Page 79 of Keeping Collette

“I’ve got to get out of here,” Deal muttered, and headed toward the front door. He’d been pacing around the apartment and drumming his fingers against his leg for the last hour. He needed to lose some of this excess energy, but he would also need it the moment they had to go rescue Collette. And Cass would find her.

“Let me come with you,” Hound said, meeting him at the door. “I’ve got my cell.”

“Don’t go too far,” Fox cautioned, as if they were going to go on a three-mile walk.

Deal planned to go down to the corner and back again, just enough to shake off the urgency to do something other than wait for Cass to get them the information they needed.

The cool night air hit them as they exited the building, and for the first time since he’d walked out of the elevator and saw Collette’s door ajar, he breathed deep.

There weren’t many people on the street, and considering the time it wasn’t surprising, but Deal remained on alert. They had no idea if Jim was working alone, or if there was someone else watching the building, waiting for them to come out.

They were about fifty feet from the building when they heard someone screaming for help.

“What the fuck?” Deal said, as he broke out in a sprint toward where the person was still screaming. Hound was right beside him.

He skidded to a halt when he found a woman bent over someone, another person stood to the side still calling out.

“What’s happened?” Deal bent to see if he could render assistance, while Hound went over to the other woman and calmed her, so she’d stopped screaming.

“I don’t know. My girlfriend and I were coming home and found this woman bleeding,” her voice was calm, as if this was something she’d seen before. “We’re too late. She’s been stabbed in the abdomen, and by the look of the other wound, in her heart as well.”

“Are you a medical person?” Deal asked, her summary was precise, as if she had a lot of practice saying it.

“Yes, I’m an ER nurse. Tina Smart. My girlfriend is Mattie.”

“Kayce Simmonds.” He took a good look at the woman’s face and swore. It was the same person who they’d seen on the video caught in Collette’s apartment hallway. “Hound, we’ve got a problem.”

“Do you know her?” Tina asked.

“Not directly,” he muttered.

“Shit, I’ll call the others,” Hound said.

“Who are you two?” Suspicion laced Tina’s tone, and considering what she’d found, he didn’t blame her.

“We work for Alliez Security, and this woman was seen outside my girlfriend’s apartment, who’s now missing.” Saying the words out loud didn’t sit well with Deal, but they were the truth. He could hear Hound telling Cass what he’d found. All Deal could hope for was that there were cameras around the area and Cass would be able to find out if Collette had gotten into a car in the vicinity.

The victim lying on the ground could’ve only been killed by one person—Jim. It was the only thing that made sense.

Sirens sounded in the distance, and Deal didn’t want to waste time talking to the authorities, but they had no choice.

“Deal?” Hound spoke behind him.

“Excuse me,” he said to Tina and got up. Together he and Hound walked over to the side, away from the two women. Tina had Mattie in her arms, and was comforting her. For Tina, seeing a person covered in blood was something she was used to. For Mattie, though, this wasn’t a situation she was used to, hence her understandable reaction.

“Cass is working on seeing if she can get a lock on anything in the area,” Hound said to him quietly. “Jim did this. I know it.”

“Looks that way. I’m sorry.”

“I have a feeling I underestimated my brother. I shouldn’t have. If I hadn’t, then may⁠—”

Deal interrupted him. “Stop right there. None of this is your fault. You didn’t ask your brother to kill this girl or take Collette. We had no reason to believe that he was suspicious of you. He gave you the information you asked for.”

“Yeah, too easily. Which should’ve been my first sign that something was up. I just wanted.” He paused and looked up at the night sky. “I just wanted to get away from there. I didn’t allow myself to think about his motives.”

Deal placed a hand on his shoulder, squeezing. “None of this is your fault. Jim is the one at fault here. He’s responsible for his decisions. We have to hope this is the breakthrough Cass needs to find Collette.”

What he wanted to do was rail at the world that the fate that had befallen the innocent girl on the ground wasn’t going to happen to Collette.