Nick met his gaze. “So if you love her, go after her.”
Amelia knew it was time to kill him.
It was the only way she would survive.
For so long she had thought it was the Commander who owned her. Arthur Blackwood, who’d whispered in her ear and terrified her.
That Skid and Bessie and Viola had come to help her.
But now she knew different. Bessie was she, the scared little girl. And Viola was the woman inside her who craved a man. Who wanted love and, one day, marriage and babies.
But Skid—Skid was the evil inside her. The personality the Commander had planted in her head to make her do what he wanted.
And he wanted the real Amelia to be weak.
He wanted her dead.
Then he could make Skid into his soldier.
She looked out the window at the sun shining, at the day blooming ahead.
Amelia wanted to be part of that. But if she was going to live and have her dreams, she had to silence Skid.
She closed her eyes, willed herself to be strong, then mentally took the knife and plunged it into Skid.
He screamed and cursed, but she dug the knife in deeper.
“How can you do this to me after I protected you?” he cried as blood spurted across his abdomen.
She didn’t relent, though.
She had to kill him.
It was the only way she could survive.
Chapter 30
Sadie stared across the water at Alcatraz. For so long, she’d felt drawn to that prison. Had connected with the fact that it stood alone, surrounded by frigid waters, that the worst of the worst had been incarcerated behind those walls.
That no one had ever escaped.
Now she understood the reason she’d felt that connection.
It had been her own guilt. She had been trapped by the lies and secrets.
But she was free of them now.
Except that she was still alone.
Tears pricked her eyes, but she blinked them back. She wasn’t totally alone. Amelia was doing better, and Sadie was researching other practices so she could move closer to her, and they could see each other more often.
The wind picked up, the chilly mist off the water spraying her, making her shiver. Tugging her jacket around her, she headed back to her apartment.
Just as she had so many times, though, she sensed that someone was watching her.
No...she was paranoid. Arthur Blackwood might have been watching her for years, but he was in jail now. Thank God.
She and Amelia were both safe.
Still, old habits die hard, and she kept her eyes peeled for anyone suspicious as she jogged up the sidewalk to her apartment and let herself in.
The air felt thick as she entered, and she glanced around, disturbed by the faint scent of a man’s aftershave permeating the air.
Was she imagining it, or had someone been in her apartment?
Grabbing her pepper spray from her purse, she scanned the living room, but she didn’t see anyone. Then the whisper of a sound echoed from her bedroom.
Pulse racing, she inched toward it, angling the pepper spray in case she needed it. Darkness bathed the room, and just as she reached for the light switch, a shadow moved. Then someone grabbed her.
She tried to scream, to pelt him with the pepper spray, but he knocked the canister from her hand and threw her into a chokehold.
Jake was sweating. He had nearly changed his mind at the airport, then on the cab ride over.
But he’d spotted Sadie walking. As he watched her staring out at Alcatraz, he thought of Amelia’s disturbing painting of the two little girls, locked up in the darkness.
Had Sadie felt imprisoned by her own dark memories?
Even now, he’d seen the sadness in her eyes. The haunting loneliness that emanated from her wrenched his heart.
Because he loved her.
But he had let her go; he hadn’t told her. He’d allowed his pride, guilt, and shame over his father’s actions to stand between him.
It didn’t have to be that way, did it?
Could she forgive him for the anguish his father had caused her?
Dammit, he had to try. He couldn’t leave without telling her how he felt.
Even if she told him to go away.
As he raised his fist to knock on her door, though, he froze; he heard a noise inside. One hand automatically went for his gun, but he’d left it at home because of the hassle of dealing with airline security.
Something crashed to the floor, then Sadie’s scream punctured the air.
His heart thundered. Gun or not, he tried the door. It was locked, so he slammed his weight into it and busted it open. The entryway was pitch dark. As he paused to get his bearings, another scream echoed from a back room.
He raced toward the sound. Through a door, he saw Sadie struggling with a man.
The bastard had pinned her to the bed. The shiny glint of a knife blade shimmered in the moonlight streaming through the window.
Jake lunged toward the man and dragged him off Sadie. The man twisted and tried to stab Jake, but he knocked the knife from his hand with a karate chop, and it skittered across the floor. Then he saw the tattoo on his arm. He fit the description Mazie had given them.