Sold by Clarissa Wild
Harper
THWACK!
I punch the bag as hard as I can, over and over again, until my hands feel numb and my bandage begins to peel. I don’t ever go slow or easy, not even on myself. No attacker would either, so I have to train to make sure I’ll survive. To ensure I’ll win.
Most people wouldn’t push themselves as hard as I have, but someone with my history has no choice. My parents died because they weren’t able to defend themselves … I was there, and I couldn’t do anything to protect them.
I won’t ever let that happen to me again.
Sweat drops roll down my forehead as I punch the bag a few more times. I don’t mind breaking out a little sweat to get the point across. Here at HIIT Hard Tactical, people know I don’t mess around. The new recruits like watching me train because it gives them an idea of what to expect, of what they’re going to learn while they study here. I train volunteers to defend themselves, so I have to keep up my own strength and abilities as well. We teach them not only to defend themselves but also how to free themselves from dire situations. So that not only includes using your fists but also learning how to shoot and pick a lock, in case someone tries to keep you captive.
There’s nothing us women don’t have to prepare for. Unfortunately, this is the world we live in, but I am prepared.
I smack the bag again and blow out a breath.
“It’s great to watch you train,” one of the newbies says.
“Thanks,” I reply. “I’m only here to give an example, but we won’t expect new volunteers to hit so hard straight off the bat. Go slow. Take your time. There’s no rush to learn it all, and there will be plenty more opportunities.”
“I’d love to learn that lock-picking skill as well as you do. You made it look so easy last time.”
“Oh, it’s no big deal once you get the hang of it,” I say. “You just gotta have the right tool and the patience to deal with whatever is in your way.” I pat her shoulder. “You’ll get there. When I first came here, I couldn’t even fend for myself. But look where a few months gets you.” She smiles, and I return it, wanting her to feel comfortable in the group.
“Um, excuse me, Harper?” I look up at the receptionist, trying to grab my attention.
“Yes?” I say. “Sorry, please continue without me,” I tell the trainee, and I walk toward the receptionist. “What is it?”
She glances at the lobby. “There’s a man here to see you.”
My throat clamps up, and it feels as though my heart stopped for a second.
“Right, thank you.” I give her a polite smile, which immediately disappears the moment I move into the lobby to meet this guy.
His gray coat gives his identity away.
“What are you doing here?” I hiss. “I thought I told you to call me.”
“Yes, well, I thought this was easier.”
“How did you know where I was?” I whisper.
“I’m a private detective,” he snarls. “That’s what I do.”
“Right.” I avert my eyes. I should’ve known he’d look into me too. Still, this is my workplace, and I’d rather they not know what I’m plotting. “Can we not talk so loudly, please? I don’t want anyone to know.”
He clutches his coat tightly. “Look, I’ve done what you asked me, but that’s it. I’m not going one step closer to these guys.” He fiddles underneath his coat and pulls out a thin collection of papers, handing them to me quietly while looking around as though worried someone’s watching us.
I gaze at the stack and flip through them, but it’s not nearly enough to do anything with. “What, that’s it?” He’s just like all the others I’ve hired over the years in my hunt for answers. None of them ever get close enough to give me more details.
“That’s it, I’m afraid. I’m not going to dig any deeper. It’s not that I wouldn’t, if I could … but this case is totally out of my league.” He cocks his head. “And you knew, didn’t you?”
I can’t answer because I don’t want to lie.
I’ve been trying to find my parents’ killers, and it has led me to places and people I never knew even existed.
The man still looks at me like I’ve lost my mind. “Whatever you’re trying to do here, don’t. You don’t know who you’re messing with.”
“Wait,” I say as he tries to walk past me. “I can pay more if that’s what you want.”
I’ve already paid him so much, but I’m willing to spend my entire life’s savings to find out the truth.
The man stops in his tracks and turns to face me. “I don’t care. I’m not about to risk my life like that. Not for any sum of money.” He takes a deep breath and points at me. “And I suggest you stay away too.”
“Why?” I ask, grasping his coat to make him stay.
“Some questions aren’t meant to be answered.”
He throws me another look and jerks himself free of my grip. Then he walks out the door, leaving me standing here with a tiny packet of information that’s not nearly close enough to what I expected for what I paid him.
Still, it’s at least one sliver closer to getting much-needed closure.
It’s dangerous, but I don’t care. I can’t…I won’t stop. My parents died a horrible death in a house fire they didn’t cause. Someone tried to kill them, and I need to know who it was and why.
And I need to know why I’m the only one who survived.
All I remember is my childhood home burning to the ground, the fire licking my skin. One of two reminders I have of that dreadful night.
The other being a man, dragging me out of the house… and the angel wrestling with a demon tattooed onto his bare back as he stood there watching the flames.
Harper
Years ago
In the middle of the night, my house is on fire. Everything happened so quickly that I don’t even know how it all happened. The scent of burning wood and plastic forces me to stay awake.
Adrenaline immediately pushes me to search for my parents, who must still be somewhere in the house.
But do they know the place is going up in flames? “Mom! Dad! The house! It’s on fire!”
No one responds, and I know deep down I have to go search even though it’s dangerous. I grab a bottle of water standing on the counter and open it. The fire is merciless, and no amount of water I throw at it makes a difference. Its flames are licking the walls and drapes around our windows and the staircase. Soon, there won’t be a way out.
My eyes widen. No!
“Mom! Dad! Get out of the house!” I scream, trying to get close, but every step hurts. The fire is so intense that I can barely walk as the floor is heating up. I don’t know where this fire came from or how it started, but it doesn’t look like there’s any stopping it.
My only way out is the front door, but I can’t see a thing in this smoke and fire. Still, I’m determined to make it. Careful not to let the flames touch my skin. I’m sweating like crazy with this heat, and I can’t see a thing. Smoke is all around, filling the house quickly.
Where do I go if I can’t see anything?
I feel my way around the house in a desperate attempt to find the exit. But my heart aches as my parents are still up there somewhere, and I’m leaving them by themselves. But what else can I do? There’s no way I can get close, and I don’t have anything I can try to douse the fire with.
So I try to find a phone instead, hoping to call for help. I touch and feel my way around every table, every desk, and through every drawer but to no avail.
I can’t simply run out the door, even if I do manage to find it. I can’t leave my parents here to die.
Tears fill my eyes as smoke fills my lungs, causing me to cough violently.
Nothing in this world will make me give up on their safety. They mean everything to me because I have nobody else.
But my lungs are failing me, and I can’t breathe much longer.
“Help!” I yell as a last attempt.
The whole place is turning as dark as a pitch-black night, smoke and soot everywhere as I struggle to stay awake. My body collapses onto the ground, and my eyes close.
I can’t give up. I can’t give up …
That’s when two hands grab me by the shoulder and lift me, dragging me away. Out into the dark of night, where my lungs suck in the clean oxygen, and my eyes burst open with life.
In front of me is a man with a two-part tattoo of an angel and a demon on his muscular back as he stands facing the fire.
But I’m too weak to get up, too weak to even say a word to my savior, too weak to ask him to save my parents instead of me.
And it will haunt me for the rest of my life.
Present
After I’ve showered and taken the time to blow off some steam, I go home to read through the documents in peace. I throw my bag onto my table, make a cup of coffee, and sit down on the couch with the folder in my hand. My hand shakes as I open it, so I put the coffee down for a moment.
Every step closer to the truth makes my heart race.
I swallow and read every word carefully. Three men detected at an address. They’re all connected. Several pictures are included. That’s it.
That’s it?
My nose twitches as my hands stop trembling, and I smack the folder down onto the couch.
“Goddammit!”
This isn’t nearly enough to get even close. Even though the PI was mostly useless, it’s more than nothing. Maybe I can still use this information. It’s worth checking out the address to see if I can find those men it mentions. Maybe it’ll lead me to more.
It’s decided then.
I slurp up my coffee in one go, grab my bag again, and march out the door. I hop into my car and go straight to the address in the document. It’s a seedy-looking warehouse with flashing illuminated red logos plastered on the wall above the door.
Bottoms Up. What a cheesy name. Looks like a strip club. Why would the PI give me this address?
Sighing, I position my car behind another to blend in. Then I wait.
And wait.
And wait.
Boy, they weren’t lying when those characters in the movies always said stakeouts were boring as hell.
I keep staring at the building, hoping something might happen, but nothing does. It’s just men of all ages and sizes sneaking in, hoping to get a quick look for some small bucks. Not at all interesting to watch, if you ask me.
The longer I look, the harder it is to keep my eyes open, and without realizing it, I slowly drift off to sleep.
In my mind, I’m in a beautiful park with luscious trees filled with chirping birds and flowers scattered all around the grass with bees buzzing about. There’s a nice lake right beside us as I sit with my parents on a blanket, eating some homemade sandwiches and fruit salad.
Suddenly, the entire place is on fire.
I jump up as the blanket and the lake disappear as though they never existed. My parents are gone, vanished into thin air. All that’s left is the fire, burning through everything it touches. The grass morphs into a wooden floor, and around me concrete rises like blocks of cinder being built up from the ground. But the fire rages on until the flames lick my fingers, and I scream out loud.
No one can hear me.
But I hear them.
My parents—they’re here too, calling my name.
“Mom! Dad! Where are you?”
I want to find them, crawl to them if I must, but I can’t move. My legs and arms have gone numb. My throat is clamped as I try to breathe, but the air is clouded with toxic fumes. I’m dying, I can feel it, and there’s nothing I can do to stop it.
Suddenly, two hands grasp at my shoulders and pull me up. A stranger drags me out through the door, away from the fire. Away from my parents, who are still inside.
I gasp.
My eyes burst open, and my lungs suck in the air like they’d been starving for oxygen.
I swipe away the sweat from my forehead and close my eyes for a second to allow myself to recuperate.
Calm yourself, Harper. It was only a nightmare.A nightmare I can’t seem to escape from, not even in my sleep.
I grab my bottle of water and take a sip to take my mind off things. When I look up, there’s a limo parked right in front of the warehouse. A bunch of shady-looking men in dark suits step out.
I sit up straight. As some of the men look around, one of them flashes a gun. Shit. I lower myself in my seat and try to make myself invisible. Another one of them looks around once more. Then they all go inside.
My heart feels like it’s about to jump out of my chest.
What if that’s them?
I have to know, so without thinking about it any further, I get out of the car and make a beeline straight for the door.
