Page 76 of Tess, Property of Blaze

Blaze

My eyes flutter open as I try to remember what happened last night. The sun’s flooding through the windows, and it takes me a moment to realize it’s now morning. Fuck, did we have a big night?

I try to lift my head, but a shooting pain strikes at the back of it. What the fuck happened? Last thing I remember was unlocking the door and walking into the house.

I lay there for a while, then hear the sound of my phone ringing. I reach down to my pocket and pull it out and adjust my eyes to see the screen. It’s Prez.

I bring the phone up to my ear. “Hey, man.”

“Where are you?” he says, his tone panicked.

“I’m at home, why? What’s up?” I ask, getting up on my knees and cursing at the same time.

“It’s Tess, man, she’s… she’s….” His voice breaks, and then there’s silence.

My heart sinks as I realize Tess isn’t here, that I’m alone in the house. Memories of two men come back to me—they were dragging her out of the house, had masks on. One of them hit me over the head with something. That’s why I can’t remember shit.

My hand reaches up to feel the back of my head and there’s dried blood there.

“Where the fuck is she?” I growl, getting to my feet and grabbing the wall as I try to gain my balance.

“I think I should come and see you.”

“Just tell me where the fuck she is!” I shout, my head throbbing painfully.

The phone goes silent. “Prez, you there? Can you hear me?”

“Yeah, I’m here,” he says, and I hear him blow out a deep breath. “Tess is dead, brother. She’s gone. I’m so sorry.”

I can’t breathe for a few seconds, then I choke out, “Wait, what did you say? I think I heard you say Tess is dead.”

“She is, man, she was taken last night by the Forseekers. The car they were in… it smashed through a fence and went over a cliff, hit the water. Blaze—”

“No! It can’t be. She was just here, we were together last night.”

I hear a waver in Quill’s voice, and it’s deep and low when he says, “I’m so sorry, Blaze. We all loved her.”

The hand holding my phone drops down to my side, the phone falling to the ground. No… she can’t be dead. No…. Not my Tess.

Blood rushes to my head, and I can still hear Prez on the phone, asking me if I’m there. The room spins around me, but I hold on, trying desperately to keep standing. I know I must go to her, see for myself that she’s… gone. I drop to my knees as a feeling of dread and unfathomable grief fills me, and I bang my fist on the floor. “No! No!” I scream with rage, banging the floor over and over again until my hand’s numb. My whole body’s numb. I wipe my tears away roughly with the back of my hand and stand, ignoring nausea the action causes. I’m still wobbly on my feet, but that’s not going to stop me from getting to her. I pick up my keys from the floor and head out to my bike.

Covering my face from the sun outside, I feel my head throb even harder. “Please, God. Help me get to her,” I whisper to the wind. I’m not usually a spiritual man, but I’d pray to the heavens above if it would bring her back to me. I struggle to slide my leg over my bike, then grab my sunglasses from the saddlebag. Sliding them on, I start up my bike and slowly take off toward the ocean.

A short distance away, I notice black tire marks on the road, and ahead in the distance is a police car blocking off the side of what seems to be a broken fence, with crime scene tape around the area where the car must have crashed through. I switch my bike off and don’t even bother putting the kickstand down in my haste to find out what’s happening. I hear it fall to the ground as I make my way toward the scene, but I don’t care, I need to get to her. I need to see for myself.

Police surround the area, making sure no one is getting through. I don’t give a shit. I walk straight past them and shove the tape over my head.

“Hey, boy, you better get your ass over the line,” a cop says, shoving me back. I pull his hand off me and strike him in the face. “One down, more to go.” Instantly two policemen grab both my arms, forcing me back. “Let me go!” I yell. “I need to see her. That’s my woman down there.”

Anger and frustration are coursing through me, and they try to hold me back but they’re not strong enough. I pull myself out of their grip and head over to the clifftop. I spot an SUV being pulled out of the water and up toward the cliff face, and my eyes scan around, trying to see any trace of her. Anything that proves she’s dead.

A body bag is being strapped down to a rescue board, then is lifted into the air by a helicopter above. It transports the body to a waiting ambulance as I continue to evade the police, and once the helicopter lands behind us, I manage to get to it without being captured. Fear and dread fill me as I reach the body. I drop to my knees beside it and take a deep breath, tears coursing down my face.

Fuck! Please don’t be Tess, please don’t be Tess. God, I’ll do anything—I promise—anything to make sure she’s okay.

Slowly and hesitantly I unzip the bag before anyone notices me. Police turn up then and try to stop me, but my boys come rushing over. I didn’t even hear the sounds of their bikes to know they’d arrived. I look down at the half-opened body bag, then back up to my brothers. They’re all being held back by the police now, and a paramedic is making his way toward me.

Quill growls, and yells, “Let him see her! It’s his woman, he has a right to look for himself.”

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