Prologue
Lennon
Blood coats my hands, and as I stare at it, I can’t remember what the fuck happened. Getting up off the cold, hard ground, I look around and see the body of a man. He’s half naked, wearing a pair of jeans that look like they were in the process of being taken off. My hands go to my body, and I feel my own half naked skin.
“Oh my god,” I whisper. The words seem like they echo in the cold, dark room. I check my jeans pockets for my cell phone, but I come up empty. Dropping to the ground, I search the floor frantically, feeling the ground until I find something. My hand hits the phone, and I press a button forcing the screen to light up. The bright light hurts my eyes for a few moments before my eyes finally adjust.
Looking at the screen, I see that it’s my phone. The background photo is the one I took with my brother at Christmas a few months ago. It was the first time I had seen him in months, and I treasure that photo. With shaky hands, I pull up my call list and see my brother’s name. He’s going to freak out. I try to wipe some of the blood off of my hands, but I can’t seem to get my hands clean.
Hitting his contact, I put the phone to my ear and wait for him to answer. “Hello?” His voice is groggy, and I can feel the tears start to sting my eyes.
“I need help.” My voice breaks and before I can say where I am, my brother is already asking me a million different questions.
The only one I can process is, “Where are you?”
I hesitate. I have no idea where I am. How the hell do I tell him that I have blood all over my hands?
“Lennon!” he yells.
My head is swimming. I just need to answer him. He will help me.
“I don’t know. I’m covered in blood. There’s…” I trail off, and I can hear his panic over the phone. He starts to cuss in the phone, and it sounds like he’s dialing something.
“Where are you Lennon?” he asks again. I don’t even know how to answer that.
“I don’t know Cash. I have no clue where I am or who the guy…” my stomach rolls and I think I’m going to be sick. I don’t know if this is my blood on me or… “I think I’m going to be sick.” I throw up on the ground next to me, and it mixes with the blood. My stomach turns at sight, and I start to cry. I just want to get out of here.
“Lennon, I need you to remember where you were tonight.” I try to rack my brain for any recollection of what I did last night, but nothing comes to me.
“I don’t remember.”
I can hear him say shit a few more times before he tells me to hold on. I can hear some buttons being pushed in the background and I just want to go home. Scrub every inch of my body and burn the clothes I’m still dressed in.
“I found your location. I’m on my way. Stay on the phone with me. Is there anyone else around you?” I scan the dark room the best I can, but I can’t see anything.
“I don’t think so. Please hurry I’m scared. What if he tries to attack me or something?” I hear his sigh and then his voice changes.
“How much blood is on you?” I look down at my hands, arms, and legs.
“A lot,” I whisper. I start to get light headed just looking at it, and I hear his voice break through the cloud that is starting to settle on my chest.
“I doubt he’ll be attacking you. Just be vigilant. I don’t know if there is anyone else there. If someone else shows up, run and hide. Don’t let them know you’re there.” My lip trembles at the sound of his voice, and I hear his truck start in the background. “Hey, I need you to meet me at a warehouse a few blocks from Asher.”
“No, I need you there now Hawk. I don’t give a fuck what you’re doing.” I close my eyes and lean against the wall. What the hell did I get myself into?
It feels like forever with me sitting on the phone listening to the sounds of his truck rev and him muttering under his breath about me and the shit I get myself into.
I listen to a sound of a Harley or something coming towards me, so I get up and start to move away from the man and towards what looks like a hallway in the back.
“Cash, I hear someone,” I whisper.
“Len, stay out of sight. I’m almost there.” He starts to talk to whoever Hawk is again, and I listen as well as I can at the sounds in the warehouse or whatever it is I’m in. I hear a door open somewhere, and then a rough voice is talking.
“I don’t see anything.” The voice says. “No, I don’t…” the voice pauses and then I hear, “Ah, fuck.”
“Lennon,” my brother says into the phone.
“Someone is in here.” My voice cracks, and it shows how scared I am.
“I know, it’s Hawk. I need you to go to him. I’m on the phone with him right now. Go to him.” I hear him tell Hawk that he’s sending me out to him, but I don’t move from my spot.
“Are you sure it’s Hawk out there?” I ask hesitantly.
“Yeah, just go to him. I’ll be there in a minute.”
“Okay,” I say quietly. My feet lead me out into the open room against my will, and I see a man standing over the body. When he hears my feet against the concrete floor, his eyes shoot up and land directly on me. A light flashes towards me, and I have to cover my eyes. He points it to the ground and starts to make his way towards me. He eats up the distance between us quickly, and I hear him talk into the phone.
“I got her. She’s fuckin’ covered in blood. Not sure if it’s his or hers.” He stops talking and comes to a stop in front of me. “Hey, I’m Hawk. Your brother is on his way.”
My eyes never leave him. He looks me over, and his eyes linger on my exposed chest. Before I can say anything to him, he pulls his shirt off and starts to pull it over my head.
I put my arms in the sleeves, and it’s probably three sizes too big for me and something I would never be caught dead in. “Are you hurt anywhere?” He takes another step towards me, and I shake my head no. I don’t even know, but I can’t get any words out. His hand reaches out towards me, and I flinch away. “Do you know who that guy is?” I shake my head no, and I hear another set of footsteps coming towards us, only it sounds like the person is running.
When Hawk turns to look behind himself, I see Cash running towards me. I move around Hawk and run towards my brother. Our bodies collide, and his arms wrap around me.
“Lennon,” he whispers in my ear.
I hug him to me, refusing to let him go. He pushes me away from him after a few minutes and starts to look over me.
“I gave her my shirt. She wasn’t wearing one.” Hawk says from behind me. I look up at Cash and see his expression. It’s one of worry and anger.
“You find anything?” He asks, pulling me back to him.
“No, no weapon. The fucker doesn’t even have an ID on him. I have no fuckin’ clue who he is.”
Cash nods his head, and I bury my face into his chest. I’m a good foot shorter than my brother on a good day, and without my signature heels, I’m even shorter.
“I don’t ever go anywhere without heels,” I say looking up at Cash. He rolls his eyes at me, and I grab his side so that he takes me seriously. “I wouldn’t have left the house without them.” Cash looks over to his friend and shrugs his shoulders.
“Well Princess you left without half of your clothes,” Hawk says with a frown.
“I don’t leave the house without looking well put together.” His eyes raise, and he looks between Cash and me. Cash is the complete opposite of me. Where I’m a fashionista that never leaves the house without looking perfect, my brother rides a motorcycle and the same pair of jeans for weeks. The only shoes I ever see on his feet are biker boots, and he has a drawer full of the same black tee shirt. From the look of it, Hawk prefers my brother’s style over mine.
Looking down at my wrist, I notice my watch is missing. I never take it off. It was a gift from our grandmother before she died. “Cash, my watch is missing,” I say looking around. The sun is starting to set, and light is barely filtering in through the boarded up windows.
“How did you find me so quickly?” I ask. Cash lives six hours from me, there is no way he got here that fast if he was in bed when I called him. I look at them, and Hawk just shakes his head.
“You’re in Las Vegas,” he says wrapping his arm around my shoulder. “I don’t know how you got here or who the fuck that asshole is, but I’m going to find out.” My mind starts to get fuzzy, but I don’t know if it’s from blood loss or something else. Hell, I’m not even sure that I have any wounds so it could very well be all in my head.
Closing my eyes, I just lean against Cash. Maybe all this is a dream, and I’m going to wake up in my bed.
“Come on. We need to get you out of here. You’re covered in blood.” He starts to walk me towards the way he came, and he yells over his shoulder, “Can you get Reid to help you clean up this shit. Whoever brought my sister is here trying to make a statement.”
“Yeah, got it,” Hawk says from behind us. When I look over my brother’s shoulder, I see Hawk watching us. His eyes are on me, and even though I’m freaking out on the inside, part of me heats at knowing he’s looking at me.
Gah! What am I even saying? I’m covered in blood for heaven’s sake. He was probably only looking at me because of said blood covering ninety percent of my body.
Oh, God. I think I’m going to be sick again.
As I hunch over, Cash holds me somewhat up right so I don’t collapse to the ground to puke my guts up for a second time tonight.
After I throw up bile for far longer than I could ever hope for, I let Cash lead me to his truck. Getting into the cab, I pull the mirror down and I see all the blood that covers my face and hair. I need to shower. I need to do something before I start to freak out even more so that I have so far tonight.
Its pitch black when we pull into his driveway and the whole ride was silent. Neither of us said a word, maybe afraid of what might be said. I don’t know. I’m pretty sure I would have freaked out if he told me that I killed that man, but then again maybe he deserved it.
I don’t remember being in Las Vegas and I sure as hell don’t remember why I would be half naked and covered in blood.
Walking Cash walk around the truck, I take a few steadying breaths before he opens the door. As he helps me out of the truck, his phone starts to ring. I try to ignore the images that are now filling my head of the man that was dead on that warehouse floor, but it’s no use.
He’s all I can see.
Coming soon by Jack Jameson. For more information, check out Jack’s facebook page https://www.facebook.com/jackjamesonauthor/