CHAPTER 26
CHAPTER 26 - GRIZZ
The Gallows looms in the distance. Thankfully, the back roads are mostly empty as I take several sharp corners. No one answered when I stopped by Victoria's house. It sat in a pool of darkness when every other house on the street was covered in Christmas spirit.
It felt off.
Empty.
I didn't waste too long there. Walking the perimeter, nothing seemed out of place, and all of the doors were locked. That's not to say I won't circle back. If Brynn isn’t at any of the places I’m checking, then I’ll start all over again, however, a rock will be finding its way through the window so I can search inside.
Skidding into the loading bay car park, I immediately notice several lights are on that shouldn't be. The upstairs apartment, the stock room, the loading bay roller door. All open with lights on. We agreed to close early with both Kevin and Axel walking in the Krampus parade.
Easing out of the driver's seat, I take a second to listen for any clue of where they might be. Racing up the stairs, I push theapartment door open. All of the furniture had been tossed from smoke damage, the walls a sterile white after being repainted. The faint taint of smoke still lingers, but there's not much we can do, short of living in the space again. But that won't be happening anytime soon, unless one of the guys wants to use it. Brynn and Jovie will be staying with me indefinitely and after I find her, I’m going to take her down to the courthouse to make it official. Jovie too. We won’t be leaving until I've adopted her and both my girls have my name.
Running down the stairs, I burst through the staff door, stumbling over something near the doorway.
“Fuck.” I call out, barely catching my footing and almost going headfirst into a table. The streetlights outside cast a dim light through the room and I scan the area as soon as my footing allows.
No movement.
The hum of the refrigerators in the kitchen is the only sign of life. Needing to be sure the space is empty, I back up to the front door to where the light switch is located. Swiping my hand in one quick motion down the wall, turning all five switches on.
There is a brief flicker of light. A nanosecond where my brain registers a scene before me that simply shouldn't be. Illuminated in all its horror.
Blood. So much blood.
On the floor, it pools. The wall, it's sprayed. All followed with my footprints, where I stumbled forward, tripping on the lifeless body of Victoria.
What the fuck happened here…and where’s Brynn?
My chest constricts. A tightness so fierce I'm worried how I'll keep searching for her if this is a heart attack. Her lifeless eyes stare back at me, searching my soul for answers to why she's no longer among us. I see the exit wound from the bullet in her back. Jagged flesh and material, still damp from the blood.
This is not the first dead body I’ve seen, and I'm sure, it won't be the last. The first life I took caused a numbness in me that never went away. The second only added to it, until there were so many they all merged into a blur. I had accepted that life would be like this. That I was to be branded the bad guy for ending the lives of people who took from others. I would kill over and over again if the victims of those men got some sort of peace in the end. Knowing their attacker could never find them again. That was worth it for me. All of the women I've helped would be worth it every time.
Would I have killed Victoria? No. Not unless she was going to hurt Brynn or Jovie. But right now, standing over her lifeless body. I have no sympathy to give her either. She was only kind to those she deemed worthy, and the rest of us were treated like shit. Not to mention the weird love hate relationship she had with the club. After her body is taken away and the floor is cleaned, I will most likely never think of her again. She was nothing to me, unlike Brynn, who is my everything.
I'm about to pull out my phone, update Hades of the situation, when I notice a small piece of paper fluttering on the bar top. The overhead fans having turned on at the same time as the lights, causing its movement. I would have walked right past it otherwise. Avoiding the pooling blood, I reach for the torn piece of paper.
The handwriting seems rushed. Hurriedly scribbled as she raced out the door.
But why?
Did she do this?
Kill Victoria?
No.
Something else happened here. Brynn's not a killer, not like that. What happened to Victoria was cold and calculated. It was done without hesitation or remorse. So if she didn't shoot Victoria, then who did? And will they do the same to her?
“Hades? We've got a problem.” He answers on the first ring and I don't give him time to respond, rattling off everything that's happened in the past hour. “I’m going to check my cabin.”
“We’ll send some of the guys on guard.”
“Don’t you fucking dare. If they haven't heard anything, it might be nothing. I’m not putting Brynn's life in the hands of a prospect,” I grit out, crumbling the note in my fist as I race out to the truck, turning the engine over.
“They just messaged saying it's been quiet all night. The fireworks from the parade got noisy but otherwise nothing. Lights are on in your cabin, though. It could be her?”
