AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Chapter 1
“Brett.” My voice cracks as I look down at her lifeless blue eyes.
“Cole, what’s wrong?” I hear the concern in my brother’s voice.
“It’s Julia. She’s fucking dead.”
“Where are you?” Brett rushes out. “Are you at the escort?”
“Yeah.” Her eyes stare back up at me. I sense the betrayal. I didn’t get here on time.
“Are you okay?”
“Yeah, but she’s dead.”
“Are you sure? Did you check her?”
“No.” I entered the room, took one look at her, and knew she was gone.
“How do you know she’s dead?”
“Remember that night we came down the stairs and saw Dad lying on the couch after Mom shot him?”
“Yeah.”
“Remember his eyes?”
“Yeah, Cole.” He pauses.
I stand in silence, aware of the life-changing, gruesome image I put in my brother’s mind.
“I remember,” he replies.
“She’s dead, Brett.”
“Okay,” he says, convinced. “Is the abuser there? Is he in the house?”
It’s just like Brett to get right down to the schematics.
“No.” My hand fists. “He’s not here. The fucking coward must’ve left.”
“Are you sure? Did you check the place?”
“Yes.”
“Did you touch anything?”
“I have gloves on.”
“Good. I’m glad you finally listened to me. Go out to your truck and wait for me to call you back. I’ll reach out to Willa.”
I gaze down at the knife sticking out of her chest. Her pink T-shirt is soaked with blood; it pools around her small body. She has a mole on her left cheek. Her hair is blond. And she only has on one light pink fuzzy-looking sock.
I spy something dark red—a drop of blood—near her big toe.
“Her name is Emily.”
“Cole?”
