Total pages in book: 73
Estimated words: 70940 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 355(@200wpm)___ 284(@250wpm)___ 236(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 70940 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 355(@200wpm)___ 284(@250wpm)___ 236(@300wpm)
When I reach the front of the club, all the guys plus a few random club whores are all staring at something on the ground. One of the girls turns around, her hand over her mouth, shaking her head in horror.
My heart jumps into my throat and I run closer, shoving past someone, I don’t know who, until I see what’s on the ground.
My entire world stops.
I don’t say that lightly.
Every single thing around me disappears. I can’t hear, I can’t think, I can’t feel. I don’t notice the droplets of rain falling onto my skin, I don’t notice the sounds of male voices yelling and shouting, I don’t notice anything.
I just stare down at her.
My sister.
My baby sister.
Lying in the dirt, her dead body.
I’ll never unsee the sight before me.
The gunshot wound in her forehead.
The way her body is bloated and a blueish shade.
The way her lifeless eyes stare into nothing.
The way her clothes are soaked and torn.
I’m screaming.
I don’t know I’m screaming until huge arms wrap around me, and I’m being pulled against a body, my face crushed into a familiar chest.
My screams are so frantic, I can’t even breathe through them.
“Get her out of here,” Alarick orders. “Now!”
He’s not talking about me.
He’s talking about my sister’s dead body.
“Magnolia!” I scream, trying to pull away from Alarick, but it’s no use.
He’s stronger than me, and he’s not letting me go.
He’s not going to let me look again.
With one quick movement he lifts me into his arms and strides inside the clubhouse. I’m still crying and screaming and clawing at him. I beg him to let me go, I beg him to let me see her, but he doesn’t answer me. He carries me into the main bathroom and he slams the door shut before placing me on the ground and standing against it, so I can’t run out.
“Let me out there, Alarick!” I scream, grabbing at his shirt and trying to pull him away from the door. “Let me go. Please. Please!”
“No,” he says calmly. “No, you’re not goin’ out there.”
“That’s my sister,” I wail and crumble to my knees. “My sister.”
Alarick moves, dropping down to his knees in front of me and taking my face in his hands, tipping my head back. I can barely see him through my tears. “We’re goin’ to find out who did this, and we’re goin’ to make them pay. Do you hear me?”
“She’s gone,” I sob, my body trembling all over now. “She’s gone. I didn’t help her. I should have helped her. This is all my fault. Magnolia, oh god.”
The door opens—I don’t hear who comes in.
Murmured voices echo through the bathroom, something about giving me something to calm down.
Alarick pulls me into his arms, and a moment later there is a sting in my right leg before I slowly start becoming numb from head to toe.
I sob.
I cry for my sister.
And then my entire world goes black.
“OH, HONEY,” KAREN SAYS when I emerge from a room at the clubhouse, my eyes bleary, my soul tired. “Come here.”
She rushes over and throws her arms around me.
I hug her, but I feel nothing.
I’m empty inside.
The last two days have been hell on earth. I have cried more than I ever thought possible. I have screamed. I have broken things. Now I’m numb. My heart is heavy, and my soul is dying. Magnolia was the only person I had left, the only family, and now she’s gone. She’s gone because I made a mistake. I went to the cops, I asked too many questions, I did all the wrong things.
I should have listened to Alarick.
I should have done what he said.
Maybe then Magnolia would be alive still.
Karen steps back and says in a gentle voice, “I’ll get you a cup of tea.”
She disappears, and I keep walking until I’m in the main living room where all the guys are still working tirelessly to figure out who did this.
I haven’t asked any questions.
I haven’t wanted the answers.
All I have been able to see is her body, lying in the dirt.
Dead.
I want answers now. I’ve cried all my tears.
I want to find whoever did this to my sister and make sure they never walk another day on this earth.
My bitterness is out of control, the numb emptiness in my heart is all consuming.
I stop at the group of men who are all discussing something quietly amongst themselves. When Mykel notices me, he nods and everyone turns around. Alarick’s eyes come to mine, and they’re showing a softness I haven’t seen from him since I’ve been home.
“I want to know what you know,” I say, my voice broken. “I want answers.”
“We don’t know anything yet, honey,” Mykel says, his voice calm. “All we know is someone dumped ...”
He trails off, realizing he’s not just talking about any old person, but my sister.