Chapter 24: My Brave Girl (Layla) - Once I Find You

“Life is a highway, and I’m gonna ride it all night long,” I sing along as I pipe the cupcakes. It’s actually really fun to be totally alone in the bakery while decorating. No one interrupting me, no one making loud noises and ruining the vibe. Most importantly, I can listen to my music out loud and enjoy the alone time.

God, I can’t wait to own my own bakery one day. Every day could be like this.

I don’t know how long it’ll be…but since I’ll be out of my lease, I can save more toward my own space. Obviously, it would be a lot of work, and I’d have to set something up from scratch. With Kane and Mason though, I’m sure I can make it work. Well, make them work.

I’m still kind of annoyed to be missing out on money tomorrow and Friday, but I’ll make the most of the extra time off. I’m hoping once Kane comes to get me later, he’ll tell me everything went fine with Gabi, and we can just put all of this behind us. I tried profusely to apologize and explain myself…but she blocked me. Maybe we weren’t the closest, but we were still friends. I feel guilty lying to them all, but I thought when the time came, they’d understand why I did this.

Ugh. I need to stop stressing over it. I have to focus on finishing these cupcakes.

I hum, swaying my hips. I reach over to grab the candy pearls, and suddenly the lights go out. What the hell? I panic-reach for my cell phone in my back pocket and quickly turn on the flashlight. Crap! Where is the breaker box? I’ve never had this happen before.

I bite my lip, considering first before I aimlessly walk around in the dark. It would be fine…except it’s so dark and rainy outside, that it’s pitch black in the back area despite the windows in the front of the shop. I’m scared of the dark, so I don’t want to freak myself out while I’m all alone.

Wait, that’s right! I walk over to the other end of the long metal table and dig inside my purse. “Aha!” I find the large pocketknife of Kane’s I had dropped in here from when I found it that morning. I feel a little bit better about wandering in the dark with a decent weapon. I guess I shouldn’t have convinced Kane to watch Scream with me last night for spooky season.

I get it open and take a breath as I walk toward the back office. The door creaks open, creepily as shit may I add, and I’m relieved when I see the metal breaker box across the room. I take a step inside, and I hear something clang in the kitchen.

What? What the hell was that?

I totally freeze, holding my breath. No one could be in here, right? I locked the back door, didn’t I? No, I must have just left something at the edge of the table. You drop things all the time, Layla. Relax. My breath is still shaky, but I turn back toward the breaker.

Okay, just get the lights on. You got this.

Suddenly, the office door slams shut. I whip around, and there’s an imposing male figure standing in the dark. “K-Kane?” I ask, and the figure rushes me. My phone and knife fall to the ground, and we struggle to the floor until he pins me.

He laughs, and the sound of it makes my stomach churn. “You’re even prettier in person, Layla Ryan. Surprised someone like The Hangman could leave something so precious alone like this.”

“W-who are you?”

“Me? Oh honey, I’m glad you asked. We didn’t get to meet properly, because when you two broke into my house, I unfortunately wasn’t home to host.”

No. Peter Reed? That’s just not possible. Kane said he had no cameras, and that was⁠—

“Honestly, I figured he’d come for me one day. I was smarter than him. I had hidden cameras in all the rooms of my house. Sure wasn’t hard to find you, and it didn’t take long for you to lead me right to him. Thank you, by the way,” he sneers, and I try again to move. “Hey, don’t beat yourself up over it. It was an honest mistake. You just aren’t cut out to be in cahoots with a serial killer, Layla. I came here to help you.”

“Help me?”

“Do you even know who you’re sleeping with, Layla? Have you ever asked him what happened to Melissa and Sadie?”

Who are they? Exes? Kane has never mentioned those names before.

“You think he’s a good guy? He knew Melissa was being abused, and he left her anyway. Wasn’t a surprise what happened to her once he left. Guess he has a bad habit of leaving girls to fend for themselves, huh?” His hand runs down my cheek, and I whip my face to the side to avoid his touch.

God, I’m tearing up. What’s he going to do to me? I can’t even process anything he’s saying about Kane while my body is stuck in fight or flight like this.

“How about this? You’re either with me, or you’re against me. Kane Mercer is done for. I’m going to send all the evidence I have to the police. If you’re good, I’ll delete the files that talk about you. Aiding and abetting a serial killer is a crime, Layla. You might go to federal prison for helping someone like him. That’s not what you want, right?”

Come on, Layla! Think! Speak! Do fucking anything!

His hand grips my neck when I don’t reply, and he asks again. I shake my head quickly, and he releases. “That’s what I thought you’d say. Why don’t we start by you thanking me for even offering, huh? I bet you can show me how grateful you are. We’ll just have fun until he comes, that way he can watch right before I finally ruin his life. It’s kind of poetic⁠—”

I can’t take another second of this. Is he really bringing the cops here? He can’t be. I can’t let him. He’s clearly got no problem doing whatever he has to do to win. He can’t kill me, right? Or else what would he tell the police? I’m not sure if I really wanna test that theory right now…but I don’t know what else to do. “Okay, I’ll do it.”

“Ah, I knew you were smarter than you looked.” He lifts himself from on top of me, and it’s just enough room for me to lean over and reach for the knife. He immediately realizes I’m reaching for something, though it’s still too dark in here to see. He immediately grabs my arm, and I struggle as I try to move myself forward on the floor to get closer. “You bitch!”

I feel the edge of my phone, but just as it’s almost in my grasp, he gets to it before my shorter arms can reach. “You wanted this?” He holds it up, and I can see Kane calling as his contact flashes on my screen.

He slides to answer, and I scream. “Kane! It’s P—” He puts his hand over my lips to muffle me, and I try to scream through them, but it's unintelligible.

“Your girl is waiting, Hangman. Oh, that’s right. You left, again. You knew there was danger, but you went anyway. Jeez, why does that sound so familiar?” He laughs and hangs up right as Kane tries to speak. He tosses my phone across the room, making it hit the wall and shatter. “Anyway, where were we?”

I try to kick him in the balls, but he grabs my leg. “You’re going to regret this. I don’t mind doing this the hard way.” He grips my hip, and I yelp as his nails dig into the skin. I keep reaching around, panicking as I beg the universe to let me feel the knife.

Please, let me feel it.

I can feel his hot breath on my face as he comes close to me, and I wince as I suddenly feel the blade cut the tip of my finger. Yes!

“I’ve been watching you all week. And let me tell you honey, I⁠—”

I bite through the pain as I grasp the sharp edge of the blade, turning it over in my hand and holding tight. I’m trying to be careful, because I’m only going to have one chance to do this. If he knows I have a knife, I’m done.

“—I like what I see.” He goes on, but I’m not even listening to what he’s saying.

I’m trying to focus on his silhouette, because I can’t really make it out in the dark. Shit. I can’t just…wave a knife around trying to stab him in the right place!

I can see part of his head, or at least the outline of it. Maybe if I just go for the side of his head, it’ll work? Like in slasher movies?

Okay, Layla. Hold it tight. Summon the “final girl” energy.

I swiftly lift my arm, and I whip my hand straight up toward where I think his head is as hard as I possibly can.

Wait…did I do it?

I hear choking noises, and suddenly his grip loosens, and I wiggle out from underneath him. I jump up and feel all over the walls until I finally run into the breaker box, and fumble as I try to get it open, flicking all the switches to the right again.

The lights immediately return, and when I turn around, I scream.

Like, actually scream as if I’m in a scary movie.

My whole body is shivering from the anxiety, and I try to regulate my breathing as I see his dead body bleeding out on the floor of my boss’s office, with the knife sticking right out of his neck.

Shit. Shit! I killed someone! I—okay. Breathe. It was him or you, Layla. You had to do it, or he’d have hurt you. Right? I shake my hands at my sides, trying not to freak out. What do you do when you kill someone? Do I have to hide the body? Oh crap, I have to hide it, don’t I? I lay back against the wall and let myself slide down until I’m sitting with my knees up against my chest.

I don’t know what to do. My hands and clothes are covered in blood. I’m a murderer now, aren't I? I’m going to jail?

I don’t know how long I sit there for until I hear the office door being busted down, and I finally see him. “Kane?” I ask quietly, tears in my eyes.

“Layla,” he replies, rushing over to me, and completely ignoring the corpse in the room. “Fuck, sweetheart, please tell me you’re okay.”

“I-I’m fine. It isn’t my blood.”

“Not your blood? Look at your hand.” He lifts up my right hand, and I remember that I had grabbed the blade with it. Why don’t I feel pain, then? “Shit, Layla. You could’ve lost a lot of blood. You didn’t know?” I don’t answer, and he pulls the cloth handkerchief from his pocket and wraps it around my hand like a tourniquet.

“I killed him.”

“Yeah, good riddance.”

“No, Kane. I killed him. Like, I actually murdered someone.”

“And?” He looks at me as if I have two heads.

“And…that’s bad. I mean, what are we gonna do?”

“Sweetheart, do you know who you’re talking to right now?” I guess…he’s right. But this isn’t normal. And I most definitely don’t think my boss can ignore a giant blood stain. “Look at me. You did so good, Layla, my brave girl. You did the right thing. There’s one less bad guy on the streets now. That’s because of you. I—” he pauses, taking a breath as he pets my head. “It doesn’t matter what I thought. You’re here, and that’s all that matters. I will fix everything else. I promised, didn’t I?”

I nod, and the tears spill down without a second thought. “I love you. I was so scared I’d never be able to tell you that.”

“I love you. I was too,” he says with a sigh, putting our heads together. “I don’t know how to be the perfect guy for you. I might fuck this up a million more times, but I will never in my life let you out of my sight again, do you hear me?” I nod, and I feel terrible that he’s blaming himself for what happened. “Come on, baby. I have a mess to clean up.”

He helps me up and reaches down to take the knife out of Peter’s neck. “I was looking for this.” A small, breathy laugh escapes me, and he follows suit. “Well, Mason’s already on the way. Couldn’t reach him for hours, but I got him right before I pulled up. We’re gonna handle this, and I’m gonna take you home.”

I nod, but the question is nipping at the back of my mind. I want to ask…not because it would change anything; because I want to know him completely. But maybe he isn’t ready yet, and I think that’s okay. He’s never pushed me for anything. “You don’t have to tell me who Melissa and Sadie are. It doesn’t matter what kind of mistakes you’ve made because…I know your heart. So when you’re ready, you can tell me.”

“I should have told you when you asked me why. I won’t get into the details. Melissa was my little sister, and Sadie was her daughter. I…was deployed when they were killed by her abusive ex. I had fought with her because she went back to him again, and I didn’t know how else to get through to her. I chose myself for once and ignored her letters for a few months. Next thing I know…”

“Kane, I’m so sorry.”

“No. I shouldn’t have done it. I felt sick to my stomach when I read those letters I had left unopened. She was desperately trying to seek help and I…fucking ignored her. If I had just not been so stubborn and⁠—”

“You can’t take the past back. I know I wish I could. If I could go back…I’d do everything differently. I’d have saved myself, too. So I guess what I’m trying to say is, everyone feels like that. All you can do is move forward. I bet they both adored you as much as I do, and so I can tell you for a fact they’d forgive you.”

He doesn’t answer, but his jaw clenches before he breaks out a half smile. “Come on, baby. Let’s get you the hell out of this room and cleaned up.”

“Okay,” I answer, my smile wide as he leads me out of the office.

* * *

It was an eventful week, and yes, I somehow got The Hangman to attend a pumpkin patch with me, and he even won me a plushie at the strongman game. I’m not sure what he and Mason did with Peter Reed, but I know wherever he is, he’ll definitely rot in hell for his crimes. I don’t know if I’m over it…but I’ll get there.

Because I found the person I will love forever, and I’m thankful for what I have.