19. Willow

"Where the hell is it?"Marcus yells.

"Where"s what?" Gabe and I are still in his room. After being locked in here with him, hours later, someone had pushed two trays of food through the crack at the bottom of the door. Neither of us ate anything. With how creepy this place is, I didn"t want to risk the food being drugged. I was worried about Dodge. No one had mentioned him, and I hadn"t asked. Gabriel has an arm around me as I cling to one of his hands. Two men I"ve never seen before are also in the room. Marcus looks ready to hit me, so I say, "If you tell me what you"re looking for, then maybe I can answer." How my voice doesn"t shake is beyond me. I"m terrified.

"The room is bugged, you little bitch! I heard every word you said to your brother. You have a copy of the video from that night." The two men exchange glances and Marcus steps forward menacingly. Gabriel"s grip tightens on my hand as I try to maintain my composure, my mind racing to find a way out of this dangerous situation.

"You mean the night you killed our father?" I spit at him. Marcus" eyes narrow and his anger is palpable as he takes a step closer. Gabriel"s fingers dig into my hand, a silent warning to be careful. I feel the tension in the room escalating and I know I have to tread carefully.

Marcus slaps me hard across the face. I gasp. Pain blossoms in my cheek. Shock and fear rush through me. The room falls silent.

"Leave her alone." Gabe says. He stands and steps in front of me. "I"ll cooperate as long as you leave Owl alone."

Marcus" eyes narrow at Gabriel"s words, but he finally backs away and leaves the room in a huff. I exhale in relief, grateful for Gabriel"s protection in this moment of vulnerability. Only it doesn"t last. Marcus and another man—named Randy— burst into the room with Dodge between them. I gasp at the sight of him. His face is bloody and cut, but when I meet his eyes, they are full of rage.

Dodge"s presence brings a sense of danger that fills the room and makes my heart race with fear. I brace myself for whatever comes next, knowing that Gabriel"s protection may not be enough this time.

Marcus pulls out a gun and holds it to the side of Dodge"s head. I see the tension between them; the air is thick with hostility. Dodge doesn"t flinch, his jaw clenched in defiance. As Marcus" finger tightens on the trigger, I hold my breath, unsure of what will happen next. To my utter shock, in the blink of an eye, Dodge grabs the gun and smashes his head into Marcus" face. Blood explodes. The room erupts into chaos. Dodge swings a handout, right into Randy's neck. The man begins to choke, clutching his neck as he drops to his knees. A kick to the head and he"s down and not getting up anytime soon.

One of the other men tries to get a bead on Dodge with his gun, so I pick up one of the dinner trays and smash it against his hand, then his face before he can grab it. Gabe grabs the other tray, but he"s not fast enough. The other man has Gabe pinned against his chest. I do what my father always told me to do if a man attacks me. I reach between Gabe and the man and grab the guy"s groin. I squeeze as hard as I can and twist. The man howls in pain and releases Gabe, who quickly turns and takes the man down with a powerful shoulder thrust, putting all his weight into it. They fall to the ground. I reach out to help Gabe as he struggles to get to his feet. Together with Dodge, we have no time to catch our breath as we dash out of the room.

Chaos erupts in the hallway, and I find myself blinking, trying to focus on the man leading the way. Dodge stops short, and seconds later he lets out a chuckle. "What took you so long?"

"Nikoli?" I whisper. Letting go of Gabe, I let out a groan and throw myself at Nikoli. I don"t stop there. I plant kisses all over his face as he holds me close. "I can"t believe you"re here."

"I would have been here with you from the beginning if you had told me." He cups my head and forces me to look at him. "I was angry when I found out. But I understand." He smashes our lips together.

"And who are you?" I hear Gabe over my shoulder.

I force myself to pull away from Nikoli, but I am not ready to give up our connection, so I continue to grip his waist. "He"s my boyfriend," I say confidently, feeling a surge of possessiveness. Nikoli smiles at me, a mixture of surprise and delight in his eyes, before turning to my brother and holding out his hand.

"Nikoli Southern. I"m in love with your sister."

Gabe meets my gaze before taking Nikoli"s hand. "I"ll kick your ass if you hurt Owl."

"Owl?" Nikoli asks.

"I hated Willy as a nickname." I grin. "Gabe was obsessed with his as a kid, so there was no way I was going to be called that." I cringe. "We settled on Owl. It stuck."

Nikoli laughs, and when I look at my brother, I notice a red blush on his face. He rolls his eyes when he catches me staring.

"We have to go downstairs. The cops are here."

"Who is that?" I ask Nikoli.

He replies, "Jessop Hallen. One of Rhodes" brothers."

"How?"

"Best not to ask," Nikoli tells me.

* * *

The moment we step outside,the sky opens. Rain bounces off the gravel driveway, hitting the cars parked in the circular driveway hard. Nikoli has an arm around my waist while I clasp my brother"s hand. With Rhodes hovering in the background, Rosie fusses over Dodge. He finally takes an ice pack from her and walks over to the Baton Rouge detectives who have just arrived.

Jessop and Carlisle are gone, which is a good thing from what I"ve heard. Especially since there are five men whose hands are tied behind their backs with zip ties that are also attached to the scaffolding on the side of the building. Brian is there too, much to my delight. The men look a little battered and bruised. So yeah, it"s a good thing the two oldest Hallen brothers are gone.

The detectives walk over to where I am standing with Nikoli and Gabriel. They both glance at my brother before turning to me. "We"ve heard some disturbing things. You all need to come down to the station and give your statements."

"You"re not going to arrest us, are you? We haven"t done anything wrong. Marcus Carter killed our father, Damien Carter. I have a security video as proof of what I say."

The detective"s eyebrows shoot up. "And can we see that evidence?"

I nod. "I have to get it. It"s at the house."

"I assume you mean Sunny Meadows?"

I smile at the name my mother gave our house. "Yes."

He nods. "We"ll take you there."

Nikoli clears his throat. "If you don"t mind, we"ll meet you there."

"Make sure you do." The detectives move off.

"Where the hell did you leave the evidence, Owl?" Gabe asks as we climb into the SUV Dodge rented. Gabe climbs in the back while I press up against Nikoli, and Rosie follows me into the car. Rhodes is behind the wheel with Dodge in the passenger seat. I turn to my brother and say, "Somewhere out of the rain, hopefully, or it might not work."

"Shit," Gabe mumbles.

I rest my head on Nikoli"s shoulder. As I drift off, I hear Gabe giving directions to Rhodes. The sound of the windshield wipers adds to the soothing rhythm of the rain outside.

* * *

"Wake up,sleepy head. We"re here." Nikoli kisses my forehead and gets out of the car, taking me with him. I lay my head on his chest for a moment, just letting him hold me. "It"s a nice house, Willow."

"My mom refurbished it. Inside and out." I sigh. "There are lights on inside. That bothers me."

Gabe explains. "Marcus will have lived here."

I step out of Nikoli"s arms. "I"ll go get the proof." As I start to move, Nikoli moves with me. But the detectives have other ideas. I squeeze his hand. "I got this."

The detectives keep the others busy while I run through waterlogged grass to the bushes along the perimeter. I wince as the muddy ground sucks at the bottom of my boots. I look back at the house to check my position and find the right bush I used for cover. I search frantically through the mud until I find the hidden makeup bag with my phone inside.

"I"ll take that."

I stiffen at the sound of Sarah"s voice, but counter, "It"s all over. Your dad"s been arrested. You"ll be next." Standing up, I grab a handful of mud.

"I wasn"t there the night my father killed yours, Wilhelmina." She chuckles as I face her and the gun she has pointed my way. "Though he told me about it."

"You haven"t done anything yet, Sarah." I move closer to the gap between the bushes.

But Sarah hisses, "Don"t move. You have no idea what I have done." I see the determination in her eyes as she tightens her grip on the gun. "You"ve always been the perfect daughter. It was good to know that you"ve lost everything. I want you gone for good," she threatens, a cruel smile playing on her lips. My heart races as I realize there will be no talking her down.

"And what about my brother?" I yell, "Are you going to kill him too?"

"I haven"t decided yet." My God, my cousin has lost her mind. She continues, "I thought the cops in Boston were going to arrest you for the murder of dear old Harold."

"What?" I stumble backward, tripping over the lawn edging.

"I left the paperweight in your room. It should have worked."

"It would have worked if I"d actually been at Evergreen when he was killed," I say quietly. My heart pounds behind my breastbone. I can"t believe how crazy she is.

"I"ll take that." Dodge suddenly appears and grabs the gun out of Sarah"s hand. She screams and tries to lunge at him. I take aim and toss the mud into her face. Bullseye.

"Mud suits you," Gabe smirks.

Rhodes grabs Sarah from behind, pinning her arms to the side of her body. "You"re not going to get away with this," she snarls, struggling against his grip while spitting mud from her mouth.

I smirk and say, "Nice try, Sarah. But the game is over."