Page 33 of Traces of Her
Twenty-One
GRIFFIN
FUCK.
With my eyes still on Jared, I don’t move, I don’t turn to look at her. It took less than an hour and I’d already fucked it up once again. There’s not an irrational bone in his body anymore and I don’t know that it matters if she’s my weakness or not at this point. I’m completely torn between the need to protect her and the need to comfort her. If I protect her by pretending she means nothing, that could be even worse where Jared’s concerned.
I promised I’d keep her safe and I’ll die trying.
We’ll be leaving his house soon, whether it’s on our own two feet or in a body bag.
“This is actually pretty fucking comical, if you ask me,” Jared says, chuckling. “I fucked up when I killed my dealer and she saw it all. Who the fuck knows why, but I dragged her ass back here with me and you swooped in and saved the day. She was supposed to be a job, but you went and turned her into a goddamn housewife,” he says laughing loudly, still clutching his gun.
Taking a chance, I reach out, grabbing ahold of his hand. “Look,” I start slowly. “I just want to know what’s going on here and I’ll help you with whatever I can, okay?” He turns his head slightly, narrowing his eyes at me. “Just put the gun away and talk, let your brother help you out.”
Slowly, he drops his arm to his side as Scarlet rushes over to him, holding on to him for dear life. He roughly shrugs her off with enough force to knock her to her ass. She scrambles back to her feet and climbs back onto the couch.
“Come on,” he calls behind him, walking into the next room. “Leave the bitch behind, we need to talk.”
Looking over at Rowena, she stares at me suspiciously with minimal trust. The way she looks at me feels like a punch to the gut, after how far we’d come, but it was to be expected. I have to make it up to her, to show her it was all to keep her safe, but right now, where we stand with one another will have to wait.
“She comes with me,” I retort, my eyes not leaving hers. Her’s widen slightly but fall back to their cold expressionless crystal pools.
A moment passes before Jared let’s out an exaggerated sigh. “Fucking fine,” he huffs. “Just hurry the fuck up here.”
I give Rowena a small nod, taking her dainty hand in mine. “Come on,” I say quietly, pulling her along with me. We walk down the dark, windowless hallway until we reach an open door. The room is exactly like the hallway, except there’s a large screen sitting on a desk, illuminating the dirty wooden floors and smoke-stained walls.
Jared sits at a computer desk, front and center, watching a black and white grainy picture intently. Walking over to him, I stop behind him, studying the video playing in front of me. Rowena’s hand doesn’t leave mine as she stands beside me, staring at the screen in front of us.
“Is that a live feed?” I ask Jared, silently praying he says no, that she’s already dead, he ended her misery.
Leaning back in the chair, he puts his hands behind his head. “Yep,” he chirps happily.
Fuck.
The stark naked girl on the screen, covered with bloody streaks readjusts her footing, almost losing her balance. Her arms are raised and held above her head, chained to the ceiling. If she wasn’t on her tiptoes, her shoulders would be out of their sockets and she’d be hanging like a rag doll. My palm starts to sweat, my heart starts pounding. It’s not the brutality or the gore that has me panicked and unsettled.
It’s who.
He targeted our father, Robert, by using Lydia, our half-sister, who has no idea that we even exist. I’ve spent years trying to keep her safe from him and it was all for nothing. First, he killed James, her twin, and now he used Ryder to track her down and he led him directly to her.
We grew up with Ryder, he was my very best friend even when our lives had both gone in different directions. Somehow he ended up rooming with James and after he died, he fell in love with Lydia. The situation was unexpected, it was slightly fucked up, especially when I made him leave her behind. It was in her best interest since Jared started sniffing around, but he didn’t find enough to hold his interest.
We thought it was safe and Ryder refused to keep his distance any longer.
And now here we are.
Lydia’s chained up in the basement and Ryder is nowhere to be found.
“Why her?” Rowena breaks through the silence.
Jared shrugs. “She’s the last piece of the puzzle.”
Rowena gently squeezes my hand, a subtle reminder bringing me back to reality.
“What are your plans?” I ask, keeping my emotions out of my voice.
Jared shrugs again, continuing his stare down with the screen. “Not sure yet. Kind of just winging it at this point and seeing where shit goes. She just needs to be alive long enough for when I drop her off to Robert.”