Read SEIZED Part 5: A Steamy New Adult Romantic Suspense Thriller (Seize Me Romance Fiction Series) for Free Online

attempts this time to move the mattress enough to expose the floor. Then, once I do, it seems to be stuck. With all the strength I have left, I manage to pry one end of it up. There’s something there. I break two nails getting the other end loose to see what it is.
    Under the floorboard is a shallow hole which exposes the concrete beam from the floor below. I’m shocked when I see items inside the small, hidden space. I reach in to pull them out one by one. When I’m finished, I look at them with curiosity. In front of me is a strange combination of possessions. It’s a collection only a girl could understand—a soft pink feather, a small nail file, a single diamond earring and a thin, and small notepad with a pen tucked inside the pages.
    I pick up the items one by one. The feather is matted and old, but obviously a keepsake. The diamond stud actually looks real. The nail file is tiny, and has a plastic tortoise shell handle. These things aren’t even slightly impressive to me at first glance. I’m looking for weapons, and ways to escape. But I change my mind when I see the pages of the first half of the notebook are filled with flowery, cursive script.

Chapter 6
     
    Blake
                 
    I hobble out of Caliber with my head spinning. The state of my head has nothing to do with the fight, though the security guys hit me hard enough.  I’m a mess because Jessup just told me Neon’s responsible for Carrie and April’s disappearances. What he actually said was that I should talk to her about the case, but he doesn’t know that I already did and she denied knowing anything. His words finally confirm what I half-knew but didn’t want to admit—Neon has been lying to me.
    It’s late now and I’m tired. My ribs are aching and my ego is bruised. I took a beating down there, but the worst thing is realizing Neon has betrayed me. After all these years, I should have learned. My refusal to accept Neon is a different person now has put Carrie in a shit load of danger. Fuck!
    I want to head directly to New Jersey to find Neon, but if I go there unprepared, unarmed, and in the weakened state I’m in, it will be a wasted effort. Right now I need to sleep. My body can’t take any more of this reality. I drive home with no music. There’s nothing I want to listen to and my mood darkens even further as I get into the underground parking garage. I couldn’t have made any more mistakes on this case if I’d tried.
    I get upstairs; fall asleep in a spiral of self-judgment and dream of nothing. It’s a small mercy and at least I wake up the next morning with a decent night’s sleep under my belt. Walking down the stairs is hard. I’m sore, bruised and cut up from the fight. Brenda looks up from the stove where she’s standing and gives me a grimace.
    “What happened to you? You look like crap.”
    “Thanks sis,” I say it with a hint of humor, but she’s right. They really messed me up.
    “Jesus, Blake. Sit down.” She points to one of the breakfast bar stools and reaches into the top cupboard for the first aid kit. I follow instructions and gratefully accept the coffee she hands me.
    Brenda examines me and cleans up each of the cuts. It’s not the first time she’s cleaned me up. I used to stagger home drunk in a variety of states and pass out on the floor for her to find and rescue. The guilt of that behavior is still with me. There were times it happened while she was pregnant. The last thing she wanted or needed was to scrape up her older brother from the hallway to nurse me back to health.
    “How did this happen?” She says, trying to hold back the disapproval.
    “Honestly, it’s all my fault. I lost my cool with that FBI agent, and then ended up in another fight when I went to confront the guy I think knows more about my case. Sure, both situations could have been resolved without the physical contact. I just… I just lost it, Bren! It scared me. It was too much like the old