“Don’t worry.” Travis snatches the key from my hand and unlocks the door. “The first time is always the hardest. It gets easier.”
“Where’s the body?” Scar Face asks.
“Bedroom. In the bedroom.” I point to the door leading to the bedroom. I don’t trust myself to go in there again, to see her lifeless body. So I remain in the living room while Travis shows Scar Face the way.
“Is this a joke?” Scar Face’s voice booms from the bedroom. “What kind of fucking game are you playing?”
Seconds later he storms into the living room again, his face distorted by anger. “You said there was a body. Where the fuck is it?”
“I...she’s not there?” A surge of adrenaline shoots through me. It sends me stumbling into the bedroom, where Travis is standing by the bed, a hand pressed to his forehead.
Jenna is not where we’d left her. “She’s alive,” I say to myself. I’m not a murderer. My feet are light as I dash to the front door while Travis and Scar Face search the room. “She didn’t die,” I call out when I notice that the second key is missing from where Jenna used to keep it next to the door. It was there when we left the apartment. “The key...it’s gone. She’s gone.” I rush back to the room to make sure it’s true.
Scar Face storms back into the bedroom from the bathroom. “You fucking fool. You didn’t feel for a pulse?”
“I did, but—” I inhale sharply. “I could have missed it. I was in shock.” I square my shoulders. Confidence replaces my earlier fear. “This is great news for me, gentlemen. Since she’s still alive, I guess I no longer need your services.”
Scar Face smacks his forehead and explodes with laughter. He pulls himself together quickly and plants himself in front of me. “Brother, I’m afraid it’s not that simple.”
Chapter Twenty-One
Jenna
I’ve never considered myself to be a lucky person, but the fact I’m sitting on the floor of my hidden closet right now is pure luck. If he had only squeezed a little longer. If he had managed to find a pulse, I would not be alive. I’m still amazed that I managed to fool him into thinking he had killed me. I have no doubt that if he had found out I was playing him, he would have finished me off.
I wrap my arms around my legs, hugging them to my chest. The nightmare is far from over. I may be alive this second, but one mistake and they will know I’m here.
I try not to breathe too hard even though my lungs are begging me for more oxygen, the oxygen Winston had robbed them of earlier. I also can’t cry loud. All I can do is allow the silent tears to slide down my cheeks without paying them attention.
They came back before I got a chance to leave the apartment, to ask my neighbors for help. And they’re not alone. From the voices, I can count three people in the room, Winston and his twin brother, and a man with a deep, husky voice with a German accent.
As they talk about finding me and killing me, sweat trickles down my spine and into my eyes. They have the right to be nervous about my escape. I heard every word they said, all the horrific revelations Travis had told Winston. Even when they talked from the living room, I caught every word.
I’ve never been more grateful to live in a tiny apartment with thin walls. It shook me to hear Travis confess that he’s killed three people, as I was devastated to discover what Winston really is, a monster I never want to see again.
“Did you discuss our business here?” the German man asks and a murmur follows as a response. I can’t tell whether it’s Travis or Winston speaking.
“You made a big mistake, Travis,” the man roars. “The girl was alive. She heard every word.” Angry footsteps make the floor vibrate. I’m guessing the man is so pissed off that he’s pacing the room. When he walks past the mirror, my heart stutters. What if he hears the thud of my heart or suspects there is something hidden behind the mirror?
The sounds get louder with drawers being opened and slammed shut. Do they really think I’ll be able to hide inside a drawer? It goes to show how desperate they are to find me. Between them is a secret that could take them to prison for a long time. And I know that secret. If I’m ever lucky enough to leave this apartment, I’ll have no choice but to go straight to the cops, to tell them everything.
“Where the fuck is she?” the strange man shouts. “How could you let this happen?”
More murmurs reach my ears. The man must be incredibly dangerous for both Travis and Winston to be terrified of him. I can sense their fears even from inside here.
A few curses are thrown around, something falls to the floor, and then there’s silence.
“You messed up, Travis, big time. I hope you understand there are consequences for your thoughtless actions.” The man’s voice is low now, but it still holds a thread of danger.
“I’ll find her,” Travis says. “Me and Winston...we’ll find her.”
“Damn right you will, you fucker. And you’ll put a bullet in her head. She has to die. She knows our business.” The stranger’s voice is hoarse with fury. “So does your fool of a brother. Who the fuck strangles someone and doesn’t finish the job?”
“I’m sorry,” Winston says and my heart wilts. “I thought—”
“You thought wrong.” The bedsprings squeak. Someone has sat down on the bed. “Your twin brother created this bloody mess and he will clean it up.”
“What do you want me to do? I’ll do anything,” Travis says quickly.
“That’s what I want to hear.” The man pauses. “Now that we know your brother did not kill the woman, it changes everything.”
“What do you mean?” Travis asks slowly.
“You’ve been in this business for long enough. I think you know what this means. But since your brother doesn’t, allow me to explain.”
Silence falls again, but I can hear ragged breathing and shuffling of feet.
“Since he no longer qualifies to be one of us, he has to die.”
Listening to the man’s words, my body starts to tremble. I close my eyes tight and force myself to keep it together or else I’ll never walk out of this apartment alive.
He wants to kill Winston. Considering what he tried to do to me, I wish he were dead, but only inside my head, because unlike them, I’m not a murderer, not even inside my head. But I do want him to be locked up for attempted murder.
“No. I won’t say a word to anyone,” Winston begs. He’d never sounded so weak or pathetic. “Please...you can’t.”
The man laughs. “Don’t worry, I won’t. You brother will be the one to send you to the other side.”
My shaking hand moves to my still painfully sore throat as the words hit me. When Travis had told Winston about the Brothers After Dark Club, I thought he was joking. But he never confirmed the joke. It left me cold to hear all the things he said and it hit me that he was a part of a dangerous circle of sadistic men, but I could have never anticipated how cold-blooded these people are and the extent of the danger I’m in.
I bite my lip and tighten my arms around my legs to stop them from shaking. What I most want to do is burst out of this wardrobe and run for my life, but I’m sure the German man won’t even flinch before he shoots me in the back of the head.
“You want me to kill my brother?” Travis asks. He sounds nervous.
“You’ve killed before. It would be a piece of cake.”
“But he’s my brother.”
“Look, man. You messed up my evening. I want to get the fuck out of here. If you don’t kill him, I’ll kill you both. Your choice.”
The silence that follows is only broken by whimpers I know are coming from Winston.
“You can’t do it, Travis,” he finally says. “You can’t kill your own brother.”
“I don’t have a choice,” Travis says. “My loyalty is to the BAD Club. They’re my real family.”
“No.” Winston’s voice is broken now. “Let go of me.”
The sounds that follow make it clear to me that Winston is probably trying to escape and the
other two men are trying to stop him.
“Blow his fucking brains out or you will die in his place.” The German man’s voice is furious now.
Before he can repeat himself, the sound of a bullet jolts my heart. It’s not too loud because they’re probably using a silencer, but my ears caught the sound of death. Now I feel like I’m falling and have no idea how to stop myself from hitting the ground.
My teeth sink into my lip as I try to stop myself from crying out. My eyes are still closed tight. If they don’t leave now, I might give myself away. No, I have to try hard. I cannot die, not today, not like this.
“I knew you had it in you,” the man says. “Congratulations. Come to the car. We need to notify the Brothers. We might also need help cleaning up this mess.”
The sound of footsteps follows, then the door slams. I’m about to relax when I hear Travis’s voice. Oh no, he’s still in the room.
“Sorry, bro. I didn’t mean for it to end this way.” He sighs. “But to be honest, you were in the way of my happiness. Your life was truly mine.” He clears his throat. “Don’t worry. I’ll find Jenna, give her a last fuck on your behalf, and then I’ll send her to join you. It might take a while because I intend to have a little fun with her first.”
My heart is in my throat when he too walks out of the room. The moment the front door slams again, I know I have to get going or they will find me. They will probably arrange for a team of murderers to come and get rid of Winston’s body and one of them might discover the secret closet.
I push the door open and crawl out, feeling as though I’m wading through water. I close it again and continue to crawl to the door. Nausea hits me when I spot Winston’s body on the floor. He’s been shot in the head. I swallow the bile and look away.
I want to get up, to run, but fear has rendered me weak. Sweat is pouring from my face and I’m still shaking as I make my way to the front door.
After a few tries of me pulling myself to my feet, I manage to stand upright on my shaky legs and open the door. I don’t think I’ll be able to stay on my feet for long because a wave of dizziness is already sweeping through me. I poke my head out to scan the hallway for anyone, praying to God they do not see me.
To my relief, the hallway is empty. There’s no time to think or hesitate as I stumble, still naked, to one of the doors opposite my apartment. I choose old Mrs. Raymond’s door because she’s almost always home. I knock as hard as my weak body will let me. No one comes to the door.
The ding of the elevator down the hall gives me energy to knock harder. I’m about to walk away and try another door when the door is pulled open and since I was leaning heavily on it, I fall right in.”
“Please,” I say, my voice a croak. “Please close the door.”
Mrs. Raymond looks at me, eyebrows drawn, but she does as I say.
“What in the world is going on with you? Do you know you have no clothes on?”
“I need your help,” I say through my sobs. “I’m in danger.”
The woman’s mouth falls open and I tell her a short version of my story before she decides to throw me out.
When I’m done, she quickly moves across the room to the couch. She picks up the handset of a telephone and quietly hands it to me, then shuffles to her door to peer through the peephole. “They’re back. Call 911,” she says.
She doesn’t need to tell me twice, but as I dial 911, I know it’s not over. If the cops can’t protect me, my life is over. Travis killed Winston. He won’t quit until he keeps the dark promise he made to him. If he doesn’t kill me, someone else from the Brothers After Dark Club will. My life as I know it is over.
END OF BOOK 1
Thank you for reading. If you enjoyed this book, please consider writing a review.
If you would like to be notified when book 2 in the Brothers after Dark series is released, click HERE to sign up for Dori Lavelle’s newsletter.
Connect with Dori Lavelle
Also by Dori Lavelle
For more books by Dori Lavelle, please visit www.dorilavelle.com.
Before Dark: Brothers after Dark Book 1 Page 13