Page 52 of Rise By Sin

“You found something?” Mason asked as he approached and perched on the arm of the chair I sat in.

“It’s date three days before Colt disappeared,” I explained as I reset the footage to where I had seen that psycho murderer stroll inTemplelike he owned the damned place. I played the footage from the entrance as Jack and Deacon joined us, leaning in so they could watch too. “That’s him!” I declared as a tall, slim man, dressed in all black and keeping his head lowered just enough to avoid the camera getting his face, showed his membership card to the young woman behind the reception desk. They all watched in silence as he strolled into the club like he had definitely been there many times before.

“Jack?” Mace spoke first.

“I don’t recognize him. Do we get a view of his face?” Jack asked.

“Not on this camera. It’s like he knows it’s there, but maybe on the ones inside the club?” I relied as I started flicking through the files of footage for other angles inTempleat that time.

“How can you be so sure that’s him, Ava?” Deak questioned.

“I’m sure. I’d never forget the way he carries himself. That’s him,” I explained with certainty.

“The dates line up too. Three days before Colt disappeared. He was probably stalking Colt, waiting for the right time to grab him,” Mason added, and I nodded in agreement. My heart was pounding way too hard. Yes, the footage gave us something to work with, but it was also ultimate from that the religious nut who stole a piece of me, definitely had Colt too. What was Coltgoing through if he was still alive? Even if we were in time to save him, could he ever be whole after enduring days and days of what destroyed me in a matter of hours?

I played the footage from all the cameras in Temple for that entire night, the guys all surrounding me and watching closely too. The guy moved through the club, extremely watchful of everything going on. Then he sat at the bar and ordered a drink. He waited there, sipping what looked like a club soda until Colt appeared behind the bar. Not once in all of that time did he show his face to any of the cameras and it became obvious he knew where they all were very quickly. After he spotted Colt he followed him through the club and back to the entrance. When Colt ran up to his office, the guy left the club and disappeared from sight of the exterior cameras.

“Fuck!” I roared as the last video ended and we had nothing but images of that fucker’s back.

“It’s something, Ava. I can have officers canvas the neighborhood for more surveillance footage. Maybe we can get the license plate of this bastards car,” Mason said as he rubbed a gentle hand down over my wild and very messy hair. I hadn’t sone a thing with it after waking up for the second time, not that I cared.

“He’s right. Theres no way that fucker hid his face from every camera in the area. We can find out who he is now,” Deacon agreed.

“I’ll make some calls and line up some uniforms to start canvassing all around Temple in the morning,” Mason said as he leaned into the kiss the top of my head, then slipped away to the kitchen to make his call.

“I’ll finish making dinner. We all need to eat,” Jack volunteered. I nodded, then looked back to the image on the screen of that fucker shrouded by shadows just down the street fromTemple. I didn’t care how fucked up my body was. If I ever got near that monster I was going to rip him apart with my bare hands!

“Ava?” I looked up and found Deacon stood before me. He took the laptop from me, closed it, and set it on the coffee table. “Enough work for now, okay? Why don’t you go and change into something comfortable before we can eat, then you can get comfortable on the sofa afterwards,” he suggested. He was dressed in dark wash jeans that clung to him in all the right places, and a tight black tee that showed every line of his perfectly defined, massively sculpted body. He smiled softly as I stared at him in awe, and it lit up his handsome face even more if that were possible. I had zero idea why he would even want to get to know me. He could have any woman he wanted. I was sure women chased him wherever he went, especially if he flashed them that sexy as hell smile.

“I need to call Kylan again. He was so upset yesterday when I spoke to him,” I told him as I ripped my attention back to reality, where it needed to be until Colt was safe. “At least today I can tell him we have something to work with.”

“I can call him for you?” he offered.

“No. I should. When Colt comes home and marries him, he’ll be my brother too. I need to be there for him right now.”

I stood up and groaned when pain started to radiate out through both of my thighs. I had been sat for too long and my body was not happy.

“What’s wrong, darlin’?” Jack asked as he looked up fast.

“Just my legs. I need to move around,” I sighed as I placed a hand on Deacon’s forearm and tried to maintain my balance. “Stupid injury. I walk and push too far and I get pain. I sit and don’t move at all and I get fucking pain too. I guess there’s no winning for me.”

“D you want some pain meds?” Deak offered as he wrapped his arm around my back so I could lean into him more, which helped.

“No. It’s not that bad. Can you just walk me to my room? I’m stiff and off balance,” I admitted.

“I’ve got you,” he told me with a smile that eased my embarrassment a little, but I still hated how much help I knew I needed. I had been independent for as long as I could remember. My mom had worked countless jobs to try and keep a roof over our heads when she was able, and when she wasn’t depression would keep her hidden away in her bed for days and sometimes weeks at a time, so I basically brought myself up. Then she died, and Colt stepped up. He tried hard to take care of me, and over time I learned I could rely on him and gave in some, but ultimately I remained independent.

Then that monster tried to destroy me, and maybe he did in some ways. That was why for the last decade I had fought like hell not to rely on or fully trust anyone but myself and Colt. I had been stubborn and snarky, keeping everyone out of my way and my life as much as possible. Even my police family who I worked with every damned day for a huge part of that time, had never had my full trust. I kept them out of my private life completely and I never asked for help from any of them, no matter how tough things got.

For the last two years, ever since I was shot I had known I could no longer do everything alone. The bad days were simply too much of a struggle to manage alone, but still I had refused to give in, to my own massive detriment. I could have called Colt and told him everything, knowing he’s have been there for me instantly, but I hadn’t. I hadn’t reached out to anyone because I was ashamed. Now these guys were making me give in and ask for the help I needed, but it didn’t ease the embarrassment I felt, and the terrifying knowledge inside of me that I was weak. I never wanted to be that way, but this time I wasn’t sure there was much I could do to overcome it.And there goes another part of myself that’s been ripped away,I thought broken heartedly. I honestly wasn’t sure there was very much of who I once was left at all at that point.

“Ava?” Kylan answered before the first ring had even finished.

“It’s not bad news,” I told him instantly, knowing what he feared most – me calling to tell him Volt was dead.

“Oh God. I’m sorry….I just…. I need him back. I really love him. As soon as my call rings my heart beats out of my chest,” I could hear tears in his words and his voice was trembling. Sorry. I should shut up,” he added with a sniffle.

“You don’t need to shut up. I know exactly how you feel, Ky. I need him back too, more than I can say, but I do have some thing positive to tell you this time.”

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