Sacha
Tuesday
The police and firefighters were finally gone when I reached the compound, though I was sure someone would be around as soon as they realized Rhodes was back to check things out. As for the man himself, Rhodes looked outwardly calm, every action almost lazy with a swagger that put every part of my body on high alert. It was always the calm before the storm that you needed to worry about.
The compound was utterly destroyed. Almost every building had been burned, and while a lot of the structure was still standing, it didn’t look salvageable to me. I knew he had gotten this place years ago, but I didn’t know the full story behind it if there was one. Most clubs have their members live in the same space, though it definitely worked for the Lords. Rhodes clapped Razor on the back when he got close, and they started talking.
“Nothing from Nic?” Vas asked as he came to a stop beside me. I shook my head, not surprised his thoughts were straying to Nic. I was wondering when she’d be reaching out to let us know how things went with Roderick, but despite everything, I trusted Ansel and Blake to keep her safe and make sure she came home afterward. I shouldn’t trust Ansel at all, but there was something about him that instinctively told me I could. I was probably an idiot.God knows I just hide it well.
Glancing at my brother, I was curious to see what his reaction was going to be when he realized what I had, that Ansel wasn’t going anywhere. Of course, that wasn’t the only person we’d been thinking about for the past month. I didn’t see Wrenn or any of the surviving women nearby, not even the Lords’ old ladies.
Refocusing, I zeroed in on my uncle and Razor. Rhodes was smoking while the two of them looked through the ashes of his compound. Razor was beside him, grim faced, speaking softly to his President. The other members were pissed off and ready to retaliate from what I could tell. It wasn’t a question ofifthey would respond, butwhen. Luckily, they were off handling business shit right now, not pestering Rhodes about revenge.
“I wonder what they plan to do now,” Vas said as we walked away to give Rhodes some privacy. We wouldn’t go far in case he needed us for something. I had no idea what they would do for a place to live and operations, much less what would happen when they found the person responsible.
“Sacha, Vas!” The breathless voice interrupted my thoughts, and we came to a stop. Wrenn was running up to us. Her long blonde hair was in her face, and she brushed it aside as she licked her lips when she stopped in front of us. “There’s something you need to see.” Her face was pale, eyes a bit too wide, and she swallowed hard, looking behind us at Rhodes before switching back to us again.
“What is it?” Vas asked, his deep voice rumbling in his chest.
Her gaze scanned who was around us as my eyes narrowed, really noticing how pale she was. She shifted her weight from one foot to the other. She was nervous and scared, but determined as well, revealing a steel spine under that timid exterior that reminded me of Bodhi.
Wrenn shook her head. “It’s something you should see for yourself. Rhodes too.”
“Rhodes!” Vas yelled out.
I didn’t break my stare until I heard Rhodes and Razor approach, the crunch of gravel under their boots loud in the tense silence. Wrenn nodded at the other men then spun around. “The women’s quarters.” She led the way to the building that had the most damage with swift, sure steps. Ignoring the caution tape, she made her way into the burned building.
“This place could collapse at any second,” Rhodes grumbled, picking up his pace to get ahead of us and catch up to Wrenn. “I swear her and Nic have a fucking death wish.”
Razor smirked before he hurried to catch up. Trying to make sure I didn’t ruin my suit, I carefully followed them through the hallways until we got to what had been a large open room, maybe a community space. The three people ahead of us were all stock still, and when I noticed Wrenn pointing upward, it was as if time slowed down.
My stomach dropped, heart hammering, once I saw the body hanging from the burned rafters. My first thought was wondering how the dead weight hadn’t broken the burned wood, but then my brain started processing the corpse itself. She wasn’t burned, so the person hadn’t been here during the fire. Despite that, she had been through her own trauma. Stab wounds, bruises, broken bones. Black hair hung around her in a messy tangle. Even from this distance, I noticed something eerie. Her eyes were open. Even without seeing her up close, I would bet she had on blue-green contact lenses to look like my Nic.
“She wasn’t here yesterday.” Wrenn’s soft voice cracked, though her brown eyes were hard. “Security cameras were destroyed in the blaze, so I can’t look into how she got here. I was coming in here to see if anything could be saved for the kids, then I found her.”
“Hanging her can’t be a coincidence,” Vas stated, rubbing his beard.
“What does that mean?” Rhodes growled, whirling around to look at us.
“Whore’s Gallows.”
Nicholette’s voice filled the space, and we all looked over to find her standing across the room with one of Blake’s men beside her. She walked over to join us, and the others followed after her, except for Ansel.Where is he?She came to a stop beside Vas and me, keeping enough distance between us that our bodies didn’t touch. She stared up at the dead body, but I couldn’t read her face. My Nic was shielding whatever was building inside her. Something about her seemed off, the distance in her face and stiffness in her body hinting that it was more than just her trying to concentrate on business. What the hell had happened?
“Not many people know about that detail of my life, so it could narrow down the list of who could be doing this.”
“Whore’s Gallows?” Blake asked, their voice even as they stopped beside Conrad. They looked back and forth between him and Nic before stopping on the latter.
“A serial killer in Ashview liked to torture prostitutes then hang them up for people to find,” Nic answered, not looking away from the body staring down at us. “The killer didn’t manage to string me up, but they left me for dead. Then Maeve found me.”
Blake didn’t react, like that was a normal thing to say, and maybe for them it was, but Wrenn paled, looking away from her ex-girlfriend.
“That’s why you disappeared,” Rhodes commented gruffly, and Nic nodded.
“I’m surprised you came here. I figured we’d get some vague message that you left without us to go to Millfield and we could just catch up.” Nicholette grinned in response, though it was brittle, which did nothing to soothe the insistent feeling that something was wrong.
“I thought about it, but I decided to give you a little bit of a break since I made you chase me for a month. Old age and all that.” She laughed when I grabbed her, squeezing her tightly to me. If it was slightly harder than necessary to get her back for the age comment, well, she liked a little bit of pain.
“You are pushing your luck lately, little whore. Pregnant or not, I’ll make you pay for that.”