Page 105 of Ricochet
Theo never put any effort into getting to know her. Maybe if he did, we wouldn’t be in this predicament now, where I had to plan the best way to get her out of this town.
“Fine.”
“Thank you.”
“I was going to go there anyway, but since you asked so nicely—”
“You’re such a psycho.”
“Awww, thank you. I haven’t heard such originality in a very long time. Did you come up with that nickname yourself?”
“Just...” the line started breaking up. “Get there, okay? Now.”
What crawled into his panties tonight?
Unfortunately, all of my indifference fled out of the room the moment he hung up on me, and the unfamiliar sense of dread pooled at the pit of my stomach.
What if he was right and something was going on there?
Without another thought, I grabbed my car keys and ran out into the night. I just hoped Theo was pulling a prank on me, or that Ava was exaggerating.
I said it once,and I would say it a million more times—December had such terrible weather, and the position of our little town didn’t help much. The openness to the Atlantic Ocean meant that we were getting slammed by the worst possible wind during this period of the year, and my stupid ass kept forgetting to wear warmer clothes.
As soon as I got to the Nightingale Mansion, I noticed two things.
The guards weren’t on their usual post at the gate, and the said gate was wide open, not a light in sight. That was fucking weird.
Okay, calm down, Ophelia. Just because nobody was here didn’t mean that something bad was happening. Right?
I parked my car in front of the main door, turning off the ignition and trying to see if anyone was around. Logan Nightingale was a paranoid piece of shit, and two guards were always stationed at the front door, with the other two on the main gate.
Then why was it completely deserted, and why were none of the lights on the pathway on?
I slowly exited the car, slamming the door shut, and started walking toward the main door. The knife I strapped to my thigh felt heavy, and I prayed to every single deity that I won’t have to use it tonight. I really wasn’t in the mood for another attack, and least of all the one that could endanger Ava.
The door was unlocked, and I pushed it wide open, revealing an even darker foyer. A strong sense of deja vu hit me, the events of a night so long ago still fresh in my mind. The night my father took my innocence away from me, the night I truly saw who my mother was, and the night that man bled to death thanks to me.
The floor creaked beneath me with every step I took, and I gripped the handle of the knife, getting ready for the worst. I almost fell, stumbling over something on the ground.
It took me a minute for my eyes to adjust to the darkness, but even without a light, I could see what it was. Rather, who it was.
One of the guards laid in front of me, his eyes wide open, focused on the ceiling. I pulled my phone out, turning on the flashlight. The first thing I saw was the gunshot wound between his eyes.
Fuck, fuck, fuck, double fucking fuck.
My eyes scanned my surroundings, the training I had kicking in. Whoever killed him wasn’t trying to rob the house. No. The bullet between the eyes was a clear indicator that whoever it was, absofuckinglutely knew what they were doing. Shit, the one time I needed to take my gun with me, I didn’t.
I pulled my knife out of its holder and started walking deeper into the house, stepping over the guard.
He was already dead, and the only important thing was that Ava was okay.
The soft glow of light coming from the kitchen illuminated the hallway, and I started heading that way, hoping she managed to get to the panic room in the basement.
“Come on, come on. Just be okay.”
With each step, my heart threatened to jump out of my chest. I hadn’t felt like this since my first mission, and even then, it wasn’t because I was scared for somebody else’s life. It was because I knew I would enjoy it.
Now, this was my best friend, my soul sister, the other half of me. If something happened to her, there would be hell to pay.
