Chapter 434
I know it’s risky and probably stupid, but at this point I’m willing to follow any instinct that might lead me closer to Val. Maybe Noah’s men missed something. Maybe there’s still a clue hidden there waiting for someone to notice it.
Quickly, I jump into the shower and then get ready. I leave the guestroom and thankfully Lilly isn’t home because there’s no way she would let me leave alone if she knew what I was planning.
Before I can second-guess myself, I quickly grab my keys and bag and head out.
The drive there is tense from beginning to end, my mind constantly battling itself the entire way. Part of me knows this is reckless, but another part keeps whispering what if. What if there’s something there everyone else overlooked? What if this is the lead that changes everything?
Then another thought hits me halfway there… What if someone already bought the house and moved in? But even that possibility quickly fades because most people avoid houses tied to murders, especially ones that made headlines the way this one did.
By the time I finally pull up outside the house, my stomach is twisted into knots.
I stay seated in the car for a long moment staring at the property while silently debating whether I’ve completely lost my mind. Eventually I force myself to get out anyway, trying to ignore the uneasy feeling crawling beneath my skin.
The air feels colder than it should as I walk toward the house, a shiver immediately running down my spine. I stop instinctively and glance around the empty street, but there’s no one there and nothing looks out of place, but still the feeling doesn’t leave.
I exhale slowly and try to brush it off as nerves because honestly, breaking into a house where someone was murdered would make anyone uneasy.
The front door is locked exactly as expected, so I move around toward the back only to find that door locked too. I stare at it for a second before reaching into my hair and pulling out one of the pins holding it back.
Lilly taught me how to pick locks when we were seventeen so that we could easily break into Uncle Gabe’s liquor cabinet because he always had the good stuff.
Back then it had been harmless teenage stupidity, but now my hands shake while I use the same trick to break into this house.
After a few tense seconds, the lock finally clicks open. I slowly push the door inward and I step inside. The air immediately feels stale. Dust clings to most of the furniture, and it’s eerily quiet. So quiet that I can hear myself breathe.
I begin searching carefully, checking every room and every corner for anything that might point toward Brook or Val. I’m just searching a drawer in the living room when I suddenly hear a noise.
My entire body freezes instantly and I stop moving. I strain my ears, listening carefully, but after a few seconds, silence settles over the house again.
I release a shaky breath and force myself to move, convincing myself that it’s just nerves, but the chill crawling down my spine refuses to go away.
I resume what I was doing and a minute later, I hear a sound again and this time it’s louder. Before I can even react, a hand suddenly clamps over my mouth from behind.
My body locks up immediately and for one horrifying second, I’m thrown right back to that night months ago when someone tried to kidnap me.
The stranger starts dragging me backward instantly, as panic explodes inside me like a fucking bomb. At first, I can barely react because shock freezes my limbs, but then survival instinct finally crashes through the fear.
Last time Adrian saved me, but this time there’s no one here. If I don’t do something, then this might just be my end.
I begin thrashing against the man’s grip while he drags me backward, cursing under his breath every time I struggle harder. When fighting against his strength doesn’t work, I do the first thing that comes to mind; I bite him so hard, I swear I taste blood.
“Fucking bitch!” the man yells instantly and jerks his hand away while clutching it.
The second I’m free, I grab the nearest thing I can find and slam it against his forehead with everything I have.
The crack echoes through the room and blood immediately starts running down his face as he stares at me in stunned disbelief, but I’m not satisfied because as long as he’s still standing, he’s still dangerous.
Before I can even think about it, I grab something else nearby and hit him again. This time his body drops onto the floor, his eyes rolling back before he goes completely still.
For a moment I just stand there breathing hard while staring at him in shock over what I just did before I come back to my senses, reach for my phone, and once again call Noah.