“Wha…”
I turned and ran from the waiting room and down the hall, passing the elevator, I smacked into the door marked stairs with enough force to rattle my teeth. Running down the stairs two a time trying not to fall flat on my ass, I could hear thundering feet behind me, I knew either Thorne or Shane, or hell both of them, were chasing me. I should have known they wouldn’t listen. But I couldn't stop. If I stopped I would fall apart. I had to be strong for all of them. I would find whoever did this and I was going to get justice. For everyone.
It was time for me to come back from the dead..
No matter what it cost me.
Thorne
I never took my eyes off Lexi as she ran from me, from us. To my surprise Shane was keeping pace with me. I knew she was hurting, wasn’t thinking straight. I didn’t want her to go off and do something crazy-- like get herself killed. I don’t know what I would do If I lost her along with any of my brothers.
How the hell did we get to this point?
Just last month we were happy and together, okay, maybe not happy so much as surviving. It wasn’t until Lexi fell into our lives that we started to wake up. Even the guys at the station noticed a difference in me. They were ribbing me on who the lovely lady was that I suddenly wanted to rush home to after my shift. Even Shane who used to spend all hours of the night and day at his clinic taking care of the animals, was home more often.
It was a miracle. She was our miracle. We were slowly drifting apart before she came, going our separate ways, never really seeing each other, unless it was for the occasional holiday where we all had it off. Or passing in the hall. We were like roommates but not brothers. each of us in our own little worlds, trying to forget the past.
I used to try and blame our demanding careers, that we all choose to pursue. But now I know it was us slowly letting go, giving up, just going through the motions until we died. As long as the guys were dying with me I was content. Not anymore. I’m not ready to die and I'll be damned if Lexi or my brothers died either.
“Lexi, Stop!” I shouted at her retreating back as she darted through the doors.
“I’m sorry! But I have to do this.” Floated on the wind back to me as she disappeared around the corner. I glanced at Shane and kicked my legs harder. We may have been in shape, but Lexi had the advantage on us. She was quick and probably hyped up on enough adrenaline to power a small building. Where the hell did she think she was going? What the hell was she doing?
Rounding the corner I stopped short, “Where the hell did she just go?” I spun round in a circle like that would make it easier to find her.
“Damn that gal sure is fast.” I glanced at the twins dad; He was breathing heavy bent over with his hands on his knees. I wasn’t even aware he had been following us, guess I was slipping in my old age. I noticed the file in his hand as he straightened up.
“What is she thinking?”
I shook my head and started to head back to the waiting room, “I have no idea what prompted this reaction from her.”
“I think I may have an idea boys.” Mr. Jones’ soft spoken voice stopped both of us in our tracks.
The swarms of people traversing the hospital corridor faded away as I looked at him. My eyes flicked down to the file in his hands again. Something was up, I could feel it.
“What do you mean?”
“Well, when Colt came to see us, he asked me a favor. You boys know I still have contacts within the department.” I nodded my head, anxious for him to get to the point.
Mr. Jones was a beat reporter in his day. He walked the streets just like the cops and found all the juicy stories. Until he got shot, he was in the wrong place at the wrong time. After that Mrs. Jones didn’t want him risking his life for a story, so he quit reporting and they opened their first restaurant. Some called them crazy for doing something so risky, but since they now had five restaurants with a sixth in the works I'd say it was worth the risk.
I focused back in on the conversation realizing I missed some, “...convinced her sister was murdered. Bad batch of honey, her sister, Roxy, put it on everything. Funny thing is, I talked to the cop who investigated this, just so happens he retired from the LAPD and moved to Boston to be near his grandkids. Anyways, he says he always had a feeling it was the boyfriend but he could never find him, and there was only one picture of her with him tucked back in her wallet. It got to the point where he decided she had to of been making it up and the photo was photoshopped.”
He handed me the folder, flipping it open I saw a grainy copy of an old picture of a beautiful couple. The man is taller than the woman by a least 4 inches, and has his arms wrapped around her. His classically handsome face and dark hair look familiar, but I can’t place him. Before I dwelled on it too much further my eyes were drawn to Roxy, Lexi’s sister was beautiful just like her. Where Lexi’s hair was long, straight, and almost midnight in color, Roxy had short, curly black hair with bright blue streaks running through it. It was hard to see her eye color, but she had a beautiful smile. I could tell she was the life of the party; Lexi was the same way. She lit up any room she walked into. All eyes traveled to her, at least mine and my brothers did. Frankly I didn’t give a shit about anyone else. They could all go take a flying leap off a tall building.
She was ours, no matter what Connor said or what Shane thought. I’ll beat some sense into them if I have too. She was the best thing to ever happen to us and I'll be damned if I’m going to let her go. Tension coiled in my limbs making me feel edgy and stiff.
First I had to find her before she did something crazy.
Pulling out my phone as we walked back to the waiting room for Connor and Colt, I called her. Luckily, she still had the new phone Con got her, he texted us from her number before she woke up this morning. Damn, was it really only this morning?
“Damnit, Lex. Come back. Don’t do anything stupid. What are you hoping to accomplish?” I cursed a blue streak as I hung up.
“Where could she of gone?” I could hear the worry in Shane's voice.
I shook my head, “I don’t know, but wherever she went can't be good.”
“Why do you say that?” Shane glanced at me.
“I have a bad feeling about it.”
“Fuck.” I nodded my head, face grim. Each of us have learned to follow our instincts and mine were screaming at me to stick with Lexi.
Come hell or high water, that's what I was going to do.
“Come on, let’s go see if our boys are out of surgery. Maybe she ran home to get a change of clothes and will be back soon.” Shane’s look said I was headed for the looney bin thinking like that. I knew he was right but I couldn’t help it. I had to believe it was something mundane and not her leaving us.
Thirty-five
Lexi
Standing outside the hospital I smiled slightly, I knew there would be cabs just sitting here. I quickly grabbed the nearest one, diving in, practically scaring the driver into a heart attack.
“You okay miss?” He was looking at me like I’m crazy. I couldn’t blame him either, my hair was a mess, I still had my bloody clothes on. I’m sure I looked like a maniac serial killer.
I gave him a small apologetic smile, “Yes, I’m fine. Sorry in a bit of a hurry. I want to be there when my husband wakes up but I need new clothes and there's no one to bring me any.” I really didn’t want a million questions. I just wanted to get home, change and talk to Britt. She had to have some sort of idea on who was doing this to me, she had her ear to the ground and never missed a trick.
I knew I was running on borrowed time, the guys would find me eventually, and I wanted to have some answers when they did. I was able to escape them by ducking into a room and waiting for them to stop chasing me. Little did they know, I was in the room right next to them. I heard what Connor and Colter’s dad had said.
I knew Roxy’s death wasn’t an accident. How the hell I was going to prove that I didn't know yet. But I knew I was going to try and this time I w
ouldn’t stop until I found the person responsible. Right after I got rid of my own asswipe.
My phone lit up, vibrating in my hand, I cringed looking down, expecting it to be Thorne or Shane again. Instead Britt’s name popped up.
I rushed to answer it, frantic to hear her voice. My stomach was still in knots, and that feeling of dread settled over me like a blanket.
“Britt?! Thank god. Where the hell have you been? I’ve been trying to reach you for hours now. Is everything okay? Did you get my messages?”
She interrupted me when I finally took a deep breath. “Girl calm down. I’m fine. I’ve been blaring music and getting ready for my Halloween party. You haven’t forgotten have you?”
Shit, I had. Britt started her Halloween shit early. She always had a Halloween Party the first week of October and the day before Halloween.
Breathing a sigh of relief I settled back into the cab and tell the driver my address before focusing back on Britt.
“Well shit, I did, but I have a good fucking reason. Connor and I got into an accident this afternoon coming back from Boston.”
“What?! Are you guys okay?”
“Connor and Colt are in surgery. I’m fine, well for the most part.” I sighed, “It’s a long story. To shorten it, I think you guys were right and someone is trying to kill me. Why I have no clue. But I’m about to come back from the dead. And your party is the perfect place to do it.”
“Lex, do you think that’s a good idea? Are Shane and Thorne with you?”
“No, and they won’t be. I don’t want them hurt anymore because of me. I somehow created this mess, and I have to fix it.” My voice was firm and cold. I didn’t care if I sounded like a bitch. I had to be a stone cold bitch right now, or I would fall apart.
“Okay, hun I got ya. What do you need from me?”
“Just to make sure you’re safe. I wouldn’t be able to handle it if anything happens to you.”
“You stay safe to sweets. Okay?”
I turned my head to look out the window, not really seeing anything as the scenery flew past.
“I will. Christian hasn’t been bothering you anymore has he?”
“No. Not since I told him I would send Matt after him. That boy has a screw loose. How did we not see this?”
I shrugged even though she couldn’t see me, “Evil has always been able to hide in plain sight. Ted Bundy, Charles Manson, everyone always said they were nice, even charming. I still don’t think Christian is behind this though.”
She sighed, “Yeah, you never hear anyone say, ‘Oh I knew they were a crazy serial killer. Makes dating scary as hell.”
“Wait you date? Since when?”
“Ha, ha, wench. I date all the time.”
“No, you have flavors. Two to four weeks is not dating, honey pie. It’s shopping.”
“You know how much I like shopping, in all forms.” I could practically see her wink even now. I chuckled and shook my head as we pulled up to my house.
“I love you, even if you are a serial shopper. I just got home; I’ll see you at the party tonight. Luckily, I had already gotten my costume before all of this clusterfuck happened.”
“Are you sure it’s wise to come tonight?”
“I promised you I would be there. Plus I’ll be in costume, it would be hard for anyone to single me out, but maybe, just maybe I will be able to eavesdrop and find out a few things.”
I pulled out Thorne’s wallet to pay the cabbie. Glad someone still carried cash around. Guilt tried to eat at me for pickpocketing him and taking it earlier, but I squashed it down.
Standing on the sidewalk, I looked at my house, it still looked the same. Beautiful stone, wide front porch, red wooden door with an oval window. I took a deep breath, glad to be home after all this time.
“HELLOO!!!” I pulled my phone away from my ear cringing at Britt’s yell.
“Owwww!! What the fuck?”
Her chuckle sounded sinister, “Well you weren’t paying attention to me. I was saying I will be over in a few min to unlock your door. Since you don’t have your keys, nitwit. And I love you too.”
“I ca…” The phone clicked and I pulled it back scowling, “I hate it when she does that!” I said into the wind.
She always hung up without the conversation actually being over. Shaking my head I made my way to the back. I didn’t get the chance to tell her that I never was able to get the sliding door fixed. The lock didn’t engage all the way, if you knew what to do it would slide free.
I breathed a sigh of relief once I was in my own space. I loved my time with the guys, but damn if I didn't miss my house. Making my way up the stairs I racked my brain for anyone who wanted to kill me, but came up empty again. And was David’s death a coincidence or part of a more sinister plot involving me? Was Roxy the beginning? Did someone kill her to get to me? Or was that just a coincidence too? Did death really follow me around?
I shook my head, I sounded like a paranoid conspiracy theorist.
I scowled at my bedroom, it looked like a fucking bomb went off, why I agreed to have Britt stay here during my absence was beyond me.
Deciding that I didn’t actually see a mess in my usually clean bedroom, I moved to the bathroom to take a shower. I had to get all of the blood off of me.
I finally caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror and cringed on a gasp. “Damn, no wonder the cabbie thought I needed help. I look like I'm an extra in a slasher film.”
My voice sounded creepy even to me, hollowed out and fragile. Shaking my head I turned on the radio that I always kept in here. Music ran my life; I couldn't do anything without music. I flinched as rock music poured out of the speakers, I forgot that the last time I was here I was pissed at Cristian. Britt always said my music was my mood ring. She could always tell what mood I was in just by the music I was listening to.
Britt could do with or without music, and she never listened to it in the shower. After watching Alfred Hitchcock’s, Psycho, she couldn’t stand shower curtains and there had to be no noise other than the shower.
I chuckled, sliding under the blistering hot water. After shampooing twice and scrubbing myself raw, I stayed under the water until the hot water ran out.
Frowning, I stepped out, fully expecting Britt to be here already. She only lived 10 minutes from me by walking.
“Britt?” I called out, turning off the radio.
Silence greeted me, a shiver ran the length of my spine, “Oh stop being silly. Your just being paranoid because you were thinking about that damn movie.” I berated myself, stomping over to my closet I grabbed the undergarments to my costume. I was going as a Japanese Geisha. The makeup alone was going to take at least an hour.
Glancing at the clock, I hurried to gather everything. I would just get ready at Britt’s place.
Where was she?
Hearing a noise from downstairs, I paused, calling out, “Britt is that you? Took you long enough. What did you do, finish setting up for the party? Or have a quick shag before meeting me? It’s a good thing I was able to break into my own house you know. Me standing outside covered in blood would’ve made for an interesting conversation with the police.”
I hurried downstairs, smiling, still jabbering away about nonsense, I had missed my best friend. Going from hanging out almost every day to hardly seeing each other just felt wrong.
I stopped at the bottom of the stairs, looking around, my smile slowly fell from my face, “Britt? Come on, don’t do this. It’s not funny, just say something then we can go.”
Turning towards the kitchen, I quietly snuck towards the other dining room door that led off of the kitchen. Britt liked to hide there when she was being an ass and trying to scare me.
“Oof.” My body was thrown forward into the wall. I cried out as my head hit the frame. My vision was blurry as I turned around, hands up ready to fight whoever hit me. I knew it wasn’t Britt, and only hoped she had gotten held up and wasn’t here.
“Why won’t you j
ust die, you stupid little bitch!” The words were growled, but I knew that voice. My brain was to foggy from the blow to come up with a name.
I saw him reaching for me again and threw myself sideways in an attempt to grab a knife off of the island, all I managed to do was push everything off the other side.
“No!” I cried out, kicking in the direction he was last.
The last thing I heard was a dark and sinister laugh as I’m hit over the head again and my world went black.
Thirty-Six
Connor
“What the fuck do you mean she’s gone?” I growled at Thorne. Thankfully our injuries weren’t as bad as everyone thought. Damn doctors freaking everyone out and not telling them a damn thing. I have a broken arm, and a mild concussion, with cuts everywhere from the explosion.
“She took off running after talking to Mom,”
“You didn’t go after her?”
“Of course we did you jackass. We lost her in the crowd.” Shane mumbled.
“We are Marines, for heaven’s sake. It was our job to follow people without them noticing or slipping us.”
“We weren’t trying to be discreet.” Thorne rubbed his hand over his face. I know he’s upset and worried just like I am. But, dammit he let her go.
“Where would she go?”
“Her house, or Britt.” Colter spoke up from the doorway where he was in a wheelchair. I scowled at my pig headed brother.
“You are not supposed to be out of bed, young man!” I smirked as our mother descended on him, trying to turn him around.
“Mom, I’m fine. It’s just flesh wounds.”
“Everything is just a flesh wound to you! Colter Andrew Jones, you get back to your room! You had a piece of glass cut open your abdomen and you have a broken leg!”
I shook my head, grinning when he just threw her a wink and a smile, patting her hand.
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