Page 11 of Catch My Fall

“Auntie Si was crying,” she continues, before she begins to wail. “Is she okay? I want Auntie Si. I miss her. Why was she crying?”

“It’s okay, baby.” Reese’s attempts to calm Ivy only fuel her cries as she buries her face in Reese’s neck.

“Ivy, where’s the phone now?” I ask.

She sniffs, rubbing her eyes with her hands. “The kitchen.”

I bolt to the kitchen, finding the phone lying discarded on the marble counter top. The photo in question fills the screen and my stomach rolls, my footsteps faltering. I know exactly what I’m seeing, but my brain refuses to process it.

Having not heard anything from Austin for over three days, I’d allowed myself to hope that it meant he wasn’t doing anything to hurt her but with the silence I wasn’t sure whether to be relieved or worried. Relieved that she might have had a moment’s peace, or worried that Austin had done something she couldn’t come back from. At least with a photo, it proved she was still alive.

But as I stare down at the photo in front of me, and as much as I hate to even think it, a deep dark part of my mind wonders if she’d be better off dead.

“Alec?” Reese asks, coming to a stop behind me. She must have left Ivy in the living room to come and find me. She peers over my shoulder and gasps, her hand flying up to cover her mouth to stifle a cry.

It’s a close up of Sierra’s face. Her beautiful toffee brown eyes are red and raw, tears staining her face as the unmistakable shape of a penis stuffs her mouth, choking her. Her eyes bore into the camera, like a silent plea for help. Like she knew we’d see the photo.

There’s a caption attached to the picture. It reads: Your Hudson whore takes cock so well.

I dial the number that sent the photo and unsurprisingly, it’s no longer recognised.

I drop the phone onto the counter and lean against it, letting my head hang forward as I breathe out a heavy breath to quell some of the rage surging through my veins, but it’s no use.

A heavy red cloud descends over me, filling every single cell in my body, and before I realise I’m doing it, Rafe’s phone is in my hand and I’m smashing it against the marble. Shards fly in every direction as the crunch of glass and metal fills the space. I’m unstoppable.

Reese is somewhere behind me crying as I smash the phone over and over again until all that’s left is a million tiny pieces. I don’t stop until there’s nothing left in my hand but a dozen tiny cuts in my palm.

No one will ever see that photo again. Reese, Ivy and I will have to live with that image forever, but no one else ever will. Not if I can help it.

“A—Alec?” Reese’s voice is hesitant as a gentle hand touches my arm.

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done that.”

“No it—it’s fine. I get it. I just… Sierra—” Reese’s voice cracks and without thinking, I wrap her in a hug and she clings to me. “Bring her home, Alec. Please bring her home.”

My jaw clenches, my teeth grinding. “I will. I promise.”

I’ll bring her home, or die trying.

We both turn as the sound of footsteps enter the kitchen but come to a halt. Rafe stands in the doorway wearing a frown, his eyes flicking back and forth between me and Reese.

“What’s going on?” Rafe’s eyes drop to the floor where what’s left of his phone lies in tiny pieces. “Is that my phone? What’s happening?”

“We’re running out of time, that’s what’s happening,” I say, slapping the black silicone case that once held Rafe’s phone in his hand as I storm out of the kitchen without another word.

I’ve got to get out of here.

5

After driving around Halston aimlessly for what must be hours, I somehow end up at a bar on the outskirts of town that I’ve never been to before. I’m not sure how I managed to get here without crashing my car because my mind was definitely not on the road.

Since I left the Hudson’s mansion, my thoughts have continued to swirl around my head, the image of Sierra on Rafe’s phone being one I’m unable to shake from my mind. It’s etched into my brain and no matter how hard I try to shake it, the image only becomes more vivid when I close my eyes, punching me in the gut every single time.

I had to get away from the house, from the Hudsons and take a time out. I feel so out of control with everything that’s happening it’s like I’m trapped on a runaway train running at a hundred miles an hour without any brakes and I have no idea what to do.

“You want another one of those, buddy?” I glance up briefly as the bartender nods to the empty glass in front of me.

“Yeah, keep ‘em coming.”

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