Chapter 26
Chapter 26
BEAU
S liding my hand across the sheet, it’s King’s ass I palm when my intentions were obviously to reach for Iris. His firm ass sparks my irritation, causing me to grumble, “Fuck. You’re really going to have to wear boxers some if this is going to work.” I jump out of bed and yank my pants on, disgusted by my own wandering hand.
“How long have you known me?”
“For fucking ever.”
“Exactly. You’ll have to learn to keep your hands on your side of the bed or it might be my big ol’ dick you get a handful of next time.”
“Just so you know, if that happens, I’m going to yank that fucker right off your body.” I’m still mad when I open the bathroom door, expecting to see Iris inside.
“Get used to these nuts and ass, bro. You’ll be seeing them a lot more than you’re used to,” he calls, poking at me like the dick he is. I’m going to fucking deck him.
The bathroom’s dark, so I leave the door open to take a piss. I yawn, scratching my free hand against my scalp, concentrating on the bowl. “Where’s Iris?”
“She’s not in there?” The urgency in his voice hits me with the realization of the situation. She’s gone. He’s peeking his head in the bathroom in the next beat, flipping on the light as I flush the toilet and move to the sink. A squirt of soap, a blast of water, and I’ve got one thing on my mind. Iris’ location.
We both move for our phones while combing the room for anything of hers. “No message. Do you see a note or anything?” King takes three long steps to reach the door to the room, checking to see if anyone broke in.
“The deadbolt isn’t locked anymore. No sign of forced entry… she’s left on her own. Could she be hungry? No, she’d wait for us.” He moves to the window next, peering outside while worry coats his features. My heart sinks, the lump in my throat growing as I try to imagine why she would leave us. We were all finally together, it’s what she claimed to want more than anything, so why go?
“She’s trying to make your decision easy,” I offer up after I’ve racked my brain for any other possibility. It’s the obvious answer. She’d never allow King to be forced to make the decision of choosing which one of us to kill. She doesn’t think we’ll find a way out of this. “But this doesn’t fix anything. It only complicates shit.”
“Fuck! No kidding. I can’t deal with people up and leaving me without a goddamn fucking goodbye. Remind me in the future, after I spank her pert little ass, to make it a fucking rule of this arrangement we’re in.” King swirls his finger around the room then strides for the bathroom. “We’re leaving in about one minute, so get whatever the fuck you need ready.”
I toss the few things I have into my bag, noticing one of the burner phones is no longer there. “She took one of my phones.”
“Perfect. At least she has a way to call someone. Did you by chance get the information off of those before you packed them?”
“No. Wasn’t planning on keeping any of them longer than a single call.” I shake my head in frustration. I really need to get better at this on the run planning shit.
“Okay. Let’s think…Where would she go?”
“Not her father’s. Maybe the grandfather.”
“What grandfather?” King glances at me, almost hurt I know something about Iris that he doesn’t.
“The only one she has left; apparently, he gave her money for school. She said he went to Bentley University himself and would only pay for her college if she attended there as well.”
“Did our woman happen to say a name in all this new information I didn’t know about?”
“No, she only mentioned he’s her mother’s father.” I pull out my phone and search her mother’s maiden name. It’s takes less than two minutes for me to figure out Iris’ mother’s name, her grandfather’s name and even his address. A sigh of relief leaves me as I realize where his location is. “He lives less than an hour from here.”
I glance at the dresser for the keys to the Tahoe, moving the curtain aside at the window to confirm our next obstacle. My eyes slam shut as my fist curls in frustration. She’s not making this easy on us. “She took the Tahoe.”
“Good. I’d be tearing shit up here if she hadn’t. At least Iris has what she needs to get somewhere safe, even if that won’t help her in the end with the society… at least it buys us some time to figure out what to do.” King seems rational and calm this morning, throwing me off a bit. He’s usually the crazy one when he loses control and I’m left trying to reel him in to see reason. “I’ll steal another car for us, and we’ll go visit the old man.”
King doesn’t fuck around this time, hitting the hotel’s front desk to quickly swipe a set of keys. We end up in an olive drab Dodge Challenger with a bright yellow bumble bee tail stripe. I’m guessing it was the manager’s, and King took stock when he’d checked us in. The hour drive was literally cut in half as we flew down the road, the Hemi V8 purring the entire time. Neither of us said a word, but quiet is a normal thing for us when we’re both focused and stressed. We don’t really have to speak when we’re like this. We both know what the other is thinking… it’s what we’re thinking ourselves.
“I may need to get one of these. Never thought I’d like a Dodge so much,” King mumbles as we pull up to the entrance of the grandfather’s mansion. The iron gates stop us in our tracks and neither of us misses a beat as we throw open our doors and rush to jump the gates. The stroll across the perfectly cut grass and through the flower gardens is short-lived when the two barking German Shepherds come racing our way. They start chasing us, so we split up, both hauling ass toward the house, not wanting to be a life-sized meaty treat. One of the snarling dogs nips at my ankle just before I jump and pull myself up on a balcony of the second floor. Thank god we were close before they saw us.
I don’t see King anywhere but expect he made it somewhere safe when the two dogs begin circling the grounds below me like a set of bloodthirsty sharks. They’re trained well, so I can’t fault them for it. Of course, the damn sliding door is locked, leaving me no choice but to break the glass to get in. I hope it’s not one of those super thick kinds with glass thick enough to hold off a goddamn hurricane. I’ll be fucked.
I’ve got a huge potted plant that I’m about to throw at the window when I see King strolling up to let me in. He flashes a cocky grin. “About fucking time you get here.” King is quite the joker during intense situations.
We both move through the second floor of the house, silently searching for the grandfather. Even though we’re not making the best first impression with this guy, I hope he understands our concern for Iris is the sole driver for our unannounced intrusion.
The old man sits in a king chair at the end of a long, dark Brazilian rosewood dinner table when we step down to the bottom floor. I only recognize the extremely expensive wood because it’s my mother’s favorite. “You’ve met my dogs.” He waves his hand toward some empty chairs at his table. “Sit, boys. Have breakfast with me.”
King and I share a glance before we both sit as instructed.
“Mr. Dassault, we’re here to find Iris.” His name’s Henry, but no way in fuck am I calling him by it. Hopefully the small touch of respect will push him to help us. Surely, he’d want to know if she were in danger; he must love her to want her at school nearby.
“I know what you’re here for. She warned me as much.” He stabs a perfectly cooked piece of steak and starts to chew just before his butler walks in with two other plates. It smells amazing, but food is not important right now.
“Wait… you’ve already talked to her today?”
“Yes.” He doesn’t offer up any extra information we don’t ask for. He’s precise and to the point, not the least bit threatened by the two of us. I’m sure he’s irritated about how we showed up here and broke in, but I doubt he would’ve listened to us talking to his staff through the tiny speaker box at the gate.
“Is she safe?” It’s the only question burning up my mind.
“Yes.” He takes another bite as if this is a normal breakfast conversation.
“Is she here?” King asks the next question.
The old guy doesn’t give him anything additional either. “No.” I watch as my best friend’s brow rises, certain by his expression he’s thinking about torturing this man. We can’t kill the old guy though, not when he’s the only one outside of us truly giving a shit about the woman we love.
“Will you tell us where she is?” I try one more time in hopes if we ask the right question, he will finally give up her location.
“She will let you know her whereabouts when she’s ready. You boys should really eat, before it gets cold.” This cryptic shit is making me crazy, but I take the time to brainstorm what to say to this guy. We can’t just start spilling society secrets to him because any real chance we have of surviving this does not include us being traitors.
I start to eat before King does. His broody demeanor starts to worry me. When King is backed into a corner and fighting for his life… we react the same. He just has a much shorter fuse than me. When it comes to Iris, that fuse is pretty much nonexistent, so I’m not sure what he’ll do if we don’t find out anything soon. And by soon… I mean really fucking soon.
I shoot him a placating glance, telling him to remain calm before peering back at ol’ Henry. I take the honesty route, because fuck it, I can’t let him die today and I have to do something to get the information we need. “Sir, we’re both in love with your granddaughter. Like madly in love with her. We’ll do anything to keep her safe and it’s our only concern to ensure that’s the case. If there’s any information you can give us you believe will help us understand your calmness, we’d really appreciate it.” I attempt my best impression of a man with logic and composure, hoping to plead to his soft side, if he has one.
“It’s too early in the day to not be at peace. I’m calm because I know she’s safe and you’ll have to trust her grandfather telling you as much and be satisfied with the information you’ve been given.” He continues to chew his food, not wavering in his stoic demeanor.
Stubborn bastard.
“Very well. Please let her know we’ve both been by, and we will not give up until we find her.” I stand, letting my chair drag across the marbled floor.
King follows my move, allowing his chair to screech loudly to drive our promise in. We’re about two steps from being out of Henry’s formal dining room when the old man’s voice stops us both in our tracks. “This society... Why would you have my granddaughter involved in such a group of monsters ?”
I take a deep breath and quickly think about how perfect it is that King and I have the best poker faces around. “What society are you talking about? We’re not privy to such an organization. As far as I know, those establishments are banned from university property.” My voice doesn’t waver. He nods at my response, his eyes boring into mine while he searches for a sign of the bold faced lie I just let slip off my tongue without blinking.
He waves his fork toward the door to dismiss us. “As you were.” We make it a few more steps before he stops us again. “Oh, and boys… next time, I’ll have you killed for stepping foot on my property. The only reason you’re standing there now is because my granddaughter foolishly thinks she loves you.” He huffs before he takes a drink, seemingly defeated and deep in thought.
We use the front door this time and I know we’re both a little relieved when the dogs don’t chase us to the gate.