by Imogen Wells
I thought I was angry when I learnt that Marcus was behind Tempest, but now, that anger joins force with a new one. One that has sprouted a new head and is mixed with every emotion I’ve felt over the last month, fear, sorrow, pain and even love.
“You’re dad’s half-brother?”
Marcus grips Jasper’s hair tighter, pulling his head back even further as he stamps his foot and points a finger at me.
“Bingo, Jamie. Bingo!” His eyes looks wild, manic, and I can see the devil that lives beneath his skin for the first time. But it doesn’t stop me from saying my next words.
“You did all this for what? Because you had a shitty mother and blame my father. What the fuck is wrong with you? That’s nobody else’s fault but your mum’s.”
“Shut your fucking mouth! He stole my dad away from me, my girl and my life, and now he’s going to pay for it all. You’re going to pay for the sins of your father.” He pulls a knife from his pocket, flicks it open, and before anyone can say or do anything, he slashes it across Jasper’s neck, letting out a maniacal laugh.
My mum screams, and I don’t realise I’m on my feet until the man behind me grips my neck and holds me in place. I can hear Seb talking quietly to my mum, and then he’s calling out to me, but I can’t hear what he’s saying. My dad is shouting at Marcus, but over it all, all I can hear is a gurgling rasp coming from Jasper. I look over to find Jasper’s glazed eyes on me as he breathes his last breath, and Marcus stands behind him, the knife gripped in his hand as blood drips from the tip.
I watch, as if in slow motion, as Marcus’ mouth moves, and I read the words ‘now’ on his lips. I look around the room to see the men behind everyone I love, raise theirs guns, and the sound of the guns’ hammers being cocked echoes around the room. I shout out, yelling for everyone to get down as the room is plunged into darkness.
Everything goes black, and for a split second, I think I’m dead, but then I hear shouting. The man’s grip on my neck loosens, and I drop to the floor as gun fire splits the air. I hear shuffling behind me, and I spin, kicking a leg out and hitting something. I hear a cry before whoever I hit, thuds to the floor next to me. I can’t see a fucking thing, but I crawl forward as more gunfire goes off.
The whole room goes silent as the sound of glass breaking reverberates around the room, and a shower of glass rains down on me as I scramble around the floor looking for Seb, my dad, my mum.
A hand latches onto my ankle, and I let out a yelp as I raise my other leg to kick out at them, but Seb’s voice stops me.
“Jamie. Fuck, Jamie. It’s me.” I spin around as a beam of light slashes through a window, and I see blood pouring from Seb’s arm. I scurry towards him, and he snatches me up, pulling me into his lap.
“Seb, you’re bleeding. Are you okay? Where’s my mum and dad and what the fuck is going on?” All the words rush from my mouth as he grips my face in his hands.
“I’m fine. Your mum is safe, but I don’t know where your dad is. Are you okay? Are you hurt?” He runs his hands over me, checking for injuries.
I don’t get to answer as Marcus’ voice thunders through the room. A roar of anguish and rage rips from him before I hear the sound of flesh meeting flesh, and I know he’s fighting my dad. Each hit is returned with grunts and groans of pain, and as several more beams of light splinter the darkness, I see several men dressed in black, armed with guns. At first, I think they’re more of Marcus’ men, but then I hear a voice I’d know anywhere. Rick.
“Move, Jamie,” Seb says as he grabs my hand, and crouching low, we move towards the double doors that are now hanging from their hinges. Seb pulls me so I’m ahead of him, and I exit the dining room first. He pulls me to a stop just outside the room.
“I want you to keep going and not stop until you reach the front door. Jay will be there with your mum. Do you hear me, Jamie?”
I shake my head at him. “No, I’m not going without—”
He grips my face. “Yes, Jamie, you will. I need you to. I need to know your safe, and I’ll be right behind you. I promise,” he says before dropping a kiss to my lips, and then he releases me, turning me round and pushing me towards the hall.
My brain scrambles to make sense of what he’s saying, and I’m torn because I want him to come with me, but I know he needs to do his job and not be worrying about me. I turn my head, hesitating for a second as my heart and mind battle for dominance. The voice of reason is telling me to do as he asks, but my heart is screaming at me that if I do this, I might never see him again. I feel like I’m being torn in two, but after a second longer, and a nod from Seb, I face forward and race to where Jay and my mum are waiting.
I hear a shot ring out behind me, and I can’t help but look back but not seeing Seb, I continue on. As I round the corner up ahead, I slam into something solid, crashing to the floor. Before I can get back to my feet, hands reach out and grab me from behind. A hand covers my mouth, silencing my scream, and I’m dragged away from the front door, which I now see just ahead of me.
Forty-Three
Seb
Marcus is losing it, and when he slits Jasper’s throat, I fucking pray to god Rick gets here soon. Louise begins screaming beside me, and I try to calm her down all the damn while keeping an eye on the bastard that’s got a grip on my girl.
I finally get Louise to be quiet when Jamie’s voice shouts to get down, and I grab Louise, shoving her to the floor before spinning on the guy behind me as the lights go out.
I slap his arm to the side, and the shot he fires goes wide, and I just hope it didn’t hit Jamie. Unable to see anything, I let my senses take over. Movement to my right has me turning that way, and I step forward, but my body is jolted backwards as I’m hit in the arm.
I curse under my breath as red-hot pain rips through me, and gunfire rings out in the room around me. Silence descends as the gunfire stops before it is shattered by breaking glass, and I breath a small sigh of relief knowing that Rick is here.
Light bursts across the room, and I see Louise on the floor with her hands over her ears, and I drop down beside her. I grab her face, so she can see me in the dim light from the guys’ lights.
“Louise, it’s me, Seb. Let’s get you out of here.” I take her hand and keeping low to the ground I lead her out of the dining room, where I find Jay waiting just down the hall.
“Where’s Jamie?” he asks as he takes Louise’s hand.
“I don’t fucking know. I’m going back for her now,” I tell him as I spin and race back to the dining room.
My eyes scan the room as beams of light flash across it, and I spot her crawling across the floor and going in the opposite direction to the exit.
Ducking low, I reach out and grab her ankle, and she almost kicks me in the face as she fights to get away but stops as soon as she realises it’s me.
I tell her I’m fine when she sees I’m bleeding, and to be honest, I was too busy looking for her to worry about it. I see Dom and Marcus fighting, and I hurry to get her the fuck out of here.
I get her out of the room and send her off to meet Jay, even though it kills me to be separated from her and see the worry in her eyes, but I know she’ll be safe with Jay.
I meet up with Rick just as I get back in the room, and he tells me they lost Marcus.
“What the fuck do you mean you lost Marcus? Where the fuck did he go?”
“I don’t know. He was fighting with Dom, and then I heard a gunshot and turned around to see Dom on the floor.”
“Fuck! I was right the fuck here, so how did he get out of the room without going passed me, Rick?” He shakes his head just as the lights come back on, and I spin around, slamming my fist into the wall and dropping my head against it, breathing heavily. I hear Rick talking to someone through his earpiece, and my ears prick up as something in his voice catches my attention. Turning my head, still rested on the wall, to the side, I can see the carnage in the room.
“What do you mean she’s not with you?” I whip my head
round, pinning my gaze on Rick. “Seb, Ja—”
I don’t need to hear his words because I already know that Jamie never made it outside to Jay, and I point past Rick to a door open on the other side of the room.
Rick looks over his shoulder to where I’m pointing, and then I grab him by his jacket, pulling him to me and getting in his face.
“If he’s hurt her, I’m going to fucking rain hell down on him and anyone involved, do you hear me? I’m going fucking murder the bastard.” I shove him away from me and head for the door.
Glass crunches under foot as I run across the room, and the sound echoes as Rick follows close on my heels. Rick steps up beside me as I pull the door further open, and a tap on my shoulder has me looking his way to see the gun he’s offering to me.
“You might need this,” he says with a nod, and I know he’s pissed at me for getting up in his face, but I also know he gets it.
“Thanks,” I tell him as I take it from him. “Where did you get all this from anyway?”
He shrugs. “I may have called in a favour at the station with Ray. I figured he owed us one, and as it happens, he was more than happy to oblige. Come on, let’s go get Jamie. If I know her, she’s probably giving Marcus hell.”
“You better hope you’re fucking right,” I say and step through the door into the passage beyond.
After five minutes, we exit into a library, but there’s no sign of Jamie or Marcus. Signalling to Rick to head right, I take the left, and we slowly walk round the edge of the room.
We meet up on the other side, next to another door. I grip the handle, turning it slowly before pulling it open.
I take a peek round the door frame, looking out into another hall and seeing it empty, I step out. Shouting comes from behind a door further down the hall, and I nod to Rick.
My steps are slow and measured as I creep down the hall, but my breathing is erratic, and my heart is like a damn jackhammer in my chest.
As we get closer, I can faintly make out the voices of two men, but I don’t hear Jamie, and I start to worry we’re too late. We stop outside the door, and I strain to hear what they are saying and how many people are in there.
“We need to get the fuck out of here, Marcus. The police are going to be here any minute, and besides, what do you think Garcia is going to say when he—”
“I don’t give a fucking shit what Garcia says, Travis. If it weren’t for me, he’d still be scrambling for a connection here, so he can kiss my fucking arse.”
I hear a weak cry from inside the room, and my whole fucking body tenses at the sound. I’m about ready to burst in there when I hear Marcus’ voice again.
“Dom’s dead, Jamie, and now you are going to watch as I take everything from you. Everything that should have been mine to begin with. I’m going to destroy you, and when I’m done, I’ll feed you to the wolves to fight over the scraps.”
“You can do your fucking worst, but Seb will hunt you down to the ends of the earth and rip you apart,” I hear Jamie reply, and then a slap before the sounds of a struggle break out.
Knowing this is our chance, I look to Rick, and mouth ‘on three’, and he nods. I begin the count down, but before I reach one, the door bursts open and out steps Travis. He spots me straight away, but I give him a quick shove, directly into the arms of Rick, who wasn’t quite expecting it.
I leave Rick to focus on Travis and move into the room, where I’m not in the least surprised to find Marcus waiting for me and holding a gun to Jamie’s head and arm wrapped around her neck, holding her. A sight that I’m getting fucking tired of tonight. I don’t look at Jamie. I can’t because if I do and he’s hurt her any more than she already has been, I’ll lose my fucking shit.
“Stay the fuck there, or I’ll put a bullet in her pretty little head.”
I hold my hands out to the side, gun still clasped in my left. What I’m about to say is not going to go down well for Jamie, but I need Marcus on the back foot.
“Killing your own daughter makes you a special kind of arsehole,” I say, and Jamie gasps, sucking in air, and I know if I look at her now… The pain from my words will wreak me, so I keep my eyes on Marcus.
“How did you know?” Marcus asks, and I can see he thought he was clever and underestimated us.
“You’d be surprised what we know, Marcus.”
He scoffs. “You’re just bluffing. You don’t know fucking shit about me.” He squeezes the arm around Jamie’s neck, and she sucks in a breath as he pushes the gun harder to her temple.
I grit my teeth, ignoring the pounding of my heart and the thought that Jamie could end up dead if I push him too far. “I know about your childhood, and how your mum would pimp you out. A young boy forced to do unthinkable things all so his mum could get her next fix. How you met Louise first and fell in love with her, but she was already in love with Dom.”
“Shut the fuck up. You don’t know what you’re talking about. Louise loves me. I know she does.”
“That’s where your wrong, Marcus,” comes a voice from behind me, and I curse under my breath as Louise steps into view.
“Mum,” Jamie calls out, anguish clear in her voice. How the fuck did she get in here? Where the hell is Rick?
“I never loved you, Marcus, it was always Dominic and always will be.” Marcus laughs, and I watch as confusion crosses his face when he realises that Louise’s words mean Dom is still alive.
“No. I fucking shot the cunt. You’re lying because you don’t want our daughter to know the truth. But I’m not sitting back in the fucking shadows anymore. I’ve spent my whole fucking life there in the shadow of Dominic fucking Morgan. Watching him play happy families with my family. My fucking family!” he shouts, agitated and getting more and more worked up.
What the fuck is Louise up to? She’ll get us all fucking killed at this rate. She moves further into the room as she begins speaking again, and it’s only now that I see she’s holding a gun.
“When I first met you, I wanted to help. I guess I felt sorry for you. But then, after a while, you showed your true colours, and I kept your secret, Marcus. I never told another soul, and when you left two years ago, I felt relieved that I didn’t have to pretend anymore. Dom was devastated that his best friend could have been involved in something so heinous and disgusting, but I wasn’t surprised. After all, for a man that can rape a woman, it’s not a surprise at all.”
Holy fucking shit. This is what he had over her. All this time, and she never said a word to anyone. I risk a glance at Jamie, and my heart aches to go to her as I see tears falling down her cheeks.
“Rape? I didn’t fucking rape you, Louise. You wanted it. I could tell by the way you looked at me, and how our hands would touch when we were close to each other.” He turns the gun on Louise, and now I understand what she’s doing.
“No, Marcus. I cared about you as a friend and nothing more. I told you to stop, but you wouldn’t listen, and afterwards you held me like it was the most natural thing in the world as I lay bruised and bleeding.”
I see Jamie closing her eyes, and pain, so much fucking pain on her face as she listens to her mum’s words. With Marcus’ attention solely on Louise, I begin to edge to the side of the room, closer to Marcus with every step. Louise keeps talking, and I keep moving closer to Marcus. I can’t imagine how hard this must be for Jamie to hear, but I get why she’s doing it, and she has my utmost respect.
“Let our daughter go, Marcus. She doesn’t deserve any of this. Let her go, and I’ll leave with you now. You can take me to Mexico with you. You always said you wanted to take me there, so let’s do it.”
“Mum, no. What are you doing?”
“Shhh, it’s okay, Jamie. I know what I’m doing, and it’s something I should have done a long time ago.”
I watch as Marcus begins to waiver. Obviously, torn between getting what he’s always wanted and his revenge.
“You mean it, Lou? You’ll come with me?” he asks, voice low and childlike. Lo
uise nods, and he slowly begins to loosen his grip on Jamie. I see her looking at her mum, shaking her head and pleading with her eyes for her not to do this.
“It’s okay, sweetie. I need to do this, but just remember I love you.” Louise nods her head before looking back up at Marcus. She offers him a small smile, and he lets Jamie go.
The instant he does, I’m close enough to snatch her away from him. As she falls into my arms, she turns, letting out a cry as Louise raises her gun and shoots Marcus in the chest.
Forty-Four
Jamie
I watch as my mum shoots Marcus, and he stumbles backwards a little before looking from his chest to her, and I think it’s over, but as I push out of Seb’s arms to go to my mum, Marcus fires his own gun.
A split second of time can be the longest amount of time in your whole life. A split second can be the in between, a fragment of time where everything is good. And for that split second when Marcus fired his gun, I thought everything would be okay, but then as my mum fell to the floor, I realised nothing would ever be the same again.
A scream like no other rips from me as I scramble across the floor to my mum, and I grab her to me. “Mum, mum. Oh my god, no.” She opens her eyes, and they are already glassy as she looks up at me. I place my hand on her face as she tries to talk.
“I’m…sorry, my sweet baby girl. I wish there had been another way.”
“Don’t try to talk, Mum. Help is coming, and you’re going to be fine.” I stroke her face, leaving a streak of blood down her cheek, and I can’t help the sob that bursts from me.
“Listen to me, Jamie. He’s not your father, he lied to me.” She coughs and blood sprays from her mouth as she sucks in a rattling breath. “Make sure you take care of your dad and let Seb take care of you. You deserve to be happy…and I know he will do that for you.”
“Mum, please. You’re going to be here to see all of that and take care of Dad yourself, just hold on, please.”