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"Something isn't right," I murmur to Riggs, keeping my voice quiet. "Turn the light on."
Dropping from his arms, he flicks on the light and I start looking around, trying to find where the smell is coming from. My eyes pause on the bed, a large lump that looks suspiciously like another person. Gripping Riggs arm tightly, I motion to the bed, not sure if the person under there is aware that we've caught on. It's not exactly a great hiding spot so I'm hoping that it's just Adam playing a joke on us and trying to cock block us.
Riggs moves towards the bed slowly, me right on his heels. If needed I can kick some serious ass and Riggs is the size of a tank on his own. If this person has anything less than a gun, we should have a good chance to overpower them before either of us gets hurt. Riggs' hand darts out, grabbing the blanket and ripping it off quickly.
We both cover our mouths, gagging on the sudden waft of lavender and death. The sight is one that will live in my head for as long as I live, a scream tearing from my throat at the dead woman laying across my bed. She's surrounded by dried lavender, her eyes completely missing and her dark hair hacked to bits. Even badly mutilated like this, I would recognize her anywhere. She's wearing my clothes, clothes from the apartment she was cleaning out for me.
"Rachel. Oh god, Rachel, what did he do to you?" I rasp, my throat sore from the screaming.
Rhys and Adam are barrelling into the room, their eyes darting around to find the threat before settling on the bed and Rachel. Adam curses, turning away from the grotesque shrine made on my bed and pulling me into his arms, hiding my face from the bed. Rhys is barking orders into his phone beside us, his tone not leaving any room for whoever is on the other end to disobey. When he hangs up, his clenched fists loosen and he moves behind me, hugging me between him and Adam. Riggs is throwing up in my garbage can, his body shaking from the sight.
"Why?" I croak out, my voice so coarse. "Why would he do this to her?"
No one answers me as they direct me out of the room and house, into the darkness outside. Riggs is trailing after us, his face looking pale and pissed off. He comes up, finishing the boxing in of me as they all look around on high alert. My mind is replaying the image of Rachel on that bed over and over again, searing it into my brain so it can haunt me for the rest of my life.
It isn't long before the street is flooded with flashing lights, what looks like the entire police force coming to investigate the death. Death that happened because of me. Rachel is dead because of me and there's nothing I can do about it. She was wearing my clothes, going in and out of my apartment. It's like I handed him a slightly different version of me on a silver fucking platter. Her death is on my shoulders and that's something I will have to live with, the knowledge that I led her to her demise.
"Stop," Adam demands, tilting my head to look at him with a finger under my chin. "I can feel you blaming yourself, the self-loathing is oozing off of you. It's not your fault. The only one to blame is Kevin fucking Jennings."
"What did you just say?" The blood drains from my face at that name. The name of one of the most vile, fucked up people I had ever met in my life.
"Adam," Rhys admonishes, smacking him in the shoulder. "Way to go dropping that on her. We were trying to call you guys to come back so we could tell you. My ex-partner dropped off a case file for a bunch of missing women and his name came up with it. Adam and I recognized the last name from Declan's stories."
"He's supposed to be dead," I whisper to no one in particular, my mind just latching onto that one fact. "Kevin Jennings is supposed to be dead. He died in jail two years ago. He's supposed to be fucking dead!"
"Maybe it's just someone with a similar name," Rhys tries to placate me, but his reasonings fall flat even to my ears.
Stepping away from the guys, I huddle in on myself, trying and failing to fight back the tears that are burning my eyes and throat. This can't be fucking happening. Not only did Declan warn it had something to do with our past, the man all but told us who he was with J. Why was I so fucking stupid to not put it all together? Oh right, because Kevin Jennings was stabbed to death in prison. I kept tabs on his sentence, dreading the time he was going to be let out and then it never happened.
Only I don't know what's real and what's not anymore. This is the most fucked up nightmare that's ever come to fruition. How do I fight against someone who's supposed to be dead? How the fuck do I protect myself from him when he's already proved he can get to me whenever he damn well pleases? He killed Rachel and left her inmybed like a sick little warning that he can do the same to me anytime he wants to.
My phone buzzes in my pocket, pulling it out, I let out a strangled cry at the private ID flashing across my screen. The guys surround me once again as I give in and swipe to answer the call. I'm helpless again, giving in for fear of what he'll do if I reject him, even his call. The psychopath never took no well, it always made the inevitable pain so much worse.
"Hello, Alayna. I've missed you so very much," his distorted voice comes through, chilling me to my very soul. "Tell me, do you find the smell of lavender and decay as arousing as I do?"
His haunting laugh is the last straw, my entire being collapses on itself, the fear and agony of what's happening finally fully breaking me. The sound of my soul shattering fills me until the only thing left is the sweet embrace of dark, numbing, nothingness.
