Sacred (II)

XXIV

Ray glanced in the spare bedroom one last time before picking up the last box of Rachel's belongings. He was a little sad that Rachel was going to be gone for good, but he knew she was doing what was best for her.

"Well, I got the last of it," Ray said as he placed the box in the bed of Zacks pickup truck,

"Thank you, Ray." Rachel said pushing the door of the trunk in place, her eyes were glued on him. She stood there longer than what was normal. He took a step closer and opened his arms. She quickly buried her face in his chest, squeezing him so tight as if he was going to disappear. Ray leaned down to wrap his arms around her waist, he rubbed her back as he felt her hiccup.

"Hey, you're gonna be okay. If things go south you can always come back here, yeah?" He muttered in her ear, pulling away from the hug and resting his hands on her shoulders. She reached up and wiped the tears from under her eyes, cracking a smile.

"Yeah, I guess." She said, swallowing thickly, averting her eyes. "Um- I guess I'll go. I'm sure Zack is wondering why I'm still standing out here." Her eyes shifting to the driver's seat, Ray looked over catching Zack's gaze. He's staring at them from the rearview mirror. Awkward. He looked back over at Rachel and smiled.

"Yeah, I can see that." He said, slightly annoyed, a grin still present on his face. He watched as amusement lit up her eyes, he let his hands fall from her shoulders and stepped back.

"I guess I'll see you later." She said with a grin, walking to the passenger seat. He stepped back on the sidewalk and waved at the truck as they drove away.

A few days passed before Ray had the time to finally clean the sheets and reorganize the room. He stripped off the comforter and the sheets, making a pile outside of the room. Then he glanced under and behind the bed making sure she didn't leave anything by accident. A folded piece of paper tucked in between the box spring and bed frame caught his eye. He grabbed the neatly folded paper and frowned. It was lined paper, it didn't resemble a document. Maybe it was a packing list she scribbled on, but where he found it doesn't really feel like it's just scrap paper.

He put the piece of paper in his pocket, reminding himself to take a look at it later.

Later, about a week later, he was exhausted from beating the life out of a human trafficker. It took him days to connect the dots, and even longer to find the asshole.

Now that he's home he's glad he can get a shower and finally get some sleep. He stepped into the bathroom peeling off the leather gloves, his knuckles were red and swollen. He knew there was a bruise forming on his side from the guy who elbowed him after he threw the bag over the guy's head to suffocate him.

He stared at his reflection in the mirror, his face was dirty with specks of blood on his eyebrow and forehead. Dark circles began forming under his eyes he sighed running a hand down his face. 

God, he needed a break.

His phone dinged in his pocket as if on cue. He rinsed his hands and dried them in his white towel that is now covered in red smudges. He hissed at the pain shooting through his hand. After it subsided he peeled off the sticky t-shirt lightly touching the dark purple area on his ribs, when his phone dinged again he fished the phone out of his pocket. And looked at the notification from the news,

Richard Stevens who was suspected of Human Trafficking found dead in his home. Police are looking into the Cause of Death. Read more to find out about the ongoing investigation.

"Welp. Mom, I'm famous." He scoffed and threw his phone on the bed. He got out of the shower feeling refreshed and dressed in boxers and shorts.

Ray switched off the bathroom light and sat on his bed. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, sighing softly. He glanced at his watch, it was nearing 2 am and he was restless. He pulled back the sheets and settled under the covers reaching over to switch off the lamp.