Give Me a Reason (Redemption Hills 1)

A stir of activity seethed on the far side.

My attention jumped through it, landing on Milo who was across the lot by Eden’s car.

Eden who was bent in two, gasping and sobbing, her head shaking as her body rocked with horror.

I faltered for the barest flash of a second before I was darting across the lot, nearly stumbling when the front portion of her car came into view a foot before I got to her.

The world crashed down around me.

Rage and disgust and heartache that pounded and tumbled.

Vomit pooled in my guts while fury spun through my mind.

Her windshield had been smashed in, and a slaughtered pig had been tossed onto the shattered glass. A broken pool stick had been driven through it, and blood had gushed down the hood and side of her car.

My eyes fucking blurred over, and my body rocked in revulsion.

Because written in the blood was a message.

A message for me.

Not even ghosts are immortal.

Twenty

Eden

Fierce arms wrapped around me from behind. A fortress. A shield.

At the contact, a deep, guttural sob ripped from me, this agonized cry as I turned and buried my face in his chest.

“Why would someone do this?” Horror heaved from my mouth. “Why?”

Trent only curled his arms tighter around me, tucking me close, though I could feel him trembling. Trembling with rage. Trembling with his own fashion of fear.

“I’ve got you, Eden. I’ve got you. No one’s going to hurt you. No one.” Trent’s voice was carved in stone. It still cloaked me in solace. In relief.

God knew I’d been missing these arms for the last week. And right then…I needed them…I needed them more than ever.

I sagged into his hold and tried to block out the atrocity that had been left on my car for me to find.

Disgusting.

Horrible.

Cruel.

Who would do such a thing?

A slaughtered animal—for what? To scare me? To scare someone else? Was it random?

Trent ran his palm down the back of my head, holding me close, whispering, “I’ve got you, I’ve got you,” over and over.

“Trent, I don’t understand.”

“I know, baby.” With that, his breathed words turned soft, but I could feel the ferocity of his stare. Of whatever his harsh silence was conveying to those who’d gathered around us.

“Call the police.” I recognized Trent’s brother’s voice issuing the command.

“On it,” someone said.

“Bring me a blanket,” Trent grunted.

A flurry of activity whirled around us. A blanket was wrapped around my body before Trent was taking me back in his arms and leading me over to the exterior steps. He sat me down next to him, never letting go. He just tucked me closer.

His mouth was a constant caress at my temple. In my hair. Along my cheek. “I’ve got you.”

Four officers arrived on the scene.

They fired a thousand questions, their flashing lights breaking over the darkened lot.

It all felt blurred. As if I were experiencing it from afar. Through a foggy mirror. Lifted high above it where I didn’t have to take part.

I answered the officers the best that I could.

“I arrived at work at quarter to ten.”

“I didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary when I arrived.”

“No, I hadn’t been out to my car until I came out and found it this way at one-thirty.”

My face twisted in grief when I answered one that I really didn’t know how to, my head shaking fiercely. “No, I don’t know anyone who would do something so awful.”

Didn’t know anyone who’d want to hurt me this way.

Anyone who could possibly hate me this much.

I’d continued to cling to Trent as if he could be the solution to it all.

As if I didn’t recognize the word painted in my car.

Ghost.

The rest of the staff had answered everything the officers threw at them.

No one had seen anything amiss.

Not even Milo since he kept the employee door locked unless he needed to accompany someone outside. “Makes it safer that way,” he’d grunted.

Worse was the way Trent responded to his. Direct but vague. As if his explanations had already been planned.

Or maybe I just knew him in a way no one else could. Sensed the strain that lined his muscles and ate at his soul. I knew that this was going to be another burden that he carried.

The police left with access to the security video, though they weren’t hopeful they’d be able to see anything definite since my car was parked on the opposite side of the lot, up close to the woods where the cameras barely reached.

The entire time, Trent hadn’t left my side. Rubbing my back. Whispering promises I knew he had no intention of keeping.

Won’t let anyone touch you.

Not gonna let you out of my sight.

I’ve got you.

Two hours later, the last cruiser finally pulled out of the lot. They’d towed my car for evidence, and everyone except for Jud, Milo, and Kult had already left. The three beasts had been on a constant prowl of the full perimeter, ready to take out any threat.