CHAPTER 10
AVA
It was a relief to hear the security system at Colt’s apartment start beeping the second I opened the door and walked in. It meant the place had remained secure since I was last there and no one else had been there looking for his file, if that was even what they’d been searching for.
Deacon followed me in and as I typed in the alarm code he closed and locked the door behind us.
“At least it’s secure,” I told him as I leant against the wall for a moment. I needed to lie down for a while and get some rest. I knew I was pushing myself way too hard, but I had to find Colt, and nothing, not even my own fucked up body, was going to slow me down.
“How about we sit for a while? I can make some coffee and we could order some food for lunch?” Deacon suggested, again with his gentle suggestion, rather than trying to bulldoze me like Jack and Mason.
“I am definitely not saying no to food right now. Can you order something? I just want to check one place in Colt’s room. If the file’s not there I’ll search properly after we eat.”
“Sure,” he agreed easily. “You sure you don’t need any help?”
“No. It’s in the bottom of his closet. I can handle that,” I assured him and he just nodded before leaving me to head for the kitchen.
I took a deep breath and started down the hall to Colt’s room.
A part of me was terrified of finding the file my brother had put together, because I had a hunch that scared the crap out of me.
Ky had said all of the people who went missing had been linked to kink clubs across the city.
And I had been coming from Temple the night that psycho motherfucker grabbed me.
The fact Colt had been so obsessed with it all just added to the sick feeling I had in my gut.
What if that monster hadn’t stopped with me?
What if he had taken all of these missing people and tried to make them atone, just as he had done to me?
Just the thought of it made my stomach churn violently.
It sixteen people had been tortured, killed, and disappeared because of me, I didn’t know how I would ever live with myself.
I had been too ashamed and scared to call the cops on the night I managed to escape and save myself.
I had buried what happened and never uttered a word about it to anyone other than Colt. I had let that monster go and now…
I walked right into Colt’s huge closet, which was more like a dressing room really. I dropped my stick against the wall as I dropped awkwardly to my knees.
In the center of the space there was a leather covered bench, and once, not long after I moved in with Colt, I had walked in on him sliding it across the floor way too easily.
At the time I hadn’t thought much about it, but when Ky mentioned the file, my memory flitted back to that day and my detective brain pieced something together.
One hard push on the bench had it sliding back with a gentle hiss of some kind of runner mechanism, and there below it was a hatch in the floor.
I pulled up the hatch and wasn’t surprised to find a digital safe in the floor beneath.
Colt had always been obsessed with security.
The key pad lit up as I hit the green button and I froze for a moment trying to work out what the key code could be.
I tried Colt’s birthday, but the loud double beep was a sure sign that was wrong.
The safe had obviously been there before I came into Colt’s life, so I doubted the code would have anything to do with me, but I couldn’t think of anything else, and the code for the security system on the apartment was my birthday, so I tried it anyway.
A mix of relief and trepidation ran through me as the screen flashed green, then the safe unlocked with a click of the lock releasing.
“Fuck Colt,” I uttered as I opened the heavy metal door and looked into the deep box below.
Inside there was just one leather zip case.
I had to lie down flat on my front to reach in and grab the thing, and getting up from that position proved difficult with how exhausted I was, but I managed and then I was staring at the innocuous looking zip folder that sat in my lap.
I took a huge breath in and then forced myself to unzip the leather case. I was pretty sure I’d never be ready for what I was about to see, so it was best to just rip off the band aid.
The second it opened pages and pages poured from it, the thing packed way too full with everything Colt had compiled in his insane investigation he’d had no fucking right to get himself mixed up in!
I tipped the case onto the floor and started to spread the pages out all across the floor space of the closet.
There were a lot of printouts about a crime family in the city – The Owen’s – likely the Irish family Ky told us Colt had suspected of being mixed up in the skin trade.
There were news reports about a RICO case against them that had made it to court, but been thrown out eventually on lack of evidence after a key witness went missing.
There were also pictures of men and women who had gone missing, and as far as I could see, the oldest one was just a year after I was attacked.
Police had investigated after missing person reports were filed, but from what Colt had gathered, it seemed like there was no trace of the people who were gone, or any evidence of what happened to them.
Most weren’t ever even reported as missing formally.
It was just like they had all walked out on their entire lives and disappeared.
The fact messages, E-mails, and phone calls had been made to loved ones or friends in each case only added the lack of interest from the police in the cases that were reported.
I found what I was truly looking for near the bottom of the huge pile of papers. Colt had gotten his hands on the police file for Helen Waters – the young woman who had worked for Colt at Temple , and whose body had been found near the highway.
As soon as I opened it up and flicked to the crime scene pictures I knew I had been right.
This girl – Helen - she had marks all over her body, and they were chillingly familiar to the scars that covered my own.
Then I saw it in the next image – the word that was still emblazoned in my own skin.
That brand that he had scarred me with for life – the brand.
SINNER. It was at the small of Helen’s back and as soon as I saw it my stomach revolted as bile rose up my throat.
I tossed the file aside and scrambled to get to my feet.
I stumbled across Colt’s room and fell to the ground in the bathroom, just getting over the toilet before I lost the meagre contents of my stomach.
I couldn’t stop the retching that came after, again and again as tears filled my eyes, as the horror of what I had done consumed me.
“Ava?” I heard Deacon’s heavy footfalls coming closer, then he was there, dropping to the tiles behind me and pulling my wild hair back from my face as the retching went on and on despite nothing else coming up.
“Fuck! What’s wrong?” he asked, panicked, but I couldn’t stop to try and answer him.
I could barely even breathe, and my eyes were tearing up so badly I could barely see either.
Just when I was sure it was never going to stop my taut stomach muscles seemed to finally relent and the heaving stopped. I was still fighting hard to get a breath in and I didn’t even think about how gross I had to be when I slumped back exhaustedly against Deacon.
“Just breathe now, sweetheart. Deep breaths,” he said gently as he pulled me back so I was leaning heavily into his front, then he banded an arm around me, stopping me from just slumping forwards.
“Mason,” I panted as I forced myself to look up at him.
“Call Mason…please.” I had hidden from what happened to me for too long.
While Mace and Jack knew something they didn’t know it all.
Now the time had come. I knew I had to come clean.
I had to tell Mason about what Colt had stumbled into because of me, and worst of all I had to tell him about all of the missing people who’s blood was likely all on my hands.
“Mace, it’s Deacon. Ava needs to soeak to you, but she’s not in a good way. I’m gonna put you on speaker,” Deak said quickly, then I could hear Mason.
“What the fuck do you mean she’s not in a good way?” he demanded.
“Mace,” I gasped breathlessly. “I…I need you to come. Colt’s. We’re at Colt’s. I n-need you to take my statement and h-help me. I th-think I know who has him a-and it’s bad…it’s s-so bad.”
“Ava? What the fuck? What happened? Are you okay? Deacon? Is she fucking alright?” Mason yelled down the phone.
“She’s exhausted, but I’ve got her. Just get here man, as soon as you can,” Deacon replied.
The realization hit me then at what I’d just said. I knew who had my brother. That monster likely had him. He could be torturing him as I sat there doing fucking nothing! He could have killed him and gotten rid of him already. It had been over a week!
I pushed Deacon’s arm from around my waist as I started to move.
I had to get up and get myself together.
I had to work the file Colt had put together and find this motherfucker.
It was likely I was already too late, but there was no way in hell I was giving up until I knew for sure.
Colt was alive until I found conclusive proof otherwise.
“Ava? Where are you going?” Deacon asked as I struggled to get to my feet.
“I have to go, Mace.” He ended the call and then he was standing beside me where I clutched the edge of the vanity, just trying to get my head stop spinning long enough to get back to the file in Colt’s closet.
“Sweetheart?” I felt Deacon wrap himself around me, then his enormous hands were gripping my hips and holding me steady against him.
“Where are you going? You need to rest.”