I heard a car door closing on his end just as I got behind the wheel of my SUV. “Because she was having a girl’s night. Beau rang Lily and asked if it was okay to have some drinks after the bar closed. Levi asked if she wanted a ride when he went in for her keys, but she said she’d be good there.”
That wasn’t fucking good enough. It had been hours since I’d seen her there. Anything could have happened.
The thoughts and possibilities going through my brain were not good ones. I’d seen too much, experienced too much, and let’s face it—the Townsends attracted trouble.
Before I could say anything else, he muttered, “I’ve just got to the bar, and I’m looking through the window at two sleeping women.”
I was only thirty seconds away from the bar now. “Hang tight until I get there in case they need a doctor.”
He saw them sleeping, I saw possibilities like them being bludgeoned or raped and posed in those positions by a psychopath. Had I come across that personally? Thankfully no, but it didn’t mean it wasn’t a possibility, and I didn’t want him causing Ariana any more injuries.
“Parker, from the looks of it, they tied one on last night and passed out where they were,” he tried to reassure me, but it wasn’t worth taking the risk.
Pulling up behind him, I hit the button on my steering wheel to end the call and reached for my emergency bag in the backseat. Getting out, I ran up to where he was standing with his key in the lock, his eyebrows raised as he saw the bag in my hand.
Not waiting for him to say anything, I gestured for him to open the door and walked in behind him, stopping when I saw that what he’d said was more than likely what had happened. Both women, one blonde, one brunette, were lying on the top of two tables right in front of the bar. Behind them on the bar top were two empty bottles of tequila and what looked like the remnants of margaritas in glasses and a blender.
Snorting, Tate walked up to the bar, picked up the blender to give it a sniff, and gagged at whatever fumes reached him from it.
“I think it’s pure alcohol,” he choked, looking around at the empty bottles and then back down at the jug.
Then, he put it on its base and flipped the switch. The sound of the blender running loudly broke the silence in the bar and made both women’s bodies jerk.
The blonde, who I remembered was called Sadie and from the UK, sat up straight and then pretty much melted as she slid under the table.
Groaning, Ari lifted her head, a large clump of hair sticking up in the air. “What’s happening?”
Not pausing the machine, Tate grinned evilly at me.
“We’re at war,” Sadie shouted and then groaned. “Save yourself.”
Blinking slowly, Ari turned her head toward her brother. “Why? Why do you hate me?’
Moving away from the machine, he shook his head as he lifted up an empty bottle. “Two bottles of tequila? Really?”
“Actually, it was two bottles of tequila, a bottle of rum, and…” Sadie rasped from her hiding place, gagging before she could finish the list.
“Lily said it was okay,” Ariana croaked and lay her head down again, this time with her face in my direction. “We put money in the office.”
Moving closer to her table, I dropped the bag on the ground and crouched down beside her. Picking up her wrist, I took her pulse and assessed her visually. Once I’d been reassured by her pulse, I moved the chunk of hair that’d fallen over her eyes and then gently stroked her forehead with my thumb. Her eyes flickered open, and she blinked slowly until I came into focus.
“You’re lucky the two of you don’t have alcohol poisoning, Ari,” I admonished.
Frowning, she lifted her head again and looked around the bar. “Two of us? Where’s Beau?”
Before I could move, she was pushing up and staggering around the side of the bar toward where the office and bathrooms were.
As she passed Sadie, the woman lifted her hand up and then let it drop back down on the table with a thud. “Cupboard. Try the cupboard.”
Weaving toward a door at the mouth of the hall, Ari tried to get the handle and missed.
“Christ, what a state,” Tate sighed and moved her, so she was resting against the wall facing the door. “You’ll be feeling this for a while. And I doubt Beau’s in the… Wait, what’s that?”
Following where he was pointing, I saw a chunk of hair coming out from under the door. Moving to open it carefully, I tried to see what it was through the darkness inside the cupboard, but it wasn’t until the door was fully open that it made sense.