31. Chapter 31
AHREN
I cursed under my breath as I sliced through the ropes, barely managing to catch Connor's limp form as the restraints fell away, releasing her.
An irritating slow clap rang out behind me.
I reached for the flashlight I discarded on the floor, sweeping the room and again, finding it empty.
"Bravo." a disembodied voice rang out. "I was beginning to think you didn't care about the doc."
"What the fuck do you want? Fucking coward." I growled.
"Coward? No. No.—No, we still have games to play. Killing you now would end the fun before we get started."
"Who are you?"
"I expected more from the great Ahren Rossdale. Billionaire assassin extraordinaire." She cooed, like she was talking to a toddler .
Her voice sent a shiver down my spine, mostly from disgust, but there was a hint of familiarity. Something in the deep recesses of my mind. Something I hadn't bothered to remember.
She sighed for dramatic effect. "I put together an elaborate game and you respond with boring, pedestrian questions. Who are you? What do you want?"
"It's like you're not even trying." She clicked her tongue.
I swallowed down the acerbic reply sitting on my tongue and flashed my biggest 'go fuck yourself' smile. "And I was hoping for a face-to-face confrontation. I guess we'll both have to learn to live with disappointment."
"Live." she retorted, "now that's a funny choice of words."
"How about this? I'll give you twenty-four hours for the next clue. See, I can be generous."
"What's the clue.?" I gritted out.
Her high-pitched laughter bounced off the surrounding stone, grinding away the remainder of my patience.
"You'll find that out soon enough. See you in twenty-four."
I leaned Connor against the wall, which was only marginally cleaner than the floor, and swept my light around, looking for the camera or speaker.
Against the far wall, I noticed an area where the dust had been cleared away. It took less than a minute to find the small camera lodged in the red brick. The ancient stone crumbled as I slammed the butt of my flashlight against it repeatedly.
Pocketing the camera, I walked back to Connor and lifted her in my arms, just as the horn honked in the yard above, signaling Tierney's return.
Careful not to jostle her, I climbed the stairs. Eager to put some distance between myself and the creepy as fuck basement .
Tierney met me at the front door, her eyes drawn with worry as she took the pair of us in.
My heart hammered in my chest. I didn't usually get nervous, but the sheer mania in that woman's voice told me the only things off the table were rational and predictable.
Blowing up my truck as we walked away from the house or shooting me in the head right now seemed to fit with her particular brand of crazy.
Reaching across Connor's body, I clicked the seatbelt in place and gently shut the door.
"Come on." Tierney called out as she scooted into the middle of the bench seat next to Connor. "Let's go. This place gives me the creeps."
One more look, my eyes sweeping over the aged surface of the long abandoned house before I slid behind the wheel. Backing out of the driveway, a flicker of movement caught my eye near the upstairs window.
I froze, my legs locked into place, holding the brake against the floor. Seconds later, a pair of sparrows flitted playfully in front of the window before flying back into the nearby willow.
"Everything ok?" she asked, her voice unsteady.
"Yeah." I said slowly, still not wholly convinced. "Just my eyes playing tricks on me, I guess."
The drive home was uneventful. Tierney and I were both silent, lost in the tangle of our own thoughts. Foreign emotions had taken up residence in my head and trickled down into my chest like blood from a fatal wound.
I didn't feel much. Mostly, just the burn of good whiskey or a beautiful woman bouncing on my cock.
But these last few weeks, I had felt both the warmth of concern blooming in my chest and the cold shiver of fear.
Not for myself, but for Tierney and now Connor.
Hell, I even found myself feeling similar concern for the lads .
Cracks had been forming in the dam for weeks, the torrent threatening to break free and drown me. But with that one kiss, a simple touch. She calmed the raging storm.
Throughout these long hours of this so-called game, I found myself craving her touch more and more. She may be inexperienced when it came to relationships, but I wasn't far ahead of her.
We pulled through the gate, stopping in front of the door. It was closer to the hospital room than the garage was, something I would look into rectifying once this mess was over.
"Are you sure she doesn't need the hospital?" Tierney asked as I laid her on the bed.
"No." I said, shaking my head and offering her a half shrug. "No, I really don't know anything at this point."
"I need you." I murmured, not sure if I was ready for her to grasp the hidden meaning in my words. Not sure I was ready for it, either.
She nodded without hesitation. "Sure, name it."
Reaching into the cabinet near the door, I pulled out a handful of pristine white rags and laid them on the countertop before turning to face her again.
"I need you to help clean Connor up, and there's something I need to tell you." I said quietly, wetting the rags and laying them on a small rolling table she used when patching me up.
She dug through the drawer, finally pulling out an odd-looking pair of scissors, and began cutting away Connor's clothes.
I removed her socks and shoes, pulling away the scraps of fabric as Tierney made quick work of slicing through her pants.
"Fuck!" Tierney growled. "Ahren, look."
My eyes snapped up, settling on the flat plane of Connor's stomach. Our mystery woman had scrawled the word 'losar' with fine, shallow cuts .
"Take a picture." She prompted, taking a rag and gently swiping along her forehead.
"I'm guessing she's drugged," I said, putting my phone away and reaching for the pulse point on her neck. "Her pulse is steady, maybe a little weaker than it should be, but still normal, I think."
"So giving her something for pain is probably a no, then." She said, grinding her teeth.
I nodded, "yeah, that's a safer bet."
We continued in silence, each wiping away the layers of grime her clothing had done little to protect her from. Each swipe of the cloth accompanied by a sharp intake of breath or a heavy sigh as the two of us worked together to remove every trace of that house from her body.
"When I woke up, I was wearing her scrubs. Do you think there is another pair here?"
"Yeah. Connor keeps a few sets here in case she needs to patch me up. Wouldn't want her getting blood on her good clothes." I replied, the soft smile I only wore for her spreading across my lips. "I'll go get them."
I found several pairs folded neatly in the hall closet and I smiled. Walking into the room, she returned my smile. "What's so funny?"
"Nothing. Just—I don't know. Amused by the irony. Connor is a doctor, and she has special clothes she wears when dealing with blood. You and I actually kill people for money and we both throw our favorite clothes into the incinerator like it's nothing."
She chuckled softly. "Yeah, I guess that would seem weird to anyone who's not us."
"Lift her up and I'll slide on the top for her." She said, unfolding the scrub top and giving it a hard shake.
I lowered myself onto the bed beside her and gently wrapped her in my arms, pulling her body upright .
"Fucking shit!" Tierney cursed.
"What?"
"Phone." she growled.
Bracing her against my body so I could remove one hand, I dipped into my pocket and handed her my phone.
She pointed it at Connor and snapped a picture.
Her jaw tightened as her eyes swept across her back.
One more picture and she handed me my phone back, reached for a rag and began cleaning Connor's back.
A message had been scrawled across her back, this time in permanent marker.
clue number 2
Man, the things you don't know are the Very things that will hurt you.
i know where your weaknesses lie.
last time, i was only Playing. this time, someone's gonna die.