Page 111 of Camera Stays On

My mind went blank. This was such childish brother bullshit. I felt thrown back to when we were kids, arguing over who got the remote.

“Unfortunately, I don’t think I’ve been left with another option, brother. Even blindfolded, she didn’t want me. I think her knowing that you might still come save her is making her hold back from giving herself to me completely. You need to be out of the picture.”

We stood there, him holding the knife and me holding the gun. Who was going to move first? Did I have the balls to shoot my own brother?

No.

I swallowed. My gaze flicked to the door where Andi was being held.

“Fine. You want me out? I’ll leave. Let me go, Sawyer. You can have the house, and I won’t fight for her.” The lie burned on my tongue. Like hell I’d walk away so easily. I just needed him to believe it enough to let me leave this room. If I could get these cameras disabled, maybe we’d stand a chance against him.

Sawyer cocked his head. “Really?”

I nodded, lowering my hands to my sides, but not dropping the gun.

“I’ll go, just…don’t hurt her. She’s…” I swallowed. “I love her, too, you know.”

A look passed over his face, and his lips turned into a grim line. He nodded.

“Leave the gun on the table.”

I hesitated, but after a long moment, I set the gun down. If this was what it took to get him to trust me, so be it. As if acting on good faith, he put the knife back in the drawer. However, that was short-lived when he went to the table, scooping up the gun and shoving it back into his pants.

“Sorry it has to be this way, but it’s better for everyone. I didn’t want to make Ma bury one of us.”

I nodded. He was deep in some sort of mental psychosis, and I wasn’t going to fight him. He’d almost killed me.

“Treat her right, okay?”

It truly felt like a line from a movie. Where the hero walks away to give the heroine her happy ending. Any other time, Sawyer would have called me out for the cheesy line, but the expression on his face was downright giddy. He couldn’t wait for me to walk away so he could go to her.

I said a silent prayer that he didn’t go in and finish what he’d started a few hours ago. He seemed to have it in his head that if they fucked, she’d want him again.

Sawyer turned his back to me, dismissing me completely. I turned to go, and my eyes settled on the wall of camera feeds. I went closer, looking for Andi. Did he have a camera for the room she was in? I found her a beat later. She was sitting in a chair, still in her wedding dress, watching TV.

“What is she doing?” I asked, the hair on my neck standing up. I turned back to my brother. A slow, evil grin spread across his face.

“She’s watching the tape on loop. Even if you hadn’t just agreed to walk away, she won’t want you now. She knows the truth. What a fucking psycho you really are.”

It was like a stab to the chest. I stopped breathing and turned back to the cameras.

“This isn’t over.” My hands clenched into fists. I stared at her on screen, trying to gauge her reactions. How long had she been watching? How many times had it looped? Sawyer stalked over, putting his hand on my shoulder and squeezing. He pushed me, and I stumbled back, all the way out the door. Once I was in the hall, he reached for the door.

“Oh, Ash.” Sawyer gave me a sympathetic smile. “I think it is,” he said as he swung the door shut in my face and locked it.

Chapter 51

Andi

THE SCREEN WAS black, and then a single word in white plain text popped up.

Ray.

My heart paused as I stared at the name. What was this? After my near escape, Sawyer caught me and threw me in this room, shackling my ankles to the chair. I’d screamed for Asher as we’d passed him, but he, too, was tied up and couldn’t do anything. What torture was he enduring while I was in here? A myriad of awful, nightmare ideas filled my mind as I imagined what Sawyer was doing. I couldn’t hear anything—could he have shot him, like he’d done to Gavin?

The very idea that Asher was already gone nearly shattered me. I had to force the thoughts away. He was still alive, I told myself. He had to be.

My attention returned to the TV, where the word disappeared.