Chapter 5 #2
“Or Dizzy…” It becomes clear why he woke me in the middle of the night. He’s thought this through to its logical conclusion. The only reason I considered him over her is because he’s the one who showed up in my room with the knife. “You think she could—”
“Don’t finish that thought,” he says in icy warning.
But the thought still stands between us.
Louder perhaps for being not fully spoken.
She’s too secretive. Too obsessed with violence and blood.
An unhinged little she-devil with pink hair who likes to incessantly chatter about the many ways to maim or kill someone.
Born and raised as much a Hawthorne as West. Or Alec.
She’s slit a throat once before... in self-defense… but still… knows how to inflict that kind of damage.
Although, West is also a Maddox and Dizzy helped Ivy outsmart Alec…
who has probably had nothing but time since he went on the lam to plot revenge on us all.
So, it is possible everything that’s happened is connected…
“Do you think it could be Alec? Dizzy got him to confess. She’s the reason he was forced underground. ”
“It’s… plausible.” He doesn’t seem fully convinced. “But we don’t know if this knife is the same knife that was used to kill the goat. If it isn’t…”
Then perhaps Dizzy just wanted to protect herself. And with the incidents adding up, who could blame her? “We need to know if it matches the wounds. We can go to the pit at first light. See if the goat is still there. I told Agent Lane I would show him.”
“You should show him the knife,” West says.
“You’re not coming?” That surprises me. “How are we supposed to find it?”
“You’ll find it if it’s still there. We dumped it just inside the tree line. Take Riot. Since the agent is here for him. I would rather not come face-to-face with the man. It might not end well for either of us.”
“Because Dizzy kissed him?” His jealousy and possessiveness are something I can relate to. The way his hand tightens into a fist is a dead giveaway.
“Something like that.” He starts down the steps.
“We really should be working this from multiple angles anyway. We’re running out of time,” I say.
“Riot and I will deal with the Fed. Adira and his posse will keep the guests charmed. You could question the people working the wedding. Perhaps we’ll get lucky and one of them will have noticed something. ”
“Whatever it takes to get Dizzy home quickly,” he says. “Nothing good can come from her being away from me for very long.”
“We’re working on the same goal,” I reassure him. “If we’re going to get the bride and groom back in time for the ceremony—and Dizzy back to you—we don’t have a lot of time.”
“Then let’s be efficient.”
“One last thing, West.” Because in choosing not to tell him about Dizzy I also chose to keep him in the dark when we celebrated earlier. “I asked Summer to marry me. She said yes.”
“Congratulations,” he says and disappears into the darkness.
I turn my attention to the knife on the table. If it was the knife used on the goat, hopefully there will be some fingerprints on the handle. Whether they belong to Alec or Dizzy or someone else… I need to make sure I preserve them.
I don’t have gloves like West, but I can probably find a bag or something to package it with.
I head into the kitchen only to find Summer.
Bleary eyed, curls secured in a pineapple on top of her head.
Wearing a robe over one of my T-shirts, which is too big everywhere except for where the material stretches around her midsection.
A half-full glass of milk is in front of her on the counter. “Everything okay?”
“West realized Dizzy wasn’t back.” That baby bump. I love the sight of it. Love touching it, and wondering when I’ll first feel one of my twins kick. It’s weeks too early of course, but that doesn’t stop me from putting my hands on her. She’s carrying my babies. That’s fucking magical.
I lift her up and plant her ass on the counter. She’s wearing shorts so even if one of her brothers came out, they’d have nothing to complain about.
“Did he threaten you?” She places her knees at my hips when I step between them.
“He’s trustworthy.” I pick up her hand and kiss her knuckles. “Odd. Cold. And not very likeable. But then I wasn’t likeable either once. Remember that?”
“Oh, I remember.” She looks down my body with a smile. But then those pretty eyes settle on my face with so much warmth.
“There’s something else.” It seems counterpoint to what I’ve just said about my brother being trustworthy.
“Rebel?”
“He found a knife. The knife… possibly. In his cabin.”
“Seriously?” Her eyes round.
“I need to put it in something in case it has fingerprints on it.” I start looking through the drawers.
“Next one,” she says as her phone, which is never far from her person, starts to buzz repeatedly. She pulls it out of the pocket in her robe and lights up the screen.
I find a bag with a sealable opening. “Going to go and bag it, then we can head back to bed.”
She’s scrolling like a mad woman; her lip pulled between her teeth. She stills. “They think they found Alec… Alec’s body… what was left of it anyway.”
“What do you mean?”
“The news only mentions that they found a body.” She goes back to tapping on the screen.
“But the rumor that it’s Alec is already trending.
They’re saying the body was mutilated. Dumped.
The eyes were taken. Oh shit. There are photos…
there must have been a leak in the coroner’s office. Someone is getting fired over this.”
Dropping the phone, she covers her mouth with her hand. Jumping down from the counter, she stumbles the two steps to the sink and wretches violently. Milk splatters the bottom of the deep basin.
I snatch up the device and steal myself to see what’s on the screen.
The body laid out on one of those metal tables is what’s left of Alec Hawthorne?
I swallow down the bile that wants to rise while I try to decipher what I’m seeing.
A face so bruised and broken it’s hard to tell if that jawline is Alec’s.
Empty eye sockets. And then lower… words carved crudely into his chest. The man’s crimes.
The same crimes Alec committed against Rochelle and against Ivy.
Summer wipes her mouth with the back of her hand. “It’s him, isn’t it?”
There’s a scar from where he had plastic surgery on his jaw when I broke it that night I found him on top of Ro.
Maybe another man could have that same scar but combine it with the blood tarnished watch and other items that were found on the body, and it seems very likely that it’s Alec.
Unless Alec faked his death. Would he do that?
Or has this whole experience with him left me incredibly jaded?
“I think so. It’s hard to tell. We should probably wait for confirmation. ”
“My gut says it’s him,” she says. “But I wouldn’t put it past Alec to fake his own death.”
“Agreed.”
“Is it wrong of me to say I hope it really is him?”
I rub gentle circles between her shoulder blades. “He hurt the people we care about over and over. It would be weird if you weren’t hopeful that it’s come to an end.”
“Okay. Good.” She lets out a sigh of relief and melts into the massage. “Should we tell Rogue and Ivy?”
“Rogue’s probably seen the same alerts,” I say. “I’m sure we’ll talk about it tomorrow. I’ll call him after I’ve been out to the pit with Agent Lane.”
We’ll need to check in with Riot and Ro too. They’ll see the alerts. West as well. But one of us will have to fill in Adira. It can wait until we know for certain.
“I think I might sleep the best I have in months now.” She sags into my side, weakened by her reaction to the images. She barely restrains a yawn.
I might never sleep well again thanks to West waking me up the way he did.
I scoop her up and carry her back to the bedroom. Alec is almost certainly dead. Gone. Soon to be buried. He’s not trying to upset the wedding or get revenge. He’s not working with Nicole.
But someone is.