Kai is driving like he’s a professional race car driver, his foot heavy on the gas, paying no attention to speed limits. He weaves through cars and disregards traffic lights. Cars honk as he cuts them off, but still he doesn’t lift his foot off the accelerator. I barely notice as I incessantly call both Teagan and Paisley but get no answer from either of them. We’ve been gone for over two hours, and so much could have happen in that time. They could have been watching and waiting for us to leave, knowing we wouldn’t be back for a while. We gave them the perfect window. Fell right into the stupid fucking setup.
What should have been about a forty-minute ride back home takes us about twenty-five. The concrete wall around our home comes into view. It’s broad daylight and everything looks to be perfectly normal. My mind has been conjuring up images of knocked in doors, destruction, and chaos, but everything looks as it did when we pulled out of the driveway this morning. Even so, a bad feeling washes over me. The quiet is anything but calming and as the gate opens to allow us entry. Kai barely has the car through the gate before I jump from it and run up the driveway. The front door is unlocked, which is my first sign things aren’t right.
I run through the house, shouting for Teagan and Paisley without a response from either of them. I notice the house is completely turned upside down as I leap over tossed furniture and race toward the bedrooms upstairs. Kai’s not far behind me as my heart beats out of my chest. My pulse races with each step forward. We’re too late.
I check Teagan’s room first, and what I find knocks the breath out of me. Her mattress is ripped open. Torn pages of books litter the floor. A lamp is smashed to pieces in the corner. Her mounted flat screen hangs from the wall at an awkward angle with the screen busted. Either Teagan put up a real fight or whoever was here trashed the place to rub salt in the wound. But the thing really causing my concern is the trail of blood from the bed to the doorway. It’s a lot of fucking blood. Kai curses behind me, and I look to his face. His eyes are trained on the dark red stains on the floor. His breathing is heavy, and his face looks tortured. Without really knowing what else to do, I check the rest of the house, leaving Kai still staring at the mess in my sister’s room.
I check my room first since it’s where I left Paisley this morning. I find it looks much like my sister’s but with the lack of blood. I check the room Paisley has been staying in and the office and every square inch of this house. Every room has been touched. Furniture is broken, photos are torn off the walls, nothing was left undisturbed, and both Teagan and Paisley are gone.
We have no idea who’s behind this or where they could have taken the girls. We’re in a worse situation than I ever could have imagined. My blood boils with rage, and I have nowhere to direct it. With my frustration level at an all-time high, I lose it. My hand feels the sting of the wall as my fist hits drywall. I continue my rampage through the pain as the skin on my knuckles splits and blood hits the wall. Kai is calling my name behind me, but I ignore him as the pain shoots from my hand and up my arm. My assault on the wall persists because I don’t have a human target. Aggression and violence pour out of me with no objective. Kai’s arms wrap around me while I struggle to draw out my pointless rampage. I fight against his grasp, and we both topple to the floor. Kai pins me, using his weight to hold me down.
“Get it together! We have to act and fast. We have no idea where the girls are or who took them. Now isn’t the time for you to lose it. It’s time for us to pull it together and fucking figure this thing out!” I grunt against him and finally go limp as I realize I’m acting like a Neanderthal and that he’s right.
“Okay, so what do we do?” Realizing I’ve seen reason, he releases me, stands, and extends his hand to help me up. Once I’m on my feet, I walk to the kitchen sink to run some cold water over my bleeding knuckles while Kai tells me what’s next.
“I’ve called Teagan’s phone. It’s ringing, but no one is answering. I don’t hear it so presumably it’s not here either. It’s a long shot, but I’ll trace their phones and see if we can get a location. If they had their phones on them, maybe it’ll lead us in a direction.” I take my hand from the water and get my phone out of my pocket. I hit send on Paisley’s name. It rings and rings but of course there is no answer.
Kai boots up his laptop in the kitchen and brings up some screen that makes my head hurt. It’s full of computer coding and tech stuff. Luckily, he knows what he’s doing in this department because I’d have no idea how to trace a phone. I’d pay someone off or threaten them to get it done, which would take more time. Time we don’t have. He pushes keys and the screen starts scrolling through a code I can’t even look at. His brow furrows in concentration as he watches, but I can’t stand still, feeling useless and anxious. These people have thought of everything, so the chance they overlooked this detail is extremely low, but it’s all we’ve got.
A few clicks later, Kai stands with determination. “I’ve got it! Let’s go!”
Kai drives, and the whole way over I wonder if this familiar address is a good sign, a bad sign, or a dead end. The ten minutes it takes us to get there feels like ten hours. The houses change from mansions to trailers and apartments. We pull up in front of the apartment building Paisley once called home. The GPS tracking showed both phones at this location. I highly doubt we’ll walk in and find Paisley and Teagan painting each other’s nails, but from the outside everything seems like it would on any other day. Children walk on the sidewalks. Music blares from a nearby apartment. Cars come and go from the parking area like my world wasn’t turned upside down.
Kai and I both make a quick exit from the car. Once we arrive at the doorstep, knocking is out of the question and trying the door handle shows me the door is unlocked. The apartment is empty. Gone is the furniture and belongings that once filled it. No one and nothing is here. Our footsteps echo through the empty living space. I look to Kai, there is disappointment and worry on his face. He pulls out his phone while a noise pulls my attention. It’s faint and muffled, but it’s certainly a voice. A voice I know well. I can’t understand what she’s saying, but I recognize fear in the sound.
Teagan. It’s Teagan’s voice.
I strain to listen for where the sound is coming from, and then both Kai and I take off toward a closet to the right of the front door. Teagan is scared and calling out to me. I never wanted to hear my sister sound like that, ever. She sounds tortured, and it pains me straight to my core.
Once I open the door to the closet, I’m even more confused. Teagan’s voice gets louder and less muffled, but the closet appears to be empty. Sweeping the area once more with my eyes I spot two cell phones sitting on a shelf. Teagan’s and Paisley’s. The sound of Teagan’s voice is coming from her cell phone. I pick up both phones, and while Paisley’s is soundless and dark, Teagan’s phone is not. Her voice calls out to me from the speakers and looking at the phone shows me an image that’ll haunt me for the rest of my life. A few seconds with my eyes on it, and I can’t take anymore. I hand it to Kai.
The image of Teagan in a dark room, tied up, with her clothes torn is embedded in my retinas. There is blood on her skin and a gash across her forehead. She looks visibly shaken and scared. Her voice as she cries out my name will haunt me for the rest of my life. She chokes back sobs, and I realize how badly I’ve failed her. I have no idea where she is, who took her, or what they’ll do to her. “I think it’s a live feed. Whoever took her wants us to find and see this. If it’s live, then at least we know she’s still alive.” I turn Paisley’s phone in my hand as Kai speaks. It’s still dark and silent. Pushing the home button shows me the phone is on but reveals nothing but the alerts of my missed phone calls to her. Is Paisley with Teagan? She’s not in the image on the phone and her voice is nowhere to be heard.
“Listen, man, I hate to even say this, but it’s got to be said. Is there any way Paisley could be involved with this?” I take Kai by the shirt and push him up against the wall with harsh force. He doesn’t struggle agai
nst me at all. “It has to be talked through, Burke. This place is empty, packed up, and that probably happened long before today.” He gestures wildly to the apartment that’s been cleared out.
“Braelyn is gone and those two have been in each other’s lives since they were children. They considered themselves sisters. The apartment is mysteriously abandoned, Teagan and Paisley go missing this morning, but it’s only Teagan were getting hostage videos of. I like Paisley, and if there is any truth to it then she fooled me too, but we have to think about all the possibilities. If we don’t, then we’re fucking idiots.” I release my hold on him while my anger still boils at his accusation, at the chaos around us, and because I can still hear my sister’s distressed voice from that fucking phone. I can’t believe that Paisley would do this. I don’t believe it. It’s not who she is, and I can’t believe anything between us could have been faked on her end. It was real, I know it was. My heart knows it is.
“The timing is not ideal for her defense. None of this shit started happening until Paisley and Braelyn entered our lives. No offense, dude, but you were a royal asshole to her in the beginning and she still gave you a chance. That’s what the girls with agendas around us act like, not the ones with nothing to hide. Braelyn mysteriously kicks her out after an almost lifetime together, giving her no other place to go but our house. We have to look at this from all angles.” His logic makes sense, but it doesn’t matter. I was the one who held Paisley in my arms. I’m the one who felt our connection. It was me touching her skin and seeing the warmth in her eyes. There is no way he’s right.
“Call Braelyn.”
He hits a few buttons on his phone and then puts it on speakerphone. The line is silent for a good few seconds before the monotone voice of a recording picks up telling us the phone number is no longer in service. Where the fuck is Braelyn and why’s her phone disconnected? It can’t be a coincidence that her apartment is empty and her phone is shut off at the same time Teagan and Paisley have gone missing. Kai can’t be right. He can’t be.
The phone in Kai’s other hand goes silent. The voice of my sister lost. Her fear no longer fills the room, but the loss of sound isn’t comforting. Kai raises the phone and the screen is black. We’ve lost the window into what’s happening with her. Loud pounding fills our ears next before the door beside us is busted in and all hell breaks loose. Booming voices fill the room.
“Hands above your heads! Down on the ground, now!”
Burke
Red and blue lights fill my vision as the bedlam erupts around me. Men in uniforms bark orders and are rough with their movements and actions. Kai is jerked down to the floor by five men with their guns trained on him. Six more keep me pinned against the wall as I struggle against them.
Teagan and Paisley have been taken, and for whatever reason, these men of the law are here to apprehend us. Two men twist Kai’s hands behind his back while another holds his face against the floor. He curses and struggles against them without avail. Cuffs are placed on his wrists, and the officer’s retreat from his form on the ground and stand to admire their capture. With the thought that cuffs are next for me, I attempt to rid myself of the many hands keeping me pinned against the wall. Their grip tightens and more men come to secure me now that Kai is handcuffed, facedown on the floor.
An older man comes to stand in my view but doesn’t move to help the others. He must be the man in charge. His hair is going gray, and he’s long past his best physical state. His stare holds power and control. His eyes tell me this is his crew and he’s the one running the show. His voice rings loudly, considering a majority of the shouting has ended. “You need to stop struggling, boy. You’re not under arrest, and if you’d like to keep it that way, then I need to make sure you’re going to let the officers do their jobs before they release their hold on you.” I’m not under arrest. Why the fuck are they here if I’m not under arrest? Behind me, a familiar script starts, and Kai grunts as he’s pulled to his feet and read his rights. Kai is under arrest, but not me. What in the hell is going on?
“You’re under arrest for the disappearance of Teagan Hensley. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law.” Fuck. No. No. No. This can’t be happening. “You have the right to speak to an attorney and have him present with you while you’re being questioned. If you cannot afford to hire an attorney, one will be appointed to you. You can decide at any time to exercise these rights and not answer any questions or make any statements. Do you understand each of these rights as I’ve explained them to you?”
An officer jerks Kai by the cuffs when he doesn’t answer right away. He stumbles and then looks in my direction as I fight against the officers pinning me to the wall in a weak effort to stop what’s happening. Teagan and Paisley are missing and my most trusted ally is being arrested for the disappearance of my sister. I also don’t miss that the officer doesn’t mention Paisley’s name.
There is no doubt in my mind this is a setup. The cops must have been given information we’re not privy to, because they came too quickly for a person who only went missing hours ago. A person gone only a few hours wouldn’t be considered missing in any normal situation. Kai being arrested is all part of their plan. However, my emotions are wavering about Paisley’s mysterious link to whatever is going on. Could she be involved? Was she part of this setup?
My name is called as my mind tries to work out the details and my body struggles against the ones holding me back. My limbs remain tight, but I stop my fight in order to listen to whatever Kai has called my name for. “Stop resisting. You cannot get arrested. Let them take me. Teagan needs you not locked up in a jail cell. We’ll figure this out, but we need to let this happen. There is no fighting against it, and you’ll be useless if you’re also locked up with me.” How he’s seeing reason, I don’t know, but what he’s saying is true. Teagan is out there tied up and scared somewhere, and I need to be on the outside to find her. I need to keep my cool and not give these officers a reason to lock me up too.
They drag Kai out of the house, throw him into the back of a police cruiser, then the officers climb into cars and pull away. Neighbors stand in the street and gawk at the aftermath of what happened. My sister has been taken. My best friend arrested for her disappearance, and I’m left with so many unanswered questions about Paisley. Why is Kai only being arrested for the disappearance of Teagan? Where’s Paisley, and is it possible she was involved in all this? Was it so easy for her to overlook who I am because it never really mattered to her? What the fuck do I do? I need to find Teagan. I need to make sure she’s safe and will stay safe. I have to find out who’s doing this and end them. I have to clear Kai’s name, and I haven’t the faintest idea where to start.
Burke
Things are bad is the understatement of a lifetime. Things have spiraled out of control. My sister is missing. My best friend is in jail for her disappearance, and the girl I’ve been seeing is either missing as well or tied up in this whole nightmare. The seed has been planted about Paisley’s involvement in all this, and evidence seems to point in that direction as well. I don’t want to believe it, but Kai’s right, I can’t be completely naïve enough to rule it out as a possibility.
I can’t picture Paisley as the manipulative villain. I don’t want to. In the short time we’ve spent together, I’ve fallen for her. I was a man that didn’t believe in love, turned into a man who didn’t think he was capable of a relationship, and morphed into a man who cared deeply about one girl in particular. Having her near me feels right. Simply touching her is addicting. Talking to her is easy. Being there for her feels good. Visions of her dark hair fisted in my hands and her legs wrapped around my waist float through my mind. The fear in her blue eyes when she wakes from a nightmare. The way she moans my name as she comes. Her feistiness and bold behavior alone makes me want to rip her clothes off.
It all feels like a punch to the stomach with the uncertainty hanging in the air. I have to
focus on finding them and figure out the rest later. Finding Teagan will give me my answers about Paisley.
I have nothing to go on, though. No evidence or clues pointing in any direction. There was a disturbance in every room in the house, but Teagan’s room was the only place where there was blood. Should I go about trying to see if Kai’s bail has been set? Having him here would help, but it could also waste a lot of time. It’s also very possible he’s been denied bail as well.
I’ll call someone to get me information on Kai, a lawyer I’ve dealt with a few times. Keeping the gritty details to myself, I relay the information and ask him to follow the case, instructing him to get Kai out at the first available opportunity. Then I give him my credit card information for the fee and potential bail. I keep the call short and hang up without much pleasantry. Next, I call the private investigator that helped me do a background check on Braelyn and Paisley. Quickly, again without giving him rhyme or reason, I request he start a search to find Teagan, Paisley, or Braelyn. He asks some corresponding questions, and I answer what I can. I hang up as he tells me he’ll call when he finds something.
The cops can’t be trusted, since they currently have my only ally in custody, and I’ve broken enough laws in the last six months to have me locked up at least until I’m old and gray. I have to do this on my own and hope Kai’s arrest is a colossal fuckup on their part and not an inside job.
Did Paisley have to work today? I can’t remember. Maybe I should start there. Go check at her job to see if Paisley’s co-workers have heard from her. It’s the only thing I can come up with, and it’s half-assed at best.
Deceit in Bloom (The Love Unauthorized Series Book 1) Page 22
