Obsessions and Hitmen

Chapter Five: Tequila Confessions

Chapter Five: Tequila Confessions

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POV: *Jude*

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After dropping off her pills, Beau slammed the door in my face. I didn't blame him for the reaction. I couldn't say I would have done anything differently if she had been my girlfriend, but he was also a part of Murin's team.

Something in his facial expression bothered me. It felt like overkill considering Reign had made it safely in their door. However, she had been pretty intoxicated. I was about to turn back to ensure everything was okay when Murin's name came across my phone.

“Klein," I answered, distracted.

“I have something for you to repurpose," Murin said cryptically, but I knew what he was referring to.

He had a body he needed to dispose of. It was part of my training. I got in my car and headed to his home.

It was an unassuming two-story yellow house just outside of the city limits. All the houses on that street looked the same, but every single one for a four-block radius housed the more prominent members of the Horseman mafia.

Alice greeted me at the door holding a pair of gloves. I took them, nodding at her as she blushed and smiled. Suppose I hadn't been so worried for Reign. Instead, I walked passed her to find Murin in his study.

“Alec told me about our friend here and his fatal error in the coffee shop. I did you a favor and took care of him. It's only fitting you be the one to take out this trash," Murin said with a boastful grin and pointed to a bloodied heap on the floor.

I crossed over the heap and looked at the dead man's face better. Sure enough, it had been the man who grabbed Reign that morning.

“Anywhere specific you would like me to dispose of him?" I asked as I put on the gloves I received as a welcome gift.

“Somewhere, he will bring beauty into the world. He didn't choose that when he was alive. Now we will do it for him," Murin said, watching me as I rolled the beaten body up on the rug the stranger had been killed on.

I took my orders and drove him to a community garden center several towns over. It had been shut down years ago, but the homeless in the area gardened there throughout the year. I found a row of roses and uprooted them long enough to place the body beneath them.

These bushes had been untouched for years. After I finished burring my initiation prize, I fixed them up to look like the city had done the improvement themselves.

It wouldn't have been the first time someone came in and put the place in a little more order. A p*ss poor attempt to tell the homeless they wouldn't tear it down around them. Luckily for me, no one would see it until after the winter. The fall harvest had just wrapped up a few weeks prior.

It had taken the whole night. I did my best to clean myself up but didn't have time to wash my jacket. I left it in the car as I ran into the coffee shop. Reign was going to kill me for being late.

Except, Reign wasn't there when I looked across the crowded shop. Fifteen minutes later, I assumed she had already been there and left. Her shift was supposed to start within the hour, and it wasn't like her to skip caffeine or be late for her internship.

A nagging feeling filled me at the nerve endings. I walked out into the cool air to walk to Reign's office. I opened my phone to send her a quick text.

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Me: I am sorry I overslept. Have you already gotten your coffee?

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I had just hit send when Beau called me.

“Klein," I answered as my stomach started to drop.

“Have you seen Reign?" he rushed out at my greeting. The nagging feeling was now sharp, like the chill in the air.

“I have not. I think she may have just gone to work," I answered, knowing he would only call if something weren't right.

“Sh*t. Ok, tell me when you see her next. I am there now," he answered, trying to get off the phone.

“What's going on, Beau? You are supposed to keep tabs on her," I asked, waiting for the explanation that would put me at ease. The long pause before his answer told me I wouldn't relax anytime soon.

“We fought. She left last night. Her phone was left on the kitchen table," he finally admitted, and at that moment, I wished I could have strangled him through the phone.

“Stay put. When I find her, you and I will have a long discussion," I threatened before hanging up the phone to call Nellie.

“Nellie," she chirped as she answered my call.

“Has Reign made it into the office yet?" I asked impatiently.

“No? Is she supposed to? Beau called her in sick," Nellie answered, concerned, and I felt the heat creep into my face.

“So she did not come over last night at all? You haven't seen her since yesterday?" I pried, and I felt her stiffen over the phone.

“No. Jude, what's wrong?" she asked, picking up on my panic.

“Beau says they fought, and she left last night. Trying to track her down now. If you see her, call me," I ordered before I disconnected the line.

I had just turned to get my car when I saw Reign exit a vehicle driven by a man I had never seen. I tossed my phone in my pocket and followed her inside.

“Reign?" I called after her as she took her place in line for coffee.

“Jude?" she said, surprised.

Judging by the disappointment in her tone, I knew she was trying to avoid me. It didn't matter. I could not care less if she wanted to see me or not. I just wanted to make sure she was safe. Something about the whole situation seemed off; aside from wearing the same outfit as the night before, she looked unharmed. The circles under her eyes told me she didn't sleep last night.

“Who was that just now that dropped you off?" I asked, trying not to grill her about where she had been from the gate.

She wouldn't look at me. She held hers.

lf close, and if we were outside, I would have understood. She was in a tank and skirt, but the coffee shop had been uncomfortably warm.

“Worried it was a guy from the bar?" she joked with half the humor.

I clenched my teeth at the thought. It wasn't like her to make jokes like that. Not when she was with someone else, but she might not be with Beau. Not if the fight had been bad enough, and it had to be bad if she stayed the night elsewhere.

“Beau said you left and didn't come home last night," I answered, watching tears well up in her eyes as she turned to face the opposite direction.

She didn't want me to see that reaction, but I couldn't ignore it. Not when I still had no idea why she never went home.

“Did he say anything else?" she asked, and I watched her force herself to stand up straighter, and she brought her hands to her face to wipe the tears she wouldn't let me see fall.

“Reign, where did you go?" I tried.

That was fine if she didn't want to talk about the fight. I just needed to make sure she was ok. She didn't seem to be.

“I stayed with Nellie," she lied, but I didn't call her out.

It was an odd feeling on the outside after spending most of my life ensuring I was aware of her every move. It felt like a failure but not a failure to do my job like it should have been.

“Are you going to work today?" I asked, switching the topic.

All I wanted to do was press her for more information. I wanted to make her tell me how bad that fight had gotten. I needed to know where she had been for the hours I wasn't reachable. Not that she had a phone to reach me with.

“Yeah, I got a lead last night. I need to research," she answered without explaining how she would smooth it over with her boss that she was late.

“Can I walk you there?" I offered, and she shook her head before hugging my neck.

I flinched at her unexpected reaction before I held her tighter to me. She was shaking.

“I don't want to see him," she said softly into my shoulder.

“Beau?" I asked for clarification, and she nodded.

I made eye contact with the barista. She had been another plant from Murin. I held up two fingers and ordered our regular coffees as Reign pulled away from me.

“I'll walk you to your desk," I answered softly, and about ten minutes later we were on our way, coffees in hand.

She didn't say a word our whole way there, but as if she were psychic, Beau was at the entrance. She stopped in her tracks as he locked eyes on her, and that look in his eyes he had last night began to creep into his expression.

I stepped in front of her, blocking his view. He looked up at me as his panic melted into what looked like anger. What the h*ll had I missed?

“I called you in sick. We need to go home and talk about this," Beau attempted to talk to her through me.

“She has no desire, my guy. Let her work, and you and I can have that discussion instead," I tried not to growl as I spoke.

I wasn't sure why I felt the urge to deck him, but when Reign's fingers grabbed my shirt, it took everything in me not to. Something bad happened. I could feel it. It fell off of her in waves. I just wished she would tell me what.

He frustratedly rubbed his face before holding his hands out, palms up.

“Fine, but you and I aren't discussing anything." he gave up and stepped aside, and I walked Reign inside, keeping myself between them.

When I got to the cubicle, she sank into her chair. Her eyes closed for a second as she let out a sigh of relief. What had she expected to happen out there?

I opened my mouth to ask, but Nellie rounded the corner. Reign had waved at her friend as Nellie entered the cubicle, and that was when I saw them. Two nickel-sized bruises were on her arm just above her elbow.

“What happened to your arm?" I growled low enough the cubicles didn't overhear.

Reign's eyes widened as she looked down at the marks.

“Nothing, I must have run into something," she dismissed, but I knew that tone of her voice.

It was the same tone she used to tell me she had stayed with Nellie the night before. I couldn't call her out on it. Not without throwing Nellie under the bus.

I could tell by the resolve on Reign's face I would not get the truth right now. As if on cue, my phone rang. Murin's name flashed across my screen. I had to go. I looked to Nellie, who had been watching us with held breaths.

“Keep an eye on her, please?" I asked Reign's friend, and she nodded.

I hated having to leave Reign when I did not know why she was so upset, to begin with. All I knew was it had something to do with her piece of sh*t boyfriend, and whatever happened those hours, she was nowhere to be found.

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