19
WAR
At the smallshopping mall not far from the beach house, I parked my truck, got out, and reached for my cell in my pocket. Nothing. Damn, Charli made me forget things with her carnal teasing.
I could hit the store, get the steaks, and leave. It would take me ten minutes tops. Yet, I stood there hesitating. Something felt off.
Fuck it. I jumped into my truck and drove back to the house. I was probably overreacting, but this morning, I’d cut short my run because of a lingering disquiet creeping through me, one I didn’t care for, as if someone was watching us. So, I grabbed Charli and headed back to the house. But our day had progressed quietly.
If I was overreacting, no problem. I’d just get Charli and bring her with me because I didn’t like the agitating sensation crawling through me.
As I neared the house, though everything appeared calm, my unease jabbed a manic tempo in my gut. I slid to a halt in front of the gate and pressed the button on my keyring. Too anxious to wait for it to open fully, I jumped out, slipped through the narrow gap, and tore down the tree-edged driveway. The garage door stood open, but at the sight there, terror gripped me by the throat.
Charli!
I rushed to her side, where she lay on the floor, and gently picked her up, brushing back her hair. Blood streamed from her brow. Even though I hated my father, it hauled me right back to his still figure in a pool of blood.
“Charli?” I rasped, my heart clocking as if it would break through my sternum at the fear gutting me. “Please, please be okay, baby.” I pressed my fingers to the side of her neck. At the gentle but steady pulse there, I swallowed hard in relief. What the hell happened? Nothing looked disturbed. Only silence surrounded me.
As I checked her over for more wounds, Charli’s eyelids fluttered open, like dark holes in her wan face. She groaned and winced. “War?”
“Yeah,” I said, wiping the blood from her brow and swiping my hand on my tee.
She gingerly touched the back of her head and flinched. “My head feels like it’s going to split—” Her eyes widened in terror. “I think someone hit me.”
I froze. “What?”
“I heard a crash, but the cat wasn’t around—oh, God, he could still be here!”
Anger buzzed through me like a lit fuse, recalling the sensation of being watched while on the beach that morning. Whoever the fucker was, he must still be inside. Always, the women I loved became targets. This time, I wasn’t a helpless boy of nine.
As gently as I could manage with rage consuming me, I picked Charli up and placed her against a pile of timber stacked near the wall. “Stay here. Don’t follow. I won’t be long.”
“Okay…” She slumped against the wall and flinched, swiping her bleeding brow.
I hated leaving her, but I had to catch the bastard unaware. For so many months, I avoided getting into trouble, yet trouble found me.
Jaw hardening, I stalked into the kitchen. The dining and living room was empty. The coffee table lay on its side, and the TV was pushed off its stand and lay on the floor. There was nothing else for the fucker to topple or break.
Using the kitchen corridor into the rest of the house, I made my way down the hallway. Cursing came from the unpainted guestroom.
“For all his fucking wealth, he keeps an empty house,” the asshole growled. “I’ll get what I want, if this murderer doesn’t wantthatinformation plastered in the fucking tabloids.”
I didn’t recognize the voice. Someone from my past? But no one knew of my part in my father’s death.
A rangy figure in worn jeans, a faded black t-shirt, and a beanie pulled over his head, revealing bits of blond hair, shuffled out from the guestroom. Tattoos crawled over his arms, obliterating most of his skin, a gun in one hand.
Bastard!
Anger exploding, I dove for him, taking him down. “You fucking hurt my girlfriend!” I rammed him in the face then punched him in the belly. He slammed the gun in my jaw, my teeth nearly going through my skull. I grabbed his hand and twisted it. The weapon fell in a clatter.
“She was in my way!” he spat, head-butting me and jarring my brain.
Fuck! I fell back on my ass and shook my dizzy head. “You sent those fucking texts, didn’t you?”
“I sent nothing!” He rolled away as I leaped for him, and he grabbed the gun, cocking the thing and pressing the nozzle into my stomach. “Slowly get the fuck off me, and keep your hands up so I can see them.”
Breathing hard, I pushed to my feet, doing as the bastard ordered. He followed, scrambling up. “Good. Now, let’s go get the money.” He smirked. “Ten thousand should do it. We’ll take your girlfriend with us, so you don’t get ideas.”
