It’s too late to back out now. I can’t let it stop me. My feet slap against the concrete, taking me down the side of the house and out the front to a U-shaped driveway where an Astin Martin sits door open and engine running. Strange. But since I have no time to think, and I’m pretty desperate for an escape faster than my bare feet, I jump in. I’m immediately hit by the scent of leather and something more distinct. It smells like Kasen’s aftershave. Shit, this must be his car. Adjusting the seat so I’m able to touch the pedals, I look over the control panel. It’s a manual, and I’m rusty, but now is no time to panic.I shove my foot down on the clutch and shift the gears into first and bunny hop my way down the driveway.
In the rear-view mirror, I spot Kasen running out of his mansion, his hands in the air as he watches me disappear down his driveway. Yeah, this is definitely his fancy-as-hell car. Whoops. Sorry, King Kasen, guess you should have been more careful with your toys. I laugh to myself.
At the end of a long driveway I come to a gate, the steel bars locked firmly in place, keeping the outside world out and me from escaping. My heart kicks up a beat, a fresh wave of panic coming over me. I search the dash for a button; there has to be a remote or some shit in here somewhere, or how would he get out? Opening the glove compartment, I find a fob and press the button. The gate springs to life, and I keep driving my way out of Kasen Throne’s life. Fuck you, Deadwater Bay Crew, for thinking you can lock me up and I would just comply. Your shy friend grew some balls while she was away.
Driving through town, my stomach churns when I realize I don’t know this place at all anymore. Every part of it has changed, the high-rise apartments lining the beach the most unsettling. It’s not a cozy beach town anymore. It’s the perfect tourist destination, just like the Thrones always wanted it to be. When their first apartment building, Throne Towers, went up, it caused a flurry of excitement in our small town. My mother knew better. She tried to fight it, tried to keep some integrity to the town, but it was too late. Money and corruption talk, and the locals who have lived here for generations were pushed out to make room for progress.
A stupid lone tear slides down my cheek. I’m not normally a crier, I feel tears are wasted and sadness is for pussies that can’t handle their emotions, but I used to love this town. I swipe it away. There is no time to cry over everything I’ve lost. What’s the point? Pouring myenergy into making sure the Thrones pay is a much better use of my time. I drive past my family home, thanking the Lord it’s still in one piece, and park in the side street so I don’t attract too much attention to myself with his stupid fancy car. Who even needs a luxury car like this in a beach town? It just goes to prove how ridiculous his power trip is.
I’m not stupid enough to think Kasen and Bodhi won’t come to find me. I know they will, and this will be the first place they try, but if I’m quick, I might just have time to find what I need before they get here.
Heading in the back way past the demolition fence, I go up a couple of steps and in the back door. Even though it’s been boarded up for years and there is the waft of mold and dust, there is something else as well, a smell that’s distinctly home. It’s like a punch to the gut, nostalgia washing over me when I remember how happy we were here. Most of the time, anyway. I see my beautiful mum cooking me chicken soup on the old-style stovetop after she finished a long day of work at the office. My dad dressed in his black suit, swinging his briefcase as he whistled a tune, so damn happy to see me he would pick me up and make me fly through the air, holding me close and telling me I was his special little girl. He left for work early and would be home late, working at a city center an hour away as a web developer. I was so proud of how successful both my parents were. How hard they worked.
I grip my chest, fresh pain rocketing through me. Remembering them hurts, that’s why I try not to. But this house has the imprint of all our family memories logged in it. I wish I could extract them from its walls. The good, the bad, and the murderous. Then I would know exactly what happened.
My fingertips skate over the flocked wallpaper, a slight stain imprinted into its print. This is where she was shot. Closing my eyes, I try to go back to that night like Talon would try and get me to. I see my mum, her long blonde hair, her dark suit, the look of fear on her face as she clutches her blood-stained chest. Sickness washes over me, and the memory fades as quickly as it began.
Shaking my head, I try to snap out of the memory I’m stuck in. I will never get there, to the end that gives me all the answers I need. And right now, there is no time to live in the past when the present is about to slap me in the face if Kasen and Bodhi arrive here before I’m done.
I move into the kitchen and open the top drawer. Everything is still in here, just as it was. Because we fled and my mother was dead, that left no one to manage the estate, and the house remained, slowly decaying but untouched. I still don’t really understand it. I mean, my parents would have had a mortgage on the place, there would have been rates to pay and water bills, but it’s obvious no one ever moved in here after we left. It’s like time stood still for this place. Unlike the rest of the town.
I take out a box of matches and slip them into my back pocket for later. Then I drop to my knees and pull out the bottom drawer, tapping on the bottom of the cabinetry. My mum didn’t know I saw her stashing stuff here, but there is a hidden spot underneath. I remember coming home one Sunday afternoon to find her on her hands and knees with it open. At the time, she told me she was doing some maintenance. I might have been a kid, but I wasn’t dumb, I knew there was more to it. For starters my dad did all the maintenance around this place. All these years it’s played on my mind what she could have been stashing under here.
I give it another hard shove, and dust flies into the air, making me sneeze as the thing snaps in two. I shove the flimsy pieces of wood out of the way and pull out the silver metal box with a combination on the front. Fuck, of course it’s locked. I shove it in the pocket of my cardigan and get back to my feet.
Moving into my parents’ room, I take an old suitcase and fill it with as much as I can—some of my mother’s clothes and shoes, a bomber-style jacket of my dad’s that I loved, and a photo of the two of them together. I can hardly believe it’s still here. I pull on a pair of my mother’s old joggers and lace them up. I throw the metal case in the suitcase before I zip it up.Sorry, guys, this is the best I can do, I tell my parents before dragging the case into my room, sucking in measured breaths to stop the tears that want to spring free at the finality of it all.
My room is untouched, exactly as it was the night we ran. I pick up a photo of me and the boys, Kasen, Slater, Jayden, and River. I’m standing in the middle of them with the biggest grin on my face, the five of us all in wetsuits, our hair tangled damp messes. This was after a massive local surf comp. River got first place, and I took out the girls’ comp, both of us under-sixteen champs. I was so happy back then. So alive. I don’t think I will ever feel like that again. I pin it back on my corkboard and move to my surfboard leaning against the wall, trailing my finger over the wax still clumped on it. “Wish I could take you with me, girl.” I sigh. I hate that I have to leave this board behind, but on foot, I can’t carry it. It won’t fit in the storage locker at the bus station with this suitcase, and who even knows where I’m staying tonight. I have to travel as light as I can.
With the suitcase in my hand, I walk back through the house and down the back steps, heading for the shed. I leave the suitcase on the overgrown back lawn so my hands are free. I search the shed for tools like a hammer that might break open the small safe, but there is nothingof use left in here. Unlike the house, some kids must have gotten in and raided the place. I find an old fuel can from the lawnmower. It’s nearly empty but should do the job. I look for anything else that might be useful as well. Finding a small pocketknife, I slip it into my front pocket.
I douse the rear wooden steps and the area under the house with the fuel I found. I light the match and flick it in the direction of the house. It lights up immediately.
“Fuck you, Kasen. You don’t get to knock my family home down, if it’s already a pile of rubble.”
I clutch the suitcase tightly to my chest, my gaze fixed on the growing flames as they consume the building, taking the last part of my happy childhood from me and all the sadness with it. Heat makes beads of sweat prickle over my forehead, and I inhale and take a couple of shaky steps back, but I can’t look away.
Tires screech up the street, and an oversized Range Rover pulls into the side street, sending my heart into overdrive again. Shit, that was fast. Knowing the boys are on to me, I slip through the side gate and run like the wind, my answers firmly in my hands.
Chapter 6
River
Aflash of silver catches my eye. A beauty perched at the end of my bar flicks her hair over her shoulder as she tells some asshole pestering her to fuck off.
My heart skips a beat. Damn, I knew she was back in town. Well, I had heard the rumors, but I didn’t expect her to just brazenly waltz into my bar. I should call Kasen, tell him where his so-called missing property has run off to now, but screw that. If he can’t keep his belongings in check, that’s on him. Besides, Dove and I have some catching up to do of our own.
I motion to my biggest and most unhinged bouncer, Lex, to join me. Then my eyes lock with Dan, a regular who’s too handsy if you ask me. Before tonight he was already on my watch list. Now I’m about ready to smash his front teeth in. I approach with Lex by my side and tap Dan on the shoulder. “Might be time you took a hint,” I bark, a smile still on my lips.
He stutters back, bumping straight into Lex’s chest when he sees who it is. I do enjoy the way they do that, freak at the sight of me. “I didn’t mean any harm, she… I got her a drink, I mean…” He indicates to the tumbler in front of her, a greasy smile spreading across his face. Theman’s a creep. I knew it before tonight, but he’s just signed his own death certificate choosing Dove as his next target.
My face hardens. I have traveled the world and spent a shit ton of time in bars and clubs. I would say I’ve heard it all before, every last slippery excuse in the book. “She was asking for it because I spent ten bucks on a drink for her.” Pathetic. Predators have no place in my club. Or my town. “She told you to fuck off, mate, so why don’t you move along.” I give a nod to Lex to help.
Lex captures the man’s shoulders and lifts him, his feet dangling off the ground like a rag doll, dragging him toward the door as he splutters out a protest.
I give him a wave. He won’t be back. Done with that mess, I turn back to her. Beautiful, sweet Dove.
She hasn’t moved to watch the show. Her focus is on the full tumbler of amber liquid in front of her. She takes the man’s half-drunk glass and tosses it back, her eyes dead, her expression blank. She has a slight scent of smoke and a hint of charcoal on her delicate fingers. What has she been up to tonight?
