Beads of sweat broke out on his brow when the sound of tearing fabric filled the silence. “Think about what you’re doing, Cain. I’m your family.”
She stopped her hand just before she plunged the knife into Danny’s heart for what he’d said. Instead, she moved to the hem of his pants, not caring that she cut into his hip when she got to the bottom.
“You stopped being my family after what you tried in my house, with my wife.” The boxers he was wearing fell to the top of the pile on the floor.
“Shit, if you wanted some action you didn’t have to go through all this to get me here. We’re family, but if you want a piece of me, just ask.”
If Danny wanted to jibe anymore, the attempt died when she sliced off his right nipple, instantly eradicating his promise to not scream.
“Somehow I don’t think you would’ve accepted my invitation once you see what I have in mind.” She sat back on the edge of the table and watched as rivulets of blood made their way from Danny’s chest to his face.
“What’d you do that for?” Danny sobbed.
“Call it foreplay.” She felt calm as she put the knife down and accepted a belt from Merrick. “We could waste each other’s time with me asking why you lost your mind and killed Marie, and you denying it, so we’re going to skip that.”
“That’s what this is about? Hell, you should be thanking me for getting rid of that anchor.”
The slap of leather against his mouth opened a new cut on his lip, shutting Danny up once again. She hit him next over the open hole in his chest, wrenching another scream.
“You grew up around Marie. She was never an anchor to anyone who counted. That definition fits your family perfectly, so shut the fuck up.” She swung again, hitting his chest and making sure the belt hit right on his wound again. “After all, we haven’t finished our talk about the goat.” She noticed his tears mixing in with blood when she picked up the knife again.
“If you’re going to kill me, then go ahead.”
“I’m going to kill you, Danny, but it’ll be anything but fast. You know me better than that.” She cocked her head to one side and continued to glare at him. “My grandfather told me when you kill a goat, to keep the meat from tasting gamey, you have to bleed it. You cut slowly.” Belying her statement, she quickly sliced away his left nipple.
“You fucker,” Danny screamed. He was crying and trying to pull himself up, almost as if to not provide her with such an easy target. Just as quickly he dropped back down when she slashed him again with the belt.
She hit him until he begged her to stop. She quit when her arm got tired. By that time Danny looked like someone had painted his body with red, cruel stripes, some of which were bleeding. The sun was starting to set, and the light in the room was fading as quickly as Danny.
“Please, Cain, no more.” He could see the pool of blood on the floor under him, signaling he didn’t have much longer to live. “I’m sorry for what I did.”
“Granddad told me the last step was to slit the animal’s throat and let it bleed out,” she said, as if he hadn’t spoken.
“Anything but that, please. I don’t want to die.”
“It’s all right, Danny. I’m not going to do that to you.” She watched as he laughed as if in relief through his tears. “No, I’ve got something else in mind.” She picked up the knife and moved closer. “It’s only fitting after what you did to Marie and the others before her. All those innocent girls your depraved little mind left scarred to satisfy your sick needs. Those women deserve justice just as much as my sister.”
“Please, Cain. I’ll do whatever you want. Just don’t hurt me anymore.”
She was surprised he had that much energy to scream when the blade came to rest on his scrotum. Without hesitation she cut all the way down, and Danny watched what had been a source of pride drop on the floor like a discarded turkey neck.
The fact that he was screaming made it easy for Merrick to slip it into his mouth right before Cain slit his throat.
Hayden studied his mother’s face as if it were his first time to see it. “Are you going to answer my question truthfully, or do we just dance around the issue?”
“I don’t want to do this, Hayden.”
“Christ, just answer the question. Why did you leave? What’s hard about that?”
“I don’t want to change how you feel about Cain just because you’re curious. It’s hard because by telling you what she’s capable of, that’s what’s going to happen.”
“She’s at least willing to take that chance. Why can’t you?”
The question should have sent up a warning flare in Emma’s brain, but her anger at Cain clouded her judgment. Hayden’s reaction to the truth of her departure might be what she needed to win him over. “I don’t see her out here answering any questions.”
“She didn’t abandon me. You did. Now I want to know why.”
Emma glued her eyes to the ground and kept walking. Moving would make the tale easier to tell. “A little before I left, Cain and I hosted a party for your aunt Marie.”
“I remember. We’ve been over this part already.”
“The first time you asked me, I did tell you about the attempted rape Cain saved me from, but I changed the ending. I asked her not to hurt the guy too badly, but she went a lot further than that. She killed that guy for touching her property. He lost his life for something he almost did.”
Hayden stopped and felt shocked. Cain was harsh when warranted, but she rarely lost control and made such stupid mistakes. “She told you she killed him?”
“She lied to me to cover for herself, but I found out later what she had done.”
“Who was it?”
“What does it matter now, Hayden? It’s done, but it doesn’t change how she feels about you.”
“Just answer me, and let me worry about how I feel about my mother.”
“All right, but I found who it was the most disturbing since he was part of her family.”
The cold weather intensified as he felt the blood drain from his face. “Who was it?” asked Hayden through clenched teeth.
“Cain’s cousin, Danny Baxter.”
He stumbled when Emma said the name, certain he had heard wrong. “Impossible.” He felt her arms come around him, but he was too confused to care.
“It’s hard to believe, I know, and maybe now you’ll understand why I had to leave. My greatest regret, or should I say biggest mistake, was you, Hayden. I should’ve fought harder to keep you with me.”
“You’re lying, it couldn’t have been Danny.” He pushed Emma off him and looked like he was about to bolt.
“I’m telling you the truth, son.”
“You’re the one who begged her for Danny’s life?”
The warning bells finally went off in Emma’s head. Hayden couldn’t possibly remember the man who had come so close to violating her, and Cain had admitted she hadn’t answered Hayden’s questions. His question was totally out of context to what they were talking about. “How do you know Danny?”
“I asked you a question first.”
The anger, the straight body, the ice in his eyes and voice—it was all Cain she was looking at. What Emma didn’t realize was that she was standing on a cliff of her own making, and by encouraging her to tell Hayden the truth, Cain was about to push her off.
“I asked her, yes, but she didn’t listen to me.”
“She listened to you, all right. It’s your fault she’s dead, and I never want to see you again. I hate you!” Hayden screamed the last part so loudly the people in the yard heard a faint echo despite the distance. He ran back as fast as he could manage through the tears, his lungs burning from the cold air.
Cain was waiting for him, and he lunged into her arms. As upset as he was, he felt better when he realized that Cain wore her usual suit and cashmere long black coat instead of jeans and boots. He wouldn’t have to stay here any longer.