Chapter 30 A Not So Sweet Homecoming #2
“Yeah, well, after Jessica cleaned the twins’ rooms, I’m pretty sure she can survive anything,” Aunt Tater chimes in.
“I had to pay her double and give her a bonus after she finished,” my father adds.
I personally wouldn’t clean the twins’ rooms, even if they paid me a million bucks. That doesn’t mean anything. She’s just hard up for money.
Jessica returns to set the main course in front of me. Offering a tight-lipped smile, she whispers, “I heard this was your favorite. I hope you like it.” She moves away before I can reply.
Emily raises a brow at me. “Go on. Try it. She worked her ass off, putting together this five-course meal with all of your favorites. She even paid the staff tonight with her own money, so everyone can enjoy dinner and spend time with you. Just thought you should know.” Emily stares while I cut into my meal and watches me take my first bite.
This is the best roast beef I ever tasted, better than some five-star restaurants I have been to.
Emily isn’t done with me, not yet anyway.
She starts talking about Jessica and all the little things she has been through during her short time here.
Hearing all that Jessica has experienced, how everyone around me knows her so well, makes me feel worse for assuming the worst of her.
She should have struck me down with lightning earlier today. I would have deserved it.
As dinner continues, enjoying my meal becomes more difficult. Guilt sits heavy in my gut. By the time dessert comes, I notice Jessica is absent. I want her to be at this table, to be with her family. I prepare to stand, to apologize for being such an asshole, and ask her to join us.
Emily barges into the dining room from the kitchen. “Hey!” she shouts. “Where’s Jessica? I can’t find her anywhere.”
Justin and Jeremy both frown, looking at each other with concern.
“She’s not in the house. I can’t hear her thoughts,” Jeremy states. He can’t hear her what?
Justin turns to our father. “Before dinner started, I told Jessica she should have her wound assessed. She might need stitches—it was bleeding so badly. I totally forgot about it and meant to check in with her.”
Anders stands from his chair, pulls his cell from his pocket, and leaves the room. Liam retrieves his own phone, retreating to the farthest corner of the room. Anders returns, glowering. “She hasn’t been to the clinic. The doctor will call if she shows up.”
Liam ends his call. “Sodie’s been keeping an eye on Dustin and Marcus. They’re currently in the rec room. He assumed Boris was in his room since he last spotted him a little over an hour ago. He’s checking now and will text—” His phone buzzes. “He’s not there.”
Anders immediately barks orders to Ean, Charlie, and Liam. Duck calls all guard pack members within the territory to begin a search. I run out the door, following them.
Liam turns to say, “Sodie is gathering the rest of the recruits to secure Dustin and Marcus, and then they’ll join us to look for Boris.”
“Aren’t we kind of jumping the gun, just a little?” I ask.
Liam sighs. As we join the other recruits, he explains about his fight with Marcus, Dustin, and Boris, as well as Marcus’s threat. One of the recruits overheard the three of them talking, making plans to kidnap the VIP, and informed the leads.
Unfortunately, Anders couldn’t dismiss the three recruits because of Alpha Greystone’s political pull. He increased security, but he didn’t want to draw unnecessary attention. He employed the recruits, claiming it as part of their training.
Joe, Duck, and Xavier are also on high alert.
Some of the dairy hands, who are also guards, watched over Jessica.
Unbeknownst to her, Jessica was never really left without a guard…
until now. If Liam revealed this story to anyone outside of the guard, it would sound farfetched and maybe even a little overprotective.
Among the three, Boris is the worst. Evil oozes around him.
When I first met him, my skin crawled. I dug into his background.
Like Dustin, he is from the same pack in the Northern A territory.
Several reports from the school he attended before coming to the recruit program include incidents of bullying and fights.
He put two other teenagers in the hospital.
One report turned my stomach. This girl not only went to the school administration to file a complaint against him, she also sought out the authorities.
He harassed her for months. I have a copy of the report.
In her own handwriting, she wrote in detail how she suffered by his hand for months.
After she reported the rape, she mysteriously disappeared.
Not long after he arrived in the LS territory, her body was found.
She was raped, mutilated, and decapitated.
I showed the reports to my father and Anders.
They both tried to remove him from the guard program, but the Sixth Territory Alpha made a fuss and pulled some political bullshit.
Since there was no proof that Boris murdered the girl and official charges were not made against him, he got to stay.
What if Jessica left the mansion to run away, like she told me. What if I sent her straight into the arms of a psychotic rapist and murderer?