Total pages in book: 96
Estimated words: 90607 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 453(@200wpm)___ 362(@250wpm)___ 302(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 90607 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 453(@200wpm)___ 362(@250wpm)___ 302(@300wpm)
Pat stepped into the room, all the while aware of Ava upstairs.
Grant inserted the cable, and Bull clicked away, bringing up the images on the screen. There were several camera angles, all displayed at once.
“You’re going to need to put it to about two hours ago,” Pat said.
Bull went too far, and Pat saw himself arrive with Ava, kiss her, and then leave. The angle changed, and the whole club was able to finally see Lauren. She was in the kitchen, her hair tied back into a hairnet.
“Does it have sound?”
“Yeah,” Rip said. “She said getting this system nearly put her out of business before she even started. I told her I wanted to check it out and make sure it wasn’t ruined.”
The tape continued:
Ava was smiling as she came into the kitchen. “Hey, wow, okay, you look a little rushed off your feet.”
Different camera angles showed different sides of Lauren. The smile on her face was sweet.
“I know. I know. But I was out on my date, and it kind of ran over.”
“A date? Do I ever get to meet this guy, or girl?” Ava asked.
Lauren laughed. “It is a guy, and I don’t know. Maybe one day, but at the moment, we’re taking it slow. He told me he is not used to nice women. I think he might have said ‘girl,’ but he’s used to women who sleep with him.” Lauren frowned.
“So, you and this mystery man haven’t had sex?”
“No, no, and I’m not ready.”
“You’re not?”
“Well, sex is so ... naked, and I don’t think I’m ready to go that far just yet.”
“We can skip ahead,” Rip said.
“I’m a virgin,” Lauren said. “I have been so focused on my career and getting this place to work, that I have not considered men or boys, or anything.”
Ava smiled.
Grant finally moved the clip forward, and he got to see as the two worked. Out in the parking lot, neither of the girls realized what was about to happen. A car pulled up, and one man, wearing a ski mask and holding a baseball bat, came across the parking lot. He didn’t even go in the front, which suggested this man had stalked the place out. Also, Pat noticed the guy immediately wore the ski mask.
He couldn’t help but look toward Rip. The other brother wasn’t showing any sign, only his hands clenched at his sides.
“Rip, man, you don’t have to watch this.”
“I wasn’t there,” Rip said. “I didn’t warn her. She needed me.”
Grant had paused it. “Look, guys, I’m not going to lie, it’s brutal. We saw Lauren’s body, and he beat the crap out of her. There was no way anyone was going to survive.”
Rip gritted his teeth. “I need to see this.”
And after a second’s pause, they all watched. Lauren asked Ava to go to the fridge to grab some more butter. That was when it happened.
The man mumbled something and then they saw Lauren get hit across the face. The moment she did, she threw herself into the fridge, shoving the door closed.
“Did none of you fucking hear that?” Grant asked.
Pat was shocked as Grant rewound the video and then turned up the sound.
“Ava?”
He rewound it again.
“Ava?”
And then he paused it. “Lauren responded to the name Ava,” Grant said. “The guy was going after Ava.” And then, he played the video again.
They watched as Lauren literally pushed the fridge door closed, and he even saw her securing it. The attack didn’t stop, and Pat glanced to Rip.
It was over in a short time, and throughout it all, the man wore a ski mask.
He heard the sound of Ava from the fridge, screaming to let her out. The guy looked toward it, but it was like he had come for the person he had, and then left.
The room was silent, and they watched Ava from the fridge as she pressed against the door, slamming her body against it. She kicked and shoved, then she started to rummage around the stacks, finally breaking one of the trolleys and using it to pry the door. The fridge must have had some kind of timer, as she slammed it against the fridge, and without a word, it opened.
Then, Pat saw what had covered Ava in blood. She went straight to Lauren, trying to do CPR, trying to stop the bleeding, only Lauren had died.
This was heartbreaking to see, as Ava came to realize what had happened.
In the blood were some keys, and they watched as Ava scrambled out of the kitchen, falling through the blood, and then stumbling out toward the car.
It was then that Pat knew Ava had been the target, and the only thing that had saved her was her raven hair. The dye that seemed to be taking forever to wash out.
“We need to get Ava’s family here and now,” Pat said. “Someone is going after the club, and he’s targeting the people we know.”