Forget Me Not

Chapter 18

CHAPTER

EIGHTEEN

ARIS

Later that night, I’m restless in bed. I’ve tossed and turned to the extent that the sheets are twisted and wrapped around my ankles.

I can’t sleep with her scent surrounding me. No matter how much I begged and pleaded, she argued that she didn’t want to sleep in my room yet. That she wanted to take the time and explain how the dynamics of our relationship have changed to Berk.

I don’t blame her for not wanting to jump in head first, but I wish we’d had that conversation with her brother before it was time for bed.

Blowing out a heated breath, I roll over and face my nightstand to look at the time. Three in the morning is late for me to finally fall asleep considering I have to be up in a few short hours in order to head into the office and be on time.

Unless I call in sick.

But I’d hate to do that to my dad considering he let an employee go yesterday and the office will be feeling that loss.

It’ll be hectic and disorderly.

Not because she was an exceptional employee, but because the rumor mill will be out in full force and everyone will be scrambling, wondering if they’ll be the next to be let go.

We need to douse that fire before it gets a chance to grow.

With those thoughts running rampant in my mind, my eyelids grow heavy and exhaustion begins to drag me under into the abyss of sleep.

I jolt awake what only feels like moments later to my phone blaring. My eyes are raw and gritty, and when I glance over to see what time it is, I realize they’re blurry. It takes a second for me to get my wits about me before I reach over and yank my cell phone from its charger.

When I recognize Kayson’s name scrolled across the screen, I instantly answer. “What’s going on?”

“You need to get to the office! Someone set a bomb and blew it up!” Kayson hollers through the receiver. “Kristoff and his team are on their way to your place to watch over Berlynn and Berkley. Something feels fishy about the entire thing, but you’re needed here. You’ve got to deal with the cops while I put out some feelers.”

“I’ll be there in twenty minutes. Hold the fort down until I arrive,” I bark into the phone, already up and jumping into some sweats. “I’ll let Berlynn know what’s happening and then I’ll be on my way.”

“Got it,” Kayson remarks, disconnecting the call.

Once I’ve tossed on my gym shoes, I sprint down the hallway tossing my shirt on. Hating to wake her up, but aware I don’t have any other options, I toss open her bedroom door and head toward the bed.

“Berlynn. Baby, I need you to wake up,” I say, gently shaking her shoulders.

“What’s wrong, Aris?” Concern replaces the sleepy expression on her face once she looks up at me. She sits up and cups my cheek with her palm. “Talk to me.”

Feeling torn about leaving her and Berk here, I reluctantly state, “Someone bombed the office building. I have to head that way and see what the damage is. I didn’t want to leave the house without telling you first. Kristoff and his team are going to be casing the outside perimeter with the night crew. I’m gonna lock up and set the security system, don’t leave this house no matter what.”

“I won’t,” she promises me in a soothing voice. “I’ll go crawl into bed with Berk so he doesn’t take Tracker out without understanding the situation. Be careful, Aris. If this is the work of my dad or his friends, it may be a trap.”

I take her warning to heart, but even if it is a setup, there’s not much I can do about it.

As one of the partners, it’s my duty to be there and it’ll be suspicious if I’m not.

“I’ll be careful, I swear I will. But I need you to do everything you can to keep yourself and Berk safe. I don’t see anyone getting past the guards and security system, but just in case, if you hear anything that sounds questionable, grab Berk and Tracker, then run and hide in the safe room. You remember the combination to get in, right?”

“Yes,” she answers. “It’s the four of our birth months followed by the dates we were born, then I follow it up by adding our graduation month, day, and year.”

“Correct. I’ll see you soon,” I announce, leaning over and pecking her on the lips. “Love you, sweet girl. Keep your eyes and ears open.”

“I will. Now go, Aris. The sooner you get there the sooner you can get back to me.”

It takes every ounce of strength I have within me to leave her side knowing there’s danger around the corner and lurking over the horizon. As her man, it’s my job to protect her and keep her safe, knowing that I’m leaving her alone and vulnerable has my entire body itching and being unable to scratch it has me jittery.

We share a scorching kiss before I finally pull back and walk away. Telling her once again how much I love her I head downstairs, grabbing my wallet and keys from the bowl by the garage door and get into my vehicle.

I have an eerie feeling as I pull out of my driveway. I’m on the outskirts of downtown, living more in the countryside than the city which means it’s dark and spooky as you drive down the asphalt paved road that’ll lead you to the highway.

A chill skates down my spine causing bumps to erupt across my skin as I head into the metropolis neighborhood. My gut is screaming to go back, but my mind hollers that I’m leading danger away from the ones I love most in this world.

And that thought is what pacifies me and keeps my foot on the gas pedal instead of stomping on the break and doing an illegal U-turn.

When I arrive on the scene, I’m relieved to find the building still standing.

Our windows have been shattered due to the explosion, and there’s a fire that had to be put out, but other than that, it looks like things are in good shape. It’s better than what I was expecting to find.

Spotting my dad in the midst of a huddle, I pick up the pace as I head that way to figure out what we need to do and how we should proceed. This is a first for me, my dad as well, but there’s a process that has to be followed, I’m just unsure of what that is.

“Dad!” I shout as I push my way past firefighters and police officers who are trying to contain the bystanders that've come out of the woodwork.

Nosy fuckers.

“Son.” Dad greets me, pulling me in for a back breaking hug. “Can you believe this bullshit? Kayson was fixing to play the video back from the cameras he had installed around the office. Hopefully, we’ll be able to see the culprits and identify them so we can have them arrested.”

“The blast didn’t shut them off?” I ask, turning my attention to Kayson.

“Nope,” Kayson replies, popping the P in his nope. “These bad boys are military grade cameras. They don’t shut down, even when the lens is blown out. We’ll be able to see everything from start to finish.”

“What he isn’t telling you,” Garrick, my private investigator, interrupts. “Is that they placed a multitude of them around the perimeter and not only the building itself. We have it from different angles from assorted parts of town. So not only will we be able to watch the person coming to the office itself, but we’ll be able to see what vehicles they came in and hopefully pick up their plates to identify them by if they happened to be wearing disguises at the time they set the bombs.”

“If they were smart they were,” I add.

“Desperate men don’t always think things through. It’s how they get caught,” Kayson counters. Fuck, I hope he’s right and they didn’t hide who they are from the cameras.

As we all lean in and Kayson hits the play button, my jaw drops.

The culprit I was expecting to see isn’t who sets the bomb on the lower level.

And her, yes her, companion has me seeing red even with the confusion swamping me.

How did this union come about?

Has everything that’s occurred been planned by these assholes since day one?

Since Berk was drugged?

What’s the end game?

Stealing their inheritance?

Is money seriously worth their children’s lives?

“What the fuck?” I gasp out the question.

“You’ve got to be kidding me!” Kayson roars as we studiously watch Lucinda McKinny and Angelica Moorehouse work in tandem to place the detonation devices. “This doesn’t make any sense. Why would the McKinny siblings’ mom, as well as Berk’s attacker be working together? If anything, you’d think that they’d want to hurt Angelica for what she did to their son, not be working side-by-side with her. What are we missing?”

“It’s a distraction,” Garrick announces, his eyes wide as he runs for his car. “Tell Kristoff to get inside and check on the twins!”

My knees wobble as reality sets in.

They wanted us all here so Berlynn and Berkley were left in the house alone. Their only protection being outside.

My brain shuts down.

I don’t recall being escorted to Kayson’s car nor the ride itself, or how I got this gun that’s currently clutched in my hand.

All thoughts are centered around the love of my life and the fact that no harm better have come to her or all bets are off.

I’ll forget that I’m on the right side of the law—I’ll become an outlaw. I may not wear a badge on my hip, but I swore to serve and protect in a different sort of way.

But I make a silent vow, here and now, that I’ll kill every motherfucker who dared put a single finger on her.

They will pay in blood—their own.