“I’m taking her back to college,” Ford finally said, and his deep voice had my back straightening.
Dad turned to face him, his gaze meeting Ford’s and then mine. They stood there, not a word said between them for several minutes. They were battling silently, and I wasn’t sure who was going to win. I didn’t know what I expected to happen, but it wasn’t Dad saying, “Okay.” He moved toward me and then wrapped me up in a hug. “I just don’t want you to get hurt, Belle.”
I clutched on to him, trying to physically show him I was okay. “I’ll be fine, Dad. And if I’m not, I’ll come home. Okay?”
He squeezed me one last time and then pulled back, his brown eyes staring into my blue ones. “Promise that you’ll come home and not try to brave it out?”
“I promise,” I whispered, and I meant it. I’d been scared when someone had tried to break in, but the fact of the matter was, I was safe with Ford around, and the moment I didn’t feel that, or Ford said we weren’t, I’d listen to him without a second thought.
Dad nodded and then let me go, and the atmosphere in the room changed. Gone was all the tenseness, and in its place something fragile we all were scared we’d break.
Mom flung her arms around me and squeezed me to death, whispering in my ear, “He’s just being a caveman, sweetie.”
“I know,” I told her. Dad wanted to protect us all, but sometimes he went too far. And this was one of those times.
Asher walked past me with my suitcase with Lottie on his tail as Cade and Aria said their goodbyes. “Come on,” Cade said, throwing his arm around my shoulders. “I’ll walk you out to the car.” I wrapped my arm around his waist as he led me out onto the balcony, and down toward the lake, then around to the front of the house. The peacefulness in the air had an edge to it, but it was probably because of what had happened in the house with Dad.
Dad stood next to Ford’s car, whispering something to him as Asher closed the trunk. Cade gave me one last hug, and then Asher came forward. I didn’t wait for him to hug me because I flung myself at him. “I’ll try to get back for the tournament.”
“Okay,” he said, but his voice broke. “Look after yourself, okay?”
“I will.” I pulled back and placed each of my hands on his face. “Try to stop growing while I’m gone, yeah? I’m sick and tired of all you men being giants.”
He grinned, the kind of grin I had no doubt sent the girls in his school crazy. “Can’t promise that one, sis.”
I rolled my eyes, but the smile on my face couldn’t be replaced. I missed all of my family, and sometimes I wondered if I made the right decision going to college five hours away, but I wasn’t one at looking back. All I cared about was what was right in front of me and the future ahead. And as I glanced over Asher’s shoulder, my gaze caught Ford’s, and I knew what would be in my immediate future.
Ford pulled the passenger door open, and with one last wave to everyone, I stepped toward him and into the car. We were seconds away from being alone, and I could hardly wait. Lottie’s head was smashed against the back window as Ford got in and turned the engine on. He didn’t look at me as he started to drive away from the lake house, and I waved out the window.
It wasn’t until we were thirty minutes away that he pulled over and finally looked at me. “I’ve been wanting to do this since I walked out of your bedroom days ago.” His hand cupped the side of my neck, and I met him halfway as he pushed closer to me, and finally, his lips were pressed against mine.
My stomach dipped at the contact, thousands of butterflies taking flight, and I clutched at him harder, promising to never let go. I didn’t want the kiss to end. I wanted to stay glued to him for as long as possible, but I knew it couldn’t be forever.
“I missed your lips,” I murmured as we pulled away. He leaned his forehead against mine, his breath flowing over my face.
“Me too.” Neither of us moved for several minutes, just soaking each other in. “We should get on the road,” Ford whispered.
“Okay.” I paused. “Just one more kiss before we do.”
“One more kiss,” he confirmed, and then pressed his lips against mine.
Chapter Fourteen
FORD
I’d been driving for nearly six hours straight without a break, eagerness to get Belle back to her apartment and alone again pushing me forward. Belle had fallen asleep about an hour ago, and Lottie had joined her, the dog snores mixing in with the low music playing on the radio.
My gut churned as I got closer to her college, an indication something wasn’t right, but I was on high alert. We hadn’t been followed. In fact, the roads seemed emptier than usual. It was Friday evening, which meant most students would be going out for the night, but I had every intention of staying indoors, in Belle’s room, with just her as company.
I pulled into the apartment block lot, parked my car in my usual spot, and then turned my engine off. I didn’t move for several seconds, waiting and watching, making sure it was safe to get out. When I didn’t see anything, and Lottie had also stared around the lot and not alerted me to anything, I placed my hand on Belle’s leg.
“Belle?” I pressed harder as she groaned. “We’re home.”
She moved her head on the seat to face me and slowly opened her eyes. “Hey,” she murmured, her voice groggy.
“Hey yourself.” I pressed my palm to the side of her face and pushed some of her hair behind her ear. “You ready to go inside?”
She moved her head off the headrest and placed her hand over mine. “Yeah.”
I was tempted to kiss her, just like I had earlier, but I refrained. We were exposed sitting here, and I wanted to get her to safety. Brody hadn’t been right in his approach to try and keep Belle home, but he wasn’t wrong about the danger. Garza was still out on the streets, and with only a few days until his verdict would be read, it meant he was on edge. We had no idea what he’d do or how he’d react.
Belle waited as I got out first, and then I walked around to her side of the car and opened the door. Lottie followed Belle out, and then we headed up the stairs in what had become our usual formation. I was in front with Belle behind and Lottie next to her.
“What about our bags?” Belle asked as we made it to her floor.
“I’ll get them in the morning,” I told her, pulling my keys out and then opening up the front door. The alarm system beeped, and I flicked the light on to put the passcode in as Belle closed the door behind me.
Lottie trotted around the apartment, smelling everything, and then headed down the hallway toward Stella’s room. I needed a shower after all of that driving, so I started to walk toward Belle’s room as I heard her say, “What’s the matter, Lottie?”
I placed my hand on Belle’s bedroom door handle and turned to look at them. Lottie sat in front of Stella’s door, her ears up and her one paw forward as Belle stared down at her. She lifted her hand to knock on the door and called, “Stella? You in there?”
Lottie barked at the door, and that gut feeling I had earlier came back tenfold. Something wasn’t right, but logically, I knew it couldn’t be anything. The alarm had been on, which meant Stella was either asleep, or she wasn’t here.
Belle reached for the door handle and pushed down on it, and I saw the light coming from Stella’s bedroom as she pushed it open. There were two seconds of silence, and then Belle’s piercing scream.
My body knew what was happening before my brain had time to catch up, and I sprinted across the apartment and toward Belle and Lottie, where they stood in the hallway, staring into Stella’s bedroom in horror.
“Belle, Belle!” I grasped her shoulders and turned her to face me, not taking anything in but her face. “Calm down.”
“I… Oh my god.” She hiccupped a sob. “What… I…” She wailed, the kind of wail that was filled with so much pain and anguish, I could feel it down to my very soul.
I wrapped my arms around her, pulling her head to my chest as I stared into the room. I wished I had
n’t. I wished I’d moved us away so I never had the image in my head, but it was too late.
Stella and Justin were lying on Stella’s bed, fully clothed, and above the covers. Red pooled around them, some wet, some dry, and as I gazed at them from head to toe, I realized their throats had been slit, but that wasn’t what had me pulling Belle away from Stella’s room. It was the hands nailed to their chests, a symbol of the Garza cartel, that had me pushing Belle against the wall so she could listen to me.
“Belle.” She wouldn’t look at me, so I gripped her head in my hands and tilted it back so she could stare at me directly in the eyes. “I need you to concentrate on what I’m saying.” I waited a second, and when she nodded, I continued, “When I say go, you’re going to take my keys, and we’re going to run out of the apartment and straight to the car. Don’t stop. Don’t look back. Get there as fast as you can. I’ll be right behind you.”
She swallowed and stared at me, her eyes glazing over, but her whispered, “Okay,” let me know she’d heard what I’d said.
I reached into my pocket for my keys, handed them to her, and then shouted, “Go!”
She didn’t hesitate as I let her go. She sprinted for the front door and flung it open, and with one last look at the gruesome scene in front of me, I followed her and Lottie out. I was only a few feet behind them as I slammed the door closed, and then we were running for my car, trying to get to it as fast as we could. I had no idea if someone was watching us, but I knew as soon as we were in the car, we would be safe.
The lights beeped as we made it down all the flights of stairs, and Lottie was beside Belle, protecting her, understanding something bad was happening. Belle flung the passenger door open, and Lottie jumped in with Belle right behind her. I wasn’t sure what was going on around me as I pulled my door open and then got inside.
I locked the doors so no one could get in, and took a breath, wishing I could close my eyes but knowing all I’d see was the scene in Stella’s bedroom. I yanked my cell out as Belle handed me the keys, but I had no intention of moving, not until I knew there was someone here to look at the crime scene.
I called the local PD, giving them a rundown of what had happened and what we saw, and telling them who I was. As soon as I ended the call, I clicked on the app to view the security footage from the apartment, but there was nothing there. Several blank screens greeted me, and I gritted my teeth. I needed to find out if they’d been wiped all together, because at least then it would give us a timeframe.
Within minutes of calling, sirens were sounding, and several cop cars were in the lot. Once they’d gotten into the apartment, I turned the engine on and backed out of the space. There was only one place I’d be taking Belle, and that was the safe house. I handed Belle my cell and demanded, “Call your dad and put it on speaker.”
She did as I said, and even though I could see her fingers shaking, I couldn’t concentrate on that. I had to make sure she was safe first. Brody had been right. He was never wrong when it came to his gut. I couldn’t help but wonder if Lottie hadn’t been with us, would we have even known what had happened to Stella and Justin until the morning? By then, it could have been too late.
Had someone come in, expecting to get Belle, but instead come across Stella and Justin? I hadn’t been keeping an eye on surveillance while we were gone because I didn’t think I had to.
“Ford?” Brody’s voice rang out in the car.
“We’re on our way to the safe house,” I rushed out.
“What? What happened?”
“Belle’s roommate and her boyfriend have been murdered.” I cringed at the sentence, wishing what I said wasn’t the truth, but it was, and at my words, Belle hiccupped a sob. She’d opened the door to the scene. She’d witnessed her best friend in the worst way possible, and I wished I could scrub the memory from her brain.
“Belle?” Brody asked. “You there?”
“Yeah, Dad,” she whispered, her voice broken. “It was…oh god.” She placed her hand over her mouth, but there was nothing I could do to comfort her because I was driving. The nearest safe house was an hour away, but I intended to get us there in half the time. “There was blood everywhere, Dad. And her hand…”
“Her hand?” Brody asked, and I could tell by his tone he had a feeling he knew what she was going to say. We all knew the trademarks when it came to the cartel.
“It was…”
“Nailed to her chest,” I finished for Belle.
“Fuck!” Brody shouted. “I goddamn knew something was gonna happen.”
The silence stretched between us as I took a corner fast. “I’ll call when we’re at the safe house,” I told him.
“I’m tracking you,” Brody told me, and I knew what his unspoken words were. Anything could happen between now and then, and although I wasn’t being followed, I had no idea if someone had been watching us back at the apartment. Maybe they only wanted to scare us, or perhaps it was a warning. We wouldn’t know until someone was down at the crime scene.
Brody dropped the call, and I had no idea what to say to Belle. I wanted nothing more than to tell her it was going to be okay, but I wouldn’t make promises I couldn’t keep. I’d do anything to protect her. I’d go to lengths I never thought possible so she wouldn’t get hurt. And not just because she was Brody’s daughter, but because she was Belle.
My Belle.
BELLE
They never portrayed in the movies how tired you felt after witnessing a dead body—a murder scene. They’d make it look like the person was in shock, scared of what had happened, but they never told the story of the tiredness that hit you.
It was an effort to keep my eyes open, but every time they’d close, all I could see was Stella and Justin lying on the bed, blood pouring from their necks. Their faces though…they looked peaceful, a complete contrast to what they must have felt in the last moments of their lives.
My brain was trying to shut down and protect me, but I couldn’t let it. I had to stay alert. I had to make sure I was prepared to run at any stage because I didn’t know what was coming next. I kept my gaze fixated on the windshield as Ford sped down roads I’d never seen before. He hadn’t spoken since we’d called my dad, and I wasn’t sure if it was because he was thinking or was letting me process.
This was all my fault. If I hadn’t gone to the club in the first place, then I wouldn’t have seen Ford, and everything that happened after that would have never transpired.
Stella was dead. Justin was dead.
Ford slammed the breaks as he pulled up outside a house in the suburbs. It looked the same as the rest of the houses on the street, but as he opened his door and came around to my side, I realized this was the safe house. Hiding in plain sight. It was clever but risky.
I pushed out of the car, Lottie following me, and together, we kept two paces behind Ford as he walked up the path separated by grass. In the darkness, I could see some flowers, but I couldn’t tell what kind they were.
There were three steps that led onto a small porch. Ford bent down and lifted one of the pots full of flowers to reveal a keypad. He input a code, and a second later, a click rang out, and he opened the door.
He ushered me inside with his hand on the small of my back, but even his touch wasn’t working. I wanted to be alone. I needed to work through everything and try to figure it all out.
Ford pulled his gun from his holster. “Stay here.” I glued my feet to the floor and waited as he checked the whole house and returned a couple of minutes later. “All clear.” He halted a couple of feet in front of me, and I stared up into his eyes, but there was nothing there. Gone was the Ford I’d gotten to know, and in its place was the Ford he portrayed to everyone else around him. “I need to make some calls,” he said, his voice monotone, and all I could do was nod. “The bedrooms are upstairs. Why don’t you go and lie down?”
My mouth wouldn’t work to answer him, so instead, I walked past him. Lottie followed me. I didn’t take any details of the h
ouse in as I made my way up the stairs and into the first bedroom I spotted.
Tiredness took over, and I lay down on top of the sheets and stared at the wall. I curled my legs up to my chest and held them there, trying to go over every minute since we’d left the lake house. The last week had been so good, and all I’d been able to think about was getting home so that Ford and I could touch each other.
I’d been selfish.
I hadn’t thought about Stella. I couldn’t even remember the last time I’d spoken to her. At that thought, I sprung up into a sitting position and pulled my cell out of my pocket. I immediately went to my messages, searching them, and finally finding Stella’s name.
Stella: Tell Lottie I miss her. :(
Belle: Just told her, she barked in response lol. We’ll be home Friday night. Netflix and chill on Saturday?
Stella: You betcha!
Belle: My dad is a nightmare. I swear he’s such a caveman.
Stella: Why? What happened?
Belle: Just my dad being my dad. You know how he is. We’re finally on our way home. See you tonight!
Stella: Later, gator!
A tear streamed down my cheek as I read the messages, and I realized she’d been alive today. Her heart had been beating, and air had filled her lungs. And then…
My cell buzzed in my hand with a new message.
Curtis: Hey! Stella said you’re back today. We should all go out tomorrow night. Free drinks from the barman. ;)
I hiccupped a sob and slapped my hand over my mouth so I didn’t draw attention to myself. I could hear Ford talking downstairs, and even though I wanted to listen to what he was saying, I was scared to find out what had really happened.
Bonded Duet: Ford & Belle: Torn Bond & Tied Bond (Easton Family Duet Boxsets Book 3) Page 18
