Chapter 87 Gone – Koen
GONE
KOEN
Mac and I have just pulled into the parking garage of the loft when Aidan calls.
“Yeah?”
Aidan’s frantic on the other end, and I sit straight up, causing Mac to look over. I only hear a few words before I’m out of the car and sprinting for the elevator. The sight of the body lying a few feet from the doors hits me like a fucking truck.
“No.”
For a second, my brain blanks out, and I freeze, not believing what I’m seeing.
In the next second, I’m at his side. Jace.
My hands shake as I move aside the collar of his jacket to press two fingers to his neck, confirming what I already know by the bullet lodged in the side of his head, and his unseeing eyes.
He’s gone.
“What the fuck?!” Mac curses, falling down beside me and shaking Jace as if trying to wake him up.
His voice breaks, sharp and jagged. “Wake up. C’mon, man, wake the fuck up!
” When he realizes what I did only seconds before, he releases Jace, standing up and pacing behind me, letting out a sound that’s somewhere between a roar and a sob.
My throat is tight and my eyes are burning, but I reach up, fingers shaking, and lightly press Jace’s eyes closed.
Leaning forward, I press my forehead to his, closing my own eyes, just for a moment before I lift my head.
Rising, I wipe the tears from my cheeks before drawing my gun and moving for the stairs, but not before calling back to Mac.
“Stay with him.”
“But, Rí…” Mac’s face is red and a mess of tears himself, but he pulls out his gun, moving to follow me.
“No.” I cut him off sharply, freezing with the door to the stairwell half open. “Stay with Jace. Don’t leave him alone.”
He halts, nodding, his gaze falling back to my cousin—our friend.
“Call everyone,” I say, my voice low and lethal. “Whoever did this, dies tonight.”
The loft is silent.
The sound of my heartbeat is loud in my ears after sprinting up the stairs, faster than the elevator. I step into the hallway. The television is still playing some movie, and aside from the spilled popcorn all over the floor, there’s no sign of a struggle.
My gun is drawn, and I clear the area, moving into the kitchen—also empty.
“Rory?”
There’s no answer.
Aidan said she was here…
I check over the courtyard before turning down into the first hallway.
“Rory?” I call again, louder this time, still on high alert.
I catch the faint sound of sobs before a door opens. I lift my gun but let it fall when Rory emerges out of her and Aidan’s bedroom, holding Remi tight to her.
“Daddy?” Remi calls, wiggling out of Rory’s arms and running to me when her feet hit the ground. I drop down, scooping her up and holding her tight against my chest while she cries.
“I’ve got you; you’re safe now,” I whisper to her, but my voice breaks.
“I want Mommy,” she sobs, and something inside of me cracks, my grip on her tightening.
“I’m going to get her too, baby,” I promise her. Running my fingers through her hair before looking up at Rory. She’s pale, shaking, but looking me in the eye.
“Who?” I try to keep my voice calm and steady, but all the grief and pain is funneling into rage and it’s only getting worse.
“I don’t know…” Rory says quietly, coming closer. “I didn’t see them—we were—Briar told us to hide.” She swallows. “They were—they were here for her.”
My jaw flexes. Just once.
“He took Mommy.”
My attention falls back on Remi in my arms.
“Who?” I ask her, but she’s quiet. “Baby, who took Mommy?”
“A bad man,” she whispers, burying her face in my chest again.
“Koen…”
My head lifts at the tone in Rory’s voice.
“I didn’t see them, but before we hid out in the courtyard, I—I could hear them, and they—” Her stormy eyes burn into mine. “They were Irish.”