AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Fuck!
Adrenaline flows through my veins like a drug, and I hope it doesn’t stop any time soon because right now I need it. Tonight was not supposed to go down like this. We we’re just going to threaten him. Tell him to leave town or we were going to show the girls all about his sick habit of filming people without their permission.
Who the fuck knew Moneybags had a goddamn gun on the boat?
The ride back to the docks is filled with Mali’s cries. Laiken sits right where Cam put her, not moving an inch. She hasn’t looked away from the back of the boat, as if she’s still staring at the island that has long since vanished in the distance.
“Mal, I need you to breathe,” Cam says calmly.
She’s trying, but I don’t think she can. She’s having a panic attack—hyperventilating as she struggles to breathe. Cam is knelt down in front of her, trying to help her through it.
“He’s…he’s really—”
There’s no chance of her even getting the words out as he shushes her and tells her to focus on his breathing. I know Laiken used to have them, so he’s pretty skilled on how to work through it. I glance back at her as I drive the boat, but it’s like she’s mentally not there.
Checked out.
Left on the island with Monty’s body.
WE GET BACK TOthe docks, and I find Devin waiting there for us. The bag in her hands holds everything I’m going to need. But I can tell by her face that she’s confused.
“What’s going on?” she asks, watching Mali with a concerned look on her face.
I don’t answer. Not yet. Cam helps Mali off the boat while I go over to Laiken.
“Baby,” I say softly. “Babe, we need to get you home.”
Her eyes look empty, devoid of the life they once held. The only reason I know she’s still feeling something are the tears that still flow down her cheeks.
Gently, I lift her up and carry her off the boat. “I’m going to need you to stand, babe.”
She does, knowing she has no other choice, but when my sister sees the state Laiken is in, she only grows more concerned.
“Is that blood?” she panics. “Hayes?”
I take a deep breath, pulling my keys from my pocket and handing them to Devin. “Take Laiken and Mali back to my house and stay there until I get back.”
My words finally pull Laiken from her daze. “You’re leaving?”
Fuck.I toss the bag onto the boat and take her face in my hands, not even paying attention to Monty’s dried blood on it. “I have to, baby. I have to go take care of this. But I’ll meet you there. I promise.”
Pressing a kiss to her lips, I tell her that I love her and pass her to Dev. Normally, my sister would be drilling me with questions, but she does as I ask, knowing there will be time for that later. Right now, there are much more important matters at hand.
I turn to Cam and we share a look before both climbing back onto Monty’s boat. Watching until the three of them get into my truck, I press the throttle down and start heading toward where Cam’s small fishing boat is stored.
THE RIDE BACK TOSlaughter Island is eerily quiet, with only the sound of both boats’ motors. And after a while, that starts to fade into a white noise. Thankfully, the ocean is calm tonight. If it wasn’t, Cam’s boat would never make it out here.
We finally get back to the scene of the crime. Monty’s body lies where we left it, but the change of the tide has the water washing over him as we approach. Cam pulls his boat up next to me and stares wide eyed at Monty. Grabbing a pair of gloves out of the bag, I slip them on and get to work—dousing everything in bleach to get rid of any evidence of us being here. I find a roll of garbage bags in one of the compartments and I toss it off the boat and onto the sand.
Meanwhile, Cam kneels down beside Monty’s body, looking like he’s on the verge of having a mental breakdown.
“What the fuck did—”
“Dude, you’re my brother, but now is not the time,” I tell him.
Once all the blood from where Laiken was sitting is gone, and I’ve covered the rest of the boat in bleach, I grab the bag and hop off the boat. There’s a bucket from Cam’s boat that I use to grab some water, throwing it all over where the bleach just was. Then, I push the boat off the sand and watch as it starts to float away.
“If they find that, won’t they smell all the bleach?” Cam questions.
