Born to Fight

Chapter 5

Celeste

I was in my room with Jamie, packing the few things I would need, when Josh walked in.

Freeze was sprawled across the middle of my bed like he owned the place, completely unconcerned by the chaos that had taken over my life. I couldn’t help the small smile that tugged at my lips.

Apparently, Loki wasn’t the only German Shepherd with a personality.

As Jamie and I continued packing, I became increasingly aware of Josh.

He kept looking at me.

Not casually.

It was more like he was studying me.

Every time I caught him staring, his eyes immediately darted away.

It was strange.

And, if I was being honest, it was beginning to make me nervous.

Had I done something?

Did he not like me?

Or was there something else going on?

I glanced at Jamie, wondering if I should ask him, but decided against it.

I’d talk to him later.

Whatever was going on with Josh, I had enough problems tonight without adding another one to the list.

Once we’d gathered everything I needed, we carried my bags downstairs and out to Jamie’s truck.

Josh started loading the bags while Jamie and I went back inside for Loki’s things.

I grabbed a backpack and filled it with everything Loki would need while we were staying at their house. Jamie disappeared into the pantry and came back carrying a large bag of dry dog food.

When Josh walked back inside, Jamie handed it straight to him.

“Can you take this out?”

Josh gave him a look.

“Seriously?”

Jamie’s mouth twitched.

“You’re stronger than me.”

“That’s bullshit.”

“Probably.”

Josh muttered something under his breath as he grabbed the bag and headed outside.

I couldn’t help but smile.

A few moments later, he returned.

Jamie immediately handed him a box of tinned dog food.

Josh stared at him.

Jamie stared back.

Neither said a word.

Josh sighed dramatically before taking the box.

I pressed my lips together to stop myself from laughing.

Poor Josh.

He was being turned into a pack mule.

And I wasn’t even sure he liked me.

When he disappeared outside again, Jamie came over to the kitchen table where I was finishing Loki’s bag.

I zipped it closed and handed it to him.

“That’s everything.”

“Got it.”

I walked over to the kitchen bench and reached for the keys hanging beside the phone. My fingers closed around my mother’s keyring.

For a moment, I simply stared at them.

Mom’s keys.

The last ordinary thing I would probably ever touch that belonged to her.

My throat tightened.

I quickly shoved the feeling aside and turned toward the back door.

I grabbed Loki’s leash from its hook and stepped outside.

The moment I opened the door, Loki was on me.

He had been on edge ever since the attack, and the constant movement of people through the house hadn’t helped.

He pressed himself against me, his body tense, his eyes constantly scanning his surroundings.

“Loki,” I whispered, running a hand over his head. “It’s okay.”

His attention immediately shifted toward Jamie.

A low growl rumbled in his throat.

“Loki.”

He looked at me.

“He’s a friend.”

At least, I hoped he was.

Because the last thing I needed was to discover that the man I’d trusted enough to call in the middle of the night was actually some kind of psychopath.

Apparently, my standards for trusting people had dropped considerably in the last few hours.

I clipped Loki’s leash onto his collar and quietly led him around the side of the house.

Jamie stayed beside me.

Neither of us said much.

There wasn’t much left to say.

My mother was dead.

My home was a crime scene.

And I was leaving everything I had ever known behind.

We reached the truck, and Jamie opened the back door.

“Loki, up.”

He hesitated.

I gave him a gentle nudge.

“Go on, boy.”

He climbed inside.

Jamie secured his leash through the seat belt so he couldn’t wander around while we were driving.

Freeze was already settled into a custom-built kennel in the truck bed.

Once my belongings were secured in the lockbox, we climbed into the truck.

I looked back at my house.

My home.

Mom’s home.

The place where I had grown up.

Where she had raised me.

Where everything had been normal just hours ago.

Now it looked like a stranger’s house.

I swallowed hard.

Jamie started the engine.

I forced myself to look away.

As we pulled out, I didn’t know it yet, but I wasn’t just leaving my home behind.

I was leaving my old life.

And there was no going back.

⸻

The drive to Jamie and Josh’s house was mostly silent.

I stared out the window, watching the familiar streets disappear behind us.

Eventually, the darkness began to lighten.

A faint glow appeared on the horizon.

Dawn.

It felt wrong.

The world was waking up as mine had fallen apart.

When we finally turned onto a long driveway, I lifted my head.

I hadn’t expected their house to be so impressive.

The two-story home sat on fourteen acres, surrounded by open land and trees. Out the back was an enormous covered entertainment area overlooking an in-ground pool.

There was even a billiard table and a fully stocked-looking wet bar.

I glanced at Jamie.

“You two live here?”

He chuckled.

“Surprised?”

“Honestly? A little.”

Josh snorted from beside us.

“What did you expect? A dirty apartment with beer cans everywhere?”

I shrugged.

“Maybe.”

He laughed.

“Rude.”

Despite everything, I found myself smiling.

It was the first genuine smile I’d managed since Mom died.

The house itself was beautiful.

The kitchen had marble countertops, solid timber cabinetry and stainless-steel appliances. The living room was warm and comfortable, with a huge gunmetal-grey modular sofa that looked like it could swallow a person whole.

And somehow, despite the fact that two single military men lived here, the place was spotless.

I looked at Josh.

“Do you actually clean?”

He looked offended.

“Of course we clean.”

Jamie laughed.

“He means Lilly cleans when she visits.”

Josh glared at him.

“Traitor.”

For the first time that night, I felt something other than fear.

Normal.

Almost.

They showed me upstairs and stopped outside a bedroom.

“This one’s yours,” Jamie said.

I looked across the hallway.

“And that’s yours?”

He nodded toward the room opposite mine.

“Yeah.”

The knowledge that Jamie would be right there somehow made me feel safer.

Maybe because he was the only person in the world I’d spoken to who hadn’t disappeared when things got ugly.

I stepped inside.

The room was beautiful.

A solid timber queen-sized bed sat against one wall, with matching bedside tables and a tallboy. There was a dressing table with a winged mirror and, in the corner, a comfortable-looking blue recliner.

I could already picture myself sitting there with a book.

It felt peaceful.

Safe.

Two things I desperately needed.

“Thank you,” I whispered.

Jamie gave me a small smile.

“You don’t have to thank us.”

I looked at Loki.

“Can he stay in here?”

“Of course.”

Relief washed through me.

Loki wasn’t just my dog anymore.

He was the last piece of Mom I had left.

The last living thing that connected me to her.

I unpacked what little I had brought upstairs and then went into the bathroom to wash up.

When I finally climbed into bed, the exhaustion hit me.

I pulled the covers over myself.

Loki jumped up and curled himself at the end of the bed.

I reached down and rested my hand against his warm fur.

The heavy curtains blocked out the faint light beginning to creep across the sky.

For a moment, the room was completely dark.

And then my mind began replaying everything.

The shouting.

The footsteps.

Mom screaming.

The gunshot.

I squeezed my eyes shut.

It hadn’t been a nightmare.

It had happened.

My mother was dead.

And I was seventeen years old, lying in a stranger’s house with a dog beside me, trying to understand how my entire world had disappeared in a matter of minutes.

I had no idea who had killed her.

I didn’t know what they wanted.

I didn’t know why they had been looking for Billy.

My father.

A man I had never met.

A man who had abandoned Mom before I was even born.

And somehow, he was connected to the reason she was dead.

A sob caught in my throat.

The tears came before I could stop them.

I turned onto my side and buried my face against Loki’s fur.

“I want my mum,” I whispered.

Loki shifted closer.

I wrapped my arms around him.

For the first time since the attack, I allowed myself to cry.

Because underneath the shock and confusion, one terrifying thought refused to leave me alone.

If those men had been willing to kill Mom to find Billy…

What would they do if they came looking for me?

⸻

Jamie

By the time Josh and I had gotten Celeste settled into the house, the sun was beginning to rise.

She had barely spoken since we left her home.

I couldn’t blame her.

The girl had watched her mother die.

Now she was sleeping—or at least trying to—in a house belonging to two men she’d barely known before tonight.

I just hoped she felt safe here.

Because the truth was, Josh and I weren’t nearly as confident about her safety as we’d pretended to be.

We both had the same concern.

Celeste had seen the men who killed her mother.

If they discovered she was still alive, she could become their next target.

Neither of us wanted to say that out loud.

Not after everything she’d already been through.

I headed outside to the entertainment area.

Josh was already there, leaning over the pool table.

Freeze was stretched out on one of the outdoor tables, watching him with the same lazy expression he’d had all night.

Josh sank another ball and reached for his beer.

I grabbed one from the bar fridge and sat on a stool.

For several seconds, neither of us spoke.

Then I broke the silence.

“So…”

Josh glanced at me.

“You want to talk about what happened at Celeste’s house?”

His expression immediately changed.

He put his beer down.

“I’ve been thinking about it.”

“And?”

“I think I need to call Dad.”

I nodded.

“Probably a good idea.”

Josh rubbed a hand over his jaw.

“I need to find out how he wants to handle this.”

“Meaning?”

He looked toward the house.

“Meaning Celeste might be family.”

Even though we’d already discussed it, hearing him say it again sent a chill through me.

Josh looked down at the pool table.

“If I’m right, then she’s the only family we’ve got left.”

I leaned back.

“Then talk to your dad.”

Josh nodded.

“But there’s something else.”

I waited.

He hesitated.

“What?”

“I don’t know what Dad is going to say.”

“Neither do I.”

Josh picked up his beer but didn’t drink it.

“Because if Celeste really is his daughter…”

He stopped.

I knew exactly what he was thinking.

There was more to this than a long-lost daughter.

Much more.

“Whatever you do,” I said, “don’t mention any of this to Cindy yet.”

Josh groaned.

“Trust me. I wasn’t planning on it.”

“Good.”

“Because she’ll go straight into surgeon mode.”

I almost laughed.

“Exactly. And Celeste doesn’t need a hundred questions thrown at her right now.”

Josh nodded.

“She needs time.”

“She needs to feel safe.”

We both fell silent.

My eyes drifted toward the house.

Behind those walls was a seventeen-year-old girl who had lost everything in a single night.

And somewhere out there was a man named Billy Avery.

A man Josh believed was his father.

A man who had apparently walked away from Celeste and her mother years ago.

Now someone had murdered Tina looking for him.

I couldn’t shake the feeling that the timing wasn’t a coincidence.

There was a secret buried somewhere in Celeste’s past.

And whatever that secret was, someone had already killed to keep it hidden.

I took another drink of my beer.

“Let’s hope your dad has some answers.”

Josh stared toward the house.

“Yeah.”

His voice was barely above a whisper.

“Because I think Celeste is about to find out that the life she thought she knew was never the whole truth.”