Chapter 16
Raven climbed into her car. She’d spent hours with her parents, and only left because visiting hours were over.
God, today was a mess. But at least, for the moment, they were safe. She’d spoken to Briar. She hadn’t told the other woman the details but had let her know she was concerned for her parents’ safety. She’d mentioned an ex, giving a name and description so they knew exactly who to look out for.
Briar had assured her the place had security. That there were locks and alarms. For now, Raven just had to accept that.
She ran a finger over the blood on her shirt and shoe. She’d been such a mess she’d cut herself while helping her mother serve apple pie. That was how distracted she was. She couldn’t even cut pie.
She scanned the parking lot for Connor’s truck. It wasn’t there. She told herself that was good, but really, she wasn’t sure how to feel about anything anymore.
When she’d finally left the community center earlier that day, she’d spotted him parked out the front of Bloom. It had scared her. Because, while Xander was so close, she wanted Connor as far from her as possible. For his safety.
So she’d texted him. Told him she was visiting her parents, and he didn’t need to follow. He’d obviously listened. But not before texting back to tell her to stay safe. To not detour. To come straight to his house after.
The fact that he thought she was still staying in his home was wild. How was she supposed to do that without spilling her entire life story to keep them from having another explosive, heart-tearing-in-two fight?
God, her heart hurt. The ache behind her eyes had started the second Connor had stormed from the community center and had only gotten worse throughout the day.
For a moment, she just sat there. Because where was she supposed to go?
She squeezed her eyes shut, but the damn memory played in her mind again. The night that changed everything.
Dead. He was dead.
No. No, no, no, he couldn’t be. He had to be alive. She’d just spoken to him. She’d just asked him for help.
She pressed her palms to his chest, as if the action could somehow stem the flow of blood.
A voice in her head whispered that he was gone, but the thought was too earth shattering to accept.
She needed him to be alive. Otherwise, this was her fault.
Her fault for confiding in him. Her fault for telling him her suspicions about Xander.
Raven leaned her head forward and touched it against the wheel.
Breathe, Raven. Just breathe.
But fear wrapped around her chest like a band.
She had to stay away from Connor. She had to keep him safe. Xander had come here to scare her. To remind her that everyone and everything in her life was at risk. And he’d done exactly that.
With shaking fingers, she started her engine and pulled onto the road. She didn’t go anywhere in particular. She just drove. Taking turns even though she didn’t know where they’d lead. Driving roads she’d never driven.
After what felt like hours, she pulled up in front of the Bald Eagle Motel. It was the cheapest accommodation in town. One look at the peeling paint and faded signage told her that.
She could afford a night or two. Maybe she’d spend the evening searching for longer-term accommodation. She hadn’t bothered looking since moving in with Connor.
Before she could get out of the car, her phone rang. She almost didn’t want to look at it, because she knew exactly who it would be.
She lifted her cell—and yep, there he was.
She didn’t answer. No, she was too much of a coward for that. Instead, she chose the easy option…she sent a text.
Raven: Hey, I’m staying somewhere else tonight.
She hit send, and barely a second later, her phone rang again.
She cringed. He’d be angry. But better angry than something else.
Sampson’s blood flashed in her mind.
She shook her head. No. She wasn’t focusing on that right now. She was going to walk into the shitty motel, get a room, and sleep this crappy day away.
Her phone vibrated with a text.
Connor: I need you to call me, Raven. I want you home with me, where you’ll be safe.
That was the thing though. She wasn’t safe anywhere with Xander around.
Swallowing the lump in her throat, she grabbed the small pistol from the middle console and shoved it into her purse before climbing from the car.
She scanned the parking lot as she walked to the front desk.
Her fingers twitched to reach into her bag and pull her gun right back out again. She didn’t.
Inside the office, an older man who paid more attention to the football playing on the wall TV than her, gave her a key and a room number. She didn’t care that he barely looked at her. The less attention she drew, the better.
Her room was on the bottom floor of the squat building, the last one on the very end of the row, and the second she stepped inside she nearly gagged at the musty smell.
Good God, had someone died in here?
She closed the door, her nose wrinkling at the thick layer of dust on the small table by the window. Okay, maybe the place had just never been cleaned.
She set her bag on the worn, stained carpet and perched on the side of the bed.
Then her entire day sank in. Everything was such a mess, and she had no idea how to fix it.
Her parents were being threatened. Her job was probably in jeopardy.
She had no idea if a relationship with Connor would ever be possible while Xander was around…
and he might be around for a while. Possibly forever.
She pressed a hand to her chest, hoping to dull the ache. It didn’t work.
She closed her eyes, and Sampson’s face flashed back to her. His smile. The way he’d brightened her darkest, most isolated days in North Dakota.
She’d loved him. Not as a boyfriend, but as a friend. A best friend.
And he was gone.
Another text came through. She pulled out her cell.
Connor: Raven. I’m worried about you. Please call me.
Despite everything, despite knowing he was safer without her, knowing Xander would go to any lengths to keep his secrets…her finger hovered over his name. She wanted to hear his voice. To have him say he’d come to her. Save her.
Then an email notification popped up. She frowned at the name.
Tim Pouty.
A week ago, she’d set up a Google Alert for her PI when he still wasn’t answering her calls.
She clicked into the email, and her heartbeat ground to a halt.
North Dakota Man Found Dead. Police Investigating Homicide.
A buzzing started in her ears.
She clicked into the article and there, line one, was his name again.
Tim Pouty—dead.
Xander had killed him. She knew that without needing any form of confirmation. He’d killed Tim because she’d hired the PI to investigate her ex.
Xander would kill Connor too if he suspected Connor knew too much.
She couldn’t let that happen.
Connor stared at the screen of his phone.
Nothing. No text from Raven. No call.
She wasn’t going to reply. She wasn’t going to tell him where she was.
Fuck.
He got out of the text thread and hit Polly’s name.
She answered immediately. “Connor. Hey. Everything okay?”
“Have you heard from Raven?” Say yes, please say yes.
“No.”
Dammit. “She’s not in the apartment over your garage?”
“No. I just got home, and no car was here and she hasn’t contacted me about it. Why? Is she okay?”
“I’m not sure. Sorry, Polly, I have to go.”
He hung up and immediately hit a different number.
Ethan answered next. “Hey, Connor.”
“I need you to find Raven for me.”
“Find her? Is she missing?”
“We had a fight, and she hasn’t come home.”
There was a pause. “If she left, she might just need some space.”
“Her ex is here, Ethan. He’s dangerous. One second in his company and I knew that. She ran from him in North Dakota, and now she’s running again. I need to know where she is.”
A sigh sounded over the line. “Give me half an hour.”
It was too long, but fuck, he had no other options. “Thanks.”
He hung up. But he couldn’t just stand around and wait. He grabbed his keys and went out to his truck.
Maybe she went back to the community center. It wouldn’t be a smart option, something she had to know, but if she was desperate enough…
He took a right, then a left. The community center had just come into view when his phone rang.
He hit the answer key on his steering column. “You got something for me, Ethan?”
“Don’t ask me how I got this, but she’s at the Bald Eagle Motel. Room one.”
That place was a fucking dump. He’d driven past it a couple of times and there’d been junkies out front every damn time. “Thanks.”
“Need anything else?”
“No. I’ve got it.” He hung up and swung the truck around. It took him a fraction of the time it should have to reach the motel, and the place was just as scummy as he remembered.
Two broad-shouldered, dark-hooded men leaned against the building, passing a cigarette back and forth.
One glance and he knew they were bad news. They were also too close to Raven’s room.
He climbed from his truck and crossed the parking lot, feeling the men’s stares on him. He half expected one of them to move toward him. Maybe ask for drugs or money. They didn’t.
Good. He wasn’t in the fucking mood.
He stopped outside room one and knocked.
Silence.
He knocked again, louder this time.
Still nothing.
Was she not here? Ethan was never wrong.
One more knock, and the same string of nothing filled his ears.
Fuck this.
He pulled his wallet from his back pocket and took out a credit card. The card slipped easily into the narrow gap between the door and the frame, and he slid the card downward. When he met resistance from the bolt, he tilted the card slightly inward, hearing it scrape along the metal.
“Hey. You s’posed to be doing that?” one of the guys shouted from a few yards away.
“Lost my key.” The lock clicked out of place.
Gotcha.
He opened the door.
Silence thickened the air, darkness like a cloak over the room. He still clocked everything in sight though—bag on the table, unmade bed, closed bathroom door, but not one single person.
He closed the door and turned the lock. He’d just flicked the light on when the bathroom door opened and Raven stepped out, small pistol in hand, pointed right at his chest.