It was the fifteenth time she dropped the ball—at least she juggled it three times now, a new record for her—and as she bent down to pick it back up, someone whistled behind her. She rolled her eyes before holding the ball against her hip as she turned around. She wasn’t surprised in the least to see Gabe standing there, his arms crossed over his chest, a cocky smile on his face.
“Ugh, what do you want?” she asked.
“Nothing, just enjoying the view,” he said, shaking his head.
“You have got to be kidding me.”
He pushed his brows together, wrinkles marring his symmetrical face. “I don’t kid,” he said in a serious voice. “In fact, I was going to discuss something with you. In case you weren’t aware, juggling means you can’t use your hands to keep the ball from touching the ground.”
She didn’t appreciate the condescending remark. “Yeah, well there goes your social life,” she quipped.
Piper let out a surprised bout of giggles and Reese felt her lips curl into a smirk.
A flash of something dangerous tainted Gabe’s eyes, and as he took a step toward her, Reese had to tense her muscles in order to ensure she wouldn’t take a step back. It was as though the light vanished, the people froze, and it was just the two of them, alone, where he could do anything he wanted to her and she couldn’t stop him. He could probably crush her throat with one hand. From the corner of her eye, she noticed a small crowd start to form around them. Judging by Gabe’s posture—crouched, like a panther ready to pounce—he noticed it too. He took another step toward her and then another until there was only a breath of air between them. Reese shoved her free hand behind her and gripped the ball tighter so he wouldn’t see them shaking.
“I don’t appreciate the disrespect,” he said in a voice just above a whisper. For some reason, yelling wouldn’t have the same effect as the voice he used now.
“That’s funny, coming from you,” Reese said. She could hide her hands but not her voice.
“And what is that supposed to mean?” he asked.
“You hit on every girl with a pulse, and when they reject you, you come back harder than ever. Do you really think that whistling and complimenting my ass is charming? Do you really think that that is going to get you in my pants?”
“Rejected? I’ve never been rejected before.”
“Then I’m honored to be the one to pop your cherry,” she said. Reese turned and was about to head over to the other side of the field in order to attempt to juggle with Piper in peace when Gabe grabbed her wrist and yanked her back to him.
“You will not be my first,” he said so that only she could hear. “I don’t think you know who you’re dealing with.”
“Right, right, the son of Onyx’s Distract Attorney,” Reese said, rolling her eyes. “Your daddy can’t make me go out with you, let alone sleep with you, Gabe. I don’t care if he’s the devil himself, he can’t make me do anything I don’t want to do.”
His lips twitched up into a smirk at her words. “We’ll see,” he murmured, dropping her wrist.
It was only when she was a good distance away from him and his group of cronies that she was finally able to breathe. She grabbed the ball and was about to drop it to her laces when a hand touched her shoulder. She jumped and whipped around, prepared to do something to Gabe, though she wasn’t quite sure what that was. She had never been in a fight before, much less hit anyone.
“Whoa,” Piper said when she saw Reese’s aggressive stance. She gently squeezed the blonde’s shoulder in hopes to reassure her. “It’s me. Piper. The goalie. Your getaway driver when we go on this stalking mission.”
“Oh,” Reese said with relief, completely missing the last part of Piper’s statement. “I’m sorry, I thought it was—”
“Gabe,” Piper finished. She dropped her hand, but continued to keep a close eye on her. “Yeah, I figured. So let me get this straight: Gabe makes you want to sock him and Henry makes you want to know more about him.”
A whistle shrilled in the middle of the field, indicating the coaches’ arrival.
“Yeah,” Reese said, dropping the ball to her feet and walking over to where the coaches wanted the girls to assemble. “That pretty much sums it up.” Piper smiled as she shook her head. “What? What’s wrong with that?”
“Nothing,” Piper replied. “You’re just the weirdest person I know. But don’t worry. That’s why I like you.”
“Thanks,” Reese said with a grin. “I think.”
By the time practice was over, Reese rushed to the showers. She wanted to take a quick one and change fast in order to make sure she and Piper wouldn’t miss Henry. Reese was pulling up her knee-length socks—this pair a sky blue—when Piper walked out of the shower, her dark blonde hair wrapped in a towel while her slender frame was wrapped in another one.
“I know, I know,” she said, snapping open her locker. “Give me five minutes, okay? I just need five minutes.”
“It’s fine.” Reese had to force an extra bout of sweetness in her voice. She didn’t want to seem ungrateful, but this new feeling of impatience was causing her brow to furrow and her jaw to tighten. “I’ll wait for you outside. That way, if he does get the jump on us, we’ll at least have his general direction.”
“Good idea,” Piper replied as she pulled on her shirt.
Once her ankle boots were on, Reese grabbed her bag and headed out of the locker room. She was in the same hall where she had seen him before. Luckily for her, she managed to snag a locker—bottom row thanks to her late arrival—so she had a legitimate reason to be in this hallway whenever she needed it. She knelt down as modestly as she could to make sure her skirt didn’t ride up and slowly spun her lock in order to open it. Once she did so, she closed it and proceeded to repeat the process. It was five open-and-shut locks later when she finally heard footsteps on the tile floor. Her spine stiffened and goose bumps inexplicably littered her bare skin. They already sounded familiar to her, which made no sense since the sound of his steps was the last thing she heard in his presence. Not that she had been there much.
When she could hear the footsteps fading away, she locked her lock again and stood. Reese noticed his hair flutter behind him, the ends just barely brushing his shoulders. Today he was in a pair of grey slacks and a black long-sleeved shirt. She never got to see what color his skinny tie was, but she had no doubt he was wearing one. As predicted, his feet were wrapped in an old pair of Converses.
Her heart sped up and she all but jumped upright, ignoring the pain in her calves at the movement. As soon as Reese heard the door to the parking lot shut, Piper made her appearance.
“Are you ready to—”
Reese grabbed Piper’s wrist and yanked her in Henry’s direction. “He just left,” she whispered. “If we leave now, we can still follow him.”
Piper said nothing but let the blonde drag her across the hall, and after a left and right look-about, Reese led her to her car.
“He drives a Rolls Royce,” Reese recited, her stormy grey eyes locked on the silver car turning right on Campus Road.
Piper nodded, and for the next fifteen minutes, the two girls followed Henry through the city. Because it was only three o’clock in the afternoon, there wasn’t much traffic so they had to keep a safe distance behind him. Without warning, Henry pulled into a parking lot. A few minutes later, Piper followed suit. Reese ducked in her seat so he wouldn’t catch a peak of her or her telltale hair. She couldn’t explain why, but he seemed to know exactly where she was.
“It looks like he’s going into …” Reese could hear Piper scrunch her nose. “… the Spirit Museum. Huh. Well that’s weird.”
“What?” Reese asked as she eased herself in a sitting position. Piper parked in a slot that secluded her car. “What’s weird about that?”
“It’s just …” She turned off the car but made no move to leave. Reese, on the other hand, was already out of her seatbelt. “The Spirit Museum is a place that encompasses all beliefs. S
o there are holy books, symbols, musical instruments, everything you can think of in a designated religion’s world. Not just religion, but mythology too. Most of the stuff is just replicas but there are rumors that certain artifacts are real.” She wiggled her eyebrows. “Anyway, it’s weird that Henry is here because I don’t see him being spiritual.”
Reese pressed her lips together, digesting what Piper said. Henry didn’t seem all that spiritual to her either, but maybe they were wrong. People took one look at her and thought she was a bimbo with big boobs and either shot her dirty looks or talked to her like she was five. Just because Henry looked like some slick mobster without the greased back hair and muscle that didn’t mean he didn’t believe in something.
“Although Jack Phillip practically owns the place, what with his hefty donations and sway over everyone on the board, so …” She let her voice trail off before turning in her seat to face Reese, her brown eyes big. “Reese, are you sure you want to go through with this?”
“Duh,” Reese said with a teasing smile. “Why wouldn’t I?”
Piper didn’t return the smile. In fact, her eyes were filled with worry. “Reese, I know you’re new here and you don’t seem to be afraid of anything or anyone, but trust me. Henry may not look like much, but you don’t want to be on his bad side. There’s a reason why even the school faculty are freaked out by him. I don’t know the specifics, but there must be some reason.”
“Piper, I really appreciate your concern,” Reese said, her voice genuine. “I get he has this mysterious, dangerous reputation, but I’m not afraid of him. I barely even know him. What if he’s looking for someone to reach out to, you know, extend an olive branch, so to speak? If everyone’s afraid of him then that means he has no friends. I don’t care who you are, no one likes to be alone. If he doesn’t want to talk to me or be friends, fine, I’ll leave him alone, but I have to try.”
Piper sighed in defeat. “I had a feeling I couldn’t talk you out of it,” she said more to herself than to Reese. “Fine, but if you’re not back in twenty minutes, I’m coming after you.”
A bright smile lit up Reese’s face and she exited the car, practically skipping over to the museum. It started sprinkling, but Reese barely noticed it. Her heart accelerated at the thought of investigating the elusive Charles Henry Aaron Ronald Oral Nathan. As she walked through the automatic doors of the building, she wondered what he was doing here. Maybe he was meeting someone. A girl? Did he even have a girlfriend? Before Reese could comprehend the thought, someone snatched her wrist and pulled her around, out of sight of any passersby, until her back hit a wall.
Her grey eyes clashed with dark ones that flickered gold like embers of a raging fire. He was so close to her, she could smell his clean scent radiating from him, attacking her senses. His long nose, which curved to the left—she wasn’t sure if it had been broken or if it was natural—brushed the tip of her nose. Every inch of her was paralyzed. She didn’t dare breathe, especially not with the look of fury etched onto his face.
“Why, may I ask,” he hissed in his lilting, accented voice, “are you following me, dearie?”
13
When Andie woke up the next morning, she sprung out of her bed and dashed into her sister’s room. Keirah wasn’t there. Her heartbeat started pounding against her chest like it wanted to escape and look for Keirah as well.
She wasn’t there. Keirah wasn’t there.
Andie grabbed her cell phone and called Keirah’s, but it went straight to voicemail. Three more times yielded the same result. Trying to breathe steady, Andie headed into the living room. Her fingers shook as she grabbed the remote and turned on the television, flipping through the channels until she reached a news station. She made sure the volume was low so her mother wouldn’t wake up. As she took a seat on the couch, she held her breath.
“If you’re just joining us, Noir, Onyx’s most prolific serial killer, mass murderer and sociopath, has escaped from county lockup. No word on just how it happened or where he’s headed, but we expect Commissioner Jarrett and District Attorney Burr to address the media at nine o’clock this morning to comment.”
Did this have to do with Dr. Hawlins’s emergency last night? Was Keirah in danger?
“What about Keirah?” Andie muttered to herself. Her fingers curled onto the edge of the couch and her right leg bounced up and down. “What about Keirah?”
Andie wasn’t too familiar with her sister’s internship with Dr. Hawkins. All she knew was that Keirah was learning tricks of the trade that would benefit her as a criminal psychologist. Keirah didn’t say much about her time there or what her job was—whether that was because she wasn’t allowed to say anything or if, like usual, she chose to keep things to herself, Andie didn’t know. But even Keirah couldn’t keep the fact that Noir was now a client at Hawkins’s practice a secret. She told Andie, but said nothing to her mother. Andie did the same.
Maybe she should have. If she had, Keirah wouldn’t be missing now, possibly hurt or worse. What could Dr. Hawkins possibly want with her anyway? And why wasn’t she back by now, like she said she would be? There was no way it was a coincidence that she got called in to help her boss—a psychologist who happened to treat Noir—with something so important it couldn’t wait until the next day, and Noir escaping the same day. There was just no way.
“…citizens, besides being outraged at the security breach, wonder if the Black Wing will capture him once again. The Black Wing, of course, being Onyx’s own vigilante crime fighter notorious for saving the lives of thousands of citizens as well as being responsible for the capture of various criminals, none more infamous than Noir.”
Andie rolled her eyes at the mention of the Black Wing. A masked vigilante who supposedly flew around Onyx looking for crimes to stop and criminals throw into jail with a pair of black angel wings, a toned, muscled chest, and leather pants was not someone she trusted to save this city despite his surprising track record. First of all, his outfit was ridiculous. How was he supposed to be protected from various weapons or the weather? Carey—who had the biggest crush on him—pointed out that if he wore a shirt, he wouldn’t have full usage of his wings. When Andie suggested that the wings weren’t real, Carey insisted they were, resulting in an argument until Andie got exhausted and changed the subject. Secondly, who was this guy? Why did he dress up as an angel when he could dress up as Batman (hot) or Iron Man (practical)? Was it some kind of symbolism? If so, why were his wings black, not white? Why wasn’t he spewing Bible verses and giving free Bibles away on college campuses? And why did he feel the need to aid the police in exacting justice in an illegal way? He was just too … she didn’t know what. While it appeared Onyx was safer thanks to him, she didn’t trust the guy, especially not with finding her sister.
After another few minutes of watching the news, Andie was forced to get ready for school. If she stayed home, her mother would know something was up. However, she would keep her cell phone on vibrate just in case Keirah decided to call her, even if it meant a Saturday School. And if she didn’t hear from Keirah by the time she got off of work at five, she would go to her mother. Hopefully Keirah or even Commissioner Jarrett would contact her and tell her Keirah was okay.
Keirah had to be okay.
Andie dressed and headed to school, skipping breakfast. She wasn’t hungry. She couldn’t eat. She got to school a half an hour early and hoped beyond hoped that Carey or Reese would show up soon in order to distract her from her traitorous thoughts. When she took her seat, she placed her cell phone on her desk after both calling Keirah again and checking for any messages or texts, and waited. And waited.
Ten minutes later, Carey walked in, followed by Reese soon after.
“Good morning guys!” Reese said, perky and cheerful as usual. Normally, Andie admired how bubbly her friend was, but right now it aggravated her to no end. “So I have a huge question. Who are the Fallen Angel and Noir, and what is their deal? My parents kind of explained them to me, but I still d
on’t get it.”
Andie glanced out the window while Carey explained. Her pale green eyes kept going to her phone, but nothing happened. It was like waiting for a cute guy to call; the more she stared at her phone, the more likely it wouldn’t ring. It was only when Carey began discussing Noir’s many crimes that Andie started listening again.
“To be honest, Noir is like an enigma,” Carey said. “No one can figure him out, which is probably why he was seeing Dr. Hawkins. Like, one time he robbed a bank, put the money in a bunch of sacks in the middle of the lobby, and set the sacks on fire. He’s killed women and children, but he’s never raped anybody that we know of. Money and sex don’t seem to hold any sway over him, but he has no conscience. He’s fascinating. Scary, but fascinating. My mom wanted to keep me home from school today, actually, but I told her he’s never targeted schools before and it’s not likely he would, especially right after escaping from the loony bin.”
“How did he escape anyway?” Reese asked, wrinkling her brow. “He was in a mental ward surrounded by cops, wasn’t he?”
“Noir is like a magician,” Carey explained. “It doesn’t matter what situation he’s in, he always manages to get out. The only person who has successfully caught him is the Black Wing. As to how he escaped this morning, nobody knows, but they were talking about it on the radio. One of the theories is that he used a hostage to help him escape.”
“A hostage?” Andie asked, picking her head up. “Did they mention who the hostage was?”
“It’s all speculation,” Carey said. “He might have gotten out another way. Think about it. If he did use a hostage, the police would have found a body by now. You know Noir doesn’t leave witnesses unless it benefits him in some way, and I highly doubt a hostage, once he has escaped, is of any used to him.”
Awaken: Book 1 of the Dark Paradise Trilogy Page 9
