Hard To Stay

by S. Jones

  “You’re not even married yet, and she has you by the balls. Maybe she’ll keep them in a jar so you can borrow them every once in a while when you want to go out with the boys.”

  “At least I’ll be getting it on a regular basis and won’t have to go looking for a random chick to bang every night like your ugly ass.”

  Lucas’s mouth curled into a smirk. “Dude, your pecker is so small, she’ll probably need a search party and a magnifying glass just to find it.”

  Sawyer flipped him the bird as he walked away. It appeared my friends hadn’t matured much since middle school, which was one of the reasons I was going to miss their adolescent banter.

  My mind was still buzzing with everything this change would mean for me. I was uprooting my life and switching careers in a span of a week. I knew in my head that I would eventually adapt and move on, but that didn’t make the thought of leaving any easier. Thankfully, my family backed my decision 100%. Their support was comforting, especially since I was relocating to a city that I had visited only twice in my life.

  My thoughts turned to Jack who had been quiet all afternoon. Normally, he was right in the middle of things, but he had seemed a bit somber and moody all day. I knew him well enough to know that he had something or someone on his mind.

  “You want to tell me why you’ve barely said more than two words today? Are you really that depressed about my moving to D.C?” I smirked, draining the remainder of my beer.

  “Dude, I’ll miss you like a five-day hemorrhoid.” He teased. “I guess I’m just missing my girl. The long-distance shit really sucks.”

  I blinked twice to make sure I heard him correctly. “No fucking way. You really are serious about this chick.” I looked around and sniffed the air. “Did hell freeze over?”

  His lips kicked up into a smirk. “Like you’re one to talk.”

  Well that shut me up. I’d been trying to put my thoughts about Lexi away and tried to make this day be about celebrating and enjoying my time with the boys. We’d talked about everything from work, sports, chicks and who could bench press more at the gym. We were laughing so hard I was sure we looked like a bunch of drunken idiots. The entire day had been one big fucking farewell. But as great as this night had been, my mind had been elsewhere. The more I tried to drink Lexi out of my system, the more she invaded my thoughts, as I tried to come up with a good enough reason as to why she’d left me. No matter what road my mind took me down, I always ended up in a dead end. It didn’t matter where I was or what I was doing, she always seemed to find a way back into my head. In fact, she seemed to be the only thing I had thought about lately.

  I kept glancing at my phone all day hoping to see a text or a missed call from Mac. I hadn’t heard from him since he agreed to do a little digging on my behalf. He told me he would call me when he had news. My patience was running low and my move was quickly approaching. I wasn’t going to be able to go forward until I was 100% certain she was okay. I sent him one last text message. If I didn’t hear back from him by the end of the night, I was booking a flight to Atlanta first thing in the morning.

  Jack noticed my mood slip. “So, what happened between you and the blonde? It must have been serious enough to uproot your life and switch careers, not to mention give up a sweet state pension.” He asked, picking up a nacho chip and dipping it in the salsa. He popped the chip in his mouth as a smug smile spread across his face. If it got any wider, I was afraid it would split in half. It also didn’t go unnoticed that he intentionally flipped the attention away from him, the bastard!

  “Brother, I wish I knew.” I said, and that was the truth. I’d played things over in my head a hundred times and I could never get to the point where Lexi’s leaving made any sense. So much for enjoying the party—my attention had completely left the bar. I started to think about everything that needed to be done and decided it was time to leave. I knew I would catch a shitload of grief from Sawyer and Lucas, but my buzz was gone and I really wasn’t in the partying mood.

  When Lucas came back from the bathroom, I asked all the guys to belly up at the bar. I winked at the beautiful bartender that had been serving us all afternoon and asked her to pour another round of Patron. Within minutes there was a line of shot glasses in front of us, brimming with clear liquid. I grabbed my glass and encouraged everyone to do the same.

  “Guys, thanks for putting this party together. This isn’t goodbye, but just so long for now. So, to all my friends, I make this toast.

  We drink to those who love us,

  We drink to those that don’t.

  We drink to those who fuck us,

  And fuck those who don’t!

  Everyone roared with a “here here” and we tossed the shots back. I watched as their faces soured at the taste of the tequila, but everyone managed to finish it.

  “Fuck! This shit tastes like gasoline.” Lucas muttered.

  Almost immediately, Sawyer piped up and said, “I’m buying the next round, but this time we’ll do something that doesn’t taste like shit.”

  After doing a couple shots of Jack Fire, I stood from the stool to steady my feet. The room started to spin making it hard for me to focus. I didn’t want to leave, but I needed to start packing. My mom and sister were taking me to breakfast tomorrow morning and if I didn’t stop I was going to have a massive hangover. Something I could not afford. My move date was only two days away, and I hadn’t started putting anything I owned into boxes yet.

  My Uber got me back to my apartment in about 15 minutes. On the way home I felt guilty about leaving the party early, but I knew I would regret it tomorrow if I didn’t.

  I walked in the apartment and I still couldn’t get over how quiet and empty the place felt. Lexi had been gone for a couple weeks and the smell of her perfume still lingered in the air. I looked around the room and started to take inventory of everything that needed to be packed up and wasn’t sure where to start.

  I reached in the fridge and grabbed a beer and started to pull my dishes and glassware out of the cupboards. My apartment looked like a Costco warehouse with all the empty boxes. I grabbed a huge stack of old newspapers from the utility room next to the garbage chutes on my way up.

  One by one, I started grabbing items and wrapping them into the sheet of newspaper. Over a mindless five minutes, I had finished the glasses and started to do the same with the dishes.

  I had just finished using an entire newspaper and was reaching for the next copy when I paused and looked at the print on the page.

  There it was as clear as day. It was a picture of Colton’s father posing with both the Mayor and Commissioner Devane. What the fuck? I ran my hand through my hair and skimmed through the article. They were standing together outside a ribbon cutting ceremony of a building dedicated to… Holy shit! My eyes must have been playing tricks on me because the building was being used as a shelter for abused woman and it was called the Hunt House.

  Motherfucker. I threw the paper across the room. Everything started to make sense. I knew she’d lied to me. What kind of sick fucks were they? My stomach bottomed out as I reached down and picked the article back up. My face paled on the date. The answer to all my questions was right there in black ink.

  I surged to my feet and stalked over to my laptop. Venom filled my veins. I fired up my screen and curled my hands around my beer. I went right to work, pulling up my good friend Google.

  I dragged my fingers across my jaw when I saw a recent picture of the two of them together. That picture wasn’t there when I checked yesterday. Trust me, I had been checking on a daily basis. I wanted to reach into the fucking screen and squeeze the life out of that son of a bitch. Damn it to hell. The look in her puffy blue eyes, combined with the tight smile falling from her lips, fucked with my mind. I was going to beat Colton within an inch of his life. Every male instinct screamed at me to demolish him, but first I needed proof. I picked up my cell phone and called Captain Brown.

  “Hello.”

  “It’s m
e, Brad.”

  “I know who it is. I got caller ID, you know. Shouldn’t you be out, celebrating?”

  “I left early. Listen. How close are you to the commissioner?”

  “Are you in some sort of trouble?”

  I rolled my neck and cracked my knuckles. “No. But I could still use your help.”

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  Brad

  The next morning, I booked a direct flight from LaGuardia to Atlanta. The flight was full, but luckily, I snagged a middle seat. Unfortunately, I was sandwiched between a guy who was so big he needed two seats and a college kid that was built like a linebacker.

  My mind replayed everything I had learned over the past 12 hours. I finally learned why I never heard back from Mac. After calling his phone for about fifty times in a row, his wife finally picked up to tell me that he’d had a stroke about a week and a half ago. I wanted to kick myself.

  Captain Brown however came through for me big-time. I learned about the connection between Mayor Decapio and Senator Hunt. Never in a million years would I have guessed that they were college fraternity brothers. I didn’t even know they had fraternities back then.

  I cringed as I reread the document he sent me. It was a closed file that only someone with his connections could get their hands on. My brain couldn’t compute how fucked up this was. With each passing second, I became more unhinged. It turned out Lexi wasn’t Colton’s only victim. I reviewed the details of the police report and wondered how the hell he had gotten away with it.

  I spent the entire night digging up as much information as I could. I wasn’t going to Atlanta unprepared. I anxiously rubbed my hands down the length of my jeans and prayed that I wasn’t too late.

  As soon as the plane touched down and the seat belt light turned off, I jumped up and moved up the cabin like a man on a mission. I felt like a ticking bomb, ready to go off.

  I immediately spotted Lexi’s sister Laney waiting for me in baggage claim. The resemblance was uncanny. They could easily pass for twins. Laney and I had had a nice, long conversation after I’d tracked her down last night. I was so thankful that I left the bar early, otherwise I would not have been able to get as much done as I did. I was still running on no sleep, but that was okay. I was so damn wired I couldn’t sit still. We agreed to meet at the airport and drive over to her parent’s house together. Colton didn’t have a clue what was coming.

  Let the motherfucking games begin.

  The ride to her parent’s house took forever. I knew Lexi’s family had money, but this house was ridiculous.

  Laney pointed to the shiny black SUV. “I don’t want you to freak out, but that’s Colton’s Range Rover over there.”

  I shifted in my seat and cleared my throat. “It looks like I’m about to crash a party.”

  She grabbed the keys out of the ignition and paused, looking unsure. “I just hope I’m doing the right thing.”

  “Laney.” I softened my voice because I could tell she was nervous. I needed her to be strong. She was the only chance I had at nailing the bastard to the wall. “I promise you, he’s going to pay. I swear on my life, he’s not walking this time.”

  I reached for her trembling hand. “Don’t listen to anything he says. Don’t let him get to you. I’m going to take care of this. He is never going to hurt you or your sister again.”

  She gave a shaky nod as we exited the car.

  I stared at the massive front door in front of me. My hands were shaking and my stomach was turned inside out. I squared my shoulders and set my jaw. I was ready to get this over with. As soon as Laney pushed the door open, I stepped inside and scanned the room. Lexi and Colton had just rounded the corner.

  I stood frozen, maybe thirty feet away from them. They both halted in their tracks as soon as they noticed me. All I saw was red. The short distance between us felt like miles. I couldn’t peel my eyes away from her. She hung her head low and buried her face in her hands.

  “Lexi.” I said softly. I was so overcome with emotion, I could barely talk. The only thing I wanted to do was pull her into my arms. A flood of emotions hit me at once: relief, regret, pain, sadness; you name it and I was feeling it.

  Silence fell around us as tension filled the room. An older couple, who I assumed were Lexi’s parents, stared at me with shock and confusion. It was going to be damned near impossible for this to end peacefully. Finally, my eyes landed on Colton. His spine strengthened with the privileged arrogance that I was all too accustomed to when he saw Laney standing by my side. He watched us closely.

  Lexi wasted no time and rushed into my arms. I held her tight, crushing her against my body. Warmth and relief engulfed me as she held onto me like I was her lifeline. Her body trembled against mine with her head buried in the crook of my neck. Having her in my arms felt like everything was right in my world again. I continued to hold her while she sobbed against my chest, soaking my shirt with tears.

  I held my eyes shut and kissed the top of her head. “It’s okay, sweetheart. I’m here. Everything’s going to be fine.”

  Out of the corner of my eye, I sensed movement across the room. I pulled back with her face cupped in my hands. “You need to stand over there.” I gestured towards a man who I assumed was her father.

  She drew back; her tears practically drenched her skin. “Brad, please.” Her eyes flickered over my shoulder before landing on her sister. She glanced back towards me with an unspoken question. She had no idea what was going on.

  Laney walked up, gently pulling her out of my arms and guided her to their father.

  I advanced towards Colton. “You’ve underestimated me, Mr. Hunt.”

  He narrowed his eyes and smiled that smug smile that annoyed the shit out of me. “You do realize that I could destroy you, right?

  Lexi’s dad stepped forward, looking frustrated. “Could someone tell me what the hell is going on?” The question barely escaped his mouth when I heard Colton growl.

  His face twisted while he looked right at me. “Meet Brad Morgan, Sir. He’s the man who turned Alexis against us.”

  “No!” Lexi shouted, trying to free herself from Laney’s grasp. “Daddy, don’t listen to him.” She looked around at everyone. “Colton is the reason why I left home.” She cried, wiping her eyes with the back of her arm. “The only reason why I’m standing here right now is because he’s been blackmailing me.”

  Colton looked like he was barely holding on. His face was frozen; his jaw was tight, his eyes were narrowed, and his fist clenched at his side. He looked like he was ready to pop a blood vessel. “Alexis.” He warned. I pushed my body into his, cutting off his path to Lexi. If he thought he was going to get near her, he was going to have to kick my ass to do it.

  He straightened his shoulders and narrowed his eyes at me. “You sure you want to let this continue? Because I can assure you, it won’t end well for either one of you.”

  “Give it your best shot, Trust Fund boy.”

  He gave me a dark look; the warning was clear. “You’re playing a very dangerous game here, Mr. Morgan. A game you don’t have a chance to win.”

  “Oh yeah, how’s that?” I asked, feigning ignorance.

  “I have enough photographic evidence of the abuse I suffered from you and your goons to end your careers.”

  “Really?” I mocked. I didn’t give a shit what evidence he thought he had. He was going down. “Well, I guess it’s too bad for you that I quit the NYP. I’m no longer a cop employed by the State of New York. Not that it matters because we both know your story is bullshit.”

  Lexi’s head snapped towards mine. “What do you mean, you quit?”

  “I’ll explain everything to you later.” I told her, and then I turned my attention to Colton. “Now, where were we?”

  His nostrils flared. “You think you’re so smart, don’t you?”

  “Colton, don’t!” Lexi pleaded. I was torn between comforting her and kicking the living shit out of him in the living room. For her sake, I was
willing to play his little game of cat and mouse. He hadn’t realized it yet, but I knew I had the upper hand.

  Colton leveled his gaze on her. “You sure this is what you want? There is no going back from here, my dear. Choose very carefully, Alexis. He’ll pay the price one way or another.”

  His threatening tone only infuriated me further. “Don’t you ever talk to her like that again.” I pushed on his chest, sending him stumbling backwards. I had made my mind up; I was going to finish him off. The hell with the consequences, any price I had to pay would be worth it.

  Lexi’s father stood between us, angling his head to Colton. “I’m sick of listening to the two of you talk in riddles. I want answers, now!” He demanded, with his face pinched tight.

  “Do you want to fill Mr. Manning in, or should I?” I asked, feeling the veins bulge in the back of my neck.

  Colton’s gaze briefly skittered to Laney. I could see the beads of sweat building on his forehead because he knew he was fucked.

  “Sir, you know me better than anyone. What they are about to tell you is pure lies. Now, I don’t blame Alexis, because he’s brainwashed her against us. Please keep in mind our history. You know the kind of man I am and the family I come from. Don’t believe a word that comes out of this stranger’s mouth.”

  “Daddy, he’s lying. He always lies. He’s trying to make Brad out to be the bad guy. I can’t allow him to do that.” Her tears continued to fall. “Colton has done nothing but hurt me. He has done terrible things…”

  I saw Mr. Manning’s opinion of Colton start to waver. “Why do you say those things, honey?” He stopped and closed his eyes, like he was working out a puzzle in his head. “You brought things up in the past, but we just assumed that…” He paused, as his face fell. Clarity was finally setting in. I could see in his eyes the moment when he realized the truth. He wiped his hands down his face, shaking his head in disbelief. “You weren’t lying, were you?”