Night Break

by Carey Decevito

  Looks like I succeeded a little too well at drawing the man out.

  When Marcello the Brute, as I had vowed to call him, went to inspect a loud clanging noise coming from the back of the building, I’d followed him, even though he’d instructed me to stay put.

  That’s when I saw him beating some man to a pulp. A man I didn’t recognize right away until he rolled over. Shrieking my shock at seeing Hank, Dalton’s father, plastered with blood and beaten; Marcello had turned to find me noticing the gun he’d been holding, but had somehow ended up on the ground. I made a dash for it, having to shove my elbow into the bruiser’s nose to get away and into the warehouse. He was hot on my tail, but I had enough time to get the safety off the weapon and take aim.

  I pressed the trigger, surprised that three shots rang out due to its sensitivity. Considering I’d never shot a gun off before, I was shocked to find that Marcello was on the ground.

  That’s when I made my escape, carrying my laptops with me.

  Checking that Hank still had a strong pulse, while he lay there unconscious, I dialed 911 to report the incident.

  I then wandered the shipping yard, looking to find some way to catch a ride, when I spotted a Dodge Ram, the driver inside, eyeing me as I approached.

  “Not exactly where you should be this time of night, is it, sweets?” the man said.

  I decided to go for honesty. He seemed harmless enough, and I still had the gun tucked in the back of my pants, my hoodie doing a great job at concealing the weapon. “I need your help.” I looked behind me to make sure I wasn’t being followed. “Earlier tonight, two men took me and brought me here. I need to get back home.”

  “You need to talk to the cops,” was his rebuttal.

  “M-my boyfriend is the cops.” So I told a little white lie, sue me!

  Despite the warmth in the air, I was shivering. The man noticed.

  “Get in.” Putting the truck in reverse, he asked, “Where to?”

  Chapter 50

  Devolin

  Marcello the Brute = me. Safe for now. Don’t come looking, I’ll find you. Look after your dad, 911’s on the way. I’ll handle Hewitt. ~Love, Huss

  I could only imagine what went through Dalton’s head when he read the text I sent after I’d found my safe haven, this also necessitating the removal of the tracker I found magnetized to the framework of my car. I couldn’t be too careful.

  Earlier, Doug, the owner to the RAM, dropped me off in front of my apartment building. The night guard at the security desk recognized me, and helped me in. I could tell he was wondering what the hell I was doing out that late at night.

  Walking into my place, I didn’t waste time. I’d gone to my room, packed a few changes of clothes, and some bathroom necessities. Checking my office, I saw how it had been ransacked. Someone had been in my place after I’d left, but I didn’t have time to search everything to know if anything was missing. Opening my duffle, I shoved my laptops in it, buried the gun under some clothes, grabbed my untouched bag of Oreos—because a night like tonight definitely deserved a cookie binge—sought out my car keys, then hit the road.

  Half an hour later, I was sitting on the bed of a dingy hotel, procured under an assumed name, thanks to my trusty hacking skills, and I’d just pressed send on my text to Dalton.

  Now it was time for me to work my magic. As for Dalton and the gang, I’d deal with him, my anger, and feelings of betrayal later.

  Me: Your man’s dead.

  It took all but three seconds for my phone to start ringing. After discovering that Brycen had rerouted my calls from Hewitt’s number, I’d reversed his efforts.

  “Listen, you cunt!” Gordon yelled over the line.

  I tsked. “You kiss your mother with that mouth?”

  “Put my money back where it was,” he demanded. “You have no idea who you’re messing with here.”

  “Au contraire mon cher,” I singsonged. “I know exactly who I’m dealing with.”

  “Bitch, I’m going to—”

  “End up in jail or in a pine box…or maybe both,” I finished. “I have enough proof to take you down, Gordon, and it’s all on its way to Jacksonville PD, via an anonymous source.” I hung up before he could say anything more then silenced all incoming calls. Reaching for one more cookie, I shoved it whole in my mouth, smiling like a loon, and set to work on sending everything I’d finally managed to put together to Shane’s JPD email.

  It felt fucking good to cut down the bad guy at the knees and give back to the good people.

  “Fuck, I love my job!” I sighed, laying back and watching the progress of the file transfer until it hit one hundred.

  It had been two days since I’d sent Shane all the information I had on Gordon. Between what Dalton had compiled over the years, and what I had record of, I’d managed to sift through both and figure out where to go from there.

  This morning, local newspapers were spreading the news that real estate mogul, Gordon Hewitt was indicted on multiple charges. Funny how embezzlement was the lesser of all the charges, but he’d been found out for so many cases that those charges alone—provided they stuck—would be enough to put him away for two lifetimes.

  Still, I’d paid myself full up for the next week. Feeling weak from my latest bout of ‘excitement,’ I needed to rest. Lupus caused me to force rest on myself when I encountered great moments of stress. Also, I wanted to make sure that I wasn’t found by Dalton and the NSI gang, not to mention Hewitt’s men, before I made my next move. God knows how many people were out there looking for me.

  I missed Dalton like crazy.

  Was I still furious with him? No, not really. I was disappointed that he hadn’t trusted me enough to know that I could handle the information.

  We’d had zero communication since that text I sent him on my arrival at Twin Oaks Motel, warning him about his father, and it was getting increasingly hard to keep ignoring his messages.

  Multiple times a day, I’d sit there, activating my message app, debating if I should read them. I’d dial into my voicemail, only to hang up instead of punching in my password.

  To make sure I wasn’t found, I’d removed the tracking software that Brycen had installed on my computers. I’d gone as far as reinforcing them with extra coding. I’d also deactivated any tracking options on my cell, only powering it up when needed for added precaution.

  It was an email two days later that had me breaking down on my self-imposed exile.

  The email had come from Skylar.

  Hank had another heart attack.

  Chapter 51

  Dalton

  “Do you think she’ll fall for it?” Skylar asked from her chair in my office.

  She’d just sent our baiting email a few minutes ago.

  “I hope so,” I mumbled, one of the donuts she’d brought, shoved in my mouth.

  We’d been canvassing her favorite haunts—those that Skylar knew about anyway. I’d set a man on her apartment building. I’d even gone as far as to call Joleen to see if she’d heard from her daughter. All of it wasn’t netting any results, except for me successfully freaking Devolin’s mother out.

  Two hours after the email was sent, we hit pay dirt, when Brycen confirmed that my woman had opened Skylar’s email.

  I hightailed it to the hospital to hopefully catch my ghost.

  Lack of sleep had me fighting to stay awake. My appetite had taken a hike too, but I ate whenever someone shoved something in my face, just so they’d shut the fuck up. I must admit, I was a bear of a man to those around me. After five days without a sign of life from Devolin, could you really blame me?

  With Hewitt on the loose, I understood why she’d sequestered herself somewhere safe. I even got why she’d stayed away for a few days, until things stuck, and she’d known for a fact that the man wouldn’t be let out on bail. The man had a long reach. I’d have done the same.

  It had been three days after the man’s arrest, a
nd she could have at least initiated contact. She hadn’t. Something told me that there was more than just Hewitt to do with her little ghost routine, and it all boiled down to me.

  That’s why we flushed her out with that email. She may not have come out had the email been from me, but Dad had been there that night. She knew he’d been hurt. Hell, she’d called 911 for help before leaving him. She also knew of his heart history. Because of that, it was the perfect setup.

  Cloistered in a dark corner, continuing my good fight against exhaustion, and failing, I missed her slipping into Dad’s room.

  I shot up to a proper sitting position the moment I felt the kick at my boot followed by, “Yo, D.”

  Morgan and Theo were standing over me, the woman holding an extra cup of coffee, extending it my way.

  “Thanks,” I mumbled, rubbing at my eyes with one hand and taking the cup with the other.

  “Anything?” the man asked.

  I shook my head, taking a hefty sip of the hot liquid. “No.” I went to pull my phone out of my jeans and noticed the blanket laid across my lap.

  “Looks like someone took pity on your miserable ass,” Theo said.

  “Hmm,” I mumbled as I unlocked my screen, noticing I had a text.

  From Devolin no less.

  Devolin

  My heart told me I needed to see Hank.

  My gut was churning with the fact that this whole heart attack business was a ruse to get me to come out of hiding.

  Before acting on my emotions alone, I decided to be cautious. It’s a good thing I had too. Breaking into the hospital mainframe and accessing their patient records wasn’t all that easy. It took me about an hour to get in there, but when I did, I breathed a sigh of relief to discover that Dalton’s father was just fine.

  Thank God.

  Despite this, however, I still felt a burning need to see the man. After all, he had tried to save me. I know, in my heart of hearts, that had I not interrupted my captor, Hank most likely wouldn’t have been here with us any longer.

  I’m going.

  With my decision made, I started planning.

  Even in sleep, I could sense Dalton’s presence. I took a moment to study him. His face was pale except for his jaw. He looked as if he hadn’t shaved in days. His eyes were puffy, the bags under them prominent.

  Not for the first time, but this was the worst, I felt guilty for staying away. I knew that Dalton could have helped me stay safe. I also knew that I could achieve the same result on my own too. It was hard to let old habits die. It was even harder to admit that even though he’d hidden important things from me, he’d done it out of love.

  Looking around the hall, I spotted the rolling cart of blankets. Nabbing one, I slowly made my approach, unfolding the material as I got closer. Careful not to wake him, I draped the blanket over him. The strand of hair that I absolutely loved chose that moment to fall over his face. My hand stopped centimetres away before I softly brushed it aside, vowing that I’d have another opportunity to do more than just that. When I was ready.

  Walking away from him was the hardest thing I had to do. I’d come to do one thing, and that was to check up on Hank.

  Sneaking into his room, I saw the large mass of a man, laying there.

  “You came,” he mumbled, once I got to his bedside.

  “I did,” I whispered.

  “No flowers?” He smirked.

  Heat suffused my face. “I’m sorry.”

  “Don’t be.”

  I took the time to take in his appearance. Hank had some bruising on his face, a nasty mix of green and blue, but he looked none the worse for the wear.

  “How’re you feeling?” I asked.

  “I’m fine, girl.” He patted the hand I hadn’t realized had made its way to his, covering it. “They want to make sure everything’s okay with my ticker. So long as the tests come back good, I’ll be home in my own bed by tomorrow.”

  “Is there anything I can do?”

  “You did enough.” His eyes held mine for longer than I felt comfortable, but I matched his intensity because it’s what the man deserved. “I should have known better than to go in there without my gun,” he whispered, closing his eyes.

  I’d seen this same reaction from Dalton before. It was his way of controlling his emotions when they threatened to get the better of him.

  “Thank you for coming for me,” I told him. “I should go. I promise I’ll check in on you soon.” Turning, I made it to the door, pausing when Hank spoke.

  “Girl, if you really want to do something for me, keep making my son happy,” he said. “He needs that in his life. He needs you.”

  On a nod, I took my leave, hurrying out of the hospital. It wasn’t until I’d gotten back to my room at Twin Oaks that I gave into the tears. I also gave into my urge to get in touch with Dalton, sending him a text.

  I’ll be home soon. Sleep well, Kip.

  And I didn’t turn off my phone for once.

  Chapter 52

  Devolin

  Something felt off the moment I set foot in my apartment, but I just chalked it up to the fact that I’d been taken a week ago, and it was just me trying to get familiarized with my own space again.

  I should have known to trust my intuition.

  “It’s about fucking time, bitch.” I startled as it came from behind me once I’d entered my bedroom.

  Trying to get my heartbeat back down to normal, I turned to be faced with a face I’d never formally been introduced to.

  Suzanna.

  Suzanna pointing a pistol at my face from five feet away, to be more precise.

  What the fuck?

  “Suzie?”

  “That’s right!”

  “W-what are you—”

  “I tried to warn him,” she said, maniacally shaking her head. “But no! You just had to get in there deeper with him, didn’t you?”

  “Suz—” Fear had me frozen in place.

  “It wasn’t enough that you had Gordon, you just had to have Dalton, too.”

  Bile filled my throat. “Gordon?”

  “Yes, Gordon!” she yelled. “He’s mine, just like Dalt was. He didn’t tell you he was taken, did he?”

  I wanted to say something along the lines of, You can have him, about Gordon, but I figured that lashing out at the woman was probably not in my best interest, if I planned to evade what could be coming out of that barrel.

  “H-how’d you find me?” I asked instead.

  Her laugh was borderline psychotic sounding. “Does Anna Sue Kendrick ring a bell?”

  Holy fuck!

  “That’s right, Devolin Payton Taylor. I know all about you, right down to your Social Security number,” the crazed woman said. “Imagine my surprise when I couldn’t find you anymore, only for Gordon to hand me that change of address form. It couldn’t have worked out more perfectly that I’d find you on your own.” That and what she told me next went a long way to explain how she knew all that she did the first night we’d bumped into each other.

  Anna Sue Kendrick was the head of human resources at Hewitt Realty. We’d never met, because I’d gone in for my interview with Gordon, then was granted permission to work from home, mostly because of the type of work I did for him, but also because of my health issues. The last was why I’d taken the job to begin with.

  I’d never really had a reason to meet with the HR department since my forms had been filled, signed, and personally handed to Gordon himself over a lunch. I’d rarely gone to Gordon’s office; our meetings were usually over lunch or dinner since the man claimed it was the only time he was free.

  I never questioned it, but hindsight is twenty-twenty, right? Skylar and my mother had met him briefly, and they’d both had felt that the man was shady. I’d worked for him for two years, and despite the odd vibe I got from him, his creepiness never truly registered.

  Seeing as this past week I’d been in hiding, scared that Gordo
n would send someone else after me, I asked the obvious, “D-did he send you for me?”

  The glimmer of satisfaction entered her gaze. “He did.” She licked her lips like a she-wolf cornering her prey before pouncing on it. “But I’m here for my own reasons.”

  Keep them talking. That’s what they said was the key to living through something like this right? Until help came?

  Well, help wasn’t coming because I’d been stupid. I knew going it alone was going to bite me on the ass at some point. Today looked like it was going to be that day.

  Damn you and your stubbornness, Devolin!

  “It’s time to go.” Suzanna brought me back to the present. “They’ll be here soon.”

  “Who?” I asked.

  A loud crack rented the air, followed by a searing pain in my side.

  She’d shot me!

  Dropping to my knees, my hands went to my right side, lifting my shirt and inspecting the wound. It looked to be a graze, but I couldn’t be certain. There was so much blood.

  Looking up at my intruder, I could make out the shock as clear as day on her face. The bitch didn’t know how to shoot a gun, and thankfully, her aim really sucked, since the fucking weapon had been aimed at my chest.

  For the first time since I’d been faced with Suzanna, my fight or flight response was starting to kick in. Realizing that I could use this latest happenstance to my advantage, I decided to give that a try.

  She wasn’t going to be taking me anywhere.

  Chapter 53

  Dalton

  I’ll be home soon. Sleep well, Kip.

  A simple sentence that scared the shit out of me, but also had me smiling for the first time in nearly a week. How soon was soon though?

  Not fucking soon enough.

  I wanted Devolin home now. I wanted to come home to her, or for us to leave work and go home together. I want to be able to curl up on the couch with a beer, and just be. I want my dad to pop by, and see my woman and Skylar cooking up a storm with their singing and dancing shenanigans. I wanted to wake her up in the middle of the night, just for the sake of reminding her what she means to me. In one night, she broke me, and I haven’t been the same since. Like a thief, she snuck in and stole my heart, never giving it back—and I didn’t want it back. It was hers. I was hers. All of me. All I had to give.