Always For You (Books 1-3) (26 page)

I moved back in as she spoke again. She
seemed to be in a state of mild shock, her voice emotionless. “He
knows I was with John that night. He thinks – that I killed him.”

“How?! What, did you tell him or
something?!”

She shook her head and passed me a
note. “It's a letter I left for Katie in case I didn't come back
that night,” she said as I skimmed over the words. “He must have
found it.”

I read it through twice, my eyes
darting over Grace's handwriting. “Where did he go,” I said
suddenly, looking up at her from the letter in my hands. “Where did
Chase go?”

She continued to cry and sniff as she
shook her head. “I don't know. He just – he just ran away. I
didn't get a chance to explain, he just took off.”

Fuck, he could be going to the police.
Surely he wouldn't do that, not to Grace, not to the girl he loved.

“We have to find him,” I said,
shaking her out of her stupor. “Grace, you have to talk to him,
explain what happened.”

Her breathing was quick now, like she
was about to have a panic attack. “But I don't know where he is,”
she said again, “I wouldn't know where to start.”

“Think,” I said, kneeling in front
of her, my hands on her knees, “where would he go?”

“I don't know, it could be anywhere.”

“Have you tried calling him yet?”

She shook her head.

“Well do it now. Quick.”

She took up her phone and dialed the
number. It went straight to voicemail. She tried again. Nothing.

“OK, OK,” I said, thinking, “we
have to try to find him. Grace, you need to talk to him.”

I grabbed her arm and pulled her up.
“Stay here a moment, I need to tell Emily.”

I turned and rushed off out of the door
and into the living area. Emily was stood there, a couple of drunk
guys around her with sleazy looks in their eyes. I ran straight
towards her and past the guys. “Em, I need to go out quickly, with
Grace. Are you OK here for now?”

“I'll be fine,” she said, nodding,
“what's going on?”

“It's nothing major, Grace is just
upset after her argument with Chase and he's run off. We're gonna
just see if we can find him.”

“OK,” she said, “I'll stay here
for now.” She leaned in and gave me a kiss on the cheek. “I've
had fun tonight Cain,” she said smiling.

I smiled back. “Me too Em, I'll see
you in a bit.”

There was no time for anything else, no
time to shut the party down and throw everyone out. We had to find
Chase, and we had to find him now. 

January 11
^th
2014

Cain

I
rushed out of the building into the dark night, Grace trailing behind
me.
Where
should we start? Where would he go?
His
car was still there, parked in the secure lot to the side of the
building, so he must have gone on foot. He had to be close.

“Grace,” I said, turning towards
her, “we need to split up. Call me if you find him, OK, call me
straight away.”

She nodded, still not completely with
it. “And Grace,” I said, “stay safe OK. If you need me, call
me.”

With that I turned and paced down the
street towards my bike, jumping onto it and cruising down the road. I
had no time to care that I was over the limit, no time to worry about
anything. I drove around, turning off down side streets and looking
for signs of life.

I
slowed as I passed by bars, peering in through the windows to catch
sight of him.
He
wouldn't have gone anywhere like that, no way. He'd be somewhere
quiet, he'd want to be alone. He'd want to think.

I
didn't know this area of town that well, so I was flying blind,
shooting this way and that in the hope that I'd see him. It was hope,
not expectation, but I had to try. I passed a police station, and
stopped, waiting there for a moment to see if he'd come out.
He
wouldn't do that. Not after hearing Grace out. No way.

I kept on going, checking every street
on every block around the building. The streets were quiet, with few
cars around and little going on. Most of the nightlife was in another
part of town, not here. Here it was all residential apartment blocks
and tall office buildings with the odd garden or park scattered here
and there.

I
checked the clock on my phone – 12.30 AM. I hadn't heard anything
from Grace. I called her, the phone ringing several times before
going to voicemail. I tried again but this time it just clicked
straight off. For f
ucks
sake, what was she doing?

Grace

My mind was still turning over in my
head as Cain rushed off down the road towards his bike. He was so
good in a crisis, always knowing what to do. He'd have been great in
the army, such a cool head.

I don't know whether the alcohol was
kicking in more or whether I was just lightheaded through shedding
all those tears, but I felt a little wobbly as I went off down the
road in the opposite direction to Cain. I really had no idea where to
start looking for Chase – he could be anywhere.

His car was still there though, so he
would probably be in foot. If only I knew this place better, had
lived here longer, I'd probably know if there was anywhere he would
go to think. Somewhere quiet where he could be alone.

I
was terrified that he wasn't thinking straight, that he'd go to the
police. We should have called the police that night, rather than
trying to cover everything up. It was self defense, all of it, they'd
have understood.
Why
didn't we do that, why did we let it come to this?

I
continued to wander around, racking my brain for anywhere he might
go. The streets were so quiet, with few people walking here and there
and even fewer cars.
Where
could he be? Would he go to a bar? Not on a Saturday night, surely.

I quickly realized how futile my
efforts were, how little ground I could cover walking around on foot.
Cain had zipped off on his bike, scouring the streets at ten times my
pace. I'd never find him like this. But I had to try, had to keep
looking.

I saw a car drive by quietly as I
turned up a side street, coming from behind me and parking beyond me
about 50 yards up the road. It was so quiet down here, with only
empty office buildings on either side of the street. I could see a
figure inside the car as I pressed on, siting motionless in the front
seat.

I
continued, giving the car a wide berth as I continued. My heart
quickened slightly as I approached. There was something unsettling
about it all, with no one else around, only tall dark buildings for
company. I quickened my pace as I approached the car, half jogging as
I passed by and glancing over towards the driver behind the glass. He
wore a hood, his face shrouded, his body so still.

As I moved past the car on my right I
heard a sudden click as the door opened. I turned my head to glance
over my shoulder and saw him, a man stepping right up behind me. I
tried to run but felt him at my back, grabbing me on the arms and
pulling me towards him. I tried to scream but his hand was quickly to
my mouth, muffling my cries.

I struggled, wriggling like a fish as
he dragged me back towards his car. He was strong, my frantic
movement nothing to him. Then, suddenly, a felt a sharp pain to the
back of my head as he hit me with something. Immediately my vision
started to blur as my movements relented, allowing him to easily
throw my onto the backseat.

He got in the car and started the
engine, driving off up the road as everything began fading before my
eyes. I heard my phone ring, faintly in the back of my mind, and
groggily reached for it. The car screeched to a stop as he twisted
his body to the back of the car and grabbed the phone from me,
shutting it off.

“Sleep now,” he said, his voice
raspy, as he hit me again. Then, it all went black.

Cain

I
continued to zip around the streets searching for Chase, my mind now
turning to Grace.
Was
she OK? Why did her phone ring first and then go dead. Maybe she'd
found him and they were talking it all out. The ringing phone would
only be a disturbance so she probably shut it off. Yeah, that would
be it.

I
tried it one more time to be sure, the phone going straight to
voicemail again. It had been a good 45 minutes now and he wasn't
anywhere in the area around his apartment.
Grace
must have found him.

I decided that it would be best to head
back, see if maybe she'd – they'd – returned to the apartment. I
turned my bike around and began cruising slowly back towards their
building, my eyes still scanning for signs of Chase just in case.

I passed by a dark park, enclosed by
buildings, several trees blocking the light of the moon and casting
black shadows over the grass. I squinted my eyes for a better look
and saw a figure, sitting on a bench by a tree, his shape barely
visible under the shadow.

I stopped my bike to the side of the
road and crept off it, staring into the blackness as I walked towards
the park. The figure was sitting on the bench, a bottle in his hand,
swigging out of it like a drunk. As I moved closer the shape came
into focus: he was wearing a pair of smart trousers and white shirt,
his hair neat and jaw square. It was Chase.

He looked over to me as I walked
closer, the bottle of whiskey half drunk, his eyes lost of their
brightness. “Chase,” I said as I neared, “you need to talk to
Grace.”

He stared up at me, his face contorting
in anger. “And why do you say that?” he said, his words less
precise than usual, muddied by the whiskey.

“Because I spoke to her,” I said
slowly. “I know what happened, Chase – I know what happened with
John.”

His eyes sparked back to life when he
heard the name, his words coming at me fast. “You know? How do you
know? What do you know?” He stood up as he spoke, pacing towards me
menacingly, aggressively.

“I think you need to talk to Grace
about this. She can explain everything to you.” I remained calm,
not turning my gaze from his. I didn't feel intimidated by him, I'd
faced a lot worse.

“No!” he shouted, his words cutting
through the silence, “you tell me. Tell me now!”

I thought for a second.
Maybe it
would be better coming from me. Maybe I'd explain things better, give
him time to think about it before he sees Grace. I don't know this
guy properly, he might be violent, might hurt her. Best he hears now.

“OK,” I said after a moment.

“TELL ME!” he shouted again, his
impatience building, the alcohol making him overly aggressive.

It didn't faze me, I'd been around
enough angry drunks to know how to deal with them. “Sit down,” I
said slowly, my words carrying their own menace, “and I'll tell
you.”

He breathed deep and slowly stepped
back to sit on the bench. “Now,” he said again, controlling his
words, “tell me.”

I started immediately, unleashing the
truth on Chase, ready in case he reacted badly. “It was self
defense Chase. There were things about John that you didn't know, a
dark side that he wouldn't share with anyone. He was blackmailing
Grace, forcing her to submit to him – submit sexually.”

I saw him flinch at the words, shaking
his head. “No, no, he wouldn't do that. Not John, no.”

“I'm sorry Chase, but it's the truth.
That night, Grace was doing it for you, doing it to protect you both.
He was sick. You weren't there, you don't know...”I stopped, the
rage inside me beginning to build again at the thought, at the
memory.

He continued to shake his head, quietly
speaking. “I don't believe it, not John, he'd never do that.”

I continued, calming my anger. “It's
the truth,” I said with authority. “I know it's hard to believe,
but it's the truth.”

“And you,” he said, “why were you
there? Why did he die?!” His voice was raising again, his anger
overflowing.

“I had only just found out that Grace
was my sister. I was there to talk to her, and I saw her get into
this car. It didn't look right, she didn't look happy, so I followed
to make sure she was OK. They went to the mansion and I saw what he
did. He drugged her Chase, he drugged her and she collapsed. I didn't
know what he was going to do, so I stepped in. He attacked me,
stabbed me with a knife, he was going to kill me and – Grace saved
me.”

Chase sat there, unmoving but for a
light shake of his head. His face was grave now, trying to take it
all in, trying to understand.

“She hit him on the head with
something.” I continued. “She was only doing it to save me, to
stop him from stabbing me again, from killing me. She did nothing
wrong Chase, nothing.”

“So it was her?” he asked quietly.
“She killed him?”

“No,” I said quickly. “He came at
me again and, I grabbed the knife and - I had no choice.”

He slowly lifted his head up to me.
“You killed John? You killed him?” His voice was raising again as
he slowly got to his feet.

I stepped back slowly, my words clear.
“I had no choice,” I said, “there was no choice.”

He launched himself at me suddenly,
swinging his fist towards me. I saw it coming and ducked away, his
hand missing by a whisker. I swerved to one side, putting my hands up
to calm him down.

“Chase, you don't want to do this.”

He came again, swinging at me
drunkenly, his face etched with fury, his eyes burning. He continued
to swing and miss as I easily stepped from side to side, ducking and
swerving, but not fighting back.

“Calm down Chase, I don't want to
fight you.”