KATIE

 

Well, that went about as good as expected. I can't tell if I've got him on the hook or if he's playing a game with me. It's not that I’d really blame him though. After all, if someone just randomly came into my home with this kind of information, I'm not sure I would be willing to believe them.

But he wants this bad enough that he's willing to forgo all logic.

He's sitting next to me in my car as we leave the City of Angels behind. In the distance behind us, the night sky falls over the city and up ahead, clouds of darkness hang over the Hollywood Hills.

"Are you having flashbacks?" I cock my eyes to him and question him. "This is where you found Seth, right?"

He forces an uneven smile. "Yeah… This is where it happened."

"You don't seem happy about that.”

"Why would I be happy about that?" He pushes his tongue against the inside of his cheek. "When I killed Seth, I didn’t do it because it would help anything. I did it because I was seeking revenge for what he had done to me and my sister. But at the end of the day, the relief I felt after he was dead was short-lived. And in the wake of that, I'm left reeling as I try to come to grips with what happened." He passes me a haunted look. "And then you, a complete stranger, comes into my home and tells me that my sister is still alive." He looks out the window. "And as much as I want to believe you, I don't have a lot of trust left in me these days."

"Soon enough, you're going to realize that I'm telling you the truth." I continue to steer the wheel using my left hand as I drape my palm over his lap with my right. My touch seems to steal his attention as he looks over to me with a curious glimmer in his eyes. "I'm going to help you get your sister back."

"Right." He swallows a gulp. “Just remember what I said back at my house."

“I remember it perfectly." I remove my hand from his lap and focus on the road ahead as a slight smirk passes across my lips. "I'm not afraid of dying because I'm telling you the truth."

"I certainly hope so."

We round a sharp corner as we continue to climb through the hills. The road ahead is dark and the headlights light up the road and the trees that surround it. There's an eerie darkness on either side of the road. It's no wonder that so many animal attacks have been happening up here lately.

"What made you so hard?" I look to him quickly. "I mean, why are you so afraid to trust people?"

"Life." He forces another smile. "Life has taught me that people aren't honest." He drops his head low and stares blankly at the floor beneath him. "Seth Grimm taught me that."

"As I told you before, I don't align myself with either good or bad people. I'm caught somewhere in the middle and for the most part, I have no interest in drawing battle lines with anyone, but I'll agree that Seth Grimm deserved to die."

I focus my attention to the road ahead trying to contain my emotions. For the time being, it's important to not let Dominic know the reasons why I have brought him into the fold. I do hope that he finds his sister but if it weren't for me looking for my own brother, then most likely we wouldn't be here together right now. I am comfortable enough with myself to accept that as the truth. But the absolute truth is, that in this world I live in, there is always a price to pay.

"And what about you?" He questions from beside me and I can feel his eyes boring into me. It makes me slightly uncomfortable because just like him, I'm not comfortable with opening up to strangers. It's one more thing we have in common. "Why are you so invested in this?"

"I just am," I grind out, annoyed by his line of questioning. "I'm trying to do something good in this world. Can you just accept that?"

"No." He shakes his head defiantly. "And I'll tell you why I can't. It's because you told me back at the house that you are in the business of selling secrets to the highest bidder but you haven't proposed that I pay you. Why is that?"

"Didn't I just answer that question?"

"No, you're actually avoiding answering it. Why?"

"Because…" I shrug. "I've already told you what I do for a living. And anything else I say to you, you're not going to be prone to believing it. The only way you're going to believe what I'm telling you is if you see the evidence for yourself."

"And is that what we're doing up here in the hills?" He runs his thumb over his lips. "Are you taking me back to Seth Grimm’s house?"

"No." I look to him first and then point ahead at a house hidden behind a gate and shrubbery. “This is where we are going."

"What the hell are we doing here?"

I pass him a knowing smile. "You need to learn how to relax."

"I'm content with my current state of relaxation.”

"You really need to learn to cut loose sometime," I say to him with a smile as I pull up to the steel gates. I roll down my window and key the code into the keypad. The gates in front of me open, receding into the shrubbery. I step lightly on the gas and accelerate slowly into the long, winding driveway that is lit up with fancy lamps. The house up ahead is not my own but I have no intention of telling Dominic that part of the equation just yet. "I'm going to show you something and it's going to make you trust me. And for this to work, I need you to trust me."

I swallow nervously because this is the first time I've been here. And though I've been told Dominic that Christopher Lawson knows where his sister is, I have no actual proof. I need to see the evidence for myself. Dominic needs to see the same evidence.

I flip off the headlights as we approach the exterior of the house. There is a driveway that runs around in a circle around a fantastical water fountain that flows heavily. The house is modern and gargantuan in scope. It's a house that's been paid for by the cost of blood; the blood of the innocent people who dared to cross paths with Christopher Lawson.

"Are you ready?" I look over to Dominic to find him sitting there with a display of obvious nerves. He's almost shaking as he peers up at the house ahead. "Are you ready to find out that I'm not lying to you?"

"Let's just hope for the best." He pops open the passenger door and steps out onto the paved driveway. He closes the door before I can say anything to him, so I kill the engine and climb out the driver door.

I drop one hand over the top of my BMW and pass him a curious gaze. "I…" I decide to say nothing right now, nothing of any consequence anyway. "Follow me, Dominic." I began to march towards the front door and immediately feel his shadow hovering over me as he follows me closely behind. "Are you ready to go down the rabbit hole?"

I crane my head over my shoulder to see him still staring blankly ahead. It's almost like he's living in a dream and he's not sure if he wants to wake up or not.

"How do you afford this mansion?"

Knowing that he can't see me, I just simply roll my eyes. Once I'm standing at the front door, I grab a key from the pocket of my dark black jeans. It's a key that I had Tricia create for me, a perfect replica of the actual key. I twist the key in the doorknob and pop the front wooden door open. And as I walk inside, with Dominic following closely behind, lights flash on, illuminating the path ahead of me. I've seen the schematics of this house, so the layout isn't much of a surprise. It's just about as fancy and high-tech as I had imagined it would be, and though there are cameras recording every step, I took measures to ensure that neither Dominic nor I would appear on the screen.

Alice had hacked into the camera system and disabled the recordings. She then put a continuous loop on display. Christopher Lawson, by all accounts, is out of the country right now. If he checks in to his security system, he won't be any the wiser that's we’re here.

From behind me, I hear Dominic pushing the front door to a close. The light breeze that followed us through the door is cut off in an instant and for the first time, I begin to grow a little nervous. I’ve been so sure that this man holds the evidence of the whereabouts of my brother, I believe it so much that I went out on a limb and dragged Dominic into this mess because I needed his help. If there is no such evidence in this house that either my brother or his sister is still alive, then this might turn into a fight for my life. He had said that he would kill me if he found out that I was lying. And though there was no fine print because it was a verbal contract, I can't help but feeling the small print isn't going to save me; the small print being the fact that I never actually promised anything. We’re both as quiet as can be as we march through the large and open living spaces and cut into a hallway towards the back of the house.

The hallway remains dark for the entire length that we walk down. Right as we come to the end of the hallway with two double French doors ahead, the lights in the hallway flicker on.

My throat is dry and tense, parched too. I can feel my hand shaking at my side and quickly reach to open the office doors before he can notice the nerves going through my own body. After all, what the hell do I have two be so nervous about?

The lights of the office flicker on automatically. I reach to the left and hit a light switch, illuminating the room in a pale yellow hue.

The office isn't as modern as the rest of the house. I would go so far as to say it's not modern at all. It's a typical, sterile-looking office with just the smallest hints of character. Everything is made of wood. The desk before me is long and wide with a simple brown leather office chair behind it. Behind the desk and chair, there are three oversized windows that span the length from the ceiling to the floor. Outside the windows, it's pitch dark. But based on the schematics and satellite photos of the property, I know that there’s a large yard in the back with a long reflecting pool.

Bookshelves line either side of the room. I don't know Christopher too well but it would seem that he's not exactly the reading type. He's too busy running his businesses and exploiting those beneath him. I imagine it's all just for show.

"Are you going to tell me exactly why we are here?" Dominic asks from behind me.

I twist my head over my shoulder and pass him a narrow glare. But still, I don't say anything. Instead, I circle around to the front of the desk and power on a computer. The blue hue of the screen lights up my face. I lean over the desk and begin typing Christopher's password into the computer as Dominic circles to stand just over my shoulder.

I try to pay the man standing behind me no attention as I begin to search through the files on the desktop. It takes me some digging but I finally find what I'm looking for.

There are a series of folders that contain encrypted links to security footage at a compound in an unknown place.

With bated breath, I take a long pause before I can bring myself to open up the link. And as soon as I do, I can feel a sense of either relief or anger passing over Dominic. And I can't discern which. I take a measured step back and allow him to look closer at the computer monitor before us. He hunches over the desk and leans in real close to the screen. And I can see his face distorting, trying to process the scene in front of him.

The video on the screen plays current security footage of a woman, dressed in a nice flowery dress sitting on a leather couch while eating popcorn and watching a movie. To be honest, it’s not quite what I was expecting.

I was expecting something far more severe, something that was more like a prison setting than a luxurious house. It doesn't quite make sense to me but I've now showed him the evidence that his sister is still alive. And now, I need him to go rescue his sister with me in tow so that I can also rescue my brother. Some would say that this woman isn't in need of rescuing. They would say that she looks perfectly happy on that screen. And I don't know why she's happy right now, or if she's happy at all. It could all be an act. We don't have any other details right now, but with this footage and the encrypted link, we will soon be able to figure out her exact location. And when we do, I imagine it will lead directly to my brother's whereabouts.

Dominic steps back from the screen, shaking his head in disbelief.

"I told you…"

He snaps his attention to me, his lips trembling with rage. My eyes drop to see his hand forming a fist. "What the hell is this?"

"It's the proof that I told you existed that your sister is still alive."

"She doesn't look like she's in captivity." He shakes his head even faster, harder too. Shakes it with absolute rage. "This can't be real."

"It is real." I take a measured step towards him to try and work on calming him down. "The one thing in this world that can't lie to you are your own eyes, so listen to them." I point squarely at the screen. "Your sister is alive and she needs you."

"All I see is that you are trying to screw with me." He huffs as his fingernails dig deeper into his own flesh. "How do I know that this isn't real? How do I know that this isn't a trap that you have me blindly walking into?"

"I've told you the truth," I scoff at him. "So, now let me help you find your sister."

"What's in it for you? Nobody does this without wanting something in return."

"The truth is…" I have to stop myself from saying too much. "The truth—”

I'm distracted by the vibrating of my phone in my pocket, and I drop my eyes to read the message on my screen. It takes me by surprise and my heart begins to race. I think Dominic can see the fear and confusion written all over my face.

“Why do you look like you’ve just seen a ghost?”

“Christopher is almost home.” I look up to him for a brief moment before getting to work. I lunge forward and insert a flash drive into the side of the computer and begin to download all of the data.

“Christopher who? And why the hell are you panicking?”

“Christopher Lawson,” I say distractedly, my attention torn between the computer screen and Dominic. “This is his home.”

“Isn’t he supposed to be dead?”

Once the indicator on the screen says that the transfer is complete, I rip the flash drive out of the computer and stuff it into the pocket of my jeans. “He should be dead, but he’s not.”

“How did he escape the building before it exploded?”

“I don’t know.” I reach forward and grab him by the fabric of his shirt to try and rip him towards the office doors. “It’s not important right now. What’s important is that we know your sister is alive but he’s almost home, so we have to go.”  I circle around the desk and push one of the two office doors open, but when I crane my head over my shoulder, I see Dominic standing in place.

His eyes twitch sideways, lost in his own thoughts.

“Dominic,” I yell. “Let’s go!”

He looks up and hooks his eyes with mine and then very faintly shakes his head. “I’m not going anywhere.”

“Don’t be a hero right now,” I scold him and feel my phone vibrating in my pocket again. I reach down to retrieve it once more to see a second message from Alice; he’s less than a mile away. “Seriously, we have less than two minutes to get the hell out of here.”

“Leave,” he commands, his voice low and husky. “Or stay. It’s up to you, but I’m going to end this right now.” He drops a hand to grab a gun from the holster on his hip. He cocks it and then stares me down. “There’s nothing you can say to me to make me leave.”

“Shit,” I grind out and drag the back of my palm over my sweating forehead. I swallow nervously, unsure of how to proceed. If I’m going to find my brother, I’m going to need Dominic, but if I stay with him, there’s a good chance that the both of us could end up dead once Christopher returns home. I don’t want to die. I can’t die. My brother’s freedom is riding on me being alive. And Dominic is right, there’s nothing I can do to convince him to stay so I’m simply wasting time. “You’re going to die here.”

“That’s a risk I’m willing to take.” He forces a cocky grin. “But I’m well aware of my abilities and I don’t think this is going to end the way you’re afraid it’s going to.”

“Right.” I clear my throat. “Good luck, Dominic.”

That’s the last thing I say to him before I race down the hallway, out into the kitchen, through the living room and then finally, out the front door. I jump into my car as fast as I can and turn the ignition before I’ve even pulled the door to a close.

I steer the car around the circular driveway and race down the hill, through the gates, and then out onto the dark Hollywood Hills street. And as I race away from the house, going as fast as I can, I catch headlights speeding around the corner just behind me before a car pulls into the driveway I just left behind.

And under my breath, I pray for Dominic because he’s going to need every bit of prayer he can get.