Rock Me Deeper (Licks of Leather #5) - Jenna Jacob Page 0,28
landed in my stomach, I clenched my jaw and shook out the photos.
Unlike Caris, Mia wasn’t tied to a bed but cowering in a closet. She was naked, bruised, and blood was dripping from her busted lips. Her eyes were glazed over and unfocused. The needle marks on her arms made my skin crawl. The next photo showed the prick shoving the needle into her arm as Mia’s eyes rolled to the back of her head.
Like a living, breathing entity, the memories I’d buried in concrete twenty-two years ago started to rise up from their grave. With a bitter cry of anguish, I pushed them down and sealed them off tight. Then with trembling hands, I shoved Mia’s photos back into the envelope and set it aside.
Launching off the couch, I scrubbed a hand through my hair as I paced. There was no way in hell I could let Ozzy see those pictures. He’d lose his ever-loving mind. We couldn’t afford to let his shit or mine fuck up the restart of our tour.
Easing onto the couch again, I wrapped my fist around the bottle, took another pull, then gritted my teeth before tearing the next envelope open.
Photos of Caris spilled out on my lap. Her dark eyes were wide with horror and pain as the tip of a knife lay embedded in her side. Blood leaked from the wound and stained the sheet beneath her. The next one showed Zattman putting out a cigar on Caris’s smooth, soft flesh. But the one after, where his teeth were sunk into the flesh of her breast and the sick fuck was smiling at the camera, caused my heart to sputter.
The air in my lungs turned to sand.
A gutted growl exploded from deep inside.
I didn’t try to stop the tears from sliding down my face as I leapt to my feet and began pacing wildly.
Caris should never have left. She was in no condition to be out there, somewhere, trying to find her way home, alone.
“Find her way home,” I muttered as I came to an abrupt stop.
How the hell was she going to get back home? Sure, she’d taken plenty of money to get there, but how? She didn’t have a shred of ID. She couldn’t book a flight or rent a car or…
A spike of panic hammered through me.
“Oh, if she’s fucking hitchhiking, I’ll beat her ass red.”
After scooping up Caris’s soul-crushing photos, I shoved them away and set the envelope with Mia’s. Then I raced to my room and stripped off my clothes. After I grabbed a clean shirt from my drawer, I darted into the closet to find the T-shirt Mia lent her on the floor. Taking a quick inventory of my clothes, I discovered the long-sleeved Henley and my favorite leather jacket were gone.
“I’m going to spank her ass doubly red,” I groused as I snagged a pair of jeans and tugged them on. Then I hurried to the bathroom where we’d shared those cock-hardening kisses.
There was no sign of Mia’s sweatpants or tennis shoes.
“At least I know what you’re wearing now, angel.”
If she was indeed hitchhiking, she’d now be easy to spot, providing she hadn’t yet caught a ride. I didn’t have the patience to try and go through the mental gymnastics of what I would do if I couldn’t find her. I was going to find her, dammit!
Grabbing my wallet and key card, I sprinted from my room only to be forced to cool my heels at the elevator.
“Come on. Come on,” I impatiently growled, drumming my fist on the door.
From behind me, a door snicked. I spun to see Ozzy wearing a pair of shorts and gaping at me with a puzzled expression.
“What’s going on?”
“Nothing.”
“It’s three in the morning. Where the fuck are you going?”
“To find Caris.”
“What do you mean find her? Where did she go?”
“Home. Or rather she’s trying to get home. I have to find her.”
“Slow down, man.” Ozzy raised his hands. “Did you find the photos?”
“What?”
“Mia’s photos…did you find them?”
“Yeah.”
“Where are they? Give them to me.”
“In my room, and no. You don’t need to see that shit.”
“I want—”
“I don’t have time for this shit now,” I said, cutting him off. “I’ve got to find Caris.”
Ozzy’s expression softened as my tone of desperation echoed through the hall. He stepped in close, gripped my shoulder, and softly murmured, “Maybe she doesn’t want to be found, man.”
Chapter 6
Caris
The night I’d left LA and Syd, I’d lucked out and caught a shuttle to Las Vegas.