Page 11 of Taking It Off

“Mr. Matthews, I presume?” My pixelated form distorts my voice and I watch his eyes go wide in panic.

“It wasn’t me. I didn’t touch them. All I did was arrange transportation from one place to another. I never touched those girls,” he insists.

You have to love a guilty conscience. He knew what he did was wrong but did it anyway and took money for it. Dumb fucker. Admitting it just pisses me off more than lying about it would. Like being honest will save his life or something.

“Ah, ah, ah, Matthews. You can’t expect me to believe that you had nothing to do with it besides arranging transportation. You selected those girls. You photographed them. You sold them. And now you have to pay,” I say, floating closer.

His panic grows, because he can’t see me, and I’m not talking anymore. I shove my pixelated hand through his chest and grip his heart. He’s going to die the same way my worthless father did, for the same reasons.

I crush his heart in my hand, then pull it out and drop it on the floor before sliding back into the computer and returning home.

five

BAD NEWS

EMILY

I sleep for two days. Guilt eats at me constantly. I know I’ve gotten texts from Jeremy and Will, but I can’t respond. Not yet. I have to pull myself together. It takes Luke’s text to finally snap me out of it.

I need you. Those three words both bolster me and tear me apart. Would he still need me so much if I hadn’t killed his father? I can’t answer that. There’s no way to know. But I don’t think he would.

I’ll be there in ten. I jump out of bed and shower quickly, thankful that I keep my blonde hair short. I don’t bother with makeup or drying my hair. Both Jeremy and Will explained that Luke’s father was found dead at their family home, and that it looks like murder.

I hate that I’m going to lie to them all, but I know I am. And they’ll believe me, because I’ve given them no reason not to. I throw on a sweatshirt and leggings and race upstairs. I don’t bother to knock because I know they’re all home.

I rush inside, and three sets of eyes land on me. What I don’t expect is for all three to be bloodshot and red-rimmed. They’ve all been crying. Shit. This is worse than I thought. What I’ve done is unforgivable. There is no way we’ll be able to get past this if the truth ever comes out.

“I’m sorry. I was sick and didn’t want to give it to you guys. I got all your messages when I started to feel better this morning.” The lie rolls easily off my tongue. I’ve had a full forty-eight hours to come up with it, after all.

Luke holds his arms open and I fall into them on the couch. He pulls me into his lap and hugs me as if he’s scared, I’m going to get away. I hold him just as tightly, because I actually am scared, he’ll get away. If they ever find out—no, I can’t think about it.

“I’m just glad you’re here now. The funeral is this afternoon. Will you go with us?”

As much as I want to avoid the funeral of the man I killed, I can’t say no to Luke’s simple request. I nod, pulling his head to rest on my shoulder.

“Of course. Whatever you need,” I offer.

“What we need is to find out who did this. Then we need to tear them apart for it,” Jeremy growls. I’ve seen his wolf before but never when it’s been rage induced. It’s thrilling and terrifying. I don’t think I could defeat him in a fight, even if I could shift and escape.

“Revenge is not the answer. Leave the police work to the cops, Jer. Everything happens for a reason, and we may never know what the reason for this is.” Will sounds like the sage older brother, giving advice to his hot-head little brother right now.

“What do you think, Luke? Don’t you want us to go after whoever did this?” Jeremy tries again to rile us up.

Luke shakes his head. “It won’t bring him back. There’s no point. If they find the guy who did it, sure, I’d love to see him get punished. But I won’t be chasing him down myself.”

My heart is breaking for him. I’m relieved that he doesn’t want to hunt me down and tear me apart for what I’ve done. I can’t help but wonder if it would make a difference; knowing it was me.

I don’t have time to worry about it, because we have to get ready to leave for the service. Of course, it’s at Luke’s parents’ house. I’m not worried about pretending I’ve never been there. I doubt they’ll be giving tours. So, I can be pretty confident that I’ll be in a part of the house I’ve never seen.

The service is quiet and reserved. Everyone here clearly has money and isn’t afraid to use it for their whims. Luke keeps me by his side the entire time. It seems as if he expects me to run at any moment. His hand grips mine as people file in, giving their condolences. He nods respectfully, but barely speaks. I find myself thanking them all for him, and it feels weird.

Luke doesn’t bother to introduce me to anyone, so unless they ask, I don’t either. Jeremy walks over with a tall man who looks a lot like him. “Come on, Dad. I just want you to meet her. Then maybe you’ll understand.”

His dad barely looks up from the cell phone in his hand as Jeremy introduces us and I offer my hand. Mr. Franklin glances at it and says, “Yes, yes, very nice. I have to go.”

I can’t stop myself from tapping into his cell phone to see exactly what’s so urgent that he can’t give his son a moment of his time. The message surprises me, and I have to cough to cover my gasp. Someone has texted Franklin about Big_Dick_73’s death. The only reason to do that would be if Franklin was also connected to the trafficking ring.

After he walks away, I turn to Jeremy and Luke. “Do you guys know a lot about your dads’ businesses?” I try to sound casual, but I have to know if my guys are involved. I won’t be able to protect them if they are. To be honest, I wouldn’t want to.

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