Chapter 14 #3
There’s no body down there, though. I think she got out of the car and no one knows.
But still… Tradition and all.
Standing up, I pump the pedals uphill, climbing to Knock Hill and checking behind me every so often.
There’s no one there—no one on the road—but I keep feeling something at my back.
Paranoia, I suppose. That creepy, black Dodge still lurks in my mind, and I’m very surprised Lucas or one of my brothers isn’t following me to ensure my safety.
Looking over my shoulder, I gaze down the dark road. Very surprised, actually.
The odd light will illuminate as I pass a warehouse. Security measures activated by motion, and at one point, the hill elevates so steeply, I have to dismount my bike and walk a little.
When I arrive on my lane, there are two houses on the right with a light on somewhere in their brownstones.
And Farrow’s is on the left, every room lit up.
I smile, walking along. From the small amount of time I’ve been around the last couple of days, there are people coming and going from his place all the time.
My house sits to the left of his, a glow shining through the living room window.
I halt.
But just for a moment.
Hunter’s car sits at the curb, and my stomach sinks. Maybe he and Dylan left something at the house from when they used to spend time there?
Or maybe it’s just Dylan, and she’s determined to get answers to the questions I ignored when we were at the track.
In any case, my secret is blown. There’s no way I can keep this from my family for even twelve hours.
I carry my bike up the steps, turning the knob and hearing voices as soon as I open the door.
“Shut it off,” Hunter growls.
“It’s research!” Kade shouts, but I can hear the laughter in his voice.
Stepping inside, I quietly close the door and peer into the living room where Hawke stands solemnly as Hunter grabs for the remote that Kade keeps just out of reach.
“I’m gonna do that someday.” He points at the TV. “I need to know where all the legs go.”
I set my bike inside and glance at the flatscreen Farrow donated to my new place last night, three bodies writhing and sweating on the screen. One man thrusts into a blonde from behind while she takes another guy in her mouth.
“What did you download onto my TV?!” I bark.
Kade spins around. “Jesus…”
Hawke snatches the remote from him and switches the TV off, throwing it down on the green velvet couch that was here before I was.
Hawke approaches me. “We need to talk.”
“How did you know I’d be here?”
“There are cameras all over town,” he blurts out. “It was only a matter of time before your budding friendship with Farrow Kelly paid off for him.”
“He’s been lonely without Dylan living here,” Hunter adds. “He passes this house out to whoever would be good company if they want to crash.”
So, they don’t know I bought it. Hawke hacked into the town’s traffic cams and noticed me making trips over the bridge. They think I’m hanging out for a little freedom?
I blow out a breath of relief, even though I know it won’t last long. They’ll certainly know what’s going on when Farrow’s truck is loaded with my furniture.
“You found Carnival Tower,” he states.
I don’t move or glance at my other nephews. I won’t ask how he found out it was me. Maybe he’s got a camera in the alley behind my bakery and saw me retrieving my bike chain the night the hatch in the roof was locked.
Or maybe he hacked into a business’s security camera across the street and saw me through the windows climbing through the mirror.
It was only a matter of time before he figured it out.
I sigh. “I’m not scared of you.”
Hawke’s voice softens as if he’s dealing with a child. “That’s not what I want,” he tells me. “But you don’t understand what you’re dealing with.”
Hunter advances. “Quinn—”
“No.” I turn my gaze from Hawke and look at Hunter dead-on. “Carnival Tower is my property. You guys can find a million other places to get laid.”
“The urban legends are true,” Hawke points out. “Manas and Deacon Doran have been sneaking in for two decades. They’re—”
“I know who they are.”
He pauses, studying me. If I have access, he must know I’ve read the murder map on the wall.
Thankfully, he doesn’t decide to rehash the whole story. He simply continues. “We don’t know why they come,” Hawke goes on, “but us being there gives you some measure of protection.”
I would agree with that, but…
“Just back off,” I say. “You’ve let Dylan and Aro spend time there. It’s my turn.”
“Quinn…”
But I’m done talking tonight. Moving in behind Kade, I start shuffling them out of my house. They’re talking sense and making good points, but what if they weren’t around? What if I were on my own? What would I do then?
Hawke digs in his heels, resisting. “No, we’re talking about this.”
“He won’t hurt me,” I tell them. “He hasn’t hurt any of you. He just likes being a part of things or something.”
“Who?”
“Deacon.” Planting my hands on Kade’s back, I shove them toward the front door. “If I get concerned, I’ll find you guys. I’m not stupid. But he doesn’t sound threatening. Not yet anyway.”
“Sound?” Hawke whips around. “You talked to him?”
“You haven’t?” I stop, all three of my nephews gaping at me. “He called my phone yesterday.”
“What did he say?” Hawke gasps.
Followed by Hunter, “How did he sound?”
“What?” Kade breathes out.
They’ve never spoken to the brothers. I’m the only one they’ve called.
“Quinn,” Hawke says in a stern voice. “We think he hurt… Well, her name was Winslet.”
“The car in the river?” I nod. “Yeah, it’s empty.”
“How do you know that?”
“The diary.” Again, they look at me like I’m pointing a gun at them. “Really? You guys have had years. I put that together in minutes.”
If the diary is authentic, it wasn’t hard to piece together that she either made it out, or it was all a ruse in the first place.
I push Hunter and Kade out the door, then push Hawke, but he stops me. “Wait, what diary?”
All three of them stare at me, confused. They never saw a diary.
I put my hand on my waist. “You never thought of springing a trap for these guys instead of waiting for them to dole out clues at their leisure?”
I mean, they’ve been researching these brothers for years. They know they’re coming into the tower.
I push them out.
“Quinn…”
“I’ll let you know what happens.”
“Quinn!”
“Goodnight!” I yell, watching Hunter and Kade jog down the steps.
I start to shut the door in Hawke’s face, but I stop, grabbing him by the T-shirt and pulling him back. “When Aro wears red lipstick,” I ask, “what do you think when you look at her mouth?”
“Huh?”
He blinks at me for several moments, his mouth opening and closing and looking flustered.
“Just say it,” I growl.
He tsks, acting just like his father. Like he’s not a completely different guy in a bedroom with his girl.
“I’m thinking,” he grumbles, “how…good those lips would look wrapped around my…”
I pinch my brows together.
“You know…” he gruffs. “My cock. Jesus, Quinn.”
That’s what Lucas was thinking? I fold my lips between my teeth, still tasting the lipstick.
“Weirdo,” Hawke mumbles.
And I don’t have to shove him anymore. He practically runs down the stairs to get away from me.
To my surprise, I laugh as I close the door and lock it. Lucas looked at my mouth four times.
In the living room, I remove the notebook from the waistline of my pants and drop it to the table before pulling out the diary I’d stashed in the bureau.
I fan the pages to find the next entry. There are several blank sheets after the initial passage.
Not sure if she—or whoever—meant to come back and add things, or if their attention to organization was as haphazard as their writing.
Gone
Alone
Can’t go home
Eight days since I felt you
Gone
Alone
Can’t go home
Did it to me, now I’ll do it to you
Drawings fill the page around the words. The bridge. A car under the water. The warehouses of Weston, his hand, her neck…
I flip the page and stare at the headlights of the ’72 Dodge.
Do it to me, now I’ll do it to you.
Atta girl.
Light from the TV flashes in the corner of my eyes, and I walk over to the couch, picking up the remote the boys left. The TV must’ve come back on when Hawke threw down the remote.
I stare at the screen, a blush rising to my cheeks. What the hell were they watching? The woman is on the bed, one man under her and the other one behind her, and I crane my neck, trying to figure out whose legs are whose.