Broken Cheaters

by Lacey Silks

  “Yes!”

  “Okay.”

  “And ice cweam because you can’t go out and not buy ice cweam.”

  “Yes, we’ll get ice cream as well.”

  Trevor took in a deep breath before looking up. His eyes were full of wonder and questions, and I got nervous for a moment.

  “Twish, will you be my mommy now?”

  I hadn’t thought about ever having a child in my life. The time had never been right, and neither had the person. And here I was, with this marvelous boy staring into my eyes, taking over my heart. I wasn’t sure what I’d done in my life to deserve him, but I was beyond delirious to have him. I felt as attached to Trevor as any mother would to her child— at least that’s how I thought a mother would feel. I wanted to protect him, to laugh and cry with him, teach him, and comfort him when he needed me. He would forever be my number one. I’d give my life for him.

  “Is that what you’d like?” I asked.

  He nodded with delight.

  “Well, I can guarantee you that we’ll always be a family, and you’ll always be in my life, Trevor. Always.”

  He leaned against my chest, and I wound my arms around him, bringing him even closer, his little ear once again over my heart as he whispered, “I love you, Twish.”

  “I love you too, Trevor.”

  Someone cleared his throat at the threshold, and we both turned to see Axel leaning against the door frame.

  “I thought you went out?”

  “I’m back. Are you going to let Trish eat breakfast, buddy?”

  Axel was freshly showered. His wet hair, ruffled by a towel, had that sexy look only he could pull off.

  “Mommy loved dinosaurs too.” Trevor ignored the question and kept his eyes glued to the book, flipping the pages.

  “Trevor, why don’t you take the book with you?” I asked.

  He got up and ran out of the room. A moment later he was back, with his knapsack full of dinosaur items on his back.

  I stood up and walked to Axel. He kissed me, and the morning finally felt complete.

  Downstairs, the kitchen was bustling. My father walked through the patio door at the same time as we made it downstairs.

  “Someone abandoned me last night,” he complained playfully.

  Trevor giggled. “You’we a snowopolous because you snow, Gwampa.”

  “Come here and give me a hug.” My father opened his arms wide and Trevor rammed into him.

  I turned to Axel, asking, “You went out this morning?”

  “Needed to clear my head, so I went for a run.”

  “Is everything okay?”

  “It is now that I’m back. It’s perfect, actually.”

  “Breakfast’s getting cold,” George called from the kitchen.

  There was nothing better than a home-cooked meal, especially when the entire family was in one room. It was still difficult to believe that we were all here. Trevor sat beside me with Axel on his other side. My father made more jokes about dinosaurs, and Trevor giggled at each one. My sister would have loved being here.

  “Please, stay another night,” my mother implored.

  “Mom, we have to work—”

  “Meg, if it weren’t for an important appointment that I have lined up, we would. I don’t have a choice. These people depend on me. But Trish, if you need more time…”

  “No, I won’t leave you. We’re a family now,” I said firmly.

  “Trevor would stay with you.”

  I looked between my mother’s pleading eyes and Axel’s confirming gaze.

  “I’d leave tonight and have a private jet ready for you for tomorrow.”

  “What about Olivier’s? I have a job—”

  “He’ll understand. You’ve worked so hard, I’m sure a few extra days will be fine. I’ll talk to him myself. Besides, I thought you’d want to reconsider working there. I mean, you have amazing experience as an engineer.”

  I shook my head. “I know waitressing is not rocket science, but I really love it. It feels right, and it pays well.”

  My mother cocked her head to the side, “Trish, if it’s money you’re worried about, we could help. We just haven’t seen you in so long.”

  “No, Mom. I’m not worried about money.” I sighed. Truthfully, another twenty-four hours without Axel felt like eternity. “Okay, until tomorrow night.”

  “Gwamma, can I have anothew dinosaur pancake?”

  “Of course, sweetheart.”

  Trevor seemed to be having the time of his life. If he was confused, he didn’t let anyone know it. In fact, he was the only one of our family taking the new change in his life completely in stride.

  After breakfast, I stretched my legs out on the patio and watched as Trevor, my father, and Axel all played in the sprinkler on the lawn. Then they frolicked in the pool, Axel and my father taking turns throwing Trevor high up in the air so he could dunk underneath. He was a natural swimmer. I closed my eyes for a moment, remembering when it had been me and Chloe having fun in this house. I saw her behind my eyelids as she morphed from the young girl I remembered to the mature mother she would have been. She kept mouthing something to me over and over again, but I couldn’t hear her. An image of a passing blue Camaro with two white stripes over its hood flashed by. It dissipated into thin air as it sped over Chloe. But she stood in the same spot, shaking her head.

  I was jolted awake by drops of water falling onto my stomach. Axel stood above me, his bright smile fading into a sinful grin. He crouched beside me, kissing the side of my arm. The tip of his tongue teased my skin with a sensual lick.

  “If it were just you and me now, I’d eat you alive.” His gaze snaked over my body and I couldn’t help but rest mine on the growth underneath his shorts. “Last night was not nearly enough, baby.”

  “Oh, yeah?” I bit my lip. “We’ll have to do something about that, won’t we?”

  “I sure hope so. But first you need to not pass out on me.”

  “I’m sorry I fell asleep so quickly.”

  “You had a day full of surprises.”

  “What if we go now?” I pulled on the string of his shorts.

  “I’m leaving in half an hour.”

  I pouted.

  “I wish you could stay.”

  “Me too, but I’ll see you guys tomorrow night, and I’m sure my mom would like to take her mind off some things and babysit Trevor.”

  “You’re making me want to leave here, and I’m not sure I can just yet.” I looked back to the pool where my father was playing with Trevor.

  “Stay. You need this, and your family needs this. And when you guys come home tomorrow, we’ll do something special for the three of us… and then for the two of us.”

  “Sounds perfect.”

  With one last kiss, Axel went to change. After he left, I put on my shorts and t-shirt and helped Trevor get ready for our day of shopping. Two hours later, we were sitting outside an ice cream shop, and Trevor was coloring in his new dinosaur book. The remnants of his chocolate desert rested at the bottom of a cup.

  I closed my eyes and let the sun warm my face when a call came through.

  “It’s your daddy,” I said to Trevor, before picking up the phone.

  “Trish, where are you?” The panic in his voice turned the blood in my veins into slush.

  “We’re sitting outside an ice cream shop by the park. What’s going on?”

  “Do not move. Jack made bail.”

  “Okay, but it doesn’t mean—”

  “Trish, just listen to me. There’s more. I don’t have time to explain, but you’re in danger. Go to the nearest public store and call the police.”

  Jack wouldn’t come after me for doing what was right, would he?

  “I’m getting on the next flight back. Trevor’s with you?” he asked.

  I started packing up the books and dinosaurs into Trevor’s knapsack, saying, “Trevor, give me your hand, honey. Yes, he is.” Sensing the fear in my tone, Trevor set his crayons aside
as well and grabbed my hand.

  “Trish—”

  “I’ll keep him safe, Axel. I promise.”

  “Jesus, I shouldn’t have left.”

  From the corner of my eye, I saw someone across the street staring at us. “Axel, we gotta go. I think we’re being followed.”

  “Hang up and call the police. I’ll—”

  The phone died before he got a chance to finish. I looked at the black screen and pressed the power button again. My battery was dead. Of course it would be!

  Shit!

  I walked as casually as my nerves would let me, and Trevor followed suit. He stuck to my side like glue. Once I turned the corner, the first store on the right was a linen and crafts store.

  “We’re going to go inside a fabric store to see if grandma needs some new sheets. And we’re going to make a quick phone call. Okay?”

  “Okay.” His whisper was enough to tell me that he’d absorbed my fear like a sponge. As soon as we turned the corner and snuck into the store, we ran to the back. This small space was a labyrinth. Passing rolls of fabric, bins of trinkets, and racks of yarn, I searched for a checkout counter with a clerk.

  This was beginning to feel like a nightmare. The front door bell chimed, and I froze. Goosebumps covered my arms. I pressed my finger to my lips, asking Trevor to be quiet. We scooted into a corner. I moved the fabrics around and hid him behind the giant spools. “Whatever happens, don’t move, baby. Hide out like a velociraptor.”

  “Is he a bad guy?” he asked.

  There was no point in lying to him. “Yes, baby. He’s a very bad guy. Stay here until I get you, okay?”

  He nodded.

  The steps drew closer, and I tiptoed a few feet away from where I hid Trevor. Between the racks, I saw Jack heading our way. Trying to seem as casual as possible, I pretended to be inspecting a floral pattern when he cleared his throat.

  I looked up. The man I used to know was gone, replaced with the face of a murderer. The tailor-cut suit was gone too and the perfectly slicked hair a total mess. Jack looked like he hadn’t shaved in a week, and the dark circles under his eyes made me suspect he hadn’t gotten much sleep in jail.

  “Just who I was looking for,” he said.

  “Hello, Jack. I wish I could say it’s nice to see you too, but I’d be lying.”

  “You have some nerve, Trish. Do you know what you’ve done?” he asked.

  “I told you exactly what I was going to do, and you chose to ignore it.”

  He shook his head. “You messed with the wrong person, bitch. I will not go down for your lies.”

  Asshole!

  “They’re not lies. It’s all on video. How many strings did your father have to pull to get you out on bail?”

  He ignored me. “Where’s the kid?”

  “What kid?”

  “Don’t try to be smart, Trish, or this will end for the both of you quicker than you can blink. I saw you walk inside here with him. Where’s Axel’s son?”

  I shook my head. My throat tightened as fear began to creep up. There was no way I’d give Trevor up. Not to him, and not to anyone else in this world. He was my nephew, and I loved him like a son.

  “Okay, we’ll do this the hard way, then.”

  He took a step toward me.

  “Stop,” I said. “Don’t get any closer, or I’ll scream.”

  “I guess you haven’t been in town for a while. The old lady that owns this store is deaf. There’s no one else here.”

  “Look, all I wanted was justice.”

  He laughed. “If the legal system had it right, I’d have been behind bars five years ago.”

  “What?”

  He waved his hand. “Your boyfriend already knows, so it’s just a matter of time before they find me. That asshole stole my car yesterday.”

  “Why would Axel steal your car?”

  “You’re as dumb as you were that night, aren’t you? He wants to make sure I stay behind bars for life. So I thought I could make a trade with him. The evidence he has against me from that night for you and the kid.”

  Then it all came rushing back in. The moment he said it, it all made perfect sense.

  “It was you.” I covered my mouth with my hand and took another step back. He matched it with a step forward. “The night Chloe died. You rammed my car from behind. You killed her.”

  “She deserved it. She was going to destroy my life, the way you tried to. Do you now understand what happens to people who mess with me?”

  With two long strides he was in my face, holding it between his strong fingers, squeezing tight, the way Brad used to. Before I got a chance to knee him, a loud scream tore through the store as Trevor jumped on Jack’s leg.

  “You get off my mommy!”

  Jack swerved on his foot and pushed Trevor to the ground.

  “Don’t you dare touch him!” I swung my hand at Jack, my nails scraping right over his cheek. Blood spurted, and Jack looked like he’d just been attacked by Wolverine.

  The fist came at me before I got a chance to duck. He struck me square in my nose, and I heard a bone crack. The next punch came from the side, and I blacked out.

  Chapter 21

  When I opened my eyes, I was still unsure whether I was awake, or even alive. My head throbbed, and my nose felt like it had swelled to balloon-size. Pain pulsed all over my face, and I was afraid I’d pass out if I thought about it too much. So, I shut it out and concentrated on where I was. The room was dark, but it didn’t feel like a basement or the grungy clinic Brad had taken me to. My knees and elbows seared with heat, and my hands were bound behind my back. Come to think of it, my shoulders hurt as well. In fact, my whole body ached from the way I must have been lying for however many hours had passed. Beside me, I felt Trevor’s warm body as he snuggled against me. I breathed in relief that he hadn’t been hurt, or so I hoped.

  To the right, I could make out a curtain covering the window. Streetlights filtered between the two fabrics. Outside, rain drizzled, and the humidity made the entire room feel wet.

  When I moved, I heard Trevor’s sweet voice.

  “Twish?”

  “Trevor? Baby, are you okay? Are you hurt?”

  “I’m okay. The bad man took us.”

  “It’s okay, honey. Don’t worry. We’ll get away. Your daddy’s a hero. He’ll find us. And if he doesn’t, I’ll figure something out. Okay?”

  “Youw nose is big.”

  I wished I could touch it to check the damage, but with my hands behind my back, that was impossible.

  “Do you know how long we’ve been here?”

  He shook his head, disappointed. “I can’t tell time.”

  “That’s okay, baby. It’s night time, so it must have been a while. Are you tired? Hungry?”

  “No, but I’m scawed.”

  “Come closer to me.”

  He slid into my chest and leaned his head over my heart, sighing with relief. It was tearing me apart. If I got the chance, I’d kill Jack. Now I understood how Axel must have felt when I told him about what Jack had done to Chloe. If he ever touched Trevor again, he’d lose a hand.

  “Do you know where the man who took us is?”

  “No. Twish, can I twy youw wope?” he asked.

  “To untie it? Yes, of course. Can you turn on the light first?”

  Trevor stood up and quietly paced to the wall. He flipped the switch on. As I’d expected, we were in a motel room, and I wondered whether he’d taken us far away from home. Our house was on the outskirts of our town. The road out had plenty of lodgings, and I prayed that we weren’t far away. I prayed that Axel had already landed and had the entire police force searching for us.

  I turned around on the bed, and Trevor started working his little fingers around the fabric knot. Jack must have taken the piece of linen from the store. Quiet grunts came out of his mouth that reminded me of Axel.

  “You can do it.” Desperate to find something we could use to cut the fabric, I looked around the r
oom, but there was nothing.

  “It’s tight.” Trevor’s voice was quiet but still determined. He continued wedging his fingers into the knot. A bead of sweat rolled down his temple.

  “I know, honey. Do your best.”

  Just as I was beginning to feel the knot loosen, we heard footsteps outside.

  “Lie down, baby, and don’t move.”

  Trevor hurried back to the bed and lay down beside me. Jack opened the door. He was holding a pizza box, and after ogling me from head to toe, he threw the box on the bed. While my own stomach grumbled at the tempting aroma, Trevor didn’t even budge.

  “Aren’t you hungry kid?” he asked.

  Trevor didn’t reply.

  “Whatever. It’s your stomach.”

  Jack turned to the mirror and examined the gash on his cheek. He frowned and grumbled something under his breath. I’d dug pretty deep into him when I pulled my nails along his cheek.

  “Jack, you need to let him go. He’s just an innocent child in all this. He didn’t do anything to you. I did. So just let him go, please.”

  “Yeah, well, it doesn’t work that way. It also gives Axel more reason to give my car back.”

  “That Camaro? It’s the one you were driving that night, isn’t it?

  It was stupid of Jack not to have disposed of it, but at this moment, I didn’t want to question why he kept it. Probably for reasons of pride.

  “It was a birthday gift from my father. I had it repainted after the accident.”

  “Jack, you must know there’s no way out of this. The best scenario is if you let us go. I can tell Axel that we lost track of time while shopping. No one has to know about what happened today.”

  “I’m not stupid, Trish. Don’t you fucking tell me what’s best, okay?”

  Trevor’s hands flew to cover his ears.

  “Jack, please. He’s scared enough as it is.”

  “If I don’t get that car back, that’s hard evidence against me, and I can’t take that chance. They can probably find traces of the old paint underneath the new, and I’m not taking that risk. The deal was clear – you and him for the Camaro.”

  I felt so disheartened and so ready to give up, that if it weren’t for Trevor beside me, I probably would have. If Trevor was afraid, he hid it well.