Taboo Unchained(100)

Audra pulls into a parking space; I'm out before she gets a chance to come to a complete stop. I start searching then – through the windows of parked vehicles, the cabs of trucks, every single stall in both bathrooms. I break a window on the back of the unmanned visitor's center and crawl inside. Nothing. In the trees. Nothing. A shed filled with cleaning supplies. Nothing.

“What are we looking for?” Audra asks me as I wonder if I've taken things too far, if I should've just told the police my suspicions and let them find Robbie. Or maybe I'm completely and utterly delusional. For all I fucking know, Lloyd Owens could actually be fucking dead. Robbie's disappearance could be completely unrelated.

Except that my name is Lucas Carter, and I am a fucking God. I know what gets everyone off – even slimy filth ridden trash like Lloyd Owens.

“Lucas?” Audra asks, moving smoothly alongside me. For the first time since I've met her, she isn't wearing heels.

I pause for a moment and close my eyes. I pretend Lloyd is one of my clients – as disgusting as that is to even imagine – and I try to figure out how to exorcise his demons. Sex wasn't and still doesn't seem to be his prime motivating factor, so what? How can I put my few dark skills to use?

As soon as I open my eyes, I see the car pulling into the parking lot and swinging around to the day use camping area in the back. There are a dozen or so spots, all of them empty at this time of year. I glance over at Audra with – not a smile – but a horribly wicked expression that comes damn close.

“He was waiting for me to pick a spot,” I explain, realization finally dawning on me. “Wherever I chose to go would've been correct.” I take Audra's hand and we stroll slowly towards the back of the bathrooms, over a small dirt road, and down a trail towards the farthest camping spot. It's slightly obscured from the highway, not by much, but it will have to do. At this point, all I care about is saving Robbie. I don't care if I die or get arrested or beaten down by a mob of concerned citizens.

Before we hit the packed dirt surrounding the car, I reach down and squeeze Audra's fingers.

“I don't want you to get hurt,” I explain, looking over at her. She smiles back at me and then looks down at her faux engagement ring. Without another word, Audra slides it off and drops it in my pocket. “You could've been the perfect woman for me,” I tell her and she grins slightly, the expression tinged with worry for Robbie. But I know that an extra few seconds of standing here will mean nothing. Lloyd is waiting for me. For this single second, frozen in stillness and drenched in time, she's safe. “You could've nursed my demons, provided them company with your own. We could've done dark things together and reveled in it.” I lean over and press a searing kiss to Audra's lips. “You are the woman of my nightmares.”

“And is Robbie the woman of your dreams?” she asks, not seeming all that disappointed at having lost a potential something with me. I try not to feel stilted and shrug, shaking my head gently.

“I don't know.”

“I think so,” Audra says, pressing another kiss to my shoulder. “That bitch.” She pulls back and glances over at the car. “But this doesn't mean we're done, you and me. At the very least, we have to be friends. If nothing else, I can convince you to do the things you don't believe you should even try.”

“Such as?”

“The taboo,” Audra says with a smirk. “Dating a girl ten years younger than you?” Audra clicks her tongue and shakes her head. “Tsk tsk. And starting over? Changing? These are the most taboo fucking things there are. So, Mr. Carter, if that's what you revel in, put your fucking money where your mouth is and give it a fucking try. You owe yourself that, at least.”

“We'll see,” I say, but what I really mean is I hope so.



I pause at the edge of the campsite, my heart racing in my chest. Audra's wandered away, but I'm not sure that she's gone. She took the gun with her, but that's okay. If … I'm going to give something with Robbie a try, I might as well release the last of my pain and rage upon the monster that started it all. That's called closure, isn't it? The most sought after and least obtained of all emotions.

“Lloyd,” I say casually, leaning against a tree as if I haven't a care in the world. And maybe right now, I don't. Maybe right now I'm still Lucas Carter and not yet Luke. Lucas Carter isn't afraid. Of anything. Nothing. Because he has nothing to lose. Not yet. But I will. If this all goes right, I will.

“Knew you'd show up,” Lloyd grunts, climbing from the car and dragging Robbie by her hair. She slides over the front seat and slumps to the ground like a doll. She's still wearing her pajamas – a baggy gray T-shirt and black sweatpants. There are cuts along her arms that match the ones Aliyah had on hers. Bloodstains spot her clothing and her head lolls strangely to the side when Lloyd kicks her and levels the barrel of his new revolver at her prone form. “It's about fucking time, you lazy piece of shit. I got two gut wounds and I was up and about before you even climbed out of bed.” Lloyd pulls back the hammer on his gun. “I should've killed you in your sleep, but I wanted you to see this first.”