Total pages in book: 69
Estimated words: 69398 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 347(@200wpm)___ 278(@250wpm)___ 231(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 69398 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 347(@200wpm)___ 278(@250wpm)___ 231(@300wpm)
Bohdi grabs me and pulls me close, wrapping his arms around me. He holds me so tight I can barely breathe, but I need it. I sob hysterically into his chest, and he hangs on until I stop. Then, and only then, does he pull back and get to work.
“Go and find a blanket to cover that body, and get your friend cleaned up. Alarick is on his way, we’ll fix this. It’ll be okay.”
“I’m going to go to prison, and...”
“Look at me,” Bohdi orders.
I look at him.
“You are not going anywhere. I’ll fix this. I will fuckin’ fix it. You are not going to prison, and neither is Lennon.”
“How can we not? The police will come, and...”
“Merleigh, trust me, we’ll fix this. Go and help your friend, you hear me? Get it together and trust me. I got you.”
I nod, wiping my tears. I take a deep breath and I do as he asks. I have to keep it together because if I don’t, I’m going to fall apart. Lennon is falling apart, she needs me to be strong. I clench my eyes, take a long, long breath and then I exhale and walk past the body, and the girl sitting on the ground in shock. I go out the back and grab two blankets and some water.
I find Lennon first, and wrap the blanket around her. She takes it, tears running down her cheeks. Then, I lay the other one over the body, fighting back my emotions in a way I’ve never had to before. I breathe through it and when he’s covered, I turn and face Bohdi, who is on the phone talking in a hushed voice.
I sit beside Lennon and I wait.
Alarick, Mykel, Kendric, Samson, and Cohen arrive just over two hours later. By now, it’s later at night and the streets are quieter, hopefully not drawing any attention to the café and everything going on inside it. It’s times like these I’m thankful the front windows have shades that can be drawn, so nobody can see in. Bohdi had me turn the front lights off and the ones at the beginning of the room, so it looked like it was closed.
Alarick is the first to walk over, lift the blanket and stare at the body beneath it. Then, he turns to me. “You okay?”
“I killed him, Alarick. I killed him.”
He squats down in front of me. “You are not going down for this, I promise you that. We are goin’ to sort it out. What’s your name, darlin’?”
“Lennon,” Lennon whispers, looking up at him.
“You goin’ to be a problem for us, Lennon?”
She shakes her head.
“We can make this go away, we can make sure both you and Merleigh walk out of this, but I need to know you’re not going to get the guilts and go to the cops. You do that, it’s over for all of us and I can’t have that.”
“He beat me for years,” Lennon says, her voice shaky. “He made my life a living hell until I finally left and changed my name, started a new life, and even then he still found me. He was going to kill me, if it wasn’t now it would have been sometime in the future. My lips are sealed, I give you my word.”
“I’ll take your word. Now, you two girls are going to leave and we’re going to deal with this.”
“But there is so much blood and-” I say, glancing around.
Alarick grins. “Blood is my specialty. You don’t need to worry. Nobody will ever know he came here. By the time this café opens in the morning, it’ll just be like you spent a little too much time cleaning the night before.”
I swallow. “What if someone saw him come in and not go out? What if a missing person's report comes out about him, and people trace him back to here? I...”
Alarick takes my shoulders in his hands. “Then I’ll deal with it. You do not need to worry about those things, Merleigh. I promise you. The only thing I need from you two is to tell me if there are security cameras here.”
I shake my head. “No, they failed a few weeks ago and they have been waiting for new ones to arrive.”
Alarick nods and then straightens. “Well, then this will be easier than we thought. Lennon, give me any information you can about this fucker, and then you’re going to go home, clean up and get yourself together. Not until you give me the clothes you’re wearing, Mykel has a spare pair for both of you. We don’t want anything to link you to it.”
Lennon nods and then slowly stands. I help her when Mykel gives me the spare clothes. We take a great deal of time making sure we don’t get any blood anywhere in the bathroom as she changes out of the bloodied clothes she’s wearing. I do the same, and then we put them in a bag and hand them to Kendric who disappears with them. I don’t know what he’s going to do with them, and honestly, I don’t want to know.