Page 47 of Only The Strong

46

REESE

Finn unlocks Callum’sfront door and pushes it open, switching on the lights for the living room and kitchen on his way to the refrigerator. I follow him and sit on the barstool across from him while he leans against the counter, I place my gun down before he tosses me a bottle of water.

“He’s gonna be okay, Princess. I got his back.” Finn rumbles his blue gaze hard.

“I know, I just can't relax until this is over, we’ve been here before.” I turn the bottle cap over and over in my fingers. “I think I’m gonna go shower and change,” I say, standing from the island, and Finn nods.

Being back in Callum’s house is so comforting, we’ve had nothing but great times here. It’s comforting to be around his things. I close his bedroom door before walking into the master bath, I lean into the mirror over the sink and swipe at the smeared mascara under my eyes. I turn around to switch the shower on when I hear a loud crash downstairs. I pause, listening intently, and then hear another. I run through the bathroom and bedroom and rush down the stairs. I round the corner and stop. My brain takes several seconds to take in the scene and catch up to what's happening. The bar cart by the back sliding door is in pieces with several of the bottles smashed and liquids pooling around it, next to the cart is a giant hole in the wall. My eyes land on Finn panting on his knees, a line of blood trickling down his face from his eyebrow. He’s glaring absolute murder at me. Finally, I look behind him to see the absolute last person I ever expected to see.

“What are you doing, Eli?” My eyebrows inch together on my forehead.

Eli stands behind Finn, sweating and breathing heavily, holding a hand to his side and a gun pointed to the back of Finn’s head. I try to subtly look for my gun that I left on the counter, but it isn't there anymore. “Looking for this?” Eli asks cheerily, pulling my gun from behind his back and my heart sinks.

“Run, Reese,” Finn says, his voice calm but there's a very slight waver of fear laced into it.

I turn my head towards the door, contemplating doing just that, but before I can make a decision Eli calmly says, “Run and I’ll kill him.” I turn back around to face Eli, ready to ask what he wants.

“Fucking run!” Finn bellows, the walls seem to shake with the volume, and this time I listen.

I turn and sprint for the front door, behind me I hear a loud smack and I can’t help but turn my head back. Never look back. I see Finn laying in a heap on the floor right before Eli barrels into me and tackles me to the floor. His hands enclose my throat and squeeze tight, and mine fly up to dig into his wrists, hoping the pain will cause him to loosen his grip a bit. He doesn't let up even though I can feel my nails breaking skin and I kick my legs trying to crawl away from him but it's no use, his weight and tight grip keep me pinned where I am.

“I’m sorry, Reesey,” Eli says before he lifts my head off of the floor and slams it back down against the hard floor. The first hit has me dazed, but the second hit had my eyes rolling back and me falling into blackness.

47

CALLUM

I walk through the clubhouse,Tobi, Wyatt, and Leo are sitting around a table and Tobi points me towards the stairs. I take them two at a time and stalk to Mason’s room, which is the one next to my old room, at the end of the hall. I push the door the rest of the way open and stalk in. Mason and Miles are hunched over several monitors with Saint and Ronan standing behind them with their arms crossed whispering to each other.

“Okay, what's going on?” I snap, everyone turning to look at me.

“I called Miles over to help and stay behind in case we needed anything.” Mason starts, his dark hood hanging around his neck.

“That doesn't answer my question,” I reply, annoyed.

Mason looks at me like he’s ready to throttle me for being rude, but he has the decency and brains to back down. “We caught another glitch in the camera feed. We don't know how it went undetected but when he wiped the cameras he cut out too soon and didn’t erase him leaving Reese’s apartment.”

My eyebrows pull together. “So he broke it another time?”

Mason nods. “The morning after we hosted the O’Connell Family.”

I shake my head, that can't be right. “But I was there that morning. Nothing happened. Pull the feed up, I want to see it,” I demand. There’s no fucking way this guy got into that apartment with me there.

“Give me a minute,” Miles says from a few feet away from Mason, tapping at his keyboard. “Here ya go, Cale.” He points to one of his screens and then leans back in his chair.

I watch the camera feed of Reese’s front door, the sun barely coming up but the frame is empty, then the feed goes completely black, then it flicks back to Reese’s door and a man locking the door. He keeps his head down, avoiding the camera, but something alerts him and he quickly looks over his shoulder exposing the side of his face to the camera. I still, recognizing him instantly.

“We’ve already started running facial recognition, but it takes a little while with only half of his face. Got any idea who he is so we can speed this along?” Miles rubs his thumb and finger along his dark bearded chin.

“Yeah,” I answer, still stunned. “His name is Eli and he works at the University with Reese’s ex.”

“I’ll check the University’s website directory, got any idea what department?” Mason asks.

I chuckle darkly, a lot of shit starting to make sense, but the biggest question is still unanswered. “Fucking IT.”

Mason nods his head while he pulls up the website. “Well, that answers some things.” He searches the website and the room is silent. Saint and Ronan are still standing behind us in the small room, not saying a word. “Elijah Murphy.” Mason finally announces.

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