Shutting the locker, I lean against it and sigh. Now what the fuck do I do? I can’t tell Tyson that my father gave me a phone and then I lost it.
FORTY-TWO
TYSON
Senior year at Barrington University
Ienter the hospital with Whitney in my arms and am met with nurses. Ryat called while on our way. “Gavin,” I rush out. “I want Gavin.”
“I’m sorry, but he’s not here.” They take her from me, laying her on the gurney. They start to wheel her away, and I follow after them.
“I want…”
“He’s not here,” a nurse says, slamming her hands into my bloody shirt, pushing me to a stop. “But I promise Dr. Finch is just as good.” Then she turns and takes off after them, leaving me alone.
I pace the waiting room, my bloody hands fisted in my hair, trying to put the pieces together. I didn’t see her phone, but she had called me from it. No car. No purse. Her clothes were torn and dirty, but there wasn’t any dirt on the floor. Just blood.
Then there’s the question of the baby. Is she really pregnant? If so, is it mine? My mind is racing, and so is my pulse. I can’t focus.
“Ty?”
My head snaps up to see Ryat standing, he nods to a doctor that’s walking our way. I can see it written all over his face. She’s gone.
I’ve been sittingat my desk for three hours now in my office, my mind on that day once again. I’ve accomplished nothing but staring at a wall.
“Boss?”
I look up to see Colton staring at me expectantly. They’ve changed out of their bloodstained clothes after burying my latest victim.
He and Finn both stand there, hands in their pockets, waiting for an order. I don’t know what to say. I don’t know where to start. The most rational thing to do would be to put my wife in a jail cell with twenty-four-hour guards. She’d hate me, but at least she’d be alive.
“Go through his phone,” I finally say. “Every text, every picture. Every fucking person he’s called, I want to know about it.”
They nod.
“He’s not a Lord,” Finn mentions.
“What about it?” I snap.
“How would he know so much if he wasn’t one, sir?”
That’s a good question. He could have been guessing, but he was spot-on. “He has to know someone. Check any connections to a Lord in my senior class.” I order, but even I know it’s a long shot. Not many knew what really happened, and the ones that do would never speak of it.
LAIKYN
I sitat the main bar, just staring at the mirrored wall behind it. Watching the lights bounce off it to the point it’s blinding. They’re giving me a headache, and the music is so loud I can’t even hear my own thoughts.
How does Tyson not get tired of this life? I never got to go out and party with my friends and get drunk off my ass. After my sister died, I was pretty much on house arrest. My parents were afraid that something would happen to me. But having to be here every night makes me think that was a good thing now.
I’ve been sitting here just staring at nothing for over two hours now. I no longer work here. He fired me. What else am I supposed to do with my life? Sit here day in and day out doing absolutely nothing?
And I’m trying to remember that damn phone. Where did it go? Who the fuck has it? And why would they want it? Maybe my father came back and picked it up. But what does that mean for my initiations? He said the Lords would contact me on it. Now I’ve lost the fucking thing.
“Want a drink, Lake?” Beau shouts over the song playing.
I’m about to shake my head when the other bartender who replaced Walter bumps into him and tells him, “She’s not allowed.”
“I’d love one.”
