet. I’d been duped. That’s how it felt. I put my heart on the line and did everything right only to have it ripped out of my chest.

Nina was the first person I went to. I wanted her to see it. She was right. I was wrong. The letter that served as my proof that Stella was in love with me was all bullshit. “I guess you were right. She must have told you, didn’t she?” I had to direct my anger at someone, so Nina—the person who looked the most like Stella—was my target.

“Jack, don’t. The letter had me convinced, too. When I asked you about all of this before, I was only speculating. I swear it. She’s never said one thing to me about leaving you. Maybe she just—”

“Maybe she just changed her mind.” Stella’s Aunt Gina chimed in, any inhibitions dulled by her third glass of wine. “She’s been under a lot of pressure. Give the girl a break.”

Give the girl a break?
Seemed a little subtle for the circumstances. Just an hour ago there was a country-wide search and rescue mission going on and now they were all at ease with this? “Please excuse my bluntness, but you’re all freaking crazy. None of this makes sense! Why don’t you see that?” I knew crazy—I grew up with it—but these people were like yo-yos. One minute they were freaking out and the next they were perfectly fine that Stella put on an elaborate act because she needed space.
Really? Was this real life?

“What can we do, Jack? She doesn’t want to be here. Let’s leave it alone and wait to hear from her. She’s probably embarrassed and just needs some time.” The aunt was starting to piss me off.

“You know what?
You
sit around and wait. I’m not giving up!” Fuck that! I was outta there. I’d walk barefoot through the snow even if it was just to clear my mind.

Caleb tried to stop me as I hurried to put on my coat. I shrugged his hand off my shoulder and reached for the door knob. Gabriella’s soft grip caused me to shudder.

“Wait,” she pleaded. “Can we talk?”

I closed my eyes and counted to ten. I was the one who needed a damn minute. But I also couldn’t deny what she needed. This woman had been through hell and back in the last two days. I wanted to hear what she had to say.

After nodding my approval, Gabriella turned to her husband. “Give us a minute?” She winked and in turn Caleb kissed her cheek and left us alone.

“Jack,” she whispered. Both of her hands clutched my shoulders in what seemed to be a gesture of desperation. I knew it well. I wanted to shake every one of those people inside just to have them hear me out.

“What’s the matter, Gabriella? What are you thinking?”

She pulled out her phone and showed me a text from Stella. It had come a little while after the one she sent to me.

Stella: I’m sorry for worrying you. Please understand I just need to be alone. I’ll call you as soon as I have things figured out. Until then, please just give me time.