Gym Junkie

“Wendy Woo is dead,” she whispers.

My eyes widen. “What?” I look over to Jes, and he gives me a subtle nod of his head to confirm what she’s saying is true.

“What the hell is going on?” I whisper.

“A lot of shit,” he answers quietly. “I’ll let Brock explain.”

I drop my head into my hands. This is a fucking nightmare. Poor Meredith. Two of her friends have been murdered and now this has happened to her apartment.

“Who did this?” I turn to Meredith.

“I don’t know anything,” she replies calmly—too calmly. I frown at her. That’s a practiced speech, I can tell. She does know who did this.

“Meredith?” I whisper.

Jes gives me a subtle shake of his head. “Wait for the boys.”

Oh, okay.

I take Meredith’s hand in mine and we sit in silence.

We wait, and we wait. Jes seems to be getting worried too because he goes to the door and peers down the corridor.

He waits for a moment and then he dials a number. “You okay?” he asks.

“Good. See you soon.” He hangs up. “They’re coming back up now.”

“Oh, thank God,” I whisper.

Brock and Ben walk through the door and I hold my breath. “What’s happening?” I ask.

“Your apartment is clear. Meredith is going into a safehouse,” Brock tells me matter-of-factly.

“What?” She frowns.

“Don’t argue with me, Meredith. This is serious. Tell me what you know!” Brock snaps.

“N-nothing,” she stammers nervously. “Don’t know anything and you can’t get hurt. Don’t know anything and you can’t get hurt,” she begins to chant.

“Did Wendy Woo tell you that?” I ask.

Meredith’s eyes come to me, as if she’s surprised that I knew who told her that.

“I want to go home, I want to go home.” She starts to get agitated and begins to pace back and forth. I look up to Brock, but he snaps his eyes away from mine in disgust. He can’t even look at me.

“I’m going to take Meredith now,” Brock says.

I stand. “I’m coming, too.”

“No! You don’t go anywhere near Meredith until we say so,” he tells me firmly, leaving no room for argument.

My eyes flicker between the three men. He thinks I’ll be in danger if I spend time with her. Shit.

“You’ll have protection in your own apartment,” he says as he pulls Meredith from her chair.

Oh good. “Are you coming back?” I ask hopefully. Maybe I’ll get to talk to him then.

“No.” He looks to Ben. “Organise someone to come and stay with Tully, will you?”

“I-I don’t… No, I don’t want a stranger in my apartment.”

Brock’s cold eyes rise to meet mine. “Tough shit.”

Chapter 23

I sit on the sofa in my apartment. Ben is in the kitchen and Jesten is out in the hall.

Brock is nowhere to be seen. He left hours ago with Meredith and hasn’t returned since. Ben is being polite, but it’s obvious he doesn’t particularly want to talk to me, either.

My mind is racing.

Am I really in danger? Is Meredith in danger, or have these guys just been watching too much cable?

What the heck happened to Wendy Woo? And Peter… is he really capable of all of this? I wouldn’t have thought he was intelligent enough to pull this shit off and I know for sure he’s not violent. If people are dying and he’s responsible, then he must be getting someone else to do it for him because he can’t even kill a fly. It just doesn’t add up, not at all. None of it.

Screw this, I want some answers. I march out into the kitchen. “I would like to know what’s going on,” I say to Ben.

Ben looks up from his phone, unimpressed with my demand or the tone of my voice.

I wither a little under his gaze. He’s so much like Brock, it’s insane. Alpha-holes.

Anyone would think they are biological brothers and not just brothers-in-law.

“Somebody is killing escorts who are being forced to blackmail any wealthy business men they do business with,” he replies flatly.

I frown.

“Your friend Meredith was friends with two of the murdered women. She probably has more information than she is letting on.”

I stare at him as my brain struggles to take it all in.

“We believe that a memory stick with evidence proving who is responsible for these crimes is in circulation. That’s what they were looking for in Meredith’s apartment.”

My face falls, I don’t know what to say. “Why do you think I’m in danger?” I ask.

“We don’t know that for sure. We watched the security footage of your apartment back and nobody was in here earlier. You were probably just a bit freaked out.”

I stare at him, lost for words. “Oh…” I think for a moment. “What did Meredith say about it all?”

“She’s saying that she doesn’t know anything.”

“But you don’t believe her?”

“Not really.” He hesitates for a moment. “There’s a lot of bullshit being slung around here at the moment.” His eyes hold mine, and I know he means by me.