I hadn’t meant to declare as much as I had, but I needed to. Dakota needed to know that she wasn’t alone.
But it hurt to think that I couldn’t do more than that. That I couldn’t help.
She was hurting, and there wasn’t much I could do.
“Macon m—”
“Dakota! Where the fuck are you?”
Dakota turned, looking at the window.
“Adam?”
“I’m going to get the cops in here.”
“Don’t fucking call the cops or he’s dead.”
I looked down at my phone, then at Dakota, and the two of us ran towards the back door, afraid of what we might see.
“Hey there, baby. Miss me?”
Chapter 18
Dakota
* * *
Bile rose up in my throat, and I felt on the edge of an abyss.
This couldn’t be happening.
Adam couldn’t be here.
Where.
Was.
My.
Son?
“Where’s Joshua?” I shouted as I stood on the back porch, Macon right beside me. He held his arm out, blocking me from moving forward.
I almost kicked at him, slapping at him to stop him from pushing me back, but then I saw the gun in Adam’s hand, and my entire world turned on its axis as I tried to take a deep breath and wonder what exactly was happening.
“Wherever the fuck we need him to be,” he singsonged, and I almost threw up.
He was high as a kite. That much was clear. I could practically see his dilated pupils from here.
And he was pointing a gun at us.
And I didn’t know where my son was.
Suddenly, my brain caught on a word he’d said. We. So, there were others with him. Others we couldn’t see. Were they with Joshua? Or surrounding the house?
I knew the authorities were near and would come at any moment—it was the only reason Macon had even let me out of the house onto the porch to begin with. But I needed them to get here soon.
I needed them to help me save my son.
“Where’s my son?” I asked.
“You mean my son?” Adam spat.
I hoped to hell the two plainclothes officers at the front of the house could hear this and would come forward soon.
I just didn’t know if they would. The forest dampened some of the sounds from my back yard, and they hadn’t been in the house. They had given us time to ourselves while everybody was out searching for Joshua.
And yet it seemed to me like could be close.
I was so fucking confused. I just wanted my boy.
“He’s fine. He’s just learning a few new tricks.”
My blood boiled, and I took a step forward, but Adam clicked his tongue.
“You should listen to the brute beside you and not move... You deserve this and so much more.”
“I’ve done nothing to you. Just leave me alone. Leave Joshua and me be.”
“You did everything, Dakota!” Adam screamed. “You sent me to jail. Sent some of my men to jail because you were a stupid fucking cunt and couldn’t keep your goddamn lips closed. Oh, you could spread your legs for anybody who came near, and yet as soon as you got knocked up, you decided you were too high and mighty for any of us. You didn’t like what you saw, so you went to the cops. We don’t fucking do that. You know the rules. You broke our laws, and now I’m going to break you.”
“You’re going to want to shut your mouth.”
I froze at Macon’s words, and Adam’s eyes narrowed to slits.
I knew this had to be traumatic for Macon—fuck, it was just as bad for me. Except for the fact that Macon had already been on this side of a gun before. I refused to let him get hurt again.
I couldn’t breathe. I could barely think. I just needed Joshua secure. I needed Macon safe.
“Is this the new dick you’re with? Well, it seems like the ‘roids are doing their job on those muscles of his. Must have a tiny little dick for you, though. Don’t worry, baby. You’ll come back to me. And you’ll get all the fucking cock you want.”
Bile filled my throat, and I nearly threw up.
“Don’t look at me like that. You fucking sent me to prison. You deserve what you’re going to get and more.”
“Adam,” I said calmly, as calmly as I could anyway. “You know that there are detectives all around. They might not be able to see you now, but they will. They’re going to be in my house at any moment because they’re out searching for Joshua. I’m honestly surprised they haven’t found you yet.”
Adam rolled his eyes.
“We took care of the two out front. We’ll get the rest.”
Shock slid through me, mixing with revulsion.
He had taken care of them?
I looked at the gun in his hands, then at his eyes, and knew. He’d killed the two police officers out front, what else did he plan to do?
“Let me see Joshua,” I said.
“No, I don’t think I will.”
And then Adam shot.
I froze, fear like an icy wave washed over me, and then Macon was on top of me, pushing me out of the way.
“Macon!”
“Are you hurt? Are you hit?”
“I’m fine,” I answered, not knowing if it was true. I was too numb to feel anything.
“What about you?”
“He didn’t get me. Has fucking shitty aim.”
Footsteps sounded around us, and then someone pulled Macon off me. At least six guys were on top of him then, pummeling and kicking, but Macon was faster, stronger.
These men might have thought they could fight, but Macon was a fighter.
I scrambled up, trying to help, but I didn’t know what I was doing. I had only taken self-defense classes. I wasn’t a fighter. I had told Macon before that I had been on the wrong side of a fist one too many times. I didn’t want to see it now. But now Macon was using what he had learned to protect me, to help me find my son.
And I couldn’t forget that, even if I hated it.
Someone tugged at my hair, and I screamed, but then Adam was there, pushing me off the porch. I fell to the grass, my fingernails digging into the dirt. I scrambled up, but then Adam kicked me in the side. I let out a breath, pain radiating through my ribs as I tried to get up again.
“You stupid bitch. You deserve nothing. That place that you love with the coffee and all the sugar? That should be mine. You were too busy on your back before to give me anything but that sweet pussy. But now you’re old and dry. And that little Boulder Bean or whatever the cute-as-fuck name you decided to call it? That should be mine. You need to know what’ll happen if you resist. I deserve every single penny that comes from that place because I was the one who supported you. When your mommy and daddy left, I was the one that put food in your mouth. I gave you everything. And you threw it back in my face.”
“You gave me nothing!” I spat, wiping blood from my mouth.
I had nothing left to lose.
Yet I had everything to lose.
Adam hit me again and again.
I could hear Macon’s struggles as he fought to come to my side; only it wasn’t going to work. There were so many against him, and he was by himself.
Soon, though, I knew the police officers had to come back. They would check in with those on patrol and the ones watching the house and realize that something was wrong. My friends would be here. Others would come.
But I didn’t think it would be fast enough.
I tried to scramble to my feet, but Adam hit me in the face with the gun, and I nearly blacked out, blood seeping out of my mouth.
Adam pulled me up by my hair and shook me, and I kicked, scratched, leaving a bloody streak down his face. He hit me again and again.
But he didn’t shoot me.
No, he wanted me for something.
Panic clawed at me, and I tried to get away.
Macon was coming for me. I knew he would get there.
He kept movi
ng, quicker, the men behind him down on the ground, all out.
Blood coated his face, his side, his hands.
He had done that for me.
And he was coming for us.
And then Adam raised the gun, and I moved.
I thought of Joshua, thought of my friends, and I thought of Macon.
I couldn’t let Adam kill him.
So I moved. I tried to get the gun.
Suddenly, there was a fiery pain in my leg as we both fell. I heard a scream, and then there was nothing.
Chapter 19
Macon
* * *
The echo of the gunshot filled my mind, but this time, it wasn’t a dream. It wasn’t my past.
I could smell the sharp stench of gunpowder, feel the burn in its wake, but I wasn’t standing in the shop nor off the back patio, I wasn’t watching my life end.
Instead, I heard a sharp gasp, and then both Adam and Dakota were on the ground.
Dakota wasn’t moving, and everything broke inside me. A chasm of death and destruction filled me, and I knew I needed to stop it. I knew I needed to move forward and find a way to think, make sure she was okay, but all I saw was that sniveling piece of a man backing away from Dakota, his eyes wide and vacant.
As if he hadn’t realized or couldn’t comprehend that he had just shot Dakota.
I roared and went at him. Adam looked at me, his stoned eyes widening comically before he reached for the gun. I kicked it out of the way and leapt on him. I punched him over and over. Adam tried to push at me, to pull free, but he was too weak.
And I wasn’t thinking clearly.
I punched harder, hitting him again.
Adam put his hands in front of his face and then kicked and punched. I saw a flash of silver to my right and realized that Adam had pulled a knife out of his pocket. I twisted the other man’s wrist, and he screamed in a high-pitched wail before the blade fell into the grass.
The grass now turning a rusty red because of the blood.
Dakota’s blood. I needed to go to her. I hit Adam again, one time after another. When Adam finally quit moving, I moved off him, my hands covered in red, and knelt beside Dakota.
She lay there, weak, her eyes fluttering open as she grabbed her leg. I stripped off my button-down shirt, leaving me in a tank, and rolled it into a ball, pressing it against Dakota’s calf.
She let out a scream and looked up at me, her whole body shaking.
“Joshua. Where is Joshua?”
“We’ll find him. We need to take care of you right now.”
“I’m fine. I think I am anyway.”
“We’ll make sure of that.”
Sirens wailed, and I knew that someone had likely heard the gunshot and called, or maybe even they had realized that the plainclothes officers weren’t answering their phones.
I didn’t care how it had happened, but help was coming.
And then there was a terrified scream, a rustle in the trees, and Joshua ran out, a rope dangling from his ankle. He ran towards us, his hands duct-taped in front of him, his eyes wide, and tears streaming down his face.
“Get him. Get him!” Dakota rasped, her whole body convulsing with sobs.
I stood up, leaving Dakota—the hardest thing I’d ever done in my life—and ran towards Joshua. I picked him up, checked him for wounds, and only saw dirt and a few scrapes around his wrists and ankle. I crushed him close as he sobbed against my shoulder, calling out for his mom and me.
I didn’t let myself feel, didn’t let myself do anything yet. I went back to Dakota and held the bundle of cloth to her leg as I shouted for the authorities to come to the back yard.
The others I had knocked out were still out cold, thankfully, and I knew I’d have to answer for that. But I didn’t care.
I just rocked Joshua as I held Dakota and tried to push out the memories.
Because I knew that no matter how many times I relived the shooting, it would pale in comparison to this. I’d nearly lost Joshua and the love of my life, even though I still didn’t know if she would be okay.
People talked to me all at once then, and I answered questions, though I didn’t know how.
Somehow, I knew we were going to be all right. Because we had to be. If I lost Dakota after all of this, I would never forgive the world. Never forgive fate.
Because I had just found my future, and there would be hell to pay if I had to give that up.
* * *
By the time we made it to the hospital, Joshua and I riding in the back of the second ambulance behind Dakota’s, I was exhausted and ready to go home.
I knew that my house wasn’t going to be mine for a while, though. My home would be wherever Dakota and Joshua were. No matter what.
Joshua lay on Hazel’s lap, finally sleeping. He would need someone to talk to, to find some way through everything that had happened today, but physically, he was unharmed. Emotionally? That would take some time.
But we’d find a way.
He had fallen asleep in my lap, then had moved from lap to lap as everyone he loved had held him close, making sure he knew that he was okay and cherished. He woke up crying every once in a while, asking for his mom, and we just told him he would see her soon.
Because, Jesus Christ, he had to see her soon if I had anything to say about.
We would have to deal with the authorities, and they would likely want to know exactly how I had been able to fight off so many. But the fact that I knew how to defend those I loved was something people would have to deal with.
I didn’t fire a weapon, didn’t even use one. Yet, somehow, we had survived.
Dakota would be okay. Thank God. The bullet hadn’t hit bone or anything vital, but it had torn through the muscle. It would take some time for her to recover, and she would hate that because she couldn’t be on her feet. We would find a way to make the Bolder Bean work without her, though, or with her in a new position seated behind the counter.
I didn’t care about any of that. Not really. All that mattered was that she was okay. She was safe.
And Adam would be behind bars for a long fucking time.
It didn’t matter that he hadn’t pulled the trigger on those two officers, he had ordered the hit. He would be put away for those murders, for attempted murder, kidnapping, illegal firearms, parole violations, and so much more.
We would never have to deal with him again.
Now, I just needed to make sure that Dakota remained okay.
I hadn’t been able to talk to her, mostly because she was still dealing with all of the doctors, and the girls had wanted to go back to see her. Joshua hadn’t wanted to leave my side, and Dakota wasn’t ready to see her son yet anyway. They wanted to make sure she was all cleaned up, her leg hidden until he knew she would be fine.
I understood that, so if he came back to me, I would let the barnacle hold onto me as I listened to him sleep.
He woke up again, scrambling off Hazel’s lap and into mine, and I held him tightly.
“What about the kittens?” he asked, his voice sleepy yet still full of fear.
“We were just there to check on them,” Myra said as Nate stood in front of me and ran his hand over Joshua’s head.
“Miss Myra and I took care of them. They miss you, but they’ll see you soon. You don’t need to worry about them. They’re part of our family now, so they’ll always be taken care of.”
A lump rose in my throat at that, and I smiled at my baby brother. He understood what needed to be said. I just wished I was strong enough to find the right words to say to Joshua myself.
“Don’t go away,” Joshua said, looking up at me.
I shook my head. “I’m never going away, Joshua. I can promise you that.”
“Not just never. You have to stay forever.”
The others turned away slightly to give us as much privacy as possible, and I leaned down to look at the little kid in my arms. “If I have anything to say about it, I’m not going away ever. I love you
, Joshua. As if you were my own son.”
There was a sniffle beside me, the sound of someone hushing another, and I ignored them all.
“I love you, too, Macon. I know that man said he was my daddy, but he’s not. I want you to be.”
My heart nearly broke as another sniffle came from the other side of me. Once again, I ignored them.
“I need to tell your mama a few things first. But, Joshua? I’d love to be your family.”
“I’ll help you make it happen. You, me, and the cats.” He paused. “But I want you to be family, and not just because of the cats. Because I love you, too.”
That did it. Tears fell down my cheeks, and I held Joshua close, rocking him back to sleep as the others around us wiped their faces.
Even Cross wiped his face, his big beard shaking as he let out a sigh.
“That kid is breaking our hearts,” Prior said, rubbing his chest.
“Tell me about it,” I whispered.
I hadn’t meant to fall for a family, but here I was, waiting to see the woman that I loved, and holding the kid that I thought of as my own.
I just hoped that Dakota hadn’t been scared off by everything that’d happened. Because I knew how she was. Dakota would build up a wall and try to push everyone away.
But I’d do my damnedest to make sure she didn’t do that to me.
Because I loved Dakota Bristol.
And I would do everything I could to make sure she understood that I wasn’t going anywhere.
Chapter 20
Dakota
* * *
I leaned back against the pillow and moaned. I was finally alone. The detectives, the nurses, and the rest of the staff had finally left to give me some time to sleep. Only I couldn’t. I wanted to see Joshua. Macon. I wanted to see the family I’d made.
Far From Destined: A Promise Me Novel Page 17