Zane put his cell to his ear. “Jesse.”
Bonnie breathed deeply, frowning. What was that smell?
“His parents can’t get through to him?”
Her gaze returned to Zane. Was he talking about Stetson?
As he continued to talk, she turned back to the hall, the strange smell making her nose wrinkle. Whatwasthat? Was it coming from the bathroom?
She took a few steps, about to push into the bathroom, when she paused. No. It was coming from the storage room.
She turned, her pulse speeding up.
The second she opened the door, she gagged. Good God, it smelled like something had died in here.
She flicked on the light and scanned the storage room, shelving lined with boxes. A shoebox immediately caught her attention. It was red and had a sticker in the corner. A sticker she recognized.
She’d given the box to Dean in high school. She’d put some dumb notes she’d written to him inside, and a few other keepsakes.
Suddenly, the nerves in her belly turned into a nausea that rolled and crawled, making her feel sick to her stomach. She shouldn’t open it. She knew she shouldn’t. Not here, not by herself. But her feet were moving before she could stop them, propelling her forward. A deep need to see what was inside squashing any and everything else.
With shaking fingers, she lifted the box. It took her three full breaths before she gained the courage to open it.
She screamed at what she saw, the boxing hitting the floor.
Loud footsteps sounded behind her. “Bonnie? What—” Zane cursed and gripped her shoulders, turning her away from the decomposing mouse head.
Her gaze caught on something behind Zane, hidden behind the storage room door. This time, her entire stomach dropped. “Oh my God…Stetson!”
Zane turned and saw what she did. He dropped down beside Stetson’s still body. He had a black eye and lay on his side at an awkward angle.
“Is he alive?” she whispered, praying Zane said yes.
He touched Stetson’s throat. “There’s a heartbeat but it’s faint.” His gaze shifted lower, the muscles in his back visibly tensing.
And that’s when Bonnie saw the blood on his midsection, like he’d been stabbed or shot.
She stumbled back and pulled her cell from her pocket, about to call an ambulance, when something sounded from somewhere in the gym. A bang.
Zane stood and pulled Bonnie behind him, tugging his gun from the holster.
Someone had hurt Stetson. And that someone might still be here.
Before steppingout of the storage room, Zane called Jesse back.
“Zane—”
“I need you at the gymnow.” He kept his voice low and quiet.
“What’s wrong?”
“He’s here.” Two words…that’s all he said before he hung up and shoved the cell back into his pocket. “Stay behind me.”
He didn’t want to take Bonnie out there with him, but he sure as hell wasn’t leaving her alone.
He stuck his head into the hall.
Empty.
