Chapter 3

Ellie

After ten minutes, my arm got too tired to keep brushing my hair. I finished up, shaking my hand out and wincing at the pain. My hair shined in the early morning sun from my window. My German Shepard, Dandelion, got off my bed to follow me and check out the chirping birds.

I pulled the curtains and the windows open, letting fresh air in. I loved few things more than early fall at dawn. I smelled damp leaves that had fallen from the rows of trees outside. When I leaned out my window, I could see the whole west side of the estate. That included the tennis courts, one of the pools, and the apple grove that my great, great grandmother had started from one single tree.

Careful to step on every other flower tile in my bathroom, I went to the closet section to pick out something to wear. I thought I could wear something that would remind Dad of his mom for this special breakfast. I picked out short overalls and a plaid shirt to go under it. She always gardened. I had the smattering of freckles on my face, same hazel mixed eyes, and literally the same height. Sometimes I thought that when my grandma died, her soul must have gone into me so she could get another chance at life. I only ever heard about how much of a saint she had been. I wished I could have met her, but she died three months before my birth.

I purposely avoided taking a shot from the flash in my nightstand before I left my room. It would have only upset Daddy if he could smell booze on me that early in the morning. I didn’t need it, despite the fact that I kept glancing over to the nightstand and wondering how much mouthwash I would need to erase the scent. I shook it off, deciding to be good today.

I walked past my bookshelves, touching every spine on the second row as I got to my door. I tapped on the wood, pinky first as I went through all of my fingers on my left hand. Then I switched the lights out, turn them on, then off again. I had to do it, or I wouldn’t have been able to think about anything else until I made it right. I had been in a hurry to school a few times, skipping it so I wouldn’t miss class. I literally had to call my driver to bring me home so I could fix it and get back to class. It made perfect sense to me, but Mom looked at me like I should have been better.

I didn’t bother with shoes, so me and Dandelion started padding down the fully lit hallway and passing two of our guards. They only nodded at me when I greeted them first. I’d have to have the cook bring them up some coffee or something once I got to the kitchen.

Naturally, I wanted to go outside to see the hummingbirds before they left for the day. I had a feeder put outside one of the doors that led to the main entrance of the house. I liked to think the birds didn’t mind me sitting out there with a book in the morning.

One of the guards followed me to the door, so I stopped to let him open it for me. A thud cut off my thanks. Something cold splashed on to my bare feet, making me flinch back to see the corpse now sprawled out on my porch.

I didn’t scream when I saw him. The man’s eyes had been cut out. His mouth hung open as well, and I saw that he also didn’t have a tongue. Someone had been kind enough to nail them to the door.

Arms came around me and I got dragged backward as the guard, Barry, radioed for back up as well as my father. The dog started barking. I knew Alex had me, because he bothered to try and cover my eyes. I didn’t let him. I recognized the dead man. Harrison. Barry confirmed it as he responded into his radio.

“Let me go,” I ordered Alex. “Put me down.”

“You know I can’t do that, Elle.”

“Yeah you fucking can. You work for my father, which means you work for me. Put me down.”

He didn’t listen to me, so I fought against his hold until we made it into the sitting room. He placed me on a chair, and I tried to get up and shove past him. I could have laughed, watching him dive when I tried to dart out of the room.

“Elle!” he growled. “If your dad sees you out there, he’s going to be upset with me.”

That might have been the only thing that could get me to stop fighting. What would my dad have done to an employee? It couldn’t have been anything that bad. Yet, something in my head told me to be nice and not get him in trouble. That voice refused to quiet down, whispering about missing employees, rooms my father wouldn’t let me go in that suddenly had new carpet next time I saw it, other thuds, things slamming that sounded an awful lot like gunshots. I couldn’t trust those thoughts, though. I had to walk on certain tiles and flip switches three times or else I would have a panic attack in the closet of my high school. My brain wanted to eat itself.

“Will you tell me what happened later?” I asked.

“No,” he answered, and then closed the door. I heard him lock it from the outside.

I waited at the door, knowing I would hear dad show up soon enough. Maybe even mom too. She spoke louder than him, so I had a better chance of catching something that would tell me what happened. Otherwise, I would have to put the pieces together myself.

“I didn’t appreciate that,” I told my dog when he whined at the door. I pet him on the head, but he would not be reasoned with.

Soon enough, my dad showed up. He asked about me.

“What did she see?”

“She was right there when the door opened,” another person said. I couldn’t tell who. “It was maybe too seconds before Alex had her eyes covered.”

Dad sighed. “Great. Fucking great. And Harrison? What happened?” he dissolved into a long string of curses as he struggled to find out what could have gone wrong. I had a few guesses. We had families near that would have done anything to take us all down.

Why Dad wanted to hide everything from me, I didn’t understand. I knew they did a lot of illegal shit, but I didn’t know why he thought his adult daughter couldn’t handle it.

“We have a dead body in my hall,” Dad said. “Clean it the fuck up. Send his widow something for her trouble.” He sounded ice cold and steady.

I heard more shuffling outside, as well as Dad demanding they don’t get blood on the tile. How exactly did he think he would explain this one away to me? We had this careful game between us where I pretended I didn’t know that occasionally, our people went missing. I tried not to think about it, sure, but one couldn’t really hide things like that.

The boots. Blood on my boots. The closet door closed. It was the closet. Had to be the closet. Was there someone in there? No, because that means Dad had someone hurt. He isn’t part of it. Happens around him, but he’s not part of it.

I flipped the light switch in bursts of three. Off, on, off. On, off, on. I left myself with nothing but the sunlight. When I looked outside, everything seemed fine. Peaceful. If everything looked pretty outside, then ugly things didn’t happen. Not to this family. The ones around us, more ruthless and cruel could deal with it. I stared out the window, seeing that the world didn’t end. It wouldn’t end if I kept my promises.

Off. On. Off. Red tile. Then black tile. Back to red again. Don’t step on the branches. Only the flowers. Flowers are safe. On. Off. On.

When my mind wouldn’t quiet itself again, I went over to the second bookshelf, third row, and fifth book. I opened it up, finding Grandpa’s old flask. I took a healthy drink and put it back, allowing my nerves to settle. I couldn’t hide it on my breath, but Daddy probably wouldn’t have noticed in a time like this.

I walked back to the door, careful of the tiles. I still heard Dad’s muffled voice on the other side of it.

“Too close to home,” he said. “My family is here.”

“Probably the point,” Alex said. “What would piss you off more than someone scaring your kid?”

Dad went silent for a few seconds. “I’m not letting this go. I want something done. Now.”

“Yes, sir. What would you like done?”

“I don’t know yet.”

They left me and Dandelion in that room for more than an hour. I finally ended up sitting in the chair, having given up when Dad went to talk to people not in the hallway. When I texted my mom, she only replied with telling me to stay put. She didn’t bother explaining what happened and seemed to forget that most of the doors in our home locked from the outside. We went back and forth a little before she finally stopped responding.

Then I tried for Dad.

It only took him two minutes to come and open the doors again. He hugged me, then checked to make sure I hadn’t gotten hurt.

“I’m fine,” I promised. “What happened to Harrison? Who would have done that to him? His eyes… his tongue…”

“Don’t think about it. I’m going to make sure the person who did that pays for it.”

“But I don’t understand what he did. He’s been gone for months and then he shows up dead?”

“You don’t have to think about that at all. I’m sorry. This morning was supposed to be special and now everything is ruined.”

“We can just eat some other time.”

“No, you need breakfast. I told the cooks to bring up your favorite. Go wait in your room. I’m sending Alex up to watch them and test the food to make sure it’s okay. Wait for me there and I’ll come up after I talk to your mom.”

“Dad, I want to know what happened.”

“Wait for me in your room.”

I knew by his tone I wouldn’t make any progress.

I waited in my room, getting served a full-blown breakfast for at least three people. Or one Dandelion. I had a little of everything to choose from, but admittedly, I went for the sweets instead. The cook, Carrie, winked at me when she handed over the orange juice. I knew what that meant, and I tipped her extra before she left me and Alex in my room. I went to take a drink of my juice, but Alex snagged it and took a test sip first.

He winced, frowning at the glass. “It’s not even eight in the morning, kid.”

I took the glass back from him. “Yeah, and I’ve already found a dead body. What of it?”

He let it go, going on to test the rest of my food before I could eat it. Overkill, but others might have disagreed with me on that one. I let Alex do it, then made an egg sandwich and did my best to enjoy it when I could only think about the death of a man I’d known most of my life.

“You’re really not going to tell me what happened?” I asked as Alex stared out my window.

“I don’t know what happened.”

“You know something. You probably know why Harrison was gone for months. Was this an attack from Jonathan Urie?”

Alex cleared his throat, adjusting his tie. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

I was too smart for my own good, but at least it got me answers. “Why was my dad so worried? He hasn’t locked me in my room for a while.”

“Maybe age is getting to him.”

“Rude.”

I had finished eating by the time Dad finally showed up. Alex took the trays from my bed and stacked them together before heading out with them. Dad left the door to my bedroom open, letting me see the three guards stationed there, each with a gun on their hip.

“We’re all good for now,” Dad said. “Your mother is going to be in soon. She was upset, so I told her she should call her mother. She sends her love.”

“Dad, please tell me what happened? Why is Harrison dead?”

He sighed, taking a seat on my bed. “I don’t have any idea, Ellie. I wish I knew why someone would do that to him. All I do know is that someone wanted to hurt my family. Your mom told you to stay inside today, but I think something more needs to be done.”

I sat back, preparing myself. “I already have pepper spray in my bag.”

Dad shook his head. “More than that. I want a personal guard on you at all times. I want someone watching you twenty-four hours a day, willing to lay down their life for you if need be.”

“But Alex has a new baby at home. He can’t do that. It’s not fair to Matty.”

“No, not Alex. I don’t want anyone here. I’m bringing someone in from the outside. I can’t trust that no one in the house will betray me.”

“What? Why not? If you didn’t trust them, why are they here?”

“I trusted them a day ago. Now, I’m not so sure. It’s pretty easy to get bad men on the inside. It wouldn’t take much for someone to try and send a man to end your life.”

I still didn’t understand. “Did someone do that? Did you find out one of your guys worked for someone else?”

“No, not that. It’s just… I would trust someone completely removed from all this. I want someone who doesn’t know a thing about any of this. Some bodyguard for hire. I think that would be best for this situation.”

“But couldn’t one of the other families find out and have someone lie to get the job? I would be in danger then? You should go with someone you know and trust.”

Dad patted my head, smiling. “You just don’t know how this kind of thing works. I’ve already decided.”

“What would keep someone from lying to you about who they are?”

He still smiled at me. “Trust me. I know what I’m talking about and you don’t. Don’t let it bother you.”