Mason POV
I am more of an angry man.
Any emotion I’ve ever felt, I managed to turn into anger. Sadness? Find somebody to blame, and take your revenge on them. Annoyance? Find somebody to blame for it, and be angry. Anger? That one was always easy. Just add more anger until you punch the living shit out of someone. Fear? Turn it into anger and attack what scares you.
Now? Now I am scared shitless, and no matter what I do, I can’t find a way to turn it into anger. I’ve never felt fear like this before. It was a completely unknown feeling. It was dark and cold, and I wanted that red, hot anger again. But I couldn’t find it. I couldn’t fucking find it!
When detective Peters said that my sister was that fucker’s main target, I felt cold hands wrapping around my neck, making it impossible for me to breathe. Something was in my stomach, too. It was a tingling feeling that radiated from there to the rest of my body, and I wasn’t even able to move.
I have no fucking idea how I managed to jump up. I have no fucking idea how I managed to yell. I have no fucking idea how I did that, because I felt paralyzed. It never happened to me before. Anger always helped me move. It always helped me fight.
And now I can’t find it. How the fuck am I supposed to fight that sick bastard if I can’t find my anger?!
The words written in the notes he left came back to me. Doll, mine, say goodbye, life and death, belongs to me…
NO! No, no, no, no, no. FUCK NO!
And did she say she wanted to help them?!
“Mason.” she said softly, turning to look at me.
How did she manage to turn around? I was holding her tightly. Or not? Holy fucking shit, I wasn’t holding her tight enough! If she managed to turn around, that means that anyone could have taken her from my arms right now. My hold on her wasn’t tight enough.
What the fuck was I thinking?! Barely five minutes have passed since the detectives told us that he wanted her, and I’m already letting it happen?!
SHIT!
I tightened my hold on her, pressing her to my chest. One of my hands was wrapped securely around her waist, while I used the other to lean her head on my shoulder.
Try to take her away now, you sick motherfucker!
“She is not helping you.” I managed to say to the detectives. “I am not letting it happen.”
“Mr. Richardson…” one of the detectives started saying, but I interrupted them.
“No.” I said sternly, trying to clear my head so that I could focus better. “I am taking her away from here right the fuck now.”
“I want to help, Mason.” Emma said, her voice muffled from her head being pressed against my shoulder and neck. “I want to help Annie.”
My heart was beating so fucking hard that I was afraid that it would jump out of my body, and I would have to chase it around the fucking room.
“Annie could still be alive.” one of the detectives spoke.
I didn’t really give a shit which one. I was trying to focus on calming my heart down. I can’t protect her if I’m fucking dead.
“If we could catch him with the help of your sister, we could still save Annie.” the detective finished.
Was he for real?!
He was, wasn’t he?
I felt a spark of anger in my body. Fucking finally!
“My sister is not your fucking bait!” I shouted, pressing Emma even closer to me.
“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.