Page 100 of Reckless
“My brother is on his way,” Vaughn stated, glancing between them. “He’ll want to talk to her, first.”
Dante was ready to argue. “Fuck your brother—”
A new presence spoke from the front of the house, having almost supernatural hearing, “You’re not my type, I’m afraid.” Markus walked into the kitchen, adjusting his black suit as he surveyed us, a frown on his face. His eyes seemed to be darker than Vaughn’s, soulless and cold.
Even Dante knew enough to keep quiet.
He saw the bodies, and he hardly blinked. The Scotts must be into some deep shit if something like this didn’t bother him in the slightest. “You,” Markus spoke, glancing at Jaz. She was slow to untangle herself from Dante, and Markus’s lips curled into a smirk. “You look good in red.”
Though it was probably stupid, I said, “Watch it.”
Markus glanced at me, unimpressed. “Right. Rein in your jealousy, Jacob Hall.” Slipping my name in there told me he knew who I was, which didn’t make me too happy. “She’s not my type. I need something I can control.” He reached into his pocket, pulling out two thick leather gloves, sliding them on as he spoke to Jaz, “Tell me what happened here.”
And so Jaz did. She told him everything Bobbi had said, what she’d done, what she’d admitted to.
By the time Jaz was done, Markus leaned down over Bobbi’s body, checking her pulse before lifting up her shirt and seeing the numerous stab wounds Jaz had given her. “I admit,” he said, “you surprise me. I wouldn’t have pegged you capable of something like this. Maybe you’d do well in the family.”
Vaughn broke his silence, saying, “Markus—” A warning.
Markus waved his gloved hand. “Clean her up. You,” he paused, pointing to Oliver, “call the girl’s father. Get him over here.” He looked at me, his cold, calculating gaze contemplative. “You can stay down here with Oliver, but the rest of you, upstairs.” An order from a man who, I bet, was used to shit like this.
It was an order no one could refuse. Dante, Archer, Jaz, and Vaughn headed upstairs, leaving just Oliver and me alone with Markus and the bodies.
“It’s always good to have upstanding members of the community owe you,” Markus went on, glancing at Oliver with a deadly smirk. “Isn’t that right, Oliver?” The way he talked, it was clear Oliver owed him. “How many lives have you tried to help, hmm? How many people have died because you couldn’t save them?”
Though I wasn’t a huge fan of Oliver, I knew Markus’s words were needlessly cruel. I spoke up, “This isn’t his fault.”
“Says the ex-cop with a past of his own,” Markus said.
How the… you know what? I didn’t want to know what he knew about me, or how he knew it. Markus was a Scott, and you couldn’t trust a Scott further than you could throw him. Which, based on his wide, six and a half foot tall frame, I’d say wasn’t that far.
I folded my arms across my chest, not saying anything. No matter what I said, he’d twist my words. You just couldn’t win when it came to a man like Markus; you’d be stupid to even try, and me? I might’ve made some stupid decisions, but I wasn’t stupid when things were serious.
Oliver said nothing as he called Detective Wilde. He didn’t tell the man what happened here, instead simply saying, “There’s something you and I need to discuss. Are you free now to come to my house?” A pause as Wilde said something on the other line, and Oliver added, “It’s rather urgent.”
That, I knew, was an understatement if I ever heard one.
“Great, thank you. I will see you in a few.” Oliver hung up, shooting a look at Markus. “He’ll be on his way from the station in a few minutes.”
I wondered if he was aware Bobbi had come here after school, or if that was something Bobbi had kept from him. Was the father in on all of this too? Couldn’t help but wonder that, considering how good Bobbi had been at everything she’d done. Maybe her father had taught her a bit too much about evading the police, how to frame someone, that sort of thing.
I stood off to the side, waiting. When Wilde’s car pulled up, when he entered the house looking confused, I knew he had no idea. And when he saw me, Oliver, and Markus in the kitchen… and when he saw his daughter’s body lying motionless on the floor, I knew the man was clueless.
Wilde tried to run to her body, but Markus lunged between him, his wide frame blocking his path. “Ah. The girl’s father, I take it? It’s always good to have the police on your side, and you, sir, are going to owe me quite a lot after you hear what your dear daughter was up to.”
I hated watching a man lose everything, but as I stood there, listening to Markus explain what was going on, what Bobbi had done, I couldn’t help but feel like I was watching exactly that. Wilde’s freaked out aggression faded, his demeanor changing, his expression falling. Everything about that man broke in the next few minutes.
“Now, we can call the police, have them investigate, but how would that look on you? What if Bobbi left a trail that leads right back to you? What would happen to your other daughter?” Markus paused, tilting his head, his dark eyes staring hard at Wilde. His black hair was slicked back, his cheeks shaven. He truly was a devil in a suit. “With your wife gone, I could only imagine the fate Alice would have.”
The man buried his face in his hands.
I really hated seeing this. It reminded me of what Oliver’s sons had done to me three years ago, blackmailing me, getting me off the force even though nothing inappropriate happened between seventeen-year-old Celeste and me.
I wanted to go upstairs, but I didn’t trust anyone down here enough to take their word for anything, so I’d be present here instead. Jaz would be well taken care of by the others.
Jaz… God, I was so fucking glad she was safe. That girl literally was my everything, and I’d be nothing without her. I knew the others up there felt the same, which was the only reason I could focus on what was going on down here. One day at a time, we’d get through this. All of us.
Together.
