Sweet Little Lies

Chapter Sixty-Eight

Ivy shut the lid to the box. Looking up, she saw Astrid pale, her eyes wide in horror. Then, the coffee cup in her hands slipped and fell to the ground, brown liquid ruining her pristine white carpet. A second later, her hand flew up to her mouth and she raced away to the bathroom. Willow cursed, looking a little green herself, and ran after her.

Ivy rounded on Ren, matching her anger, "Are you fucking serious. Why would you bring that here?"

"It was a present for her." She hissed, "Even had her name on it. Besides, I didn't think she would react like this. Isn't she an ER nurse." It was phrased as a question, more a sneer.

"Yes, but that's her boyfriend's severed hand, not some random stranger." Ivy looked to make sure Astrid wasn't coming back just yet, then flipped the lid back off. "Are you sure this is his hand?"

"He's got the same tattoo." Her chin tipped towards the mutilated appendage.

Ivy craned her neck to see a long katana-like tattoo up the side of the hand and the pinky. "Have you read the note?"

"No." Ren answered quietly.

Ivy glanced up at her to see a level of sadness in the woman's eyes. Ren Hayashi, for all her faults, did care about her older brother.

"It's for her." She continued.

Understanding hit Ivy. It wasn't just sadness Ren was feeling. It was mixed with jealousy. Bitterness. Because if that note was directly from Tai, his first thought was to write to Astrid, not his sister. If the note was written by his captors, then a ransom or a threat wasn't good enough for Ren. They would have directed it to girlfriend, as opposed to the sister, his family.

Ivy knew a little thing about complicated sibling relationships. She still hadn't spoken to Cara since their fight, resentment and disapproval brewing between them with each passing day.

Ivy wasn't grossed out much by body parts. Not even severed ones. That tended to go away once someone was shot point blank beside you and their flesh, blood, and muscles sprayed all over you from the force of the bullet.

That had been the first man to abduct her.

The hand was cold and rigid, pale as the blood drained out of it. She suspected it was at least four hours old. That was when rigor mortis sets in. Considered all the blood, there was a good chance this had happened shortly before packaging the hand away.

"We know now a hundred percent that he's alive then." Ivy murmured.

"How?" Demanded Ren.

Ivy raised one eyebrow at the woman, "Because we'd be looking at his head otherwise."

†††

It was an hour later that Harry arrived. Astrid was sitting in her bedroom with Willow, done puking finally, but scarred. Ivy had gone in there to check on her friend herself, but Astrid was barely coherent. Her eyes stared off into space, shoulders sagged and hands mindlessly fidgeting her lap.

The box stayed where it was on the coffee table. Ivy had touched it briefly and taken the note, but other than that, it was unmoved.

Ivy let him in, missing the presence of Griffin, but he was off in Port City to get some intel. Griffin brought a level of steadiness to them all that she greatly appreciated. Especially, in times like this. She did acknowledge some of the guards outside, her own still waiting in the car at the curb. The whole block was secured the moment she stepped foot inside, so she wasn't worried about another attack.

"Where is it?" He asked once his eyes had scanned her for injuries. She noticed he did that every time he saw her.

"In here." She showed him the way.