And Raiden looked like he was going to lose his shit again.
When she looked up at me, she asked, “What if Charlie’s not with him? He said he’d give her to the football team. What if they have her?”
Raiden’s snarl was loud, but I ignored it. “Then you do like they do in the movies, Mackenzie. You demand to see her.”
“If it’s a you for her thing, she’ll be with him,” Ford said, sounding more confident than any of us felt.
“We’ll also call the police at the same time I hand you my phone,” Duke added. “We need to get enough on Mahoney that he’s put away from a long time. As much as it pains me to admit, you’re right Mackenzie. It’s hard to go up against money when it’s a he said/she said.”
Mackenzie’s phone chimed with Brayden’s reply.
“What’d that motherfucker say?” Ford asked.
Charlie: U got 20 mins darlin
I reached for the driver’s side door of Duke’s Range Rover when Mackenzie’s voice stopped me. “What if he has someone watching?” All our heads swiveled around. We strained our necks and eyes to see if we saw anyone who didn’t belong.
“No,” Ford said. “If someone was watching us and reporting to Mahoney that we were with you, his text would have said much more.”
“At any rate, it doesn’t matter,” I replied. “It’s a chance we have to take. There’s no way in fuck I’m letting you leave here alone, Mackenzie.”
“Come on,” Duke jumped in. “We’re wasting time.”
I helped Mackenzie in the car and Duke gave her a quick rundown of the controls while he programmed the March cutoff in the GPS. Raiden and Ford crammed their way into the back of the car, while me and Duke were going to have to make do in the backseat.
Soon, Mackenzie was pulling out of the school parking lot and we were on our way. A few minutes down the road, Mackenzie made a point none of us males wanted to acknowledge. “If…if I’m recording everything live…none of you…none of you can get out of the car and hurt Brayden.”
Raiden’s replied was quick and absolute. “The fuck we can’t. I’m going to kill that motherfucker.”
“If any of your guys hurt him, then it takes away from our credibility,” she remarked, frustration lacing ever word.
“That’s not true,” Duke replied. “I think kicking his ass adds more credibility. Dee, no guy with a set of balls would let their girl get threatened by another guy. If Samson, Raiden, Ford, or me don’t go after Mahoney, then how serious could the supposed kidnapping and abuse be?”
“He’s got a point,” I said from where I was laid out on the floor. Duke was laying across the backseat and Raiden and Ford were ying-yanged in the back where Duke’s baseball bag was. “The police won’t believe the seriousness of all this if we pretend to be calm and understanding. Hell, Makenzie, no man alive wouldn’t avenge his woman.”
“You and Charlie aren’t even mine and I want to kill Mahoney,” Ford said from the back of the car. “I can’t imagine what Samson and Raiden are feeling.”
Ford’s comment had me thinking about what I was feeling in this moment. I tried to put a word to my emotions, but nothing seemed adequate. Anger, rage, fury, lividness…none of them seemed strong enough to convey what I was feeling. The burning in my chest was like a live thing, threatening to consume me. I wanted to avenge Mackenzie for everything that asshole had ever put her through. I wanted to avenge her for what he was putting her through now. I wanted to really kill the sonofabitch. But, right now, Brayden had Charlie, and Raiden’s need for vengeance was probably bigger than mine. Whatever was between them, Brayden had the only girl who’s ever meant anything to Raiden. It was going to be race to the finish line to see which one of us got to him first.
Mackenzie’s phone chimed with an incoming text. “Shit, shit, shit,” she muttered.
“Hand it over,” I told her. She tossed it over the seat and the fucking thing landed too close to my nutsack for my liking. I pulled up her texts.
Charlie: 5 mins.
My hands shook a little. The adrenaline was real, and it was laced with a deep hatred for Brayden Mahoney. I shot off a text and made sure to make mistakes, so he would think Mackenzie was driving and texting.
Me: In way slmist there
As soon as I pressed send, the GPS announced that, in one-point-five-miles, we’ll be reaching the March cutoff.
“Okay. I’m going to set up my phone, Dee,” Duke said. “Just remember to make sure to park facing Mahoney and record him with the phone.”
Show time.
Chapter 21
Mackenzie~
I pulled off to the side of the road, my hands trembling and my stomach threatening to revolt. Even the guys in the back didn’t help with my nerves.
Duke’s phone was sitting on my lap, recording already, as I shot a text to Brayden.
Me: I’m here
I took some deep breaths as my leg bounced and waited for his reply. Looking around, it looked very small-town welcoming. That was, until you noticed the dirt path that led into a thicket of trees right before the freeway came into view. My mind went straight to serial killers when my phone rang.
I answered immediately, but I answered on speaker. “Brayden?”
“Whose car did you borrow?”
“My…my new friend, Amelia,” I lied. “She…knows I don’t have a ride because of football practice. I told her I’d have her car back to her by the time practice was over.”
“And she believed you? She just let you have her car like that?” Brayden wasn’t a complete idiot, and I needed to remember that.
“Her brother plays football. That’s how I met her,” I kept lying. “She has to wait for him to give him a ride home, so…she’s stuck at school anyway. I told her Charlie’s car broke down and she needed help.”
“And Maddox?” His voice took on a hard edge and I could only hope he wouldn’t take it out on Charlie.
“He was already on the practice field when you called me.”
“Turn onto the dirt path on your right,” he said. “Go down about half a mile. There’s a clearing. That’s where we’ll be.”
“Brayden, wait!”
“What, Mackenzie?”
“How…how did you know Charlie was with Alistair?” I asked, the question hovering in the back of my mind all this time.
He laughed.
He honest-to-goodness laughed, and it made me want to strangle him with my bare hands.
“I didn’t,” he finally answered. “I had been on the lookout for her car, but one of the guys who was looking out for you called and said they spotted your cousin. I threw the spikes out and thought, what better way to lure you to me, instead of me having to fight my way through your boyfriend to get to you.”
“Why…Charlie said you guys beat Alistair up. Why? Why’d you have to do that?”
“Because the stupid fucker can’t count,” he snapped.
“Can’t count?” I asked confused. “What do you mean?”
“There were six of us ready to…convince you to come with me,” Brayden chuckled like a goddamn evil villain. “Instead of calculating the odds, he thought he could take us all on.” Alistair. “Gotta hand it to the guy, he fought like hell. But what do you do against four football players?”
I ignored his boasting. “Let me talk to Charlie again.”
“You’re trying my patience, Mackenzie,” he replied.
“I’m not driving down that path until you let me speak to her, Brayden,” I demanded, all false bravado.
He was quiet for a second before saying, “You’re lucky I think you’re worth all this trouble, darlin’. But I know just the way you can make it up to me.” I didn’t comment, nor did I want to. But it was only a couple of seconds before Charlie was on the phone again.
“Mack?”
My chest felt like it’d been kicked in with relief. “Charlie,” I breathed. “Are you still okay?”
“I am,” she answered. “But, Mack?
You don’t have to do this, you know.”
Tears fell.
I couldn’t stop them.
“There’s no way in hell I’m letting that asshole off the hook, Charlie,” I told her. “And there’s no way I’d repay your parents by not doing this trade.”
“Macke-”
“Tell Brayden I’m on my way,” I said, stopping her and hanging up before I lost my shit.
The guys had been deathly quiet, but the second I hung up, I handed Duke my phone and he called the police. I drove down the dirt path as Duke explained everything.
When I came up to the clearing he was talking about, I saw Brayden standing next to a make-shift bench. The place looked like it’s been used for a few teenage parties before, but, more importantly, Charlie was standing next to him.
I came to a stop, making sure that the car’s front end faced where Brayden stood. I noticed two cars off to the side with a few Ridgeview players leaning up against them. They were smiling and laughing, like this was all some sort of prank. I wondered how much they knew of the truth behind what Brayden was doing. Were they on board with this because they thought this was just a football prank between Ridgeview and Eastwood, or did they know Brayden used to beat me and this stemmed from pure personal jealousy?
I reached for the door handle, praying Brayden was underestimating me. I was hoping he still believed I was weak and malleable. I was hoping he thought I was still scared of him enough that I would blindly listen to him and come alone.
But I wasn’t that stupid girl who got killed in the movie.
I pulled the door handle and mumbled, “There are two cars on the right. Five guys standing next to them, Brayden is in the clearing with Charlie.”
“Mackenzie?” Samson’s voice was low, but strong.
“Yeah?”
“No matter what happens, I got you, okay?”
“Okay.” I was hoping for a declaration of love, but I also understood now wasn’t the time.
I pushed the door open and stepped outside. I held the phone up and let everyone know I was recording them. “Charlie!” I yelled across the clearing.
Brayden laughed. “You think I give a shit that you’re recording this?”
“I’m live-streaming it, you asshole!” I kept walking, eating up the space between us.
“What exactly are you live-streaming?” he scoffed. “A bunch of friends hanging out?”
“Come on, Charlie.” I ignored Brayden’s taunts. “Get in the car.”
Charlie started walking, and when we reached each other, I handed her the phone. Low enough for her ears only, I said, “Get in the car, but keep recording.”
“No” she replied. “I’m not leaving you.”
I hugged her, so it wouldn’t look suspicious. “The guys are in the car. As soon as you’re inside, they’re jumping out.” I pulled back. “Go,” I mouthed.
I turned back towards Brayden and kept walking. I needed him to think I was abiding by our agreement. However, I did slow up my steps. I wanted to remain at a safe distance when the guys came out running.
I let out a deep breath when I heard the car door open and close shut. Not a second later, the sounds of doors opening and slamming shut echoed throughout the clearing. Footsteps thundered, and I turned around in time to see Duke and Ford running towards the guys by the cars and Samson and Raiden running towards Brayden.
Not being a complete fool, Brayden ran towards his friends, hoping their numbers would fall in their favor since there was six of them. But something told me numbers wouldn’t matter in this fight.
The sickening sound of the first hit rang across the clearing and, soon, all you could see was a melee of ten guys, their fists flying, and blood decorating the dirt and dead grass under their feet.
I jumped when Charlie touched my arm. I looked over at her, and she was still live streaming, but her face was pale, and her hand was shaking.
I knew we should probably go back to the car and lock ourselves in for safety’s sake, but I couldn’t make myself leave. Even though they didn’t need our help, I needed our guys to know I didn’t turn and run. However, it was painful to stand helplessly by as Ford took on two guys at once. Samson was exchanging blows with Brayden, while Duke was holding his own with one guy, and Raiden was fighting off two, like Ford.
“Mackenzie, we have to do something,” Charlie said, her voice tight. “We…”
“The cops are on their way, Charlie,” I told her. “We called them once Brayden told me to come down the dirt path.”
“There’s six of them, Mack,” she almost screeched. “If we jump in that evens the numbers.” I turned to look at her, and that’s when I realized she was truly scared. She had sounded tough on the phone, but the fact of the matter was, she’d been taken after they beat up Alistair. Of course, she was a mess.
“Charlie, if we jump in that…that brawl, we’ll be doing more harm than good,” I replied, hoping like hell that I sounded like I knew what I was talking about. “All we’d be doing is dividing their attention.”
She nodded, then looked back over. “Oh, God,” she whispered.
I looked over and I saw two guys on Duke. Samson must have seen it, too, because he ran from a wavering Brayden and didn’t stop until he was pulling one of the guys off Duke. The sight took me back to the night I first saw Samson, but this was more violent. There were no helmets or shoulder pads to protect them. This was a flesh-on-flesh assault.
A loud crack of thunder turned my head and I saw one boy hit the ground as Ford raged above him. He didn’t bask in his knockout, though. Ford quickly focused all his attention on the second guy he’d been fighting. Ford was as powerful as he was big.
Then another guy dropped at Duke’s feet, and that’s when police sirens penetrated the air. No one stopped fighting, though. And then, I watched as Raiden took notice of Samson fighting someone who wasn’t Brayden. I heard Charlie gasp next to me as Raiden shoved the guy he was fighting aside and went after my ex-boyfriend.
Everything was a blur with the sounds of flesh pounding flesh, and I didn’t even look back as the sirens got louder. I stood, transfixed, as Samson, Ford, and Duke just knew they needed to save Raiden more than they needed to still fight a battle they’d already won.
My body began to tremble as I watched Samson, Ford, and Duke all pulling Raiden off Brayden’s limp body. “Let’s go,” I cried, and we rushed forward.
Charlie threw Duke’s phone down as threw herself in front of Raiden. “Raiden!” she screamed. “Raiden, please stop. Stop!” He had been on his way to killing Brayden, and none of us wanted that. Oh, we all wanted him to pay, but none of us wanted to see Raiden go to prison for life.
Raiden snapped out of his murderous rage and he pulled Charlie into his arms, wrapping her tight, and she let him. “Fuck,” he breathed out.
I took in all four boys and they were a bloody mess. I turned when I heard car doors opening and closing, and a couple of the guys were jumping in their cars, trying to save themselves. But they wouldn’t get far. Three police cruisers were already emerging from the dirt path, blocking the only way out.
Samson wrapped his arms around me from behind and I turned around and held on. I could feel Samson’s heart thundering under my cheek, and it sounded like it matched mine. I closed my eyes and reveled in the few seconds we had. The police were going to start barking orders and I knew Charlie and I would be separated from the guys.
“Everyone, step away from each other!” came the first command. I reluctantly stepped away from Samson, and I saw Charlie pulled out of Raiden’s embrace.
I counted four patrol cars and a total of eight cops as they descended upon us all. Three cops approached us, and the lone female officer said, “Ladies, I need you to come with me.”
It didn’t matter that we’d done nothing wrong. I was nervous and scared, and I just wanted to stay with Samson. But I didn’t argue. Charlie made her way over to me and we followed her.
Two steps in, Charl
ie exclaimed, “Oh, the phone!’ She turned and rushed over to where she had dropped Duke’s phone. When she ran back, she held up the phone and told the officer, “It was all recorded.”
“There’s a dash cam in the Range Rover, too,” I added. “It’s all there.”
“And that guy,” Charlie pointed towards a moaning Brayden, “he’s got my phone. It has the text messages he sent.”
“Okay, ladies,” she said softy, “let’s head over here and you can tell me what happened.”
We went to stand near one of the police cars, and there, Charlie told her everything that happened from when they disabled Alistair’s car and beat him up. After she was done with her recount of the events, I joined in and told her what happened from the time Brayden had called me from Charlie’s phone.
I wanted, so badly, to hear what was being said to the boys, but I knew my absolute cooperation was needed to make sure none of them got in trouble. Sure, the Ridgeview players had rushed into the fight just like the guys had, but I wasn’t sure what the laws were for mutual combat. These days, everyone was so delicate and sensitive, this entire thing could escalate quickly. The only blessing I could think of was that Samson and Duke’s parents had money. I knew they’d get the boys all good lawyers.
It took two hours for everything to come out. While all ten boys either sat or stood handcuffed, the live stream was viewed by all the cops, and Duke even pulled up the video feed from the dash cam on his phone, so they could view it.
And three hours later, Brayden, Kevin Diamond, and Marshall James had all been arrested.
Chapter 22
Samson~
We had barely escaped being arrested, and that had been attributed to a few reasons. One, the cops could count. It was six against four, so there was no way Brayden and his followers could claim self-defense. Two, Charlie was able to get ahold of Alistair and he had still been at the hospital getting checked out. He had confirmed that Charlie had been legit kidnapped. Three, the dash cam and live stream clearly showed both sides rushing each other. We hadn’t sucker punched anyone or snuck up from behind. Yeah, Ridgeview might be stupid, but they hadn’t shied away from the fight. I imagine it was because they had thought the numbers were in their favor. Four, Mackenzie had given them a recap of her relationship with Brayden and showed them her scar as proof. And, finally, when they had started reading Kevin Diamond his Miranda Rights, he quickly began to throw Mahoney under the bus, and pretty much collaborated everything we had told the police.
The Eastwood Series Page 11