Page 147 of The Deceptions
“And this Dr. Lohr? What was so interesting about these patients she was looking into?” I ask, cocking my head when he wheezes again.
“JJ pulled the files from the hospital’s server. All five patients had a few things in common. One, they were under his care. Two, they each went in for a routine appendectomy. Three, they all died within three days of going home. Despite requests, no one performed autopsies. Five accidental cremations? Yeah fucking right. Something more went on in those surgeries that scared the shit out of those two nurses.” He shakes his head. “I never hurt fucking Meredith. She’s an innocent in town...”
“Damn fucking right she is!” I growl, clenching my fists.
“Any leads on who would have done this to her?” Wilder asks patiently. “Any clue where she could fucking be?”
I hold my breath when Huxley gives us a genuinely apologetic look and shakes his head. “I’d start with the doctor. Maybe bring his ass down here and show him your knifecollection. The last thing she said to me was...” Huxley sucks in a breath and blows it out. “She was fucking scared that she was getting too fucking close to something big.”
“And you let her walk home alone,” I say, gritting my teeth tightly.
“Something I’ll live with for the rest of my fucking life. I could have made sure she made it safely there. But she was fucking convinced if she were seen with me, all hell would break loose. But it was the goddamn opposite.”
“Go cool the fuck off,” Wilder grunts at me. “You got your fucking answers.”
“We didn’t get shit!” I shout. “Meredith is still nowhere to be fucking found, and now, we have to track down this goddamn doctor.”
“I’ll fucking help you,” Huxley pipes up, sighing when he places his unbound wrists in his lap.
“What the fuck? How...” I trail off, scrunching my brows when his legs break free from the bindings I put on them.
Huxley smirks, standing from the chair and slightly wavering. “It was fun, asshole. But I need to crash. Expect retaliation.” He takes a few stumbling steps and rights himself on the wall. “I’ll let you know if I find anything out. I’m not giving up on this shit. There’s too much happening around here not to be suspicious. I’d look into the loyalties the good doctor has.”
With that, Huxley marches up the stairs of my lair and leaves like he owns the place.
“How the fuck did he get out!?” I shout, turning to Wilder, whose gaze is set on the chair.
“Who the fuck cares? You’ve created a world of fucking problems for us,” he groans, gripping his hair.
“If I had killed him, no one would have ever known, Old Chap.” But then Wilder came down here and interrupted our playtime. Spoilsport.
“Everyone would have fucking known, Malic. He’s going to waltz back into that mansion with the evidence on his face, and they’re going to know exactly what psycho did that to him. Ugh.” He rubs his temples. “Get dressed. We’re going home and...”
“Researching a doctor?” I question with a grin.
“That...” he trails off, throwing my socks and shoes at me with a stern look. “I’m not letting you out of my goddamn sights for at least a year. Boss would have lost his shit if you managed to kill the golden boy of Greenwood. Fuck’s sake.”
“Golden boy? Pffft,” I wave a hand as I continue to get fully dressed. “You feel it, Wild? You feel how close we are to tracking her down?” I question with a slight hint of vulnerability edging into my tone.
Wilder stops, turning his gaze to me. “Yeah, Mal,” he whispers with a head nod. “We’re one step closer to finding her. I fucking hope.” He whispers the last part, abruptly looking away from me.
“She was supposed to be protected at the hospital,” I say, walking up the stairs behind him. “She was safe. A good profession.” If anyone should have died, it should have been me.
“She obviously found something bad,” Wilder says, shutting the secret basement door behind us and locking it tight. “And...” He rolls his lips together, anxiety taking over his features. “We should prepare for the fucking worst.”
“Fuck you say?” I grit out.
My sane mind reminds me that, statistically, she’s probably gone. Her soul is in Heaven or the ether or wherever we go when we die. But I have to hang onto the tiny strands of her survival.
She’s still out there somewhere.
And I will find her. No matter the cost.
The momentI wake up and put my hearing aids in, I sigh at the soundless house. Nothing but static greets my ears. And for once, I'm glad. Some moments deserve to be felt in the nothingness the world has to offer.
Like right now. No one seems to be home. Or they're both sleeping off our late-night mission with the Blue Spider Gang where we tightened our alliance with them and shook on a new deal. I don't blame them. The run we had last night wasn’t as difficult as it could have been, but it was still tiring. It’s a song and dance with other mob families. Meals. Drinks. Talking. It’s endless until we get down to business.
A yawn takes me over as I peer out the window near the edge of my mattress. The sun shines bright in the sky, highlighting the grounds below our home, gleaming off the headstones lining the slightly hilly terrain. Growing up here, the graveyard was our playground. A pang explodes in my chest as the ghosts of us dances over the graves, laughing at each other's jokes. I rub mychest, alleviating the guilty pangs bouncing around inside my chest.
