Deadly Past (Deadly Series Book 3) Read online

  “Luke Dallas, you’re such an asshole. I’m going to be late for work now!” She then turns and walks into her bedroom, leaving me wondering what the hell I just did.

  I follow her and hear her talking to herself, I stand against the door with my arms crossed listening to her, as she roots through her drawers.

  “Fucking asshole, talks to me like that and gets me all worked up. Then goes and leaves. Bastard.” She’s pissed, and I can’t help but smile.

  “Now my panties are soaked, and I have to change them, and I’m going to be late. Bastard.”

  Wait for what?

  “Your panties are wet?” I ask, and I scare her as she jumps, and I see she is holding a black lacy thong. I also notice that her boots are off.

  “Jesus, Luke. You scared the crap out of me. I thought you left?” She says as she proceeds to pull off her jeans and her panties and put on her new ones.

  I’m mesmerized as I watch this. I can’t stop watching. She puts back on her jeans and sits on the bed as she puts on her knee-high boots.

  “Umm, hello? I thought you were leaving.”

  “Why the hell did you change your panties?” She actually looks at me like I’m stupid.

  “Morgan, what the hell?”

  She sighs. “Because of you. Because you were talking dirty. I told you before what that does to me.”

  I start chuckling. “I’m not going to apologize for that. I have to go. I’ve got to get Scott.” I walk over to her on the bed and kiss her, she kisses me back. I pull back, wishing I could retake her, but knowing neither of us has the time for it I withdraw.

  “Be good. I’ll see you soon.” She nods, and her eyes are unfocused. I love knowing I can do that to her.

  Chapter Ten

  Luke

  I pull into dad’s driveway and know that my sister is here as her car is parked out front. Scott and I walk into the house and see that Winter is here also, she looks worried.

  “What’s wrong Wints, Sam not putting out?” Scott asks, and before I get a chance to smack the shit out of him, dad does it.

  “What the hell is the matter with you?” Dad says giving Scott a disapproving look.

  “Maddie’s on her way.” Soph tells us, that explains the worried look Winter has.

  Sophia, Maddie and Winter were best friends since Kindergarten until Maddie accused Winter of lying about getting raped. Sophia chose to stand by Winter who was so broken effectively ending their friendship with Maddie.

  Ever since then Sophia made Winter her priority. Sophia was in the army and overseas when Winter was assaulted. Winter, being the kind and caring woman, she is, didn’t tell anyone and had kept it a secret until Sophia came home. Once Soph found out, she has tried to help Winter come to terms with what happened. Winter met Sam, not that long ago. They are completely inseparable, and Sam is pulling her out of herself and giving her the confidence she once had back. Sam works with Soph at Smithy International, he was also a member of her unit while she was in the army.

  “Is Hailey coming too?” Scott’s eagerness is showing, causing Soph to laugh.

  “Very, subtle, and yeah she is.” Soph sounds distracted and I know it’s because she doesn’t want Winter hurt but, also the death of Connor is weighing heavily on everyone.

  “How’s Nathan?” I change the subject and get a grateful look from Scott.

  “He’s hurting a lot more than he’s letting on. I couldn’t imagine the pain he’s going through.” Soph says and I know that she felt a bit of what Nathan’s going through when Winter was kidnapped.

  “Where is he?” I haven’t seen him since we we’re at the hospital.

  “He went to Emma’s house. He wanted to check on her and Clara.” Tears spring to Winter’s eyes and I know that she’s going to miss Connor, they had grown into really good friends. He visited her while she was living in Maui, and she’ll be going back there after Sophia’s wedding.

  Emma is Connor’s sister and Clara is Emma’s seven year-old daughter, I haven’t seen them in a while, but I do know that Connor was a big part of their lives.

  ***

  Maddie just left and I want to kill the bitch, she told Winter that she was lying about the rape. Basically, being a complete bitch. We knew that already, she didn’t need to come here and prove it even more. Winter has gone to take a nap, and I don’t blame her, she’s been through a lot and the hits just keep coming.

  Winter did something I wanted to do, hell, probably what we all wanted to do, slap the fucking bitch. She should have gotten more than one slap in. Maddie is a bitch and she didn’t just unleash her bitchiness on Winter and Sophia, she unleashed it on her sister Hailey too.

  She told everyone that Hailey’s boyfriend is beating her, I’m glad that she told us, but she didn’t tell us to help Hailey, she told us to gain the upper hand and for that, I wished Hailey got up and slapped her. When Scott heard that Hailey’s being physically abused, it seems to have given him the shove he needed to realize that he needs Hailey in his life. We’ve all known for a long time that Hailey and Scott belong together.

  ***

  I’m on my laptop looking at houses, I haven’t seen one that I’m remotely interested in when Scott walks into the living room. I glance up at him from the chair and notice he’s staring at me, “What’s wrong?” He looks like he’s about to commit murder.

  He walks to the sofa and sits down. “What am I going to do Luke? This guy she’s with, he’s been hurting her. It’s all my fault.” He looks gutted and I knew this was coming.

  “How is it your fault? You’re not the one hurting her. Are you finally manning up and claiming her?” I say and watch as he doesn’t even react to my comment about him manning up.

  “Yes, she’s mine damn it. She’s always been mine.” He finally admits what we all have known for the past decade.

  “Do you love her?” He looks at me like I’ve gone mad. But I’m genuinely interested.

  “Yeah, I really do love her. I think I always have. But seeing her hurt? Fuck Luke, I want to kill the bastard. I want to take her and lock up her up to keep her safe.” I feel like that when I know Morgan is going into a bad situation.

  “What about you and Morgan?”

  “What about Morgan and me?” He gives me his smirk, and I know he’s going to say something stupid.

  “Well, I noticed you didn’t come home last night, and I presumed it was because you got your act together and got her back. Soph has been saying that she doesn’t know anything about her. She doesn’t even know her name, she just knows there is a woman involved. She’s been asking me if I know. I haven’t said anything except you will tell us when you’re ready.”

  “I guess, I should tell her. It’s just that we only sorted things out last night and you know Soph, she’ll stick her nose in and try and take charge. I’m a grown man and don’t need nor want my sister involved in my relationship.”

  He nods his head in understanding. “I know what you mean, as soon as she found out about Hailey she asked me what I’m going to do about it. I love Soph more than anything in this world. She’s my little sister, but she interferes way too much. How is Morgan?” He’s asking because I know that he genuinely likes Morgan and he thinks she has a good effect on me. Whatever that means.

  I nod my head. “Morgan is good, same as she always was. Beautiful, funny, and smart. I was such a dick to her Scott, I really hurt her, and she has blown it off like it doesn’t matter. She also told me she would tell me about her family, by the sounds of things, her family life wasn’t all that good.”

  “Luke, she forgave you, take it for the blessing it really is and learn never to make that mistake again.”

  I’m about to say something when I hear a blood-curdling scream. I know it’s Soph, Scott and I are out of our seats and into the hall in a matter of seconds. We see Soph standing in Winter’s room, and as we get closer I see blood and my stomach clenches. I walk into the room and acid rises up my throat, and I push it back do
wn; the room looks like something out of a horror scene. There is so much blood – it’s everywhere. There’s are big spots of blood on the bed and the floor. I look around the room, and there is a path of blood leading out the doors and I know, she’s gone. I stand there glued, looking at the doors. I can’t believe she was taken under our noses. How the hell did he cause this much damage without any of us hearing anything?

  I feel someone touch me and I turn to see Soph.

  “Luke, we have to call the police and Sam.” She has tears streaming down her face, and she’s as pale as a ghost.

  “I’ve checked everywhere, she’s gone,” Dad says from the doorway and once again the acid rises, and I push it back down.

  “Okay, I’ll call Morgan, then I’ll call Sam.” She’s not even listening to me, she is too transfixed at the scene in front of her, I put my hand on her arm and gently pull, she gets the idea and starts walking with me.

  Once we get out of the bedroom, I pull my cell out of my pocket and call Morgan. Thankfully it doesn’t take her too long to answer.

  “Hey, Luke!” She sounds tired. She needs a decent sleep. I know that she doesn’t sleep very well, most nights she’ll only sleep about three to four hours.

  “Morgan, I need you.” Is all I manage to get out, and I hear Soph start to sob.

  “What’s wrong?” She’s fully alert now. She’s currently in cop mode, and I know she will do whatever she can to find Winter.

  "Winter is gone. There are signs of a struggle. The room is covered in blood and we didn't hear a thing!"

  I look to the sitting room and see Dad sitting in the chair looking devastated, and Scott looks murderous is trying to console him. I get it, we were meant to be looking after her and we failed.

  “I’m on my way. I’ll be there in twenty.” She tells me and then hangs up.

  I put my cell into my pocket, and I look to Soph, and she is looking directly at me. There is much sadness in her eyes that I want to look away, but I don’t. Instead, I walk over to her and wrap my arms around her.

  “Morgan will be here in twenty minutes, less if she can.” I try and reassure her, but even I know those twenty minutes could mean life or death.

  “Call Sam. He has to know. I’m going to call Nathan.” She then picks up her cell and calls him, I walk away and dial Sam, dreading telling him this.

  “Hey, have a good sleep?” He sounds happy, he mustn’t have looked at who was calling him before he answered. He thinks it’s Winter.

  “Hey, it’s Luke, Winter’s gone.” I must sound cold, but there is no gentle way of telling someone that the person they love is gone.

  “Gone? What do you mean gone?” He’s confused, and I don’t blame him, Soph walks up to me, and I can tell from her face she spoke to Nathan.

  “He’s dropping the boys with his sister, then coming here.” She whispers to me, and I turn my attention back to Sam.

  “Fuck! She wanted to rest after the shit Maddie said. Soph went to check on her a few minutes ago and the room was empty. We’ve searched the whole house. She’s gone. We’ve called the cops, and they are on the way.” I can’t tell him how bad that room is.

  “What? You're not telling me everything. Put Sophia on the phone.” He doesn’t shout, but his tone is louder than it usually is and Sophia hears him, she places her hand on my arm and gestures for the phone. I hand it over to her and watch as she tells her friend how badly hurt her best friend is.

  “Hello? Sam, where are you?” She can’t keep the fear and the pain out of her voice, and I know that Sam has picked up on that.

  “He’s got her Sam. She’s hurt. That fucker took her. I’m going to fucking kill him.” She cries, I hate to see her cry. I put my arm around her, and she leans her head on my shoulder.

  “There’s blood in the bedroom. I’m not going to lie to you, there’s a lot of blood. She must be really injured.”

  Fuck. Sophia’s tone is making me want to kill someone. I can’t believe we let this happen.

  “See you soon Sam, I’ll keep you updated on the way. Be safe.” She hangs up and gives me back my phone.

  “I take it he’s on his way?” Scott asks, and I didn’t even hear him walk up to us.

  “Yeah, he’ll be a while.” Is all she says and turns back and looks at the bedroom. Her face is still white.

  ***

  It took Sam, just over an hour to get here, he is so angry and I don’t blame him. They all left about an hour ago, Sam, Nathan, Scott, and Morgan. Nathan and Scott work as Private Investigators. Sam is part of Smithy International, same as Sophia, they work with Ryder, Oscar, and Skye. They we’re in the same unit as Soph when she was in the army. Ryder was their Sergeant, Oscar is their tech guy, he still is and Skye, well she comes across all sweet, but she’ll tear you apart if need be.

  Soph and I are sitting waiting for news. Sam was pissed at us all, I get that. I do, but I don’t think I made the wrong call, by calling Morgan first. Yeah, I should have called Oscar as he is good with computers and could find out things quicker than Morgan. It didn’t even cross my mind. I know why he’s mad, but there is no need to take it out on Morgan.

  Think of the devil, and she calls.

  “Hey, Morgan. Everything okay?”

  “Luke, we’ve found her, you need to get to the hospital as soon as possible.” I can tell by the tone of her voice it’s bad.

  “Is she alive?” As soon as the words are out of my mouth, I hear Soph gasp, and she runs over to me.

  “Yes, she has a weak pulse. She’s on the way to the hospital as we speak. I have to go, I have to get to the hospital. I love you, Luke,” She says it so softly that my heart clenches.

  Before I can say anything, she hangs up.

  “Come on Soph, let’s go to the hospital. She’s alive, she’s in an ambulance on the way heading there as we speak but she is okay.” Soph nods as my phone rings, and I glance down and notice Nathan is calling me. I answer, and he doesn’t even give me a chance to speak.

  “Are you in the same room as Soph?” He growls done the phone at me. Pissing me off in the process.

  “Obviously. Where else am I going to be?” I know it comes out sarcastically, but I don’t have it in me to give a fuck.

  “Then fucking get into a different room.” He’s in a bitchy mood, but there’s no need take it out on me.

  I do as he says as I don’t want Soph to hear. I walk into the kitchen. “We’re about to leave, what the fuck is your problem. Watch your tone, Nath.”

  “I don’t give a fuck if you were about to leave” He doesn’t even acknowledge what I just said.

  “Want to tell me what crawled up your ass?”

  “Right, want to tell me why nobody called Oscar and why everyone was waiting in your Dad’s house for over a fucking hour?”

  Oh, here we go.

  “I called the cops. I didn’t even think about calling the guys, do you know what it’s like seeing that room?” I’m not having him talking to me like this.

  “Bullshit”

  “Fuck you, Nathan. You were called before I even called the cops, Dwayne works for you. How come you never called him?” Dwayne is Nathan’s Tech guy.

  “Total fucking bullshit. Bring Soph to the hospital. Steer fucking clear, I’m warning you, Luke. Steven, Scott, your girlfriend and you had better steer fucking clear of Sam and me.” And then he hangs up, and I’m mad as hell, how fucking dare he?

  I walk back into the sitting room and see Soph waiting for me. I don’t say anything, just walk out of the house and get into Soph’s car, as Scott has mine.

  ***

  We make it to the hospital, and as we walk in, we hear Sam ranting at Morgan. “How about you fuck off, you have done enough. If you had bothered doing your job in the first place, my woman wouldn’t be somewhere in this goddamn hospital fighting for her life.”

  Sophia starts to cry, and Sam turns to us. “You all waited an hour before you did anything. Steven, you’re a fucking detective. Luke,
you’re an A.D.A. Scott, you are a bodyguard and P.I and you Soph? You work beside us for almost ten years. Winter’s your best friend. So, there is no excuse for not making a call and looking for her.”

  I look at Morgan and she seems upset. I want to kill Sam right now.

  “You're blaming us?” Dad asks and sounds really shocked. I see Scott’s face and see I’m not the only one that’s pissed off.

  “As soon as we knew she was missing the police were called so were Nathan and you.”

  “You were supposed to keep her safe. You didn’t. You didn’t bother looking for her. So, hell yes I blame you.” He doesn’t let any of us talk, he just walks away and walks through the doors that lead towards the waiting room.

  I walk over to Morgan. “Luke.” I pull her into my arms.

  “He hates me.” Her voice is muffled against my chest.

  “He’s upset, he doesn’t mean it.” I kiss the top of her head, and she melts into me.

  “I have to take statements. Then talk to Winter.” She’s not looking forward to it at all. I felt her stiffen when she mentioned talking to Winter.

  “Winter will talk to you, she’s not a bitch.” She doesn’t relax, she’s so wound up.

  “I’m going to go wait in the waiting room. I’ll be at your place later okay?” She nods and leans up and kisses my lips. I give her a final kiss back, and I leave her to do her job.

  I walk into the waiting room, and you can see the different sides, Ryder, Oscar, Dwayne, Nathan, and Sophia are all on one side of the room with Sam. Dad, Scott, and Skye are on the other. No one is saying anything.

  I walk over to Dad and take a seat. We're not waiting that long when the doctor comes out. We hang back as Sam gets there first. I watch as Dad’s face falls and he just sits defeated. We can hear everything that the doctor says and it’s a relief knowing that she’s okay. So, when Sam and Soph start to move to go and see her, Scott and I have the same idea, we both stand and pull Dad up with us and begin to follow them.

  “Dad, she’s our family, we are going to make sure she is okay,” I tell him and watch the relief in his eyes. I don’t understand why he is so defeated. We didn’t do anything wrong. I think he believes the nonsense that Sam was spewing.