Secrets of Sin: The Finale

ERIK

An eerie silence fills the room as we all look at each other.

I don’t understand how this could have happened.

Why am I so useless?

Why am I so drunk?

I hate myself at this moment.

I’m supposed to protect her.

My little sister.

I’m supposed to be the one she comes to in times of need. But here I stand, without a hope in the world of solving her problem.

Of saving her husband.

What the fuck am I going to do? What can I do?

Nothing makes sense anymore.

How did this happen?

I swallow thickly as I try to think of our next steps.

“We really should call someone. The cops can help us, can’t they?” I stammer, looking around the room at the broken glass.

Ross gasps against his soft sobs, and I feel helpless.

Stevie stands awkwardly beside him, equally at a loss.

Do any of us?

How do you prepare for something like this?

A kidnapping.

That’s what no one is actually saying out loud.

Ben has been kidnapped.

How the fuck does that even happen?

Gripping my temples, I try to think of the best course of action.

I should be able to figure this out. I am the big brother. I am the protector.

I have to fix this.

“I think involving the authorities might do more harm than good;”

“We don’t know who we’re dealing with or what they will do to Ben if we call the cops.” Brittany’s words fall flat in the air, and she clears her throat.

I don’t know what to do. Oh, god, help me.

“But can’t we find someone to help us? Isn’t there anyone we can call?” I wave my hands in the air.

Brittany’s harsh eyes soften as she looks at me with concern.

“Listen.” Brittany crosses her arms and takes a deep breath.

“If Ben has been abducted, it’s likely by that wild card Justin, and Lord knows what that psycho is capable of,” her voice trails off.

Justin, I rack my brain for what that name means.

The man from the club who assaulted Mari?

The man with one eye.

The eye that Ben stole from him.

“Are you saying you think Justin did this?” Mari gasps, combing her hands through her hair.

“I think it’s possible. Who else has motive?” Brittany raises a brow in question.

“Lord knows what that one-eyed man would do if he smells cops lingering. I think it’s safer to keep this between us.”

Brittany sighs heavily.

“That’s insane!” I snarl, feeling my morning booze writhe in my stomach.

Brittany raises a brow at me, daring me to keep talking.

“No, she’s right,” Mari stammers, and I look at her, my eyes wide as saucers.

“You can’t be serious, Mari. Your husband has been taken!” I snap.

I feel a rage rise up inside.

I want revenge.

I want my brother.

I want to find the person who did this and pummel them into oblivion.

I want to make things right.

That is my job. That is my duty.

I owe it to her.

I look at Mari, and sadness consumes me.

“I don’t want to risk his safety on the whim that cops might actually do something to help.” She shrugs.

I understand where she’s coming from, but how else can we find him?

“Then, what do you suggest we do?” I stammer.

Mari dashes toward the laptop, sitting on top of Ben’s desk.

She yanks back his desk chair and flops down in the seat.

“I’ll look at his cellphone records and see if he had any recent calls that look suspicious,” she tells me.

She’s finally stopped crying.

I am interested in what she might find on that computer.

“You think his abductor called him first?” I crinkle my brows.

“It’s possible, maybe he was being harassed and never told us. There could be a lead here.”

I nod and lean over her shoulder as she types frantically.

Numbers and figures flash across the screen as she scans through his call logs.

“What about his text messages?” I ask, seeing her look defeated.

She clicks the keys and scans his messages.

“No, there’s nothing here. Nothing out of the ordinary,” Mari cries, slamming the laptop shut.

I pat her back and reopen Ben’s computer.

Mari stands from the desk, allowing me to take her seat.

“Maybe, we should check his emails,” I groan as I look at the bright screen.

Mari starts crying softly.

“Good idea,” Brittany coos from behind me.

I don’t even know what I’m looking for. I just know I have to do something. Have to find something, anything, that can bring my brother home.

Ross moans in the background, still feeling sick, and Stevie pats his back.

I look over my shoulders at them, wishing they had some magical answer to our situation.

But no one does.

How could they? Can anyone really ever prepare for something like this?

We are not soldiers or cops or mobsters; we’re just a family.

We’re just people.

How could someone come into our home and do such a thing?

I turn my attention back to the laptop and scroll through Ben’s emails. I help Mari to the best of my abilities, but we come up flat.

“Nothing. There is nothing here, no trace,” I sigh, rubbing away the remains of intoxication.

“The security footage,” Mari gasps, her hands going to her mouth. “We have cameras everywhere.”

“Great idea!” I yelp as she logs into her account.

“Everything that happened today should be on camera,” Mari claps her hands excitedly.

“What the fudge is this?” she cries, flicking her hands toward the screen.

All I see is static.

“It looks like someone cut the video feed.” Brittany leans over.

“This was premeditated. Someone knew what they were doing,” Mari chokes, and I feel my heart break.

I can’t help her. My little sister. The person I love most in the world.

She looks at that static and weeps.

Brittany rubs her hand down Mari’s back, trying to comfort her.

But how do you comfort such a loss?

“It’ll be okay, Mari. We’ll get him back, I promise.” Brittany pats my shoulder softly.

“Yeah, Ben is strong. You know he can survive anything,” Stevie interjects.

“Mari, I’m so sorry,” Ross cries as Aurora pulls him into a hug.

Ross weeps nearly as much as Mari, and I feel lost to help my family.

Ben, please be okay.

I know he will.

I believe it.

Ben is strong. Ben is The Beast. Nothing can get him down.

So, how did it happen?

Right under our noses. In broad daylight, with a house full of people. It makes no sense.

I want to fix things. I need to fix things.

I can’t let my sister live with this pain.

I look at her, and my heart shatters; Brittany pulls her into a hug as she sobs.

I have to get my shit together. I have to help her.

It’s a sobering realization.

This is serious. This is life or death.

My brother-in-law has been snatched from the safety of his own home.

I have to do something.

But what?

I don’t know. I feel so lost.

My sister cries into Brittany’s shoulder, and I feel helpless.

“What have they done to him? Do you think it’s Justin, or could it be one of Ben’s other enemies?” Mari lifts her head to look at me.

I don’t know what to tell her. With no video footage, can we ever really know who did this?

“Oh, he’s made so many over the years,” Mari sobs.

I hate to admit it, but she’s right. There is no shortlist for people who hold a grudge against Ben.

“I can’t live without him. I can’t! You know I won’t survive this! We have to find him!” Mari wails.

My little sister’s desperation fills me with determination.

“We’ll find him, little sister, I promise you. We’ll find him if it’s the last thing I ever do.”