Forest Lake

Chapter 34

“She is not bait, Mr. Richardson.” one of them said calmly. “She is someone who could help us find him and save Annie’s life.”

I felt my heartbeat in my throat. Was my heart going to jump out through my fucking mouth?!

“Mason.” she called me softly. “Can I lift my head, please?”

I flinched and looked down at her. I moved my hand even though I didn’t really want to.

She looked up at me and cupped my face. She gave me a small smile, and my heart calmed down instantly.

“I am going to be okay, Massy.” she said softly, caressing my cheeks with her thumbs. “The police won’t let me get hurt. I want to help them. I want to help Annie. If they are right and I am the main target, that means that these girls were hurt because of me. I will have to live my life knowing that I am responsible for two deaths. I don’t want to be responsible for a third one as well.”

Sadness hit me like a fucking train.

“Fuck no, Emma.” I said. “This isn’t your fault. You are not responsible.”

“Your brother is right, Emma.” one of the detectives said, making Emma turn to look at him. “It’s not your fault. It’s his. Don’t do this to yourself. Don’t blame yourself for something you had no control over. He decided to hurt those girls, not you.”

“If I didn’t come here…” she said softly, but the detective stopped her.

“He would have found another girl to be obsessed over.” he said. “Our behavioral analysts believe that he is suffering from a very serious mental illness. I can’t tell you the details, but I can tell you that this is in no way, shape, or form your fault. He is a sick man whose obsession only grew with time. I am sure that if he hadn’t seen you, he would have seen another girl with similar features to yours, and the same thing would have happened.”

And these fuckers want to use her to catch a seriously fucking disturbed man who has an obsession with my sister?

Yeah, no.

Fuck no.

I pressed Emma back against me and locked my arms around her.

“And you want to use her to catch him?” I chuckled darkly. “Fuck no. Did you read his last fucking note? He said that she was fucking his in life and death. I am not letting you use her. I am not letting him kill her.”

“That won’t happen, Mr. Richardson.” detective Peters said confidently.

I was finally able to focus. I could tell which one of them was speaking.

“How the fuck do you know that?” I shouted. “He could stab her or shoot her!”

“He will not do anything like that, Mr. Richardson.” detective Perry spoke this time. “First of all, we wouldn’t let him. Second of all, we believe that he has plans for your sister.”

Plans? What fucking plans? Does he want to touch her? Does he want to…?

Fuck no! Not happening! I will rip his hands off of his body and burn them in front of him!

My anger was coming back. Fuck yes.

“He wants to take your sister to his hiding spot.” detective Peters continued. “We believe that he has a ritual he needs to complete before killing his victims. He wouldn’t kill your sister immediately. He would need to complete the ritual.”

My stomach twisted, and I almost threw up. I felt Emma shiver, and I pressed her even closer to me.

“That will never happen to you.” I mumbled, kissing the top of her head.

I am taking her away. I don’t care. I won’t let him look in her direction, let alone touch her or take her away.

“We already have a plan.” detective Perry spoke again. “Your sister would need to lure him in so we could catch him. He would never even be able to touch her. We just need her to make him reveal himself. Everything else is on us.”

“He is getting desperate.” detective Price continued. “The note he left this morning proves that. You’ve been doing a great job protecting her and he knows that he won’t be able to get her. He will take any chance he gets, and he won’t be able to plan ahead, especially if we work fast. We need to surprise him with an opportunity he didn’t plan for. He will make mistakes, and we will be able to catch him.”

My fear was back in full force, pushing anger out of my body.

“Please, Mason.” Emma said quietly, gripping my arms tightly. “Let me help.”

My heart was back to trying to jump its way out of my body.

“We will let you talk it over.” detective Peters said. “Take some time. Talk to your friends about it. Your friends have been cleared. We looked into them, and they have no connection to the kidnapper. You can’t talk to anyone else about this.”

“Thank you, detective.” Emma said politely. “Don’t worry. We won’t tell anyone.”

“I need your decision today, Emma.” detective Peters said. “We already have a plan, and we would like to execute it tomorrow. Every second is important.”

“Of course.” Emma nodded. “I will let you know as soon as possible.”

I felt weird. I felt like I was listening to them through a thick barrier. I could hear them, but their voices were muffled.

Emma turned to look at me, and she gave me a small smile.

“Let’s go, Massy.” she said softly, trying to get up.

I tightened my arms around her and stood up. I am not letting go of her. Not now, not ever.