Page 57 of Zen's Crash

Crow takes out his phone and calls Siege. They talk for a bit, then he hands the phone to me.

“Hello, Siege, it’s Lexi.”

“Do you know this fucker? Yes, or no?”

“No. He’s wearing a scarred-up version of my father’s face, though, so I’m gonna assume we’re related.”

Zen’s voice sounds loud and clear, alerting me that I’m on speakerphone. “Were you aware that your dad had a twin brother?”

“No. Of course not. I would have said something if I had known. There’s something else you should know. I have an online friend from Australia who called, saying he was passingthrough. He wanted me to meet up with him and grab some coffee.”

“Tell me you did not meet with a total stranger while you’re in the middle of being stalked,” Zen responds with concern in his voice.

“I may be many things, but I’m not stupid. I told him no way. But then the guy who honestly looks enough like my father to be his twin said something weird. He said I should have taken Terry up on that invitation to get coffee because it would have made it easier for him to abduct me while I was in transit. The guy I’ve been talking to for several years with the online name ‘MadHitter’ is this man’s son, which would make him my cousin. Do you see how sick and twisted this is getting? MadHitter is Terrance Harris.”

Zen’s voice morphs into active anger. “You mean because a biological relative was making cut-and-paste comics of you with a nude body?”

“None of the images he cobbled together look like my actual body, but just the fact he went there is gross.”

“Roger that,” Siege agrees. “Is there anything else we should know?”

“I got the strong feeling that although the two of them hate women in general, and one or both of them have a history of killing random women, their main interest in me was killing me. The guy we captured said my father should have warned me, and implied it was his duty to do so. I remember when my dad locked me in the safe room, he apologized and said there was so much he should have told me. I’m scared because I don’t know what all this means.”

A short silence spins out, and then Siege speaks. “Crow, take Lexi back to the clubhouse. I want you to be eyes-on with her until we get back. Terrance Harris is still in the wind, and we need to get him.”

I panic and rush to add, “Please be careful. I have a bad feeling about this situation.”

Rigs speaks for the first time. “There sure the hell is enough going on with this situation to give us all a bad gut feeling. Don’t worry, Miss Lexi. We’ll look out for each other.”

When the screen goes black, Crow jerks his chin towards the clubhouse. “We’d best get you back to the clubhouse where you’ll be safe.”

We walk back in silence. “Come with me. I’m gonna go down and make sure the asshole who tried to abduct you is locked up and being guarded properly. Then we’ll head back up to the bar and you can get yourself a nice fluffy drink with a little umbrella in it.”

Although that doesn’t sound appealing, because my stomach is churning, I let it slide. Right now, things are all wonky. These guys just saved me from getting abducted, and they’re doing everything possible to set things right again. I need to just go with the flow and not make any trouble until Zen gets back.

Truth be told, I’m still weirded out by the fact that my father had a twin. My feet come to a stop while I’m walking, almost making me trip as I realize the reason my father was tracking this guy so long and hard—he didn’t want the man wearing his face to be terrorizing and killing women. I mean, it had to be the father because some of the killings went back years. His son would be my age. If he were older, it wouldn’t be by much,because my mother had me when my dad was about twenty-five.

Crow stops walking and turns to me. “What’s up, Lexi? Why’d you stop walking?”

“Zen and I have been thinking Terrance Harris is the serial killer. Now that I’ve met his father, I know he’s much younger than we thought. Some of the murders we found on the flash drives were years ago. That means his dad has to be the serial killer.”

“If that’s true, you did the world a favor by getting us involved. We’ll make sure he doesn’t end up on the streets to kill again. Let’s get going. I want to make sure this asshole is locked down tight.”

“I’ll stay right with you this time,” I assure him.

“It’s fine. Once we check on him, you can do as you like, and it’s my responsibility to stay right with you.”

I flash him a tired smile, because this guy has a quirky sense of humor. “I like the symmetry involved there.”

We go downstairs to what can only be described as a tiny jail cell. “So this is what you do with your bad boys, right?”

Crow’s head cranks around to look at me, and he grins. “By rights, we’d all be considered bad boys here. The cell is reserved for those individuals who are too violent to be shown any hospitality by our club. It’s for our enemies.”

I nod. “This guy wearing my father’s face definitely qualifies as an enemy.”

“With any luck, Zen, Rigs, Siege, and the others will catch up with the other one at some point today, and we can get to the bottom of this.”

I wait in the middle of the basement and watch him check in with the prospects and double-check the lock on the door. Then we head upstairs to the bar area. I can see Cindy and Kayla sitting at one of the tables, looking bored. I glance up at Crow, and he gives an indulgent jerk of his chin in their direction. “Go on. Sit with your friends. I’ll be keeping an eye on you from the bar.”

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