Forty-Three
My world crumbles with a few words.“She’s gone.”Those two words ring in my ears over and over again, my eyes remain fixed on the screen, the video paused on the blood on the floor just in the entrance to her flat. My stomach rolls and I push out of my chair rushing over to the bin in the corner, I make it just in time as the coffee makes a reappearance.
I turn, sliding to prop my back against the wall and I look out across the room. Every pair of eyes are watching me, gauging my reactions. I can’t think straight, my hangover is in full force, my rage clouding my senses. I don’t know what to do. I look at Nitro silently begging him to help me.
He gets out of his seat and walks over to me, taking a seat on the floor right in front of me. “Breathe.”
I hadn’t even realised I was struggling to breathe. He gives me a few seconds to suck in some air, filling my lungs enough to help clear away some of the fog.
“Brother,” I whisper out. But he stops me.
“Data has been searching every street camera he can access to try and find her, but there aren’t any on her street or surrounding areas. We don’t know where she is right now. But I promise you brother, we’ll find her.”
I drop my head, the pain in my chest making it hard to breathe.
I can’t believe I did this; I can’t believe I pushed her away and she’s gone.
I screwed up.
There’s a shadow cast over me and I look up to see Tongue standing in front of me. He shakes his head and casually tells me, “You’re an idiot.” Before turning and walking out the door.
“How could I have let this happen?” The question not directed at anyone in particular, just putting it out there to the room. I’m sure they all have their opinions.
“You really are fucking stupid,” Ice snaps and I twist my neck to look at him in question. “This isn’t your fault dumbass. You kicked her to the curb; you didn’t fucking kidnap her. You’re an arsehole and you’re stupid. But aren’t responsible. Now get your arse off the floor and come get some food. We all need to be at one hundred percent if we’re gonna find her.” He doesn’t wait for a response, getting up from his chair and heading to the main room. My other brothers giving me a nod and following him out.
I turn back to face Nitro to see him smirking.
“Don’t look at me VP, Ice gave you an order. Now shift your arse.” He stands and then grabs my hand pulling me to my feet. We both turn to Data who is still sat at the table tapping away on his laptop. He glances up at us before quickly flicking his gaze back to his screen. “I don’t have time for a break.”
“I’ll get Prospect to bring you coffee and food,” Nitro calls over his shoulder as he leaves the room.
“I’m doing everything I can to find her brother,” he tells me quietly.
“What can I do?” I ask, wanting to do something, feeling like I need to be doing something.
He snorts a laugh. “Nothing brother. I just need quiet.”
I give him a nod, not that he sees it and leave. Giving him the quiet he requested. I just hope it’s enough to help me find her.
After the guys made me eat something, we all jumped on our bikes to take a ride around the city, to hit up some of our contacts to see if they knew anything. I however, headed off in the direction of Marissa’s flat. I wanted to check it out for myself. As I took off in the opposite direction Nitro was on my six the entire time. I know he’s only on my arse to make sure I don’t completely fucking lose it, but I appreciate him being here.
As I step up to her front door, I see a new lock has been fitted, I tip my head back toward Nitro and he steps forward pulling out a set of keys from his pocket. Unlocking the door, he steps back to let me through first.
Prospect is in the kitchen washing his hands, he stops the moment he sees and drops his head. “I’m so sorry VP. I should have been here. I should have waited until the morning before leaving, I should have checked on her,” he rushes out and I step up to him, placing my hands on his shoulders.
“Stop. I saw the messages from my phone, you did the right thing leaving…”
“I didn’t?—”
“You did. You followed an order that you thought was from me. You’ve done nothing you need to apologise for.” I look down at his hands, and see specs of white paint, my eyebrows raise in question.
He looks down at them and then looks back at me before glancing at Nitro standing behind me. “I just… I didn’t want her to come back to a trashed flat, so I painted in the front room and the hall. I was?—”
“Kid.” I stop him from rambling.
“Her bedroom. I haven’t touched it, but it’s not good.” He glances toward the corridor that leads to the bedroom and bathroom and then falls back against the counter beforedropping his head again. Wanting to see what has him so uncomfortable I make my way to her room.
The rage swirls and bubbles to the surface as I step over the threshold. Her mattress is ripped to shreds in the corner of the room, I rip open the bin bags placed by the door only to find her clothes in them shredded and torn. The mirror on her dresser now shattered in a box on the floor, but when I get closer, I almost lose it. In the box with the mirror are the remains of her laptop and her camera.
