Love Me (WITSEC #3)(74)

I wished I looked confident when I replied and didn’t assume that by saying spend the night, he had meant something more than sleep. Blushing, I answered, “Yes.”





I followed the guys home from Desert Stone in my 4Runner and we all pulled up to our houses at the same time. “I’m going to change really quick and then I’ll be over,” I announced as we all climbed out of our cars. I was out of clean pajamas at their house. Doing a load of laundry was on my list to do before bed tonight.

Colt and Creed headed for me instead of walking toward their house. “We’ll come with you,” Colt said, and I had the impression that Knox had told his brothers I was having a difficult time being alone.

We walked up the steps to my porch together and they waited as I unlocked the door.

“What are we eating for dinner?” Creed asked.

“I have a chicken recipe I want to try,” I answered as I opened up the door. The smell of pennies filled my nose the moment I stepped inside. When I saw why, I froze.

“Why isn’t the alarm beeping?” I barely heard Creed say over the pounding of my heart in my ears.

There was someone sitting on my couch.

Not “someone.”

Jacob.

He was sitting smack-dab in the middle of my purple Joker couch. That Joker couch was now covered in his blood. His wrists were slit. Yet he was sitting upright, like he was a doll someone had placed there. There was a knife in his limp, bloody hand and a note pinned to the front of his shirt. Scribbled in Sharpie, the note read, I should not touch what is not mine. I’m sorry.

I didn’t know I was screaming until a hand covered my eyes and I was being dragged away.





24





My house was a crime scene. The police kept saying the word suicide amongst themselves as they walked in and out of my house. Jacob’s body had already been taken away and things seemed to be finishing up.

The guys and I had already given our statements hours ago. Colt, Creed, and I were sitting on the curb trying to stay out of the way. Knox and Keelan were standing in front of us, watching what was happening.

“How did he get past the alarm?” Keelan asked.

“They say he entered the code,” Colt answered.

He and Creed were handling finding Jacob well. All four of them were. Me, on the other hand…seeing Jacob had been a shock. My body had locked up. I hadn’t been able to look away. Colt had covered my eyes and gotten me out of the house. The moment we’d been on my front lawn, the shock had worn off. I had jerked out of Colt’s arms, bent over, and vomited everything that had been in my stomach.

“How did he know it?” Knox asked.

They talked amongst themselves, and I sat there lost in my thoughts.

I should not touch what is not mine.

I should not touch what is not mine.

I should not touch what is not mine.

Those words…

I knew what my gut was screaming at me.

But there was no certainty. No proof.

Then why did I feel this way?

“Looks like they’re done,” Creed said, pulling me from my thoughts.

The remaining cop car was driving away from the curb as I looked up.

“Why don’t we head in?” Keelan said and looked at me. “You have everything you need at our house, right? Or do you need me to go get you some stuff?”

“I’m out of clean pajamas,” I said.

“I’ll lend you a shirt to sleep in,” Knox said. “None of us need to go in that house tonight.”

“Okay,” I said, standing. “Give me a sec.” I walked to my car and unlocked it. Opening the driver’s door, I reached under the seat and grabbed my gun. I knew they saw as I tucked it into my purse. I was surprised none of them said anything after I locked up my 4Runner and we headed into their house.

“Why don’t you take your meds, Shi, and get ready for bed?” Knox suggested once inside and headed for his room.

“I’ll get you a glass of water,” Colt said, heading for the kitchen.

Keelan and Creed sat on the couch in the living room. Both let out similar exhausted sighs. I took a seat next to them and pulled my purse off my shoulder. Feeling around my gun, I searched my purse for my medicine bottle. I didn’t feel it. I took out my gun and set it on the coffee table. Creed and Keelan’s eyes seemed to zero in on the 9mm. I shook my purse. There wasn’t the rattle of pills inside a small plastic bottle. Panicked, I opened my purse wide and flipped it over. All of its contents spilled onto the coffee table. My phone, my burner, wallet, ChapStick, tampons, hair ties, a few pens, a receipt, and spare change.

“What’s wrong, Shi?” Creed asked as he looked from the mess I’d made on the coffee table to me.

“My birth control and my nightmare medication are gone,” I announced.

“Are you sure they’re not in your house?” Keelan asked. “I can go check.”

I shook my head. “I don’t take them out of my purse because I never know whether I’ll sleep here or at home and I don’t want to forget to take them. I never take them out of my purse.”

“Could they have fallen out?” Colt asked from behind us.

The three of us turned and he was standing behind the couch, holding a glass of water.