Page 69 of Behind These Four Walls
“What, James?” she pressed, the railing separating them from the drop beyond nothing but a blur touched by moonlight as they whizzed past. “Where what happened?” Maybe if she kept him talking, he’d come back to reality and see what he was doing.
“Where we killed them!” he roared. He was so loud, his words echoed in the truck.
Her hands clamped over her ears to drown out both him and the sound of the vehicle whipping through the wind as James accelerated in this deadly game of chicken.
They roared toward the other vehicle. She begged James to stop, to move over. But he wouldn’t, laughing and repeating over and over that there was nothing left. They were just about on the oncoming truck, its horn blaring nonstop. She couldn’t watch. She couldn’t look away. She couldn’t think as she saw Danny’s horrified face through the windshield, getting closer, until just as they were about to collide, the other truck swerved at the last minute. Not quick enough for James to avoid smashing into its side.
The other vehicle spun out of control, careening off the road, out of her line of vision, as James lost control from the impact, wrenching the wheel hard to keep them from crashing through the metal barrier and going over the drop. They hit a stone embankment in an amalgamated discordance of clashing metal, squealing tires, and shattering glass. Isla’s head smacked into her window as the airbags deployed. She heard, saw, felt nothing more.
Chapter Fifty-Three
James
Thirteen Years Ago
The old Abbott barn was one of the few places James and Edie could get away from everyone and be together. The way their relationship had evolved had been a slow burn, though he’d liked her from the minute he stepped foot in Bennett’s house and saw her there, head in a book. James knew then that she would be the only person he wanted to spend the rest of his life with, and Edie believed she wanted the same.
She wasn’t like the other Corrigans. She was sensitive, compassionate, and nice. She never made it seem like she was anything more than a regular awkward girl. James loved that about her. She wasn’t like Myles, who was too cool to even be considered human. He was already off in the air force, having made a quick getaway from his overbearing father. She wasn’t like Bennett, who toggled between hating Edie with a passion and being overprotective of her.
James only wanted to be with her. But even that, Bennett wouldn’t let happen. The moment he suspected James was interested in Edie, he was on James like white on rice, shaming him, trying to get him to fuckother girls, outright demanding they not see each other. All because he knew that Edie was the one their father loved the most. So he made it his goal for her to have the least.
The five of them—James, Edie, Bennett, Danny, and Roger—had gone to the barn to hang out and drink. Bennett, Danny, and Roger were drinking the most, guzzling all the booze they’d found at home and bought from the store, where a fake ID got them all the whiskey and tequila and beer they wanted.
James and Edie sneaked away, climbing up to the loft when it looked like the guys below had finally passed out. Now they could be alone. Quiet, so as not to wake the ones below, but alone.
The two of them finally gave in to the desires they’d kept in check for months. They made love, and it was the most special night of James’s life. As they were getting dressed and silently laughing at the hay stuck in their hair, Danny’s head popped up through the door in the floor, and he grinned at them lasciviously. Below, Bennett and Roger waited.
Danny sniffed the air and yelled, “Smells like someone’s been fucking tonight!” He laughed boisterously. “James, you goddamn dog! I thought Bennett said Edie was hands off for his friends.”
Below, Roger, always the clown, whooped and hollered, saying the most asinine things. They were still drunk, even more so if that was possible. The alcohol wafted off them, and they were unsteady on their feet.
“I’m the one who decides who’s on or off limits,” Edie said, brushing away the last bits of hay.
“You better get your deciding ass on down here so we can go.” Danny laughed, climbing back down the rickety stairs.
James and Edie shared a look, knowing Bennett was about to explode, preparing themselves for the inevitable. James knew exactly how it would go down. They’d drop Edie off at home, and then Bennett would get Danny and Roger to beat the shit out of James for daring to be with his sister. All James wanted was to get her home safely. The rest would be what it was going to be.
Bennett watched them hawkishly, his eyes dark and stormy beneath the mess of his curly light-brown hair. His gaze went from Edie to James and back to Edie again, his expression unreadable. The air around him was thick with repressed anger, booze, and all the other demons bottled inside him. Edie stood her ground against him, refusing to make what she and James were to each other something cheap and ugly. She slipped her hand in James’s, and for a moment, he relished the feel of her soft hands, remembered the touch of her body beneath his. But he stiffened at the way Bennett looked at their intertwined hands. Gently, James pulled his hand from hers, refusing to face her when she looked at him full of hurt. He couldn’t face anyone, ashamed that he was afraid to stand up to Bennett.
Bennett had a bottle of whiskey in his hand and took a deep drink of it. “So this is what you do when Dad’s not around. Just wait until I tell him. He’ll ship you off to where your fucking mother is slumming in Florida. Get the fuck in the car. I’m taking you home.”
James and Edie were the sober ones, and they attempted to get the keys from Roger, but Bennett was insistent on getting behind the wheel, and Roger gave the keys up to him without a whimper. James and Edie said they’d trek down, to which Bennett replied, “This time of night? As far as it is by foot? Over my dead body.” He looked at James, his words meaning more than just walking down the hill.
Roger’s yellow Jeep raced through the night, slicing through the darkness of the winding two-lane road that cut through the hills. The air was thick with the tension that only comes from too much liquor and the reckless thrill of youth.
Bennett grinned in the driver’s seat, his hand drumming against the steering wheel of the Jeep while Edie sat in the passenger seat, her knuckles practically white as she gripped the armrest. In the back, Roger and Danny volleyed between boisterous laughter and nervous yelps when Bennett took curves too wide. James sat rigidly behind Bennett’s seat.
“Bennett, slow down,” Edie said tersely. Her eyes were glued to the twisting road ahead. “These roads are dangerous.”
He glanced at her, his grin widening to a sneer. “Come on, Edie, don’t be such a buzzkill. It’s just a bit of fun.”
James’s stomach churned. The alcohol coursing through his veins did little to dull the heaviness in his chest. Bennett was unpredictable, worse than Jekyll and Hyde, and hopped up on wealthy privilege. One moment, he was charming, smooth talking, the center of attention. The next, he was ... this. Cold. Sadistic.
The others exchanged nervous glances but said nothing. They never said no to Bennett.
“We’ve had enough fun for one night,” Edie said, trying to keep her voice steady. “Let’s just get home.”
“Nah,” Bennett said, focused on the narrow stretch of road illuminated by their beams. “One more game before we get to the house,” he said, his tone low and teasing.