Lies Inside (12 page)

“I don’t think he would do anything to Rylan or the girls. I don’t know, though. I just know it’s time. I’ve let him torture me enough. It’s time for it to stop.”

Murphy picked up the phone and started dialing. “Lane, it’s Murphy. I need you to come out to the house...No, the kids are feeling better, but we need to talk to you...Alright, we’ll see you soon.” Murphy set his phone down. “I need to talk to Lane, but I think I know how we can find Viktor.”

“What do you mean, find him?” Lucy asked.

“They were going up to visit Camille’s mother after the party last night. I’m sure if I called and asked him to come back, he would.”

“Without Camille or the girls?” Finn hoped his father was thinking the same thing he was. Finn never wanted to put those girls through an ounce of pain.

“I think so.”

Finn led Claire back to her chair and got her settled. When he saw Lucy sitting with her knees to her chest on the couch, he knelt on the floor in front of her. She let her feet slip off the couch and Finn settled in between her legs. She wrapped her arms around his neck as his found their way around her waist.

Aiden sat down next to Lucy and started rubbing her back. He whispered to them, “Maybe this would be the time to bring up the good news.”

Finn kissed his way from Lucy’s jaw to her lips. She hungrily kissed him back, gripping Finn’s jaw with her hands.

“Come up for air, Jesus Christ.”

Finn pulled back, and Lucy glared at Aiden. Finn cupped her cheek with his hand.

“I’m ready.” She kissed his palm.

“Finn, please. You’re going to give your mother a stroke.” Claire clutched Murphy’s hand.

Finn stood up bringing Lucy with him.

“Lucy and I are engaged.”

Claire’s jaw dropped, and she began to blink wildly. Murphy vigorously scratched at his forehead before running his fingers through his hair.

“I think you broke them.”

Finn turned and kicked Aiden in the shin before kissing Lucy on the forehead.

“You’ve agreed to this, Lucy?” Murphy questioned.

She held steadfast to Finn’s side. “Yes, it’s not going to be tomorrow or anything, but someday. We just wanted to make it official.”

Claire started crying. Finn could only imagine the range of emotions she was going through: shock, fear, horror, disgust, and hopefully, a little joy.

“Mom?”

She sniffled. “It’s just...a lot...to take in…all at once.”

Finn looked to his father. “Dad?”

“Of course I’m happy that Lucy will be joining the family...eventually. I’m just concerned about the timing. I’d hate to see what you two have built be destroyed because you didn’t take your time.”

“Take our time? Mom has been planning our wedding since we were kids. You all said we’d get married someday. Now, were admitting it to ourselves and everyone else.” Finn knew he was really reaching, but was pleasantly surprised when Claire started laughing.

“I was just remembering,” she said, turning to Murphy, “when Rylan put Finn in one of your ties. Then they wrapped Lucy up in toilet paper, and Jack pretended to be a minister.”

“Oh, God. I think we were about seven. We even wrote our own vows.” Finn dropped back down on the couch as a smile crept to his face.

“I think I promised to bandage up all your scrapes if you fell off your bike.” Lucy plopped down in his lap and brought her arms around his neck.

“And I promised to fix all your Barbies when Jack ripped their heads off.” Finn kissed her cheek. “We’ve come a long way, haven’t we?”

“I will tell you this; the next time we get married, my dress will not be made out of toilet paper.” She planted a soft kiss on his lips, and he started to feel that maybe everything might be okay.

Knock, knock.

“I guess you two are feeling better,” Lane walked in and closed the door behind him. Lane’s eyes darted around the room, the destruction quite evident. He chuckled softly before readdressing them. “I like what you’ve done with the place. Didn’t need all those medical journals, did you, Murphy?”

Lucy left Finn’s lap and gave her dad an enormous hug. “Thanks for coming, Dad.”

“Sure, Luce. Murphy made it sound like it was important. By the look of things, I think I’ve missed something.” Lane raised a curious brow to his daughter.

“You might want to take a seat.” Claire got up from her chair and Murphy motioned for Lane to sit there. “I’m afraid we’ve called you here in more of an official capacity.”

“Something happen at the party? I hope nothing was stolen.”

“No, nothing like that,” Finn answered him. “I need to know what to do.” Finn felt his heart start to race again. He could feel the panic raging like fire through his veins. He clung to the hem of his t-shirt, his palms sopping wet. Suddenly, he felt like he might pass out. “I...ugh...someone.”
Oh fuck. I can’t do this,
he thought.

“Someone hurt Finn. We want to know what we can do to make him pay for it.” Finn turned to see Lucy, grateful she had voiced his words for him.

Lane moved up in his seat. “How did they hurt you, Finn?”

Finn looked in his eyes and saw the same expression his father had, anger mixed with concern. Finn’s eyes fell to his lap. He couldn’t control his erratic breathing no matter how hard he tried.

“I was abused...sexually.” Finn let his head fall back against the couch as his eyes filled with fresh tears. He felt Aiden squeeze his shoulder as Lucy sat on the arm of the couch, her fingers running through his hair.

“When did this happen?” Finn couldn’t see his expression, but he could hear the tone in his voice; it was hard and cold.

“The last time? It was...last December, but the first time was almost five years ago.” Finn brought his head down to his hands that were clasp together at his chin. “He was one of my professors at Two Roads.”

“Viktor Karpov,” Aiden spit through his teeth.

“I see.”

Finn was unable to read the blank expression on Lane’s face. He reached for Lucy’s hand and held it to his lips.

“The guy even sent pictures of it to Finn. We have them all on a CD.” Aiden was trying to break the agonizing silence.

“Pictures of the acts?”

“Yes.” Finn nodded.

“I will have to get the Feds involved. I have a friend at the bureau. I can call to get the ball rolling. Do you know where this Karpov guy is?”

“At his in-laws with his wife and two girls. They were all at the party last night. I think I can get him back here. I have an idea.” Murphy’s brain seemed to be working in overdrive.

Finn knew what he had to do. “Let me talk to him.”

“No, Finn. I can’t stand for you to even be in the same room with him.” Lucy sobbed at the thought as she crawled in Finn’s lap, wrapping her arms around his neck.

Finn kissed the top of Lucy’s head. He looked and examined Lane’s face. He knew what Lane was thinking. “It might be the only way to get him to admit what he’s done.”

Before all hell broke loose, Finn felt he needed to get lost in himself for a while. He and Aiden went up to his room while Lucy went to gather the rest of the family. He sat down with his guitar while Aiden stretched out on the bed.

Finn eased back into a song he had learned years before. Each chord, each caress of the strings filled him with an overwhelming sensation. Simply put, love. He poured his soul into making each chord perfect in succession. He needed to strip himself of all the pain, purge all the anger and guilt and just play. He felt the joy and excitement of each chord until it came to the most astounding conclusion.

As soon as he finished, another sound filled the room. Aiden had pulled out his own guitar and started playing one of his favorite songs. It was a beautifully sad song, but always made Finn feel better. Aiden didn’t sing as he usually did. He closed his eyes and let his fingers do all the work. When he was done, he put his hand over the strings and gave Finn a quick smile.

“If I didn’t have Jack...wow,”

Rylan said as she walked into the room and sat next to Aiden. “That was, like...incredible.”

“Thanks. It’s one of Finn’s favorites.” He stood up to put his guitar back in its case.

“Rylan!” Finn’s outburst interrupted her assessment of Aiden’s backside. “Where’s Jack?”

“He’s on his way. I decided to go ahead and come up. Everyone seems really upset.”

“Come here.” Finn held out his hand, motioning for her to sit next to him on the window seat. He took her hand as she sat down. “You and I have always been really close. Much closer than I’ve ever been with any of our friends. You just get me. Kind of like Lucy does, but in a sisterly sort of way.”

She grasped his hand tighter. “Finn, you’re starting to scare me.”

Finn had been dreading this moment for almost five years. He looked into her deep brown eyes, glistening with unshed tears. Aiden held a box of tissues, preparing for the dam to break.

Finn took a deep breath before letting it all go. He retold the story he had given his parents that morning. He saw the hurt fill her eyes as she cried, but she stayed silent the entire time.

Aiden kept pulling tissues and handing them to Rylan as she needed. When Finn finally got to a point where he could stop and take a breath, he looked up. There was no pity or compassion, just complete unadulterated rage.

“Tell me whose blood is going to be on my hands once I find him.”

Finn didn’t think she noticed she was almost crushing his fingers between her own. He slipped his hand out of her grasp and put both her hands in her lap. “It was Viktor.”

He could see the shiver run down her spine as Lucy and Jack entered the room.

“I think I’m going to be sick.” Rylan got up and ran to the bathroom.

Finn nodded to Lucy, and she went in after her.

Jack looked at the bathroom door as Lucy closed it behind her. “Is she okay?”

“She’s very upset. You might want to have a seat. I’ve got something important to tell you.”

Rylan was sobbing and throwing up at the same time. Lucy wet down a towel and sat down beside her. She put the cool towel on the back of Rylan’s neck as she started heaving again.

When she was finished and had flushed the toilet, she took the towel from Lucy and met her eyes.

“How could you know and not tell me?”

“I couldn’t. He barely admitted it to me, and Aiden found out by accident. He was just coming to terms with who he is and was about to talk to the family. Then, Viktor showed up last night.”

Rylan shuddered at the sound of his name. “I danced with him. So did Mom. Dad was dancing with the girls. Oh, God. The girls.”

Lucy shook her head vigorously from side to side. “Finn doesn’t think he would hurt them.”

“But he’s not sure?” Rylan said, voicing their uncertainty.

“No, not sure.” Lucy remembered how he caressed his daughter’s cheek. The vision sent a chill down her spine. “My dad is getting a hold of the FBI, and they’re planning something.” Lucy tried to shake the vision of Viktor’s sick smile.

“What are they planning?”

“I don’t know, but I don’t think we’ll like it.”

“How are you with all this? God, you’ve known for awhile now.”