Read Online Infernal: Bite The Bullet by Jess Raven, Paula Black - Free Book Online
Authors: Jess Raven, Paula Black
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he said abruptly.
I arched a brow. “I thought you were the one
answering my questions.”
He shook his head and poured himself another shot,
his dark eyes concentrated on me when he sat back. “First, you talk.”
“Okay.” Daniel’s story was on public record. What
did I have to lose? I gathered my breath and my thoughts, and half-wished I’d
taken the drink he’d offered. Crossing my legs up under me, I leaned towards
him. Not knowing what he wanted to know, I started from the beginning. “My
brother, Daniel, was just twenty years old when he...”
I cleared my throat and tried again. “He was a
dancer: nightclubs, stage shows, video, TV. You know, whatever paid the rent.”
Konstantyn nodded. Any dancer understood that.
“Then last year, he got an invite to audition at
Vinyl Scratch Studios, and won a part dancing in a Beastrider video. He was
made up about it, went on their European tour, got invited to lots of private parties.
He was just a kid. He was star-struck. At first he kept in touch all the time,
but later, communications between us dried up. He hardly answered my texts,
started keeping really late hours, and never hung out with his old friends anymore.
Some nights he wouldn’t come home at all. I hoped he had a new boyfriend, but I
was worried, you know? It was so out of character for him. Then I got the note
–”
Konstantyn raised a questioning brow.
“It was slipped under my door. Written in his
handwriting, it said he was sorry, that he’d gotten into trouble with some very
dangerous people, and that he had to go into hiding for a while. He said I
mustn’t try to find him, or to go to the police, or they’d kill him. He said I
should just sit tight, burn the note, and when the time was right, he’d find
me.”
“What did you do?”
I cradled my head in my hands and exhaled roughly.
“I did what he asked. For five days, I agonised over that note. I sat by the
phone waiting for him to call. I dialled the police a hundred times, hanging up
at the last moment. Finally, the phone did ring, but it wasn’t Daniel. They’d
found him, like I told you.” My laugh was bitter, remembering my horror when
they broke the news that he was dead. “None of the DNA in his body was
traceable to any known criminal or sex offender. No witnesses came forward, and
all the police leads led to nothing.” I shrugged through the pain of remembering.
“They hinted at a drug-fuelled sex-orgy gone wrong.” I choked a little, beating
down tears.
Konstantyn pushed a shot glass towards me and this
time, I downed the thing, hissing at the burn.
“The police lost interest, but I can’t let it go.
My brother’s killers are out there somewhere. When I heard Beastrider were auditioning
again, I thought I could infiltrate his crowd, get people to talk where the
police couldn’t. Somebody knows something. Daniel would never have done hard
drugs, not after our mother... Anyway, I can’t accept that any of this was
accidental.”
“It wasn’t.” Konstantyn gruffed and my heart
skipped over on a thud.
“Please,” I said, on the verge of begging. I
pushed the photo of my brother across the table towards him. “Tell me what you
know.”
“I have seen these tattoos,” he said, tapping a
finger on the photograph between us. Daniel had a very distinctive half-sleeve
tribal design over his left shoulder.
“Where?” I pounced on the recognition and watched
his brow knit. It was a look people got when they were deciding whether to tell
you the truth or wing a lie. Dammit . He couldn’t clam up on me now.
“In a video,” he replied tightly, just when I’d
been about to prod him.
My heart sank a little. “Daniel was on MTV. That’s
common knowledge.”
“Not music. Different video,” he said, his accent
thick, and his dark eyes bored into me, willing me to understand something I
didn’t want to hear, but had to.
Oh God .
I choked on tears I was fighting to hold back, the
insinuation
I arched a brow. “I thought you were the one
answering my questions.”
He shook his head and poured himself another shot,
his dark eyes concentrated on me when he sat back. “First, you talk.”
“Okay.” Daniel’s story was on public record. What
did I have to lose? I gathered my breath and my thoughts, and half-wished I’d
taken the drink he’d offered. Crossing my legs up under me, I leaned towards
him. Not knowing what he wanted to know, I started from the beginning. “My
brother, Daniel, was just twenty years old when he...”
I cleared my throat and tried again. “He was a
dancer: nightclubs, stage shows, video, TV. You know, whatever paid the rent.”
Konstantyn nodded. Any dancer understood that.
“Then last year, he got an invite to audition at
Vinyl Scratch Studios, and won a part dancing in a Beastrider video. He was
made up about it, went on their European tour, got invited to lots of private parties.
He was just a kid. He was star-struck. At first he kept in touch all the time,
but later, communications between us dried up. He hardly answered my texts,
started keeping really late hours, and never hung out with his old friends anymore.
Some nights he wouldn’t come home at all. I hoped he had a new boyfriend, but I
was worried, you know? It was so out of character for him. Then I got the note
–”
Konstantyn raised a questioning brow.
“It was slipped under my door. Written in his
handwriting, it said he was sorry, that he’d gotten into trouble with some very
dangerous people, and that he had to go into hiding for a while. He said I
mustn’t try to find him, or to go to the police, or they’d kill him. He said I
should just sit tight, burn the note, and when the time was right, he’d find
me.”
“What did you do?”
I cradled my head in my hands and exhaled roughly.
“I did what he asked. For five days, I agonised over that note. I sat by the
phone waiting for him to call. I dialled the police a hundred times, hanging up
at the last moment. Finally, the phone did ring, but it wasn’t Daniel. They’d
found him, like I told you.” My laugh was bitter, remembering my horror when
they broke the news that he was dead. “None of the DNA in his body was
traceable to any known criminal or sex offender. No witnesses came forward, and
all the police leads led to nothing.” I shrugged through the pain of remembering.
“They hinted at a drug-fuelled sex-orgy gone wrong.” I choked a little, beating
down tears.
Konstantyn pushed a shot glass towards me and this
time, I downed the thing, hissing at the burn.
“The police lost interest, but I can’t let it go.
My brother’s killers are out there somewhere. When I heard Beastrider were auditioning
again, I thought I could infiltrate his crowd, get people to talk where the
police couldn’t. Somebody knows something. Daniel would never have done hard
drugs, not after our mother... Anyway, I can’t accept that any of this was
accidental.”
“It wasn’t.” Konstantyn gruffed and my heart
skipped over on a thud.
“Please,” I said, on the verge of begging. I
pushed the photo of my brother across the table towards him. “Tell me what you
know.”
“I have seen these tattoos,” he said, tapping a
finger on the photograph between us. Daniel had a very distinctive half-sleeve
tribal design over his left shoulder.
“Where?” I pounced on the recognition and watched
his brow knit. It was a look people got when they were deciding whether to tell
you the truth or wing a lie. Dammit . He couldn’t clam up on me now.
“In a video,” he replied tightly, just when I’d
been about to prod him.
My heart sank a little. “Daniel was on MTV. That’s
common knowledge.”
“Not music. Different video,” he said, his accent
thick, and his dark eyes bored into me, willing me to understand something I
didn’t want to hear, but had to.
Oh God .
I choked on tears I was fighting to hold back, the
insinuation
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