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MADISON

I t seems like it’s been an eternity since Ben started ranting and raving at my mom about his father, and all the wrongdoings she committed by having him placed in that awful foster home.

At first, I felt horrible for all the trauma Ben endured living in that hell house of a home with those awful foster parents.

But when he started describing the horrific things he did to the children there, then how he tortured wild animals in the woods before killing them, I lost all sympathy for him.

Ben ended up running away from the foster home at sixteen and taking a bus to Florida to be near his dad. During his regular visits with him, he perfected the art of killing girls, beginning with some drug addicts and runaways, and then moving to college students. He and his father learned the identity of my mom and then Ben worked on a plan to move here to enact his thirst for revenge. Which included me, since I’m Maura’s daughter.

He’s pacing across the room, bragging about raping and killing the victims from Falls Creek College. I’m exhausted and in pain, but anytime either my mom or I doze off, Ben hits or kicks us.

My attention focuses on him as he squats down in front of me. “Which leads to the events that led to us being here. Only, you fucked up my plans, Maddie.” He shakes his head, disappointment on his face. Running a hand through his brown hair, he says, “Brittany was supposed to be my final kill. That night in the club was orchestrated by me.”

He sneers at me, shaking his head in disgust. “I’d been watching you and Jagger. I saw the two of you that night I said I wasn’t coming home. You were too intent on each other to notice me. I almost turned into the parking lot when I saw you. Instead, I parked my car across the street, watching you. Fury rolled through me because I knew you were into him.”

He gets up and begins pacing. “That’s why I showed you those photos and texts, Maddie. I knew you’d leave, but I figured you’d go back home, instead of to your friend’s apartment. Yes, I’m aware Jagger watched you from his motorcycle. I watched him until he left.” He rolls his eyes, disgust twisting his face. “I still don’t know what you see in him.”

“Of course you don’t,” I murmur before clamping my lips shut.

Ben glares at me for a few minutes before continuing. “I was watching her apartment. I followed the two of you to the club. Of course, so did Jagger, that obsessive fool.”

I try to keep the grin off my face. Yes, my stalker followed me and confronted you that night in the club.

“I figured I’d draw him out when I danced with you, and of course, I did. Although, I didn’t count on the two of you fucking in his truck.” Shrewd sapphire eyes glitter with maliciousness as he stares me down with disgust. “Fucking children play nearby on that playground. But you and Jagger didn’t give a shit as he parked his truck and you two went at it like animals.”

I break out in a cold sweat, the psychotic look in his eyes causing me to tremble like a leaf. What the hell? He saw it. How?

He grabs my hair, making me scream as he jerks my head toward his. “ I watched it . The entire performance, from start to finish.”

Before I can react, his hand flies at my face, my head turning with the hit. Pain courses through my face from the slap, the loud crack reminding me of thunder. Ben hovers over me, the peppermint scent on his breath so strong it burns my nose. “ You were never like that with me ” He screams, his hand wrapping around my neck, squeezing.

“Please, Ben.” I gasp out, my bound hands feebly pushing against him, completely ineffective against his strength.

“Stop it, Ben,” my mom shrieks from beside me. She kicks out her tied legs, managing to push her shoes into his side. He howls, loosening his hold on my neck before turning his venomous eyes to her, his face twisted in a terrifying expression as the rage pounds through the bulging vein in his forehead.

My mom shrinks back against the wall as Ben crawls over to her. He looks ready to kill.

“You followed me and Jagger to the park?” I choke out, hoping to distract him.

He stiffens before slowly turning his head to me. “Yes, I did.” Leaning back on his haunches, his sapphire eyes flash at me. “I followed the two of you after the incident in the club. He parked in what he thought was a secluded spot in the woods. He was so lost in you he was blissfully unaware I was around. I scaled one of those large trees and perched in it, watching as the two…” He shakes his head, a sullen look on his face, a slight growl emanating from his throat. “You acted like you didn’t enjoy it when I was rough with you, but you sure as hell did with him. There was no faking that, Maddie.” His breath heaves from his lungs, fast and hard, blowing over my face. “You fucking enjoyed every second of it. The way you blew him… the way you rode him.” He grabs me again, shaking me. “Why? Why were you never like with me?”

Grabbing my ankles, he yanks on me, my back hitting the mattress. “Jagger stalked you and you fell right into his trap.” His hand grabs my legs, violently shoving them apart. He presses his hardness against me, and I cringe, panicking.

“Please, Ben. Don’t do this.” I hear my mom screaming beside me, but I can’t focus on her right now. Panic wells over me, but I’m doing my best to battle it back, trying to figure out how to keep from being raped and strangled.

“Don’t do what? Use you like a toy, then dispose of you? Jagger did. He may not have disposed of you yet , but it’s coming.”

I shake my head, taking deep breaths as the bile rises in my throat. “No, he wouldn’t. Jagger loves me.”

A maniacal burst of laughter comes from Ben. He laughs so long and hard that he seems oblivious as I push and twist beneath him, trying to get him off me.

When he stops, he grabs my face, fingers digging into my chin. “Stalker doesn’t love you. He loved using you.” Ben makes a tsking noise. “He likes winning, Maddie. Don’t you see it? Or are you too na?ve?”

My brows scrunch together, still pinned beneath his mass, his lean, muscular body pressed against mine. “I’m not na?ve.” My words are garbled from his grip on my chin. He loosens it slightly. “Jagger isn’t using me.”

“Tsk, tsk, tsk. You don’t know him at all, apparently.” A victorious smile curls Ben’s lips, a fanatical gleam in his eyes. “Let me enlighten you, Maddie.” He pauses dramatically as if he’s performing and trying to captivate a crowd and draw them in. “Jagger was using you to get close to your mother, Maura. She took everything away from him. She was the social worker who would have ruined his life, had he not killed his father and beat her at her own game.”

My brows knit, confusion swimming dizzily through my mind. How does Ben know this? “How do you…”

His laugh is gleeful as he takes in my expression. “I have my ways.” He inhales my confusion and fear, basking in it. If he could fill a bathtub with it and splash around in it, he would. “You were part of his plan to make the enemy’s daughter fall for him, then break you apart in front of her.”

His smile is vile as he says, “You see, your mother is the leader of all the corruption in this town. It started years ago when Jagger was just a boy. She betrayed him, and he ended up killing his father so he wouldn’t go into a mental institution. But… she was also responsible for what happened with his dad.”

“Your mother was the one bringing the drugs into this town. When Jagger’s dad became hooked, she used him to help her get where she wanted. All the while she was taking classes to move from working with children and youth to prisoners. When she succeeded in that goal, she met your father and married him. She hoped to make your dad fall in love with her enough that he’d join her in her corruption, but he was too good .” He sneers as he says the last words, disgust lining his face.

My mind whirls. I already know most of what Ben said from Jagger, but his accusations that Jagger is only using me for his own game cuts deep. Jagger and I fought about it at his cabin, but a slight doubt about Jagger giving us his revenge gig for me caused my heart to clench. Is Jagger being truthful with me? Did he really give up his revenge for me, or has this all been a game he capitalized on?

B en watches me carefully, his expression gleeful as he twists the knife deeper. “Jagger never loved you, Maddie. You are a means to an end. A pawn in his warped game, just like you are in mine.” He stares at me, something indecipherable in his eyes. “Although, my plans have changed slightly.” His hand trails over my face softly as the tears fill my eyes. I try not to let them fall, but my gaze swims with them, causing Ben to be nothing but a blurry, rain-soaked windshield. I blink and like wipers clearing the rain from the glass, I can clearly see Ben’s victorious expression.

Then he hammers a nail in the coffin of my trust in Jagger. “He may have revealed some of his plans to you in an effort to win your trust. But those people he killed were all to cripple Maura. To make her burn with a vengeance so she’d come after him.” He pauses dramatically, his face inches from mine. “She’s the leader of it all, Maddie. She brought corruption to this town. And the only thing that stood in her way from being at the top of the chain and completely untouchable was your father.” He gives a shrug. “She took care of him in that motorcycle ‘accident’ that claimed his life.”

His laugh echoes around me as I squeeze my eyes closed, my heart splintering and breaking into thousands of pieces. She killed my dad?

Turning my head, I meet her tear-filled blue eyes and see the guilt in them and I have my answer. She did. My mom killed my dad.

My head spins from Ben’s—and my mom’s inadvertent—revelation as I try and fail to process them. Despair fills me, making my body heavy before the numbness descends over it.

Has everything I’ve known been a lie? Did Jagger only use me, pretending to love me, to get to my mom?