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Other than a faint little beep drifting through the air, it was silent, so deafening that an uncontrollable, worrisome feeling instantaneously swept over me, making me gulp hard where I stood.
The place didn’t smell like a dead body occupied it and from what I could see, nothing seemed out of place, so that was a good sign. But still, as I gaped around Finn’s spotless living room and the kitchen to my left, searching all the way down to his bedroom at the end of the hall, it was empty.
Beep.
Blowing out a breath, I approached Finn’s closet and opened it, stepping back with a puzzled blink when I found his clothes hanging neatly inside. I left the door open and moved on to his dresser, finding his underwear, shorts—hell, all of his shit was here. It was like he’d never left.
Huh… That’s weird.
I contemplated it, concluding it was possible he’d decidednotto come back for his belongings, and spun slowly on my heel, releasing a hard breath as that annoying fuckingbeepwailed even louder, making my neck and back muscles harden. Calling him was nothing but a waste of time, but it didn’t stop me from picking up the phone. When his burner went straight to voicemail, I tried his personal cell.
Voicemail.
It went to fucking voicemail.
“God damnit, Finn!”
I growled deeply through my chest as I hung up and pounded a fist on top of his dresser, closing my eyes as I forced myself to take slow, calm breaths.
Beep.
Ibreathed in hard, my rage flaring, then whirled around and carefully scoped Finn’s bedroom for the smoke detector, ready to rip the shit straight out of the wall. I didn’t see it anywhere, which only angered me more.
WHERE THE FUCK IS IT?
Beep.
I froze, having realized the sound was coming behind me, and turned, facing Finn’s bed. Why a smoke detector would be placed near or around his bed confused me. Then as I thought about it…Reallythought about it…
Beep.
With my eyes narrowed, I moved closer to the bed and sunk down on my knees, lifting the quilt up so I could see under it. Against the wall and near the left column was a small machine with a repetitive blinking red light.
I got up and rounded the bed, dropping down and pulling out the device. It was a landline machine. That threw me off because as far as I knew, Finn didn’t have a landline number.
Beep.
To make the fucking thing shut up, I hit the PLAY button and sat back against the wall.
“JACE,” Finn’s frightened voice blurted out, making me drop the device and swear deeply, my heart pounding.
“Jace,” he said quieter this time. “If you get this, Damien knows. He fucking knows! The Bling Brothers are here. They’re trying to break in!”
He began panicking as a loudbangemerged in the background. I heard theclickfrom a gun, then one of the triplets shouting, “Spread out and find him.”
“They’re going to take me, Jace.” His voice quivered as he began sniffling. “And know now that if you’re hearing this, then I didn’t make it. I won’t sell you out. I promise.” He paused again, his breath trembling. “Get Ginger OUT, Jace. She’s been back for over a week now and has been staying at Uncle Xaviers. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. I was only trying to protect her… All of you.”
Tears began rolling down my face, my heart jackhammering through my chest.
“Promise me you’ll get her somewhere safe, away from Damien. And Samara…Fuck.I have to tell you something, Jace. I’m Samara’s cousin. Her blood cousin. Xavier… He… He’s her…”
That was the last thing I heard when the message shut off in an ear-ringingbeep.
I wasn’t sure how long I’d sat there at Finn’s place. All I knew was that it was long enough for me to listen to his message on repeat, tears streaming like a blubbering bitch, until I had the whole fucking message memorized word for word. By the time I could mentally and emotionally grasp what happened and what this meant for not only own fate but Ginger, and Samara’s, Father had called stating vacation time was over and demanded I meet him at the club. That’s where I was now, in his office.
“Are you with me, Jace? You seem a little… distracted.”
Father stood behind the bar with his head cocked lightly to the side, surveying me closely. His brows were raised high and there was a blank, almost innocent expression canvased on his face.
