Page 3 of Going Home

Chapter Two

Griffin's Beach

Colt

FollowingbehindLexinKarmen's SUV, Colt can't get the phone call Lex got two nights before out of his mind. In fact, he hadn't been able to sleep after they crawled into bed. He asked her what it was, but she said she couldn't tell him. He hates she's determined to handle things on her own, but he has to admire her dedication to keeping her word. It was always assumed he was exempt from the secret thing because he's her husband.

He'd done everything in his power to get her to cave and tell him what was going on. He'd used his mouth, his hands, and his cock, but she'd refused to spill. Not that he really expected it to work, but it was fun nonetheless. He smiles remembering how she covered her face with a pillow when he did that thing she likes with his tongue to keep from waking the kids and his family. The only person likely to be mortified would be Lex, but he knows he doesn't need to have any type of discussion about what he does to his wife with his teenage sister, Klaire, who slept on the other side of the wall.

Lex parks her Mustang in front of the house, and Colt hates how conflicted he feels. For his wife, he wants to go back to Summerville, but as he looks at the house Jennings bought them out of guilt, he can't help but think about how his family started here. They were going to grow up in the same hometown as their parents, and he does miss the place. His family. But he'll do anything he needs to for his wife.

"Did you hear about the dead women they've found recently?" Lex asks as he steps out of the vehicle. "I just heard it on the news. All just outside of the city limits."

"What?"

Her blonde curls bounce as her head nods. "Yeah, they've been mutilated and left unrecognizable. Some without heads. Plus, no teeth or hands have been found. This crazy person doesn't want his victims identified, which makes him even worse than anything we've ever done. I doubt any of these women have done a fraction of the shit our men have killed others for."

"Jesus, that is scary. Although, if they find out who the dude is, I kind of hope I cross paths with him. It's been a while since I've done something terrible for the better of mankind without a personal stake in it," he says and wraps his arm around her shoulders. "What are we doing here now? Our stuff has been boxed up and loaded on a truck headed this way thanks to Bodie and Jolie."

Bodie Hall was like a surrogate kid who came to stay with them when they first moved to Summerville to escape his ex-girlfriend in Black Valley. He'd had a heart transplant and was finally back up on his feet, ready to ride again. But when he went to his ex's house, he found her with another man. Luckily, he met Jolie by a stroke of fate, saving her life multiple times before finally getting together.

"I just want to see how bad the house looks inside. Mostly, I need to understand how much cleaning is needed. And how many rodents have found their way inside. I hope none because I fucking hate mice."

He chuckles and kisses her temple. "I know you do, baby."

"Please don't be upset with me," she says, surprising him, and she turns to look at him. "I want to tell you. I do. And I will once I can."

"It's not you, right? There's no life-changing test results or secret doctor’s appointments I didn't know you saw that came back, right?"

Smiling, she shakes her head. "No, it's not me. I'd never keep that from you."

"And it's not the kids?"

"Another thing I'd never keep from you."

"Then I will wait until you can tell me. Just know I'm here. Always."

The thought of being able to help work out some of the tension that reappeared once she woke up makes him hard in his jeans. She has to take off and go and do something she can't tell him, but he knows how to give her what she needs in any length of time.

Lex looks at the door suspiciously, and she opens it without the key. All desire to get her naked disappears, and Colt pulls her behind him as he draws his gun from the holster under his leather.

"I thought someone was supposed to be checking on the house," she whispers as they step inside.

"Ky was supposed to. Guess he hasn't been," he whispers back.

Ky Short, his best friend, promised to swing by and check on the house while they were away until he figured out what to do with it. He either hasn't been checking or has literally driven by to make sure it looked untouched. Either way, someone has definitely been inside their home.

The entryway and kitchen are empty, and while it looks like someone has been there, it's not destroyed or trashed. They walk into the living room to find it empty, too, and head down the hallway to look in Noah's room. Empty. Calla's room is next, and it's also empty. The guest room across from the master has a thick layer of dust on the floor that looks undisturbed. It must also be empty. Their bedroom, however, is far from empty.

Two teenagers lay in the floor, asleep in sleeping bags. A girl who looks around sixteen or seventeen with dark brown hair lies in a purple bag while a boy who looks around thirteen with lighter brown hair sleeps next to her in a blue one.

"Who the fuck are you?" Colt shouts, waking both of them up. They cling to each other, the girl using herself as a shield and pushing the boy behind her as much as she can. "What are you doing in my fucking house?"

Lex's hand gripping him and tugging him backwards pulls him from his anger, and he lowers his gun. She moves to kneel in front of them, her hands showing she's not threatening them with anything. "Hey, relax. We're not going to hurt you."

"We thought the house was abandoned," the girl says, her voice deceptively strong. "We haven't seen anyone come here in over a month."

"You've been here for a month?" Lex looks back at Colt. "Why don't we start with introductions? I'm Lex, and this is my husband, Colt. We own the house."

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