Chapter Ten
Summer
Sitting in the window of the suite, I find myself exactly where I started a few weeks previous. My life seems to have bounced from one destructive situation to another. Lies, deceit, murder and secrets have shrouded me in the short time here, yet watching the people below, you wouldn’t think anything had happened at all. I guess it’s really true what they say, life does go on. I’ve been sitting here in silence for what feels like hours, but I know it’s barely been an hour if that. Each creak or movement I hear on the floor, I feel dread fall over me. Scared it’ll be followed by footsteps and a knock at the door.
I continue to nervously pick at my thumb, watching intently as the finger nail peels back the dry skin and small droplets of blood appear. I wipe the blood off my skin with my tongue, the gentle metallic taste invading my mouth. The slight irritation and pain causing my hand to tremble whilst I try to work out what I’m doing here. James wouldn’t tell me where Bhodi was, no matter how much I pleaded with him he wouldn’t tell me, but his eyes said something was terribly wrong. His haunted expression remains in my mind, he barely said two words before I was ushered into his apartment with both Rob, Eva and some guy called “Axe”. I felt his imposing presence immediately, the same one I felt when I first saw Two/Face, but it didn’t take me long to work out he’s the man in the skull mask. He stood in the doorway of the living room whilst we shot questioning looks at each other, a gun tucked into the back of his jeans and his firm stance filled the doorway entirely.
He didn’t speak, he just looked at me in the same way James did. Confusion and disbelief etched onto his strong rugged features and his eyes would every now and then flicker with concern towards me, but it was fleeting. When his phone rang, we were all instantly shuffled with great haste towards a car and driven to the same hotel I first stayed in. A wide-eyed Pamela met us at the door and showed me to a separate room, for a moment when she saw me she looked taken aback. She blinked a few times before gathering herself and guiding us through the maintenance corridors.
The thought crossed my mind that they really thought I was dead, but that couldn’t be it, surely? They’d need proof for that and I’m the living proof that I’m in fact right here and breathing.
James called Axe from his apartment, and he sounded alarmed. I felt myself leaning closer towards the call, hoping to hear something, but Axe moved from the room and I could only hear a muffled hushed voice before he stormed back in and we were ushered off. My mind instantly fell into a dark pit of fear and worry. My fear instantly fell to Bhodi, was he OK? Where was he? Has he come to some harm and no one wants to tell me? Do they even know where he is? The questions felt never ending, just a shit load of what ifs, buts and maybes.
A ping comes from the door, followed by muffled voices. I feel my neck snap towards the subtle noise and my heart rate picks up. I feel the fear descend over me once again, unable to move my feet. I feel my eyes scanning the room, already looking for somewhere to hide but once I hear Pamela, I feel the fear pulled away.
“Just trust me.”
She states.
“What the fuck is going on?”
The second voice is angry and exasperated, but I know it. I know it so well, that I feel the tears fill my eyes and my body launches from my seat and heads directly towards it. Pushing open the living room doors, our eyes meet.
I swallow hard, but Bhodi freezes. The same haunted troubled look on his face, just like the others and I have my answer. They thought I was dead, they fully believed I’d been killed in that fire. I take a step forward, my eyes filling with hot tears, the overwhelming feeling of relief throwing every other emotion and question at me.
“I’ll leave you both to it.”
Pamela speaks quietly and looks between us, before stepping away and closing the door behind her.
Bhodi doesn’t look her way; he doesn’t even say anything. His emerald irises continue to look towards me in shock and disbelief. My chest heaves and my words are stuck in my throat, a tight, hot knot forming whilst the tears spill down my cheeks. I merely shrug when a sob finally manages to escape. I feel lightheaded and my knees feel like they’re about to snap. I take a step forward but before I can even try to fight out more words he launches towards me. My body is instantly pulled towards his. With his arms around my waist he lifts me up. I wince slightly but I push past the pain. I need to feel close to him. Wrapping my entire body around his I sob, my arms tighten around his neck, my head falls onto his shoulder and my tears soak into the fabric of his T-shirt.
“I….I….”
I manage to force my words out. “I missed you …I’m sorry…I.”
My words become incoherent and lost as though my mind can’t make sense of anything.
I feel our bodies moving through the suite. When the door is kicked open, I’m met with the familiar bedroom. My body is gently placed onto the edge of the bed. I reluctantly let Bhodi go as he kneels before me. His strong hands cup my cheeks, wiping away the tears with his thumbs. He continues to search my eyes, looking all round my face as though he doesn’t believe I’m real. He swallows hard, refusing to let me go and the haunted look in his eyes scares me.
“I thought you were dead.”
His voice cracks and so does my heart.
I squeeze my eyes shut, trying to think of what to say, I simply place my hand over his and shake my head.
“I’m not, Bhodi, I’m not.”
I sniff, continuing to wipe away the tears.
Shuffling in my seat slightly, I wince at the wound on my hip. Bhodi’s eyes widen momentarily before I slowly lift the sweatshirt for him to see, his fingers gently graze across the bandage, his face darkens, and he takes a deep breath.
“It really is you.”
He mumbles.
“What?”
His eyes finally meet mine again, he wets his lips slightly. My brow furrows when I don’t understand his comment.
“The cameras…they showed me what happened before they were shut down.”
Lifting my sweatshirt above my head, I throw it down beside me and reveal my wounds that pepper my body. The cuts, grazes and bruises from the fall, the bullet scrape on my arm and the splinters that were pulled from my hip. I see the anger swirl in Bhodi’s eyes, the undeniable rage that’s building under the surface. I reach out and clutch on to his hand, bringing him back to me, my eyes pleading with his to not disappear within himself.
“What did you find in Michael’s room, Summer?”
he asks quietly.
I look to him, puzzled for a moment before remembering he would have seen me, I chew on my lip for a moment, my scattered photos flashing through my mind one after the other, like some slideshow embedded into my memory.
“Luca…and my Mom, together. Dad had pictures of them, I don’t know why.”
“What?” He snaps.
Taking a deep breath, I pull myself back onto the bed. Lacing Bhodi’s fingers with mine, I pull him close, his body travels over mine before falling to the side. Wrapping his arm around me, he pulls me to face him. His thumb gently runs over my cheek and my eyes flutter closed for a moment, falling into the safety of his protective embrace.
“After everything the night before, I finally went into Dad’s room to begin the next steps I guess.”
I shrug. “I started looking through his things when I found some photos in an old jacket pocket. I took them back into the room and looked at what was there. They were all of Luca and other people, one was a detective and the other was my mom.”
I shudder.
“What detective?”
“I don’t know, It’s Eva’s ex boyfriend, his name is Daniel.”
“Who’s Eva, Summer?”
He sits up in the bed and looks down towards me, getting impatient.
“Eva found me when I fell out of the van. She and her brother, Rob, helped me.”
“What the…”
Before Bhodi can finish the sentence, James’s familiar voice calls through the suite. Bhodi mutters something, before pushing from the bed and meeting him in the hall. Sitting up slightly, I go to slide from the bed and redress myself before both men head back in.
“Here, I got you this.”
James gives me a half smile, holding up a grocery bag. “It’s just some water, snacks and some painkillers.”
“Thanks, James.”
Taking the bag, I pull out the water and take a long swig before letting out a heavy sigh.
“We need to go.”
James looks to Bhodi and his face remains serious, they both share a knowing look and Bhodi visibly stiffens as James turns away from the room. Taking a step closer to me, Bhodi reaches out and gently touches my cheek.
“I promised you to answer your questions, and I will. But right now, I need to go.”
I blink away the tears and watch whilst he turns away and heads out of the suite. Rising from the bed, I trudge towards the bathroom. The familiar emptiness of the space leaving a sour taste in my mouth, but with new questions swirling around in my mind.