Page 20 of Melt for Me (The Last Snow of the Season 1)

Chapter Fourteen

____________

Jag

A scream jerks me from a dead sleep, the first I've had in...well, it's been a long fucking time. My first reaction is to jump up and go for my gun. I usually keep it under my pillow, but I also don't usually sleep with a sweet-bodied angel next to me. I would’ve thought I had dreamed the scream but the angel beside me also jolts awake.

"Did...did you hear...?"

"Yeah." She doesn't even have to finish the sentence. When a sound like a gun going off causes the woman beside me to jump, I'm certain it's time to go for the gun. "Stay here."

"Are you crazy?"

"Fine, come on but stay behind me."

She fumbles into my shirt since she was only in a pair of panties before getting out of bed and curling her hand in the back of the pj bottoms I put on. I open the door carefully and stick my head out to see if I can make sense of anything. Outside in the hall are about five other guys with guns drawn so I feel safe enough to bring Milly out to the hall.

"What the hell is going on? " Mark asks. I notice he has Rumer behind him as well.

"Did I hear right, was that a gun?" Charlie also has Rani with him.

"Listen, I need you to go stand with Rani and Rumer right here by our door okay. Don't move from this spot." She nods for me with wide eyes and I want to tell her everything is alright but I have a sneaky suspicion that might be a lie. Something, I'm not sure what, tells me this isn't like all the other times when we've heard something. For one, there is no Tinsley running towards us. Mark, Charlie, and I all make our way down the hall towards the room the sound came from. Everyone is awake and out in the hall now.

I look back and see Milly standing at the end of the hallway close to our door. She's wearing one of my police shirts, her bare legs covered almost to her knees. It is a startling reminder of how tiny Milly is and how easily someone could hurt her. We go in with guns drawn and instantly see the body in the bed. She's laying with her arms out and her eyes still open. Charlie moves closer to check for a pulse, but Tinsley is beyond help now.

There's a small hole in the middle of her forehead. He gives us a slow shake of his head showing us she's already gone. He takes the cover and pulls it up over her face to try to preserve any evidence that might be on her. All three of us check the room but it's clear. Whoever did this is long gone.

We move out of the room and Milly comes running towards me. I catch her before she gets anywhere near the door. She can tell. We're already in sync enough with one another that she can tell something isn't right just by how I'm acting.

"What...what happened? What's wrong?"

"Let's get everyone downstairs and then we can talk."

As soon as everyone is downstairs, Charlie tells everyone what we found in the bedroom. "Tinsley's been shot."

"Oh my God!" There are a lot of gasps and wide eyes. "We need to get help! We need to call an ambulance!" Trinity seems like she might be on the verge of having a panic attack. I can tell Roy is already aware of what comes next. If there had been a chance to save someone we wouldn't be down here.

"Why isn't anyone doing anything?! Roy!?"

"Honey, if something could be done, we wouldn't be down here."

She looks from one person to the next looking for an answer. Looking for the answer she wants to hear but no one is giving it to her.

"Wh...what happened?" Rani asks the question everyone wants an answer to.

"Someone killed her." Mark fills them in.

"Just like she said they would," Betsy reminds us. "Who did it?"

That’s a question that I am sure everyone with a gun wants to fucking find out.

"You threatened her last night before dinner." Betsy is looking at me which kind of surprises me since nearly everyone here has threatened Tinsley at one time or another.

"That's bullshit." I'm even more surprised at the outburst that comes from my little angel. "He didn't do it!"

"How can you be sure he didn't do it?"

All eyes turn towards Milly. She doesn't hesitate. "Because he was with me. All night."

---