My observations of him from the first time I saw him fit him a lot better now. He'd taken on a different persona around me, acting like he really cared for me.
But all this time, he'd been playing me.
The way he kissed me out of the blue when I was trying to talk to him about why he needed to stay away from me made a lot more sense now. At the time I'd thought it was weird, how quickly he'd just kissed me on the spot, but I brushed it off not thinking anything of it.
Our kiss was all for show. He wanted in the house and knew I wasn't going to let him stay, so he kissed me as a distraction and weaseled his way in.
Then Joseph had shown up, thanks to the alarm system that alerted Thomas. Who knew what would've happened if Joseph hadn't shown. I could've been dead or kidnapped a long time ago.
Cole was there when we found the letter from my dad in the mess we were cleaning up. He was also there when we found the note in the washing machine with Lucille's number on it. That could be the very reason why they thought I knew too much.
As far as I knew, I didn't know anything, but Cole must've said something to them for them to think that. He's the very reason why all of this was happening.
My mind replayed the events of that night. How Cole kissed me, offered to stay and help clean the house, the way he looked through Thomas' mail, all of it made sense once I took my feeling out the equation and really saw what happened that night. He wasn't there to help, he was looking for something that night.
What the TIA was looking for, I'm still wasn't sure.
Lucky for me, only two other people knew the truth about what Thomas and I had really found thanks to my dad's letter. Thomas himself and Joseph.
The chain logo and set of numbers. I still had no clue what they went to, but if I could figure those clues out, maybe I'd figure out what was happening and why they really wanted me dead.
"Why?" I whispered, starting straight at Cole.
His brows narrowed in on me. "It's nothing personal, just family business." His voice was monotoned, no emotion to be found. The guy I had once liked didn't seem to be in him at all. The guy standing in front of me was a total stranger.
A humorless laugh left my lips. "And to think I thought you were a good guy. What about Shelly and Mark? Were you just acting around them too?"
The first day I'd met Cole he'd told me to give Shelly a chance. He also talked to her when she didn't have any friends. Mark even told me Cole was there for him when his dad died in middle school. He couldn't have been acting when it came to those two, he had to have really cared for them.
I struck a nerve bringing the two of them up, that much was obvious because Cole stiffened at the sound of their names. His jaw was set in a hard line as he watched me through narrowed eyes.
His dad on the other hand seemed to be relishing in what played out before him, like he was watching a movie and the drama was just getting started. He was evil and thrived off of cruelty. It's no wonder my dad had left TIA when he did, the real question was why he left Joseph behind.
"Why don't you tell her Cole?" Cole's dad prompted, a devilish smile lifting his lips.
I looked between the two of them as Cole looked even more uncomfortable than before. Something had happened to Shelly and Mark that I had no idea about and it didn't seem good.
Cole shook his head, his voice staying level. "I'll show her."
His dad nodded his head. "I think that's a good idea. We can always talk to her later about what she knows, plus showing her will give her more motivation to tell the truth." He walked off and up the stairs, leaving Cole and me alone.
Cole's eyes glazed over me, several feet away. There was a look on his face I couldn't decipher. He either felt guilty or he'd completely changed into a person that was emotionless. I couldn't tell which one it was, it was almost impossible to read him.
He was someone I'd confided in. Someone I trusted. Turned out Thomas was right about him all along.
Cole started to untie the rope around my shoulders, pulling me from my trance. It dropped to my waist and onto the floor as Cole pulled me up to stand. He kept the rope around my wrists on and left his hand there to stop me from moving my arms.
"What happened to Shelly and Mark?" I asked, staring him dead in the eye.
His jaw tensed as he looked down at me. Something flickered in his eyes as he traced them over my face. "Like I told my dad, I'll show you."
We left dark and musty room, walking up the stairs and out of the basement. Cole opened the door and it looked like we were in an abandoned warehouse. Dirt caked the floors and dust particles were visible in the light that filtered the through the rusted windows.
"Where are we?" I asked, not expecting an answer from him.
He didn't give one, he just kept me moving until we were outside.
Harsh light seared into my eyes and I had to blink several times to let me eyes adjust. The sun was high in the sky and my guess was it was anywhere from noon to two p.m.
I had no idea how long I'd been knocked out. A couple of hours, a day, who knew.
The abandoned warehouse we were just in seemed to be the only building for as far as I could see. The land was flat and covered in nothing but dirt.
So getting help wasn't going to be an option.
Cole continued to push me around the building until a black van came into view. He led the way as we walked around the vehicle, seeing Dante, Mark, and Shelly on their knees with two guys I didn't recognize standing in front of them. One of them had a gun pointed at the three of them.
Shelly was crying and mud caked her face, dirt covering her glasses as well. Mark beside her had dirt all over him too and he looked way skinnier then the last time I saw him. And Dante looked the worst out of the three of them. Bruises and scrapes covered his jaw and neck, along with two black eyes.
My heart twisted at seeing all of them in the states they were in. How Shelly and Mark had gotten into this mess was something I had no clue about and it also made no sense. They had nothing to do with what was going on and they had no idea about the clues I'd found.
They didn't know anything.
I tried to move towards them, but Cole jerked me backwards by the rope that kept my hands tied together. I struggled against him and tried to call out, but Cole slapped a hand over my mouth. From where we were, they couldn't see us yet.
"Are you trying to get shot at?" he whispered against my ear as he removed his hand.
"Why do you care? Your dad wants me dead anyways," I shot back. He was just as confusing as his older brother, even though Dante seemed to be the only sane one out of his entire family.
The look he gave me showed his annoyance, but also surprise. "No he doesn't."
"Then why do you think he's kidnapped them?" I nodded my head at Dante, Shelly, and Mark. "And me?"
"He wants information. That's all."
"Information he's willing to kill for, Cole. Do you see what he did to Dante, your brother?"
"Dante betrayed our family," is all Cole said, trying to justify what his dad's been doing is alright.
"Dante saved my life. If you call that betrayal, something is wrong with you. He was supposed to kill me that night we were going to go camping, but you and your dad had other plans didn't you? You two were setting Dante up to see if he would really kill me?"
"My brother was supposed to kidnap you. That was it. My dad said he failed his last mission when I drove you home that night, so we were setting him up to see how he'd handle seeing you unexpectedly."
"Funny, he told me he was ordered to kill me on sight. I also heard the guys who abducted me say the same thing. So, tell me how that makes any sense?"
He grunted, yanking me closer to him so my back was against his chest. "That night at the gas station you were supposed to be taken in for questioning by Dante. I was supposed to drug Shelly and Mark and bring them back as a way to get you to talk. Nobody is supposed to die. That's what my dad told me."
"You sure Cole? Because that looks an awful like a lineup to kill people."
Cole was about to open his mouth, but just as he did so, I kicked him in the groin. He didn't expect it and went down easy, groaning in pain as he leaned over. I took the opportunity to twist away from his grasp and put the rope that tied my hands together against his throat.
He fell down knee by knee as I jumped on his back, putting more pressure against his throat. His eyes bulged in realization as his fingers grabbed at the rope around his neck. "Nina," he croaked out. "Please-"
Everything in me fought the urge to stop what I was doing, knowing I could potentially kill him. I didn't want to do this even though Cole had betrayed me, but it was the only thing I could come up with on the spot. Hopefully Dante's words about putting enough pressure around someone's throat to make them unconscious was true.
"Nina," he tried to say it louder, but it came out more hoarse.
"I'm sorry," I whispered as we fell to the ground with me on top of him. I rolled off off of him and saw he had passed out. His carotid artery had a faint pulse underneath my fingers, but it was there.
A wave of relief hit me that it had worked and I hadn't killed him, but I didn't get much longer to think about it when I heard screaming.