Page 27 of Incoming Layne Shift

Casually he was sitting back in the seat with one hand on top of the steering wheel, the rest of him appearing at ease as he navigated each street on the way to the next location. His right elbow was on the center armrest as he hung his arm over the edge of it. The tattooed word on the back of his hand was in plain sight, WRATH.

“Wrath? Who the hell gets that tattooed on their hand?” It seemed a pretty interesting message to make part of yourself forever.

Gage smirked to himself as he shifted in his seat. “You’d be amazed at what types of tattoos I’ve gotten over the years. This particular one just happens to be a promise I’ve made.”

Growing more curious, Layne’s eyes roamed over his body while he drove. What other tattoos were hidden underneath all those clothes? “What type of promise?”

His voice grew more solemn. “To repay anyone who ever takes something from me again.” In particular, to whoever had a hand in plucking his precious Rose from this lifetime.

All this time, he felt her eyes roaming over him and he suppressed the urge to look over at her and acknowledge it. The one thing he couldn’t suppress was the way his cock twitched between his legs knowing he had her attention.

It didn’t take much for the day to get away from them after several more stops checking in on a few establishments. There had been a variety of places on Layne’s agenda, including a convenience store, a commercial real estate office, and the Brass Mirror.

After receiving several updates from Joey, it was clear that he was going to be lucky to wrap things up before the next morning’s daybreak. Gage was far too happy to hear that his duties were still required well past the time frame he had expected.

Since it was beyond closing time at McGregor’s, Layne figured she might as well get this awkward discussion out of the way with Sean to see if he was able to track down the accounting error she had discovered in his books.

Standing outside of the pub, she stopped and looked at Gage. “What are the chances of you staying out here so I can have this talk with Sean privately?”

He seemed to take a moment to mull over the response before he flatly responded. “None.” Gage grinned as he leaned in, with his hand on the small of her back. “But, after this, I will take you home and you can tell me how close you want me.” The innuendo was poorly hidden as the words held a husky purr to them.

“Keep dreaming.” She stepped away from him and pulled on the front door to McGregor’s. It didn’t budge, the deadbolt already being turned. It was unusual for Sean to lock things up knowing she was stopping by. Fortunately, she had a copy of the key.

Flipping through each of her keys, she found the correct one and twisted it in the deadbolt. Letting herself inside, the place was cast in an unsettling pitch black. Sean had known she was coming, why would he have closed things up and left? Her hand reached over and flipped on the light switch that she knew was just to the left of the entrance.

The bar area lit up and exposed a horrific site before her. Bar stools were broken and cast aside, tables on their sides, glasses shattered, all the photos on the walls destroyed, and ultimate destruction had left no part of the front room of the pub untouched. Aggressive and angry red spray paint stained the back wall where the iconic McGregor’s handmade sign and logo were still proudly on display.

Sprawled in all caps was a very clear message: BACK OFF BITCH. YOU’RE NEXT. Layne had a sick feeling expanding in the pit of her stomach. She carefully stepped over the trash scattered across the floor. “What the fuck?” Her words were barely audible even to herself.

Gage’s head was on a swivel as he took in the devastating state of affairs in the same bar he had been in just earlier that day. “Layne, I don’t like this.” He kept close to her.

She chose to ignore him as she called out, “Sean? Sean, are you here?!”

When she made it to the back of the main area where the back room began, she reached a hand out to flip the switch to turn on that section of lights. Gage saw it before her brain registered the grotesque sight awaiting her discovery.

Despite his iron-like grasp snagging her backward and turning her into him, it was too late. The horror had already been captured by her vision. Sean’s body hung from a blood-stained rope in the center of the backroom where her family had conducted so many meetings and negotiations over the years.

Adding insult to injury, Sean hadn’t only been hanged but vertically ripped open leaving a sickening display of gore and guts pouring down the front of his body. Layne’s brain had trouble reconciling the terrifying and grisly image, but once it did all she could hear was her scream ripping through the air. It couldn’t have been Sean, it couldn’t have been real, and it sure as hell couldn’t have been a random and meaningless act of horrendous violence.

“Fuck.” Gage’s hand clasped to the back of her head making sure she didn’t turn back to see any more than she already had. He had seen some sick shit before, but even with his iron stomach, this was one for the top of the charts leaving even him queasy.

Layne’s scream against his chest made him ache to take away what she had just seen, wishing he could erase this memory for her. She may have been one hell of a badass woman, but she still had a soul deep inside of her that could hurt.

When her voice couldn’t find any more sound to expel, her body began to tremble in his arms. Her form felt like it suddenly had no bones to support it, and Gage’s strength was the only thing to prevent her from collapsing onto the floor.

“We need to get the fuck out of here.” His arms easily supported her as he tried to walk her back to the front door. When he noticed her feet were unable to coordinate her movements, Gage leaned down and scooped her up with her legs draped over one arm and his other supporting her across her back. “I got you. Up you go, baby.”

His hold was steadfast as he quickly navigated the destruction and got them both the hell out of there. If he could have driven without releasing his secure hold on her, he sure as shit would have done it. Instead, he managed to slide her into the front seat before taking up his spot behind the wheel.

Layne doubled over in her seat trying to fight through her heavy breaths as her face got buried in her hands. She had no doubts that the threatening note had been meant for her. The problem was figuring out who she was pissing off badly enough for them to send the type of message that was now burnt deep into her brain.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

She found herself sitting on the edge of her king-sized bed in the master bedroom staring into a glass half-filled with straight Irish whiskey courtesy of Gage. The amber tones were muted by the darkness of the room, save for the one small lamp lit up on one of the nightstands.

Gage had driven her back home, stopping at least once so she could wretch up the contents of her stomach. He had stopped being the aggressive flirt long enough to hold her hair back away from her face despite her protests that she wasn’t inept. After getting her back to O’Reilly Manor and settled upstairs, he kept a watchful eye over her.

Layne watched the drink’s small ripples in her unsteady hands as her brain tried to eliminate the grotesque imagery of not just the hanging of someone she knew, but the exposure of his insides as well. Victims who found the end of the rope were nothing like how movies portrayed it. It was a far more disturbing sight with eyes bulging from their sockets and darkened by all the broken blood vessels. This is why she preferred simple shootings, they were quick, to the point, and not messy. What she had seen tonight probably had Eric Ellis beaming with pride in whatever circle of hell he was in.

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