Chapter 42
Chapter Forty-Two
KIT
A lana and I ate an entire large pizza between us, which isn’t that impressive. When paired with the pasta we put away and the amount of breadsticks however, now that was impressive.
“Pour me more of that.” Alana holds her glass out at me for more of the red I just uncorked.
“It’s a Shiraz. I think it’s from Australia,” I tell her, giving the cork a sniff. I got roped into taking wine tasting when I was in my senior year of University as a fun elective with the course load I had by my easy going advisor. I think they wanted to help me relax but all it did was make me learn all about terroir and the particulars of temperatures and grape sugar content.
I got an A, of course.
Alana shrugs. “I don’t care where it’s from, so long as it gets me drunk, sugartits. Just pour the wine.” She waggles her empty cup at me.
I roll my eyes and snag her cup to pour it myself. If I leave it in Alana’s hand all that’s going to happen is half of it is going to end up on the counter. “Sugartits, really?”
“Well, it’s not like I can call Jax sugartits. That’s called harassment and I’m tipsy so someone is getting called sugartits, sugartits.”
Tonight has been calm. Unexpected with what happened earlier. What happened to Dottie Bee is all over the news. I’ve seen a few newsfeed banners pop up on my phone about the ‘Beloved TV Actress’ or the ‘Face of a Generation is No More’ and that kind of bullshit.
It’s enough to make me sick. I don’t know how Grant and Rafe put up with this shit. If it was me, I would have lost it by now.
There’s a flash of lightning and Alana pouts and dashes over to the windows overlooking the long driveway up from the highway. “You don’t think we should invite the boys up?” she asks, gesturing with her wine cup.
“The boys being?”
“Jax and Scott. My boys , of course.”
“I think they’re fine,” I say but she doesn’t look convinced. If Grant and Rafe don’t show up soon she’s going to wander out in the rain to get Jax and Scott. The bodyguards are down by the front gate. There’s a code to enter the gate if you aren’t buzzed in via the intercom in the kitchen. There’s a camera too, so that you can see who you’re buzzing in. You can look out the gate camera at any time from there.
Alana has definitely stopped a few times to try and get a look at Jax and Scott in their SUV parked by the gate.
“Are you sure? I bet they’re lonely. It has to be cold in that car.”
“I heard a rumor they’re ex special ops, I think they can take a rainstorm,” I lie. I haven’t heard that rumor but it's enough to get Alana’s head away from inviting the men up. Grant would lose it and Rafe would have a fit if they found the men in my space. It’s not that they don’t trust me, it’s that they don’t trust anyone with me but them. A warm glow settles in my chest that isn’t from the wine. I can’t help but feel warm and fuzzy towards the men I love, thinking about how they don’t trust anyone else to keep me safe.
Today, I kept them safe. It was my turn to make the world right and keep the ugly from them. God, I hope they aren’t mad. I didn’t think when I said what I said to Dottie Bee. I didn’t even think before, it just all spilled out like the wine Alana spills when she turns too fast from the window.
She giggles. “Oops.”
“It’s all good,” I tell her and grab a kitchen towel to wipe up the wine. I’m still on my knees cleaning the spill when Alana speaks.
“So how are you doing now that the witch is dead?”
I freeze mid-wipe and look up at her. “I don’t know,” I tell her honestly. It’s true. I don’t really know how to feel now that Dottie’s dead. That’s mostly because I don’t know how Rafe and Grant will take the news. I’m going to have to tell them the truth about who I am. About what happened to Mark and now Dottie. I go back to wiping the red wine off the hardwood and Alana walks the length of the windows.
“You didn’t do anything wrong.”
I don’t know how many people will see it her way if they ever found out the truth. So far no one has come looking and Alana is sticking to her pledge to be my alibi.
“I know,” I say softly.
I finish wiping up the wine and join Alana in the living room. She’s put on a horror movie and part of me wants to tell her this isn’t the best movie for us to watch but I don’t, because it does fit with the thunderstorm going on outside. It’s easier to focus on the woman running from the killer than really think about what happened today.
I told Dottie Bee to kill herself.
Now she’s dead.
Holy fucking shit.
I sip my wine and stare at the screen while another perky co-ed gets done in by the masked villain. Alana brings out a couple of blankets from the cedar chest beside the couch and tosses one on me.
“I need more wine,” she says and hustles into the kitchen for more. I can’t help but smile when I watch her come back into the living room with the bottle.
“Top up?” She holds the bottle out to my glass and I’m tempted but I don’t.
“I’m good.”
“More for moi,” she says and starts to pour wine into her glass when there’s a boom of thunder so loud that it shakes the windows and floor.
I sit up when the lights flicker and go out. Rafe texted me about a generator earlier so I don’t panic when Alana lets out a shriek.
“I know where the generator is. Don’t worry.” I get up from the couch and it’s only because of the moon that I’m able to see anything.
“It’s round back, at the bottom of the stairs,” I tell her and Alana groans.
“You mean down the death stairs?”
“The one and only.”
“Goddammit.”
I sigh because she’s right. “You know it. Don’t worry, I’ll go and check it out.”
“Do you know how to turn the generator on?” Alana whispers.
I pause where I was heading towards the closet that has the outdoor gear in it. I found it while exploring and it had everything someone would need in our current location. I remember seeing a few umbrellas and raincoats. Something in there will surely fit me.
“Well, not really. I have Rafe’s instructions and he knows how to do it,” I whisper back.
“I’m coming with you.”
I open the closet and use my phone as a flashlight. “Jackpot.” I was right about what I saw. There’s a few raincoats and even rain boots waiting for us.
“Since when do you know how to turn a generator on?” I pull out a raincoat and it fits. It’s big and baggy, but that’s fine. The only thing I care about is getting to the generator. I hand Alana a raincoat and start going for the rain boots.
“My family has that house in the Rockies, remember? I had to learn,” she answers me and it’s then that I realize we’re still whispering. The sound of the rain is loud now without the background noise of the fridge and central air humming along. The house is deathly quiet, every step and shift we make sounds painfully loud but still…why are we whispering when we’re alone?
“Why are we whispering?” I ask her because I don’t know why we started.
“Because it’s spooky as fuck in here now and that’s what you do when the power goes out and you were just watching a scary movie.”
“Fair enough,” I say and force my voice to normal. It sounds like a gunshot in the quiet and I ignore it. “We’ll go down to the generator and get it back on. Should we let Jax and Scott know?”
She pulls her phone out excitedly as she shrugs on a raincoat. “Definitely. Allow me.” I know Jax and Scott got her message when her phone lights up with a gentle ping.
“Oh, they don’t like us going down there. I think they’re going to try and meet us.”
“Tell them it’s fine. Really.” I say the words but I’m not sure how fine I actually feel. If I’m honest, I’m stressed and a little spooked because of the entire day. The fury I felt when I looked Dottie Bee in her eyes…when I heard her say Rafe and Grant loved her? Well, that fire is dead and gone.
Now I feel tired at the prospect of doing anything but lying on the couch under a fuzzy throw blanket while Alana and I get jump-scared by a movie. Alana and I go out the back door to start our trek to the generator but not before we find flashlights to bring with us.
Alana points to the stairs. “I think they’re waiting for us down there.”
I pull the hood of my raincoat down lower against the rain and squint. “Okay, let’s go before it gets worse.” The rain soaks my legs immediately so I guess it’s good that I changed into shorts, even though the water is freezing. I shiver and walk as fast as I dare to the stairs. I’m in rain boots but I’ve never been graceful and today would be a shit day to break my neck. Alana lets me go down the stairs first. A blessing and curse because I don’t have to worry about slipping and taking her out with me but a curse because the only thing I’m thinking about is how much further to the bottom. I give up counting stairs after fifty of them and I only almost slip twice before the bottom of the stairs comes into view.
A stone walkway leads to the outbuilding the generator is in and I pause before I set off down it. I hold the flashlight and scan the area.
“What is it?” Alana comes to my side and adds her flashlight beam to mine. It’s too dark to see very far at least but it’s something. I don’t know what it is but I feel like we’re being watched. I know it’s ridiculous because it could be Jax and Scott that are watching us on their way down from the main gate. Still, the hairs on the back of my neck stand up and the water trailing down my legs and into my rain boots makes me shake.
“I feel weird,” I tell Alana. I turn to the side and peer down the trail. The night from the woods comes back in a rush and I feel dizzy. I sway slightly and Alana grabs my arm.
“Are you okay?”
“I don’t know.”
“Fuck. Okay, everything is fine. Let’s just get the generator on. You know what? I’ll go do it. You can stay here and rest.”
Alana turns to run down the path but I grab her arm to stop her.
“No.”
“Kit, you look like you’re going to faint. It’s okay. I got it.”
“We have to stay together.”
I don’t know why I feel that but I do. Everything feels like it’s closing in on me. Every drop of rain is like a knife plunging into my skin, the blade slicing me open. Suddenly, it’s not water that runs down my skin but blood. I’m light-headed and for a second I feel like I’m airborne.
I think I’m having a panic attack.
Fuck. Why now?
“Kit, you can’t-”
“We stay together.” I push myself away from the stairs and hold on to her. “I’ll be okay. I promise.” I’m practically shouting to be heard over the rain and for a second Alana doesn’t react and I think she hasn’t heard me but she nods.
I lean against her and we walk down the path. It’s not far to the building. At least, I don’t remember it being far. Alana and I stay pressed close together and I don’t feel as dizzy by the time the building comes into sight. We’re a few feet away when we both stop dead in our tracks.
The door is open.
We look at each other and I raise my eyebrows in question while Alana bites her lip. “Maybe it’s Jax and Scott?”
“Maybe.”
My hand goes to my pocket but there’s no knife there. After I came home I took them out and put them in the top drawer of the bedside table. I’m such an idiot. Why did I go anywhere without the knives?
Because I’m safe, I remind myself. Because there’s nothing going on out here or anyone trying to get me. Because there’s two bodyguards and a gated entrance. Because no one knows where I am.
Everything is fine.
Alana and I start walking again but I can feel she’s tense. I rub her arm as we walk. Everything is fine. Fine . One hundred fucking percent fine. We step into the doorway and instantly the thunderstorm fades away. It’s like someone switched the dial on the radio from twenty to five. I take in a deep breath and let it out as I shine my light inside. A kayak is hanging with a rowing machine to the left, across from that is a work table and a massive standing tool cabinet. There’s a few plastic tubs off to the side and in the far corner but I don’t see the generator. Not yet.
We walk into the building and Alana bumps into a box. “Fuck!” Her voice carries in the room and we both jump. “Shit, sorry, I didn’t realize I was yelling.”
I shove my rain jacket hood back. “Let’s spread out and look for the generator. It has to be here. It’s not like this place is that big.”
It’s a single storm building that’s all one room. It reminds me of a basement with the forgotten clutter in here and I move my flashlight over the knick knacks as I walk deeper into the room.
“What if it’s the fuse box? What if we don’t even need the generator?”
Shit. I hadn’t thought of that.
“Um, well if we turn the generator on the fuses should be fine, right? Grant and Rafe can look when they’re home.” I want to text them but I don’t. My hands are so soaked from the rain that I would just drop my phone. They’ll be home any minute, though, I know it.
“You take that side and I’ll take this one?” Alana asks when we come to a divide in the room. There’s an old set of skis leaning up against an antique dresser and a few boxes beside it. When I shine my light down the path, I see more boxes and luggage stacked. There’s nothing but stuff down here, all of it pushed together here and there to create a walkway through it all. How far does this go? There’s no way of telling, so any direction is as good as any. I’m about to open my mouth to suggest left but that’s when I see it.
A shoe.
A shoe with a foot still in it. I go still. “Alana.”
“What? What is it?”
I point down the path in front of us towards the shoe and my light shakes in my hands. “There’s someone laying down.” Alana doesn’t say anything, she just looks where I’m pointing and a second later she’s walking towards the person. “Alana, come back!” I grab at her but there’s no stopping her. The only choice I have is to follow her. I can’t let her see whatever the fuck it is alone.
“Alana, wait,” I whisper.
Of course, Alana doesn’t fucking wait. She keeps walking. I end up sprinting after her and reach her side just as she comes to a stop and stares down at the foot. The foot is attached to a leg and that to a body.
“Oh god. Oh my god.” Alana claps a hand over her mouth and drops her flashlight. It hits the floor hard and goes out but I keep mine on the body.
It’s a fucking body.
“I think I’m going to be sick.”
“It’s okay. It’ll be okay,” I tell her but my hand shakes. I take a step towards the person on the floor. “Hello?” They’re face down and they’re wearing leggings and a baggy sweatshirt. It’s a woman, that’s all I can tell.
“Are you okay?” I take another step closer. I’m going to have to touch them to check and see if they’re all right. In a best case scenario, we can still get them help but it’s been nothing but the worst case scenario lately.
“Kit, don’t! Don’t touch them.”
“We have to check if they’re alive.”
“They aren’t moving. They aren’t even breathing.” Alana picks up her flashlight and gestures at them. “Kit, there’s no way they are alive.”
“I still have to check.” I crouch down and take a deep breath as I grab their shoulder and roll them onto their back.
Alana covers her face with her hands. “Oh god, I can’t look.”
My legs nearly give out when I see their face. I laugh and drop to my knees beside them.“It’s a fucking dummy.” Relief floods my veins and I feel loose and happy. It’s definitely me being slap happy but I welcome the delirium with open arms.
“It’s not real. It’s a mannequin,” I say again and keep laughing. “Oh fuck, it’s okay. We’re okay.”
“What?” Alana comes to her knees beside me. “Are you fucking kidding me?” she asks and gives the dummy a flick of her finger. The sharp sound of plastic sounds and we both go silent. Alana breaks the silence first with a giggle and a second later I join her because what the fuck?
“I feel like I’m losing it,” I whisper between giggles. My eyes fill with tears and I swipe at them with the back of my hand. “I really thought someone was dead.”
“So did I. If you’re losing it then so am I.”
I chuckle and look at my best friend. “I guess I’m in good company then to have a mental breakdown.”
“Where you go, I go,” she tells me with a smile and we hug. “Come on, let’s go find that generator and a whole bottle of wine.” I stand and offer my hand to Alana.
She claps her hand in mine and hops to her feet. “That sounds amazing. Let’s do it!”
We only get a step down the aisle when a man steps out from the corner. Lighting flashes behind him in the window and frames him. As he turns to us, there’s a gun in his hand.
“Oh shit,” Alana whispers.