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My stomach dipped at the contact, thousands of butterflies taking flight, and I clutched at him harder, promising to never let go. I didn’t want the kiss to end. I wanted to stay glued to him for as long as possible, but I knew it couldn’t be forever.
“I missed your lips,” I murmured as we pulled away. He leaned his forehead against mine, his breath flowing over my face.
“Me too.” Neither of us moved for several minutes, just soaking each other in. “We should get on the road,” Ford whispered.
“Okay.” I paused. “Just one more kiss before we do.”
“One more kiss,” he confirmed, and then pressed his lips against mine.
Chapter Fourteen
FORD
I’d been driving for nearly six hours straight without a break, eagerness to get Belle back to her apartment and alone again pushing me forward. Belle had fallen asleep about an hour ago, and Lottie had joined her, the dog snores mixing in with the low music playing on the radio.
My gut churned as I got closer to her college, an indication something wasn’t right, but I was on high alert. We hadn’t been followed. In fact, the roads seemed emptier than usual. It was Friday evening, which meant most students would be going out for the night, but I had every intention of staying indoors, in Belle’s room, with just her as company.
I pulled into the apartment block lot, parked my car in my usual spot, and then turned my engine off. I didn’t move for several seconds, waiting and watching, making sure it was safe to get out. When I didn’t see anything, and Lottie had also stared around the lot and not alerted me to anything, I placed my hand on Belle’s leg.
“Belle?” I pressed harder as she groaned. “We’re home.”
She moved her head on the seat to face me and slowly opened her eyes. “Hey,” she murmured, her voice groggy.
“Hey yourself.” I pressed my palm to the side of her face and pushed some of her hair behind her ear. “You ready to go inside?”
She moved her head off the headrest and placed her hand over mine. “Yeah.”
I was tempted to kiss her, just like I had earlier, but I refrained. We were exposed sitting here, and I wanted to get her to safety. Brody hadn’t been right in his approach to try and keep Belle home, but he wasn’t wrong about the danger. Garza was still out on the streets, and with only a few days until his verdict would be read, it meant he was on edge. We had no idea what he’d do or how he’d react.
Belle waited as I got out first, and then I walked around to her side of the car and opened the door. Lottie followed Belle out, and then we headed up the stairs in what had become our usual formation. I was in front with Belle behind and Lottie next to her.
“What about our bags?” Belle asked as we made it to her floor.
“I’ll get them in the morning,” I told her, pulling my keys out and then opening up the front door. The alarm system beeped, and I flicked the light on to put the passcode in as Belle closed the door behind me.
Lottie trotted around the apartment, smelling everything, and then headed down the hallway toward Stella’s room. I needed a shower after all of that driving, so I started to walk toward Belle’s room as I heard her say, “What’s the matter, Lottie?”
I placed my hand on Belle’s bedroom door handle and turned to look at them. Lottie sat in front of Stella’s door, her ears up and her one paw forward as Belle stared down at her. She lifted her hand to knock on the door and called, “Stella? You in there?”
Lottie barked at the door, and that gut feeling I had earlier came back tenfold. Something wasn’t right, but logically, I knew it couldn’t be anything. The alarm had been on, which meant Stella was either asleep, or she wasn’t here.
Belle reached for the door handle and pushed down on it, and I saw the light coming from Stella’s bedroom as she pushed it open. There were two seconds of silence, and then Belle’s piercing scream.
My body knew what was happening before my brain had time to catch up, and I sprinted across the apartment and toward Belle and Lottie, where they stood in the hallway, staring into Stella’s bedroom in horror.
“Belle, Belle!” I grasped her shoulders and turned her to face me, not taking anything in but her face. “Calm down.”
“I… Oh my god.” She hiccupped a sob. “What… I…” She wailed, the kind of wail that was filled with so much pain and anguish, I could feel it down to my very soul.
I wrapped my arms around her, pulling her head to my chest as I stared into the room. I wished I hadn’t. I wished I’d moved us away so I never had the image in my head, but it was too late.
Stella and
Justin were lying on Stella’s bed, fully clothed, and above the covers. Red pooled around them, some wet, some dry, and as I gazed at them from head to toe, I realized their throats had been slit, but that wasn’t what had me pulling Belle away from Stella’s room. It was the hands nailed to their chests, a symbol of the Garza cartel, that had me pushing Belle against the wall so she could listen to me.
“Belle.” She wouldn’t look at me, so I gripped her head in my hands and tilted it back so she could stare at me directly in the eyes. “I need you to concentrate on what I’m saying.” I waited a second, and when she nodded, I continued, “When I say go, you’re going to take my keys, and we’re going to run out of the apartment and straight to the car. Don’t stop. Don’t look back. Get there as fast as you can. I’ll be right behind you.”
She swallowed and stared at me, her eyes glazing over, but her whispered, “Okay,” let me know she’d heard what I’d said.
