RED ROOM [H.S]

5.

I had called Niall right after, explaining what had happened and asked him for advise. I had made sure my face was covered and that no cameras were in plain sight to see me approach. Niall had arrived ten minutes later, helping with the beating before we dumped him somewhere he could be found. Niall said it was best not to kill him, as it would spark more worry and more people questioning what was actually going on around Vegas with all the sudden deaths popping up around.

After this, Niall disappeared to clean up and I found myself following Spice after her shift at the club. I was running through how I was suppose to approach her for a good five minutes before I had enough courage to speak aloud. I ended up scaring her half to death. I really needed to work on my people skills.

Shaking my head, I dug for my laptop that I hid underneath my couch. I had put a small recording device on Trent's shirt, something so small that it could pass a a piece of lint. I wasn't sure where his clothes would be now, but I prayed it would be somewhere, or with someone who give me a bit of information on whether or not he was awake.

Niall sat by me once again, chewing loudly as he spoke. I tried my best to hide my grimace. "What's your deal with the stripper anyway?"

"Spice," I muttered, as I skipped through a few minutes of rustling noises and medical talk from the ambulance that picked him up. "Her name is Spice, Niall."

"Okay, Spice then. What's the deal? Did you get head or something from her?" He wiggled his eyebrows at me, and I shot him a glare.

"No," I hissed. I didn't exactly know what my deal was, all I knew was that Spice was a beautiful creature. I doubt it was possible to get addicted to a human, so quickly, but I was starting to question it. I could still smell her perfume on me. Soft and floral. It was a strange feeling, a feeling that I don't think I had ever felt before. Protectiveness mixed with sadness. I didn't like how she made her money, but I guess anyone could say the same thing about me and my line of work.

"Just shut up, Niall."

Niall frowned, not use to my rudeness and I was about to apologise for it, but the sound of Bill's gruff voice caught me off guard. I paused the sound, rewinding it before listening again.

The first few seconds was muttered, and I assume that Trent's clothes lay somewhere next to him in the hospital room, as the sound was muffled and distant. I should of attached it behind his ear or something, I thought bitterly.

"...it had to be one of them," I heard Bill growl to someone. "I saw Harry at the club. He was close to her."

"I don't think so, Harry isn't like that..." the other voice muttered.

"I think he's dating that stripper from the club. I need someone to get all her details, find me what her full name is," Bill snapped. "I'll have her in a body bag with his fingerprints all over it, I swear to god."

"You can't do that, Bill," the man hissed. "Harry has connections. It won't go down easy."

"You weren't there for the Rebecca Anderson case were you?" Bill snapped, and I felt a pain in my chest at the sound of her name. Niall visibly tensed too, but said nothing as we both listened.

"Rebecca? That's almost five years old," the voice replied, confused.

"And who was our main suspect? That fucking Harry kid. He was stalking her up until her death, and we had four men die that were related to Rebecca. I'm telling you, one more wrong move by Harry and he's fucked. No one will be able to save him from going to jail. I'll have him for that strippers death-,"

I shut the laptop down harder than necessary, and threw it against the cushions. I stood up and started pacing. My head began to drum too quickly and I was finding it hard to think properly.

"Harry," Niall said cautiously. "You need to calm down."

I snapped my gaze up to him and let out a humorless laugh. "Calm down? Calm down? They still think I'm to blame for her death!"

Niall shook his head, reaching to grip my shoulder and pull me out of my daze. "You know that's not true!"

"Isn't it though?" I asked, shaking my head. "They have fucking records of me stalking,-,"

"They aren't on the file," Niall interrupted. "It's just what Bill thinks, what he made himself think to make himself feel better. You and I both know what really happened to Rebecca. You need to get out of your head."

I shook my head so quickly, it made it feel like the room was spinning. "They're going to do it to her," I whispered. I took a seat and hung my head. "They'll take her innocence away as well, Niall."

"What are you talking about Harry?"

"Spice, they're going to do it to Spice."

Niall opened his mouth but shut it just as quickly. He knew I was right. He knew what happened to Rebecca was going to happen to Spice as well. Because of my rash thinking and sloppy planning, our crazed world had suddenly gotten a whiff of Spice and it was all my fault. Bill and his long list of dirty police officers were going to do something as pay back, and it was going to be at the expense of Spice, I could feel it in my bones.

Niall looked down at me, wary and worried. I could only how I looked right now. My fingers gripped the roots of my hair, and I was grinding my teeth so hard, I thought they were going to snap off. Thoughts of Rebecca played on repeat in my mind, until images of her death flashed like a warning. I groaned to myself at the thought. I didn't want to think of that, out of all things.

"I can't let them do that to her," I whispered to Niall. "I can't."

I knew Niall probably thought I was a lunatic, and maybe I was, but all I knew was that I was going to protect Spice, from the evil that Bill was bound to bring into her world. I had too.