Chapter 19: Gone With the Wind

Flint Morgan

“What did you do, Flint!” Jay's voice pierced through the other side of the phone in jagged anger.

Confusion swept across Flint.

He cocked an eyebrow and retorted. “I did what you asked me! I got her to hate me! Are you happy now? ‘cause I sure as hell am not."

Flint ruffled his hand through his hair in frustration.

Jay pressed on. “You two are unlinked  How did you do it, Flint? Did you kill her? Why is she not showing up on our monitor?”

Every bit of his tone shredded agony and worry.

Vexation and confusion bore into Flint now. “Kill her?” He repeated incredulously.

Jay sounded as confused as he was at this point. “Why is she not showing up on our monitors? I've racked my brain for the last hour but the only thing I've been able to come up with was you. Are you saying you never touched her?”

Flint shook his head. “No. I couldn't hurt her even if I wanted to. I love her too much.”

His tone began to falter at that last sentence.

Jay sighed. “Well then…she's in danger. I don't know who has her…but I know she's not alive. The monitor says the vitals are nonexistent. I chipped her when I kissed her before talking to Carter about his mistake.”

Flint's eyes widened. “What! You kissed her! And what mistake? Who is this guy, Carter?" Anger and confusion shook through him.

Jay just answered, “ Oh…Carter? He just made some girl at his office pregnant. We were paying him to keep an eye on Kate and not the redhead in his office. We argued about it but finally decided it would be best to get rid of the redhead. She was getting close to Carter anyways.”

“So how does a kiss have anything to do with Carter or Kate?”

Jay acted like it was obvious. “Obviously that was the only way to chip her. I got close enough to her and pretended to be Jared. It was quite easy ya know. That girl falls for any rich guy in the vicinity.”

Jay laughed but this only made Flint's brows furrow further.

“She is not just into rich guys! She liked me for me before any of you idiots came in and wrecked it all." He huffed out an angry snort.

Jay chuckled at that patronizingly. “Do you really believe that, Flint?”

Flint let a beat of silence beat between them.

Jay laughed again. “Man, that girl really has you blind.” He paused and then said, “She was forced to hang out with you. You know that right? Phoenix offered her a wipe of her memory from the night she ran away from Jared. Then—and this part gets me every time—she agreed to force you to stay here with us. But that just played into our plan. It was so great. You guys performed just like we expected you to.”

Flint growled angrily and then hung up.

Jay was right. He acted just the way that they had predicted. To a tee.

Ruffling his hair through his fingers once more, he decided where he would be going.

Getting on the subway, his heart melted to the uncomfortable seats.

He shouldn't of fallen for her. He could've been gone by now if he didn't.

Worry washed over him while he contemplated how to escape Jay and Phoenix's reign. The problem, however, was that maybe he was playing right into their plot. He'd been doing it all along without noticing it. How was now any different? Jay could've said those things over the phone to just prompt him into the next part of their wicked plan.

The thing was though, this didn't feel like the plan at all.

It felt like Kate was genuinely in trouble.

But…she had said they were at war.

Doesn't that mean you don't help your enemies?

Oh…who was he fooling.

He would get her every time.

Even if it would betray everyone he'd ever known.

His heart sunk in his chest.

He loved her so damn much.

*********

The subway screeched to a stop as Flint's thoughts began whirring down.

Determined, his feet made their way over to Jared's house…or what was left of it.

The house that was once pristine and white, it was now charred and marred by the moonlight.

Still, he could hear voices thundering from inside.

Looking in, he saw Wynn and Jared fighting. Their voices carried through the charred remains.

Flint had no idea why they would stay in that charred house, but then again, everything that Jared did befuddled him with questions.

Wynn screamed at him.

“I’m dying you jerk. That's why I freaking blackmailed you. I didn't want to die alone, without the man I love. Is that so hard to believe?”

“This is just another one of your guilt trips isn't it? Well don't bother, honey. I already had a passport to b#tch island when I met you. You forced me to come back. You forced me into this and I have to say, I don't care.”

Wynn repeated his words hoarsely. “You don't care?”

“No." He firmly proclaimed. “I don't care if you tell the whole world that I'm a monster…because honestly, anything's better than this. Anything is better than you.”

Jared stormed out of the house. After a moment, his eyes cut up toward Flint.

Grumbling, he said, “What do you want? I killed Marilyn. I hate you for all this. You dragged me into this living hell. So what do you want from me now? A lung? A kidney? Or let me guess… you want me to make Kate believe you’re a saint. Well, you're not Flint. None of us are. We're just a bunch of messed up people doing messed up things because we have a long list of secrets we'd rather have the world not know.”

Flint gulped. “I need your help.”

Jared's jaw clenched. “No. I'm turning myself into the police department tonight. They will have nothing to hold over me. I don't care if they throw me out of the company. Truth is, I never deserved to be there in the first place. I'm not a real Morgan. Our parents are really just yours. My real mother is dead. I'm so tired of these damn secrets. In grade school they always taught you that lying and secrets was a bad thing, but they forgot one thing; You don’t keep your secrets. Your secrets keep you.”

Flint shook this off and began again. “Its Kate. She's in trouble, Jared. I wouldn't be asking if it was anyone else.”

His heavy green eyes pleaded against the pale moonlight.

Jared thought it over for a moment. Flint's skin crawled with the silence.

Finally he relented. “Okay, but afterwards I'm turning myself in. And don't bother bailing me out. I deserve to be in there. I need to be punished. I can't just skate on like this.”

Flint nodded. “Deal.”

They shook hands and then Jared asked, “So…how are we going to find her?”

“Let's start at her apartment. I'm sure there will be some clues there.”

Jared nodded and they were on their way.

He pleaded to Flint that they could take the Lamborghini.

Flint gave him a heated stare. “It's not the batmobile ya know.”

He laughed and then unlocked the doors. “No, but come on. I've always wanted to do this.”

Flint rolled his eyes. “Fine, but the speed limit isn't just a vague suggestion this time.”

They buckled up and sped along the streets to her apartment.

Flint immediately started squirming in his seat at the sight of her building. He had a bad feeling about this.

Still, he needed to go in. Jared found some street parking and parked very poorly claiming that they were a rush.

They were in a rush, but still, dude! Color your car inside the lines jerk!

Flint unbuckled and lurched forward.

Jared looked at him with unsure eyes. “Are you sure you want to do this? She may just be with a new guy or just found the chip and removed it.”

He had told him the story about Jay along the way…but Jared was pretty sure that Jay was lying.

Flint, on the other hand, surprisingly believed Jay. Flint nodded at Jared assuring him to go forward with this.

Jared muttered out, “okay, it's your funeral.”

Slowly, they proceeded up the stairs to her apartment. Flint had an eerie feeling about this all. He felt like maybe she was already dead. Flint gulped at the thought then shook his head. No. She had to be alive. She just had to be.

Finally, they got to her door.

Knocking on the door, they found it was wide open.

That was a bad sign.

Flint's gut feeling boiled in him as they both stepped further into the small apartment.

As they stepped forward, something sticky stuck to the bottom of their expensive shoes.

Jared grumbled at this saying, “I paid a thousand dollars per shoe for these.”

Flint rolled his eyes at that and then looked down at the hardwood.

Blood painted the canvas of flooring and both of their eyes lit a knowing horror.

Looking up, they found a name carved into the wall.

The jagged letters drew an expression of terror on both of their faces.

Blood laid thinly outlining the words.

The wall read:

Your girl is dead because of you, Flint Morgan- Drake Baxter

Fear steeped through every inch of him. He was the reason for this. He was the reason for all of this.

If he hadn't worked that deal to take over the Baxter's company, none of this would be happening.

Flint absolutely hated himself.

He would never forgive himself for causing Kate's death.

Flint closed his eyes as a treacherous tear escaped from his heavy eyelids.

Almost immediately, Jared rushed over and put his hand on Flint's back.

He tried to make Flint feel better, but it was no use. She was gone…and it was all his fault.

Jared tried empathizing with him. “You know, I loved her too long ago. She was always so kind and beautiful in a world full of ugliness. But you know what I realized today, brother?”

Flint didn't say a word. The silence tore up at him and his gut churned a bloody dispense of well-needed guilt.

Finally, Jared finished his thought. “I realized that I love Wynn. For all of her flaws…I don’t know, but somewhere along the goddamn way, I fell for the woman blackmailing me. And I freaking hate myself for it. That just proves, we don't choose who we love.”

He paused waiting for anything of this to hit Flint.

Then he continued seeing that none of it was working.

“And you said it yourself. She was at ‘war' with you. Some people are just there to teach you how to love. I believe Kate was that for you…and look…even though I realized I love Wynn, I still have to go and turn myself in. I'm telling you brother, it will all be okay. We'll move on. We'll be stronger next time. I'll just have to get some orange clothes and special order some orange Armani boots.”

Jared tried to joke with Flint, but it didn't work.

Flint hated himself so much he was about to burst.

His brows laid furrowed and vexation filled him to the very core. Clenching his fist and jaw, he wished he could disappear once and for all.

Suddenly, the room began to shake. The lights began to flicker in the apartment. Jared’s eyes lit a wild terror. He held onto Flint as objects began to crash around them.

Jared yelled out, “what's going on?!?!”

Blood began drip from Flint's nose as a thundering headache shot his skull with immense pain.

Soon, Flint began flickering so fast that he was almost not detectable if you blinked.

Jared's heart sped up as he watched the whole horrifying scene unravel. Jared screamed out as he continued to flicker in and out so fast.

“Flint!” He yelled out. But there was no answer…and Jared had a feeling he wouldn't be getting any.

The room shook one last trembling time.

Jared stumbled into the glass coffee table.

Breaking it with his head, Jared fell unconscious.

Pain bit and chewed at him as the shards cut against his cheeks.

Darkness completely tangled him for a moment.

He couldn't even think straight, but his urge to protect Flint remained. It was Jared's sole determination.

Slowly, he escaped the darkness and began to raise himself up.

Blinking his eyes cautiously, he found he was awake in the apartment.

Looking around, Flint was gone. Jared’s eyes searched every inch of the small apartment, but Flint was nowhere to be found. Jared walked over to last place he saw Flint. His gaze fell to the ground, Jared found there was only a black business card there.

Picking it up, he read it slowly. It read two horrifying words in the dead center.

It read, “Blank Slate.”

Jared stumbled back realizing what happened.

His brother had finally disappeared. 

Thank you for reading! So... Flint has actually disappeared...that begs the question of where you go when you disappear? Also...is Kate dead? And...Jared is actually in love with Wynn even though she blackmailed him to stay...but Jared still wants to go to prison to be punished for his past crimes. Will Wynn die alone without the man she loved? Sorry I haven't updated in a minute here. I'd like to say I've been busy...but really I've been lazy.

Anyways...absolutely love all of you guys who've read this.❤❤❤❤❤