Briar Valley: The Complete Duet

35. Willow

CHAPTER 35

WILLOW

DARLIN’ - GOODBYE JUNE

Fisting my long black hair, I choke back the scream swimming up my throat. I’m shoving clothes at random into a suitcase, paying no attention to what I’m packing in a panicked state of autopilot.

All I can think is one thing.

Run.

Run.

Run.

I can barely suck in a breath, let alone think straight. There’s no time to stop and consider my options. No time to say our prolonged goodbyes. No time to mourn all that we’ve lost. When we’re on the road, I’ll let myself break.

All that matters right now is keeping Arianna safe. I’ll rip my own bloodied heart from my chest and shred it into ribbons with my bare hands if that’s what it takes. My pain doesn’t matter. I won’t let her go back to that place.

I’ll die first.

He won’t hurt her again.

Grabbing the fake passports and my wedding ring from their hidden place in my wardrobe, I locate the cash I withdrew from my bank account. Old habits die hard, and I’ve been stockpiling some of what Lola loaned me just in case.

“Willow? Where are you?”

Rather than shouting back, I let the exploding force of nature find me on his own. Nothing can hold Killian at bay. My bedroom door smashes against the wall, nearly breaking from his brute force.

Huge shoulders brushing the door frame, his fiery eyes bounce between my state of disarray and the semi-packed suitcase. The look on his face sends shivers down my spine. He looks ready to lock me in the damn wardrobe to keep me here.

“What the fuck are you doing?” he thunders.

“Packing.”

“I can see that. Why?”

“We have to get out of here before it’s too late. Our cover is blown. It isn’t safe.”

“You’re not going anywhere. Put the bloody clothes down.”

“I’m sorry, Kill.” I swipe the falling tears from my face. “I don’t want to do this, but I have no choice. He knows where we are. Arianna’s in danger.”

“No. You can’t leave us!”

I’m unprepared for him to seize hold of my suitcase and throw it against the wall with unimaginable rage. Clothes explode everywhere, raining down on us. His chest is rising and falling with each furious breath.

Taking a step back from him, Killian looks sickened by the fear on my face. I put even more distance between us, hating the way his anger causes me to recoil from the man I know and love more than anything.

“Willow… please.”

“Stay back,” I warn him.

“I’m not trying to scare you. Fuck! You’re safe here. I swore that I’d protect you and I will never break that vow. Let that bastard make his threats.”

He launches across the bedroom and imprisons me in his arms before I can run for my life. With his calloused hand cupping my cheek, my body betrays me. It longs to curl into the protection of his embrace.

“You have to stay here,” he begs. “Where you belong.”

“I can’t stay,” I whisper heartbrokenly.

“We can protect you. It’s what we do.” His voice cracks. “Please don’t do this to us.”

“None of you know what we’re dealing with. You can’t stop him.”

“Then tell us! Don’t just run like a coward!”

Shoving him backwards with a snarl, I manage to break free from his grasp. Killian watches me sweep up the fallen clothes and stuff them back into the suitcase. I bolt from the room before he can capture me again.

“Willow, wait!”

Following me into Arianna’s bedroom, his laboured breathing fills the silence as I grab the barest essentials from her wardrobe and create a small pile. We’ll have to buy more stuff on the road. I can’t carry it all.

“Mr Sanchez isn’t h-human,” I stutter out. “There’s nothing you could do to keep us safe. He knows where we are. It’s only a matter of time until he comes for us.”

“Give us a chance. The safest place is still here.”

“No, Kill. I have to leave. I don’t have a choice.”

“You always have a choice,” a voice interrupts.

Lingering in the doorway behind Killian, Zach’s panting hard from running over here. His expression is bleak, with so much pain radiating over him, he looks more like his green-eyed twin than the lovable goof I know.

“I’m so sorry, Zach.”

“If you’re really sorry, then stay,” he pleads. “Don’t run from your family and home.”

“I don’t want to go!” I explode, more tears soaking into my cheeks. “Arianna’s safety is all that matters now. This isn’t about what I want anymore.”

“Bullshit!” Zach fists his hair. “You can’t do this.”

Brushing past him with the handful of belongings, I return to the bedroom and throw them in the suitcase. There’s no time for weakness. No space for stupid emotions or attachments. I was weak once. I let myself care. Pedro died because of it.

His death is on me.

I won’t let it happen again.

Mr Sanchez won’t blink before he kills every single person that stands between us and him. Innocent or not, they will die protecting us. I couldn’t live with myself if that happened.

“Please, Willow,” Killian implores.

I look up at him. “Stop making this even harder.”

His expression is fractured, falling into ruinous grief that contorts his features into a grimace. It’s more emotion than I’ve ever seen from him, and it fucking kills me to know it’s my fault.

“You have a choice here, alright?” He stares into my eyes. “You don’t have to live in fear. We can all calm down and make a plan. There has to be a better solution.”

“I won’t let you pay the price for my mistakes.”

“Then we’re coming with you,” Zach declares. “Fuck it.”

“You can’t do that… your lives are here,” I plead with him. “I’m not tearing you away from your home and family to go on the run with me. That wouldn’t be fair.”

“It’s our decision to make,” Killian says with finality.

“No, it’s not. You will never be safe for as long as you’re with us. I refuse to jeopardise your lives like that. If I go now… Mr Sanchez will leave you unharmed.”

“I won’t let you throw yourself to the wolves, Willow!”

“This isn’t your choice!”

The ringing of a mobile phone in Zach’s pocket interrupts our heated exchange. He answers, his eyes widening in alarm. I can hear Micah shouting down the line from here.

The second his emerald eyes meet mine, I know I’m too fucking late. Fate has found us. It crept in through the cracks in our defences and laid its poisonous roots again.

“What is it? Zach?”

“Arianna’s missing. She isn’t in class.”

“What do you mean, missing?” Killian spits out. “This is Briar Valley. People don’t go missing here. She’s probably wandered off or something.”

Feeling sick to my stomach, I abandon the suitcase and race out of the cabin. My feet slap against the ground in a punishing beat. Over and over. Desperation fuels my muscles and gives me the strength of mind to keep going.

“Willow!” Killian shouts after me.

Sprinting over cobblestones and twisty paths, I’m heaving and almost doubled over from a stitch when I make it back down into the valley. Zach and Killian are right behind me.

All I can see is Arianna’s sweet smile when I told her that we were going on the run. Ice cream and swimming, Mummy. It’s our adventure. She was so ready to escape the perpetual hell of her childhood and start a new life.

I don’t care.

Mr Sanchez can have me.

As long as he leaves her behind.

In the town square, all hell is breaking loose. Lola stands on her porch, shouting orders to the gathered group of residents who are setting out to scour the woods. Albie and Ryder are among them, both armed in preparation.

Harold has his usual hunting rifle propped on his shoulder, and he gives me a stern nod. “We’ll find your girl, Willow.”

“Please be careful,” I urge them all.

“You just wait here for an update.”

The group dissipates and Lola waves for me to come in. I’m barely able to climb the porch steps, my body sagging from wave after wave of adrenaline. She wraps her arm around my shoulders and bundles me inside.

“How long has she been missing? Who called it in?”

“Rachel noticed she wasn’t playing outside with Johan a little while ago,” she answers grimly. “There’s a good chance she heard us arguing earlier and ran off.”

Nodding through my tears, I try to seize hold of the courage that drove me out of that mansion. She has to be okay. We’ve come too damn far to give up hope now.

“Grams!” Killian bursts into the cabin.

“In the kitchen,” she orders.

We all gather around the dining table. Killian and Zach remain within touching distance like they don’t trust me not to disappear on them. Lola paces the floor, a phone clasped in her hands.

The back door rattles before it flings open, revealing Micah, red-faced and short of breath. He rushes at me, his limbs trembling with anxiety. I’m pulled into his arms.

“I checked our cabin and the studio. No sign of her.”

“Shit. Where the hell is she?”

“We’ll find her,” he soothes.

“She could be anywhere. How did I let this happen?”

Lola drops a hand on my shoulder. “This isn’t your fault, poppet. We’ve got our best people out there searching for Arianna. She can’t have gone far.”

The sound of a sharp knock causes us all to freeze in place. Nobody moves a muscle, our breaths held. It comes again; harder, more insistent.

“What the hell is that?” Zach snarls.

I swallow hard. “It’s the front door.”

Lola glances between us. “Nobody knocks on my door in this town. They just walk in.”

Suffocation threatens to steal my consciousness. I feel myself gawp as Killian reaches into the waistband of his jeans, pulling out a revolver. I’ve seen plenty of hunting rifles around town, but this is the real deal.

“Where on earth did you get that?” Lola exclaims.

He double-checks the chamber is loaded. “Not important. I need to be able to protect my family.”

Another knock punctuates the air of shock. It comes again. Three times. Repeated and demanding. Staring into Killian’s eyes, all I can see is Pedro looking back at me as he took his last breath.

“Everyone stay here,” I say weakly.

Killian cocks the gun. “Like hell.”

“This is my mess. I’ll deal with it.”

“Get your ass back here, Willow!”

Dodging past them, I inch through the cabin towards the insistent knocking. Their footsteps follow me. Through the frosted glass of the front door, three shadows are outlined, becoming clearer as I approach.

“No,” Killian roars.

Before he can get himself killed, I grab the handle and throw the door open. The world ends in an instant. Safety is an illusion, one that I’ve spent months force-feeding to myself.

I was wrong.

We were never safe.

Mason is leaning against the door frame while smoking a cigarette. His interested gaze scrapes over me, lips pulled taut in a fake smile. I’m sickened to realise that I’m actually glad to see him and not a pair of frozen blue eyes.

“Mrs Sanchez. So good to see you again.”

“What are you doing here?” I demand.

His two associates flank him on both sides. They’re packing weapons and staring at us behind their dark sunglasses and blank facial expressions.

“Call it helping out an old friend.” Mason flicks his cigarette aside. “How’s the holiday? I have a feeling it’s about to be cut short.”

Reaching into the pocket of his designer suit jacket, he pulls out a smartphone. When he offers it to me, his smile never once faltering, I have to force myself to take it. The weight in my hands feels like a death sentence.

Killian raises his gun next to me, training it on the soulless demons at the door. They simply stare back without a care in the world. Not even a gun frightens them.

“H-Hello?” I whimper.

There’s an intake of breath on the end of the phone line followed by deep, sinister chuckling. I nearly throw my guts up on Mason’s expensive shoes. That voice has only existed in my nightmares since I left Mexico.

“Darling wife.” Mr Sanchez sighs. “Oh, how I’ve missed the sound of your sweet voice. You’ve hidden for a long time. I’ll give you credit for that.”

I bite my lip hard enough to break skin. Blood slips into my mouth, mingling with the burning bubble of vomit sitting inside my throat. I can almost see him in front of me, an evil shade projecting himself across the continent.

“Nothing to say to your husband?” he sneers.

“Leave me and my daughter alone.”

“ My daughter. She’s fucking mine, Willow.”

Killian tries to grab the phone from me, and Zach holds him back. Even he knows not to intervene in the Devil’s game.

“You found me then,” I say unsteadily.

His laugh makes my skin crawl. “My my, haven’t we gotten brave. Don’t worry, we can discuss your insolence later. How is my daughter?”

“Arianna is fine.”

“Fine?” He snickers. “She was kidnapped by her mentally unstable mother. Quite shocking behaviour. I’m sure she’s anxious to return home to her daddy.”

“I did not kidnap her.”

“I think law enforcement would disagree.”

My grip on the phone tightens. “You’re a monster. I saved her from you.”

“But who is the world more likely to believe?”

“I’m her mother!” I shout down the line. “That’s who the world will believe.”

“An unfit mother at best,” Mr Sanchez fumes. “Here’s how this is going to work, wife. You’ll return home and I’ll leave your precious family alone. That’s the easy option.”

Seizing the flicker of courage in my belly, I let out a strangled laugh. “What’s the hard option? Because that sure as hell isn’t happening.”

His voice is low and dangerous. “I’ve already dealt with your little bit on the side. Pedro begged for mercy before I finally ended his life.”

“Pedro’s dead,” I gasp. “I saw him die.”

“It took longer than expected to break him, but he revealed your new identities soon enough. Mason here was following up a lead when you fell right into his lap.”

“You’re lying!”

“You know, it took several weeks of torture for Pedro to reveal your little plan to me,” he boasts proudly. “I was surprised by how well he held up.”

My stomach heaves. I can see it so clearly. I’ve watched my husband beat enough people, staff and hired skins alike, remaining protected by his money and influence.

With a small fortune, you can make any problem disappear. Even dead bodies. Mason is just one of many sources that provide my husband with his vices and make them disappear without a trace.

Mr Sanchez snorts. “His entire family too. I had to hire a whole new team. When I slit their throats one by one, Pedro watched. That’s when he finally broke.”

Killian is close enough to hear our conversation. His face shifts to frightening calculation. Before I can stop him, he seizes the phone from my grip and hits the loudspeaker button.

“If you dare to step foot in Briar Valley or threaten my girl again, this will be your fate, you son of a fucking bitch. Listen well.”

The blast of a shot nearly bursts my eardrums. I scream out, clutching my head. The fired bullet slices through the air and sails straight into Mason’s left-hand bodyguard.

It suckers him in the stomach and he falls, tumbling backwards down the porch steps to hit the ground with a thud. His wails reverberate around us, and he tries to stem the bleeding from his torso with two red-stained hands.

“Does that hurt, you bastard?” Killian hisses.

Mason and his one remaining crony take a step back. I don’t think either of them expected our defiance. The brute on Mason’s right side rests a hand on his weapon.

“Your girl?” Mr Sanchez utters.

“Damn fucking straight, she is. You won’t ever touch her again. Show your face in Briar Valley and I’ll take great pleasure in killing you myself.”

“You think I’m afraid of some stupid British cunt?”

Killian’s laugh is hard as nails. “You should be.”

“I have the resources to wipe this place off the face of the earth. Don’t think that I won’t do it. I want my wife and daughter back. Now.”

“They don’t belong to you anymore,” Zach speaks up. “Willow is ours.”

“Don’t you know who I am?” Mr Sanchez blusters. “No? You will soon enough. I’ll burn your pathetic town to the ground to take them back by force if I have to.”

Movement in the nearby tree line catches my eye. There’s a flash of clothing and dark hair, then long legs racing across the clearing to reach us. Ryder moves fast, closely flanked by his uncle.

They’re at the bottom of the porch steps before Mason can register them, both of their hunting rifles raised. The pair slowly advance to bring our intruders into point-blank range.

“Don’t move,” Albie warns, the barrel of his gun nudging Mason’s head. “I’ll blow your goddamn brains out and ensure the police never find your body.”

“Friends of yours, Mrs Sanchez?” Mason laughs.

Ryder’s teeth are bared, his gun in place. “You’re both trespassing. Leave our property or say your goodbyes. Choose.”

“You folk have real balls,” Mason replies, despite the gun at his head. “I think I like it out here. It’ll make demolishing your land even more satisfying.”

“I’ll die before letting you demolish my land.” Lola has stepped forward and narrows her eyes on him. “Clear out. Final warning. We are permitted to use force.”

I almost sag from a wave of relief when Rachel and Miranda desperately wave at us from across the clearing. Between them, sobbing and wide-eyed, Arianna is sucking her thumb. Harold stands at her side, his rifle tucked away.

He found her.

She’s safe.

“Get these sons of bitches off my land,” Killian barks. “Show your faces again and I’ll put bullets in them. Welcome to Briar fucking Valley.”

Ryder and Albie grab their targets and walk them away from the cabin, smashing their rifles into their heads to drive the threat home. Mason doesn’t give a fuck. He’s still laughing under his breath at the whole thing.

“This isn’t over, Willow!” he yells back.

The phone is still clenched in Killian’s hand. Mr Sanchez’s voice crackles back to life, his amused cackle setting off explosions of pain in my head. It’s too much to bear.

“Hell of a show. Pack your things, wife. I’m coming for you.”

Silencing his rambling, Killian drops the phone and swiftly crushes it beneath his boot with a loud crunch. I gawk down at the shards of smashed plastic and glass. Mr Sanchez’s threat is still ringing in my ears.

“Ryder,” Lola shouts. “Get this snivelling weasel off my lawn!”

With Mason escorted back into the passenger seat of his SUV that’s parked in Lola’s garden and ruining her flowerbeds, Ryder returns for the final asshole. Killian has to assist, the pair of them dragging his semi-conscious hide to the car.

“And don’t come back,” she bellows.

With his still-standing bodyguard behind the wheel, Mason rolls down the window to stick his head out. The maniacal smile on his lips sets my teeth on edge.

“Always a pleasure, Mrs Sanchez.”

We all watch them reverse backwards, knocking over several of Lola’s plant pots along the way. The language muttered under her breath would make even Killian blush.

None of us speak again until the car has turned onto the mountain road leading out of the valley. Mason gives us a wave before he vanishes into the forest.

“Willow,” Lola keens. “Are you okay?”

I brush her worried hands aside. “Arianna.”

Across the clearing, my little girl breaks free from Miranda’s grasp. We both run towards the other, meeting in the middle of the flower-strewn grass. I skid to a halt and gather her into my arms with a choked wail.

“Mummy!” she cries.

“Shhh. I’m here, baby.”

“I’m sorry.” Her body shakes with sobs in my arms. “I saw the car, and I thought it was Daddy. I hid just like you taught me to.”

“You did good.” I stroke her hair. “I’m proud of you.”

“Is Daddy coming?”

“No, Ari.”

Keeping her pinned against my chest, I glance up at Rachel and Miranda. They’re holding each other tight, looking ready to bolt as far away from us as possible. Even Harold looks unnerved, though he smiles at me.

Behind them, all of the children have snuck out of the barn and gathered in the garden to watch the commotion. Aalia is with them, petrified and crying her eyes out as she holds them back from approaching us.

Shame punches me in the chest. I did this to them. This is my fault. I’ve brought trouble to their home… to all of their lives. The sleepy town of Briar Valley is in danger because of me. I never should have come here.

“I’m scared,” Arianna weeps.

My heart shatters in my chest, breaking into irreparable pieces. “I’ll make us safe, I promise. He won’t find us again.”