All Hail - J. Bree Page 0,100

I wonder if his murder board is down here too? He’s always handed me physical documents when I’ve asked for information, he believes in being able to hold photos and files. Well, that and he’s been worried about being hacked which makes sense considering we all know the Coyote.

I don’t have to think about it anymore, I hang up on Jackson and switch my phone to silent, creeping my way back through Atticus’ house to the room he assigned me. I send a message to Illi about finding a possible lead here and then I change into a pair of Lips’ flat shoes. She left behind one of her work bags, or murder packs as Blaise so lovingly calls them, and I was smart enough to bring it along. We’re close to the same size in shoes and clothes. Close enough that I can make it work and even though I feel stupid, I change into her black clothes from the bag too just in case. These clothes are what she wears when she doesn’t want to be seen so maybe they’ll help me stay invisible enough to check the entire basement out before Atticus and his army of suits notices I’m gone.

If not, I’ll just go back again tomorrow.

I grab the knife Lips gave me and taught me exactly how to use and a small torch from her bag, and then I tie my hair up. I feel so strange, like I’m playing dress-ups in her things, but I’m not sure how long I’m going to be staying here and with Atticus and Luca gone it might be my best chance to go and check it out.

I barely breathe the entire way down there.

I almost get caught by one of his kitchen staff, already up and baking bread for the morning, but I’m small enough to duck into one of the alcoves until he walks past. My heart is hammering in my chest, so stupid because it’s not like Atticus will do anything if I’m caught, but I don’t want to lose the opportunity to figure out what the hell is really going on with him and a secret basement?

Best place to hide a murder board.

I get through the wood paneling as easy as the last time and the steps down the second, obscured tunnel are so steep that I have to brace myself against the wall to stop myself from pitching forward. It’s too dark to even consider going without the torch on my phone to let my eyes adjust. I never really felt like this place was the dark fortress that Lips and the guys always complained about it being but this is the creepiest thing I’ve ever done by myself.

I really wish Lips was here.

I count a hundred steps down and then stop because it’s too depressing to think about having to climb back up them once I’m done down here but it’s only about a dozen more before I finally reach the bottom.

The basement is really hot.

The air down here is so stuffy that I have to take a second to breathe properly so I don’t have a panic attack. Then there’s a rattling noise and my heart tries to leap out of my chest.

If there are rats down here, I will die.

I hold my phone out clutched in both hands ready to call Ash, not that he can help me from hundreds of miles away, and then I hear the groaning.

Fucking groaning.

Here I was thinking that if I can grow up in the Beaumont Manor and hang out at the Butcher’s workroom and live with the motherfucking Wolf herself then I wouldn’t be scared of Atticus Crawford’s basement.

I was wrong.

This is terrifying.

Why the hell did I even think about coming down here by myself? I could have very easily convinced Aodhan or Illi to come over and do this with me. I know where the secret entry is, I could’ve just snuck them both in through there.

The groaning gets louder and definitely sounds pained. Who the hell does Atticus have locked down here? The rational part of my brain starts coming up with plausible explanations.

This will be his interrogation room.

It’ll be where he’s keeping someone strapped to a chair.

This isn’t some sort of creepy Collector situation, the groan was too low to be a woman and there’s no way Atticus would be keeping someone chained in his basement.

Except then I round the corner and find a man chained to the floor, a filthy mattress