AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Bravo,dearsister.”Jacob raised his hands as far as they would go and gave three soft claps of applause. The chain that had been threaded through the eyehook made noise as if celebrating right along with its host. “Bravo.”
Jacob wasn’t in the best of moods, but he wouldn’t let on to his sister that the extended time behind bars was dampening his spirits. He’d chosen to put himself in a federal penitentiary for the sake of achieving his goals. All he needed was patience.
Not a night passed by that he didn’t lay on his thin mattress and remember the exhilarating sensation of a sharp blade cutting into Sarah Evanston’s face. Over and over and over again until there was nothing left of her perfect complexion. He would eventually finish what he started, regardless that his baby sister was doing her best to delay the inevitable.
“You do realize that I will personally seek out every one of our family members in hopes that someone else is a match to Jonah Cary,” Brook said from her position near the far wall. “If I’m successful, your services won’t be needed.”
Brook hadn’t bothered to take the seat across the table from him, and he wondered if that was due to time constraints. She wasn’t dressed in one of her usual business suits. Her hair wasn’t resting over her left shoulder, either. The comfortable jeans and cream-colored sweater didn’t suit her, and he didn’t like seeing her in them. It disturbed him that she was becoming more relaxed about their situation.
Jacob didn’t respond to her threat of finding someone else to be a living donor for Jonah Cary. Jacob had never intended to go through the surgery, anyway. The boy’s life was of no concern to him. He’d merely been a byproduct of a personal indulgence, not that Brook would know of the significance behind his encounter with Wren Farro Cary.
Unless that was the reason for his sister’s visit.
“How is Sarah these days? Is she recovering nicely?”
“I wouldn’t know,” Brook replied rather flippantly. “I don’t get updates from the U.S. Marshals Service.”
Jacob once again ignored the flames of rage that began to grow with each word uttered from her mouth. Should the surgery for Jonah Cary be cancelled, it would be Jacob’s second attempt at walking out of this repulsive setting. He’d calculated for such upsets, because his sister truly was a remarkable adversary.
Still, he’d purposefully turned himself in knowing that Sarah Evanston would exit the witness protection program, believing herself to be safe. Any further questions from him would give Brook the upper hand.
Jacob should have heard something by now, either through his lawyer or from a guard. Sarah didn’t have what it took to stay away from her mother. Unless Brook had intervened. In which case, all had been for naught.
The two of them stared at one another until Jacob realized that she’d been successful in such an endeavor. He curled his toes tight in the shoes given to him by the prison so that Brook wouldn’t see just how much rage was coursing through his veins.
“It doesn’t feel so good, does it?” Brook asked softly, her lips curling up into a half smile. It was rare that he wanted to slash her face into nothing but a pile of bloody meat, but she was certainly testing his patience. “To not be in control of your surroundings? If it helps ease the sting, Sarah did exit the program. She returned home to her mother, but I managed to convince her to rethink her decision. Sarah Evanston is gone, Jacob. And if I have my way again, you won’t be the living donor to Jonah Cary, either.”
Brook glanced at the large black and white government clock that was hanging on the wall. He acknowledged that there was a confidence to her that was growing with each day that he spent behind these bars. Hadn’t he warned her time and again that she didn’t get to be the normal one?
“I’m sorry to have to cut this visit short, but I’ve got a flight to catch. Did I mention that I’m flying to Illinois? I’m meeting the uncle of a young girl who went missing in the summer of 1996.” Brook snapped her fingers a few times. “Oh, what was her name again? Stella. Stella Bennett. Does that name ring a bell to you?”
Brook had discovered one of his penchants for revisiting those who were connected to his victims. He no longer had any sensation in his feet, but it was worth it just so his baby sister would be left wondering if anything she’d said this evening bothered him. If she thought for a moment that she would succeed in thwarting his attempt at freedom, she was sorely mistaken.
Wrapping on the metal door with her knuckles, she peered over her shoulder to deliver one more statement. It was an assertion that almost had him asking about those in her inner circle, but he bit his tongue until he tasted blood.
It wouldn’t do to give away his next surprise.
“The sins of the past are whispering your secrets, Jacob,” Brook said with a little too much conviction for his liking. “Remember, the deal you cut to avoid the death penalty was for specific, known victims. Stella? Well, Stella wasn’t included on that list, was she?”
The guard opened the door and allowed Brook to exit with her question lingering in the air. She didn’t look back once. She had gotten into a very bad habit of forcing herself not to give him the satisfaction.
“Tread carefully, dear sister,” Jacob murmured to an empty room as the guard closed the door. “The terrain is quite treacherous this time of year.”
Someone would be along shortly to take him back to his cell, but the brief wait would give him time to appreciate the special gift that he was due to receive after the New Year.
Unfortunately for his sister, her team was about to be one shy of a team member.
It was time for Brook to be reminded that she didn’t get to lead a normal life.
Jacob leaned his head back and closed his eyes as he forced his muscles to relax one by one. Sensation came flooding back into his feet and then his legs. To get his mind off the uncomfortable awareness, he began to hum one of his favorite holiday tunes until he broke out in the most apropos song given what was to come.
“It’s the most wonderful time of the year…”
~ The End ~
