Tortured (Cherry Grove Series Book 4)

by Cole Lepley

  With one problem under my belt, I need to focus on what’s really pressing at the moment—Mack.

  When she transferred to Cornell from Yale last year, I thought everything would be better. I wouldn’t need to worry as much about her without Sean being around. But now she’s dating a new football player. I guess we both stick to things we know.

  The game against Yale is this weekend and I need to get down there. The only problem is I’m not supposed to leave state lines during my parole. I could get permission but that takes time, and you need a really good excuse. I can’t exactly say I need to go down there to crack the skull of the guy who got me sent to prison in the first place. They would shoot that idea down sure as shit.

  Even though I won’t be working at my dad’s shop full-time anymore, I still have to stick it out until he can find someone to replace me. Not that it’ll be too difficult. I’m pretty sure he always has someone on the back burner in the event that something happens to me—or he decides to fire me. It’s usually the latter.

  I’m standing behind the counter, scrolling through the appointment book, when a familiar name catches my eye. Chills run straight through my core as the memory of what happened a couple months ago plays in my head. I need to get out of here.

  Panic stricken, I turn to Mark, one of the other guys working with me today. He’s causally sipping his coffee and browsing the sports section of the paper.

  “Dude, you need to do me a solid.”

  He looks up at me, taking in the serious expression on my face. “Geez, Perry. You look like you seen a ghost. What’s up?”

  I run my hand over my head, fidgeting around behind the partition. “I need you to cover for me.” When his eyebrows shoot up, I add, “Just for a few hours.”

  Mark closes his paper with a sigh. “Okay, man. I can do that, but you have to promise you’ll come back. We have a full schedule this afternoon and there’s no way I can get it done without you.”

  I nod quickly, reaching for my jacket. “Yeah, I’ll be back soon.” I shove my phone in my pocket and turn for the back door. “Thanks, I owe ya one,” I say over my shoulder before it slams shut.

  Walking into the rear parking lot, I make quick strides to my car. Usually, I’m not one for dodging people, but this is something I need a little more time to prepare for.

  “Going somewhere, Michaels?”

  I stop in my tracks at the commanding voice behind me. I take a deep breath before I turn around. I reach into my pocket and pull out a cigarette. “Nope,” I say, lighting it out of the corner of my mouth. “Just taking a break.”

  Robby laughs, taking a step forward. “Funny, because it looks to me like you were trying to dip out.” He stops in front of me, sizing me up. “You wouldn’t do that, would you?”

  I shake my head, taking a drag. “I’m right here. Say what you got to say.”

  He smiles, glancing around the parking lot for a moment. I’m assuming he’s checking to see that we’re alone. The last time Robby and I had an impromptu conversation I nearly bled out from being stabbed. I hope it goes better this time.

  “I’m a patient guy,” he says casually. His features shift darker and he leans into me. “But my boss, he ain’t so patient. The clock ran out two days ago, and to be honest, we were being generous. You had six months to sort this out.”

  I grit my teeth. “Well, I’ve only been home for two so you’ll have to excuse me if I need a little bit longer.”

  He shoves his hands in his pockets and laughs again. “You’re a ballsy one, Perry. I’ll give you that. I think we’ve shown you that we don’t fuck around, and yet, here you are trying to fuck us around.” He spits to the ground and moves even closer to me. I can smell the whiskey seeping out through his pores even though it’s barely nine in the morning. “I don’t think I need to remind you what happens to people like that.”

  Every muscle in my body tenses as I fight the urge to knock this son of a bitch out right here behind my dad’s business—but I can’t. Not only can I not get into a fight, but beating on Robby would be incredibly stupid. Could I take him? Sure, but he’s not the king pin, he’s the ‘in-between’. They are far more dangerous because you never know who you’re fucking with until you try to go above them. In high school, the guys and I were under the impression Robby was the one you needed to get around, turns out we were very wrong. Now I’m the only one left here trying to clean up the mess Walker started while I was away.

  “You’ll have your money,” I say instead. I toss my cigarette to the ground and steady my stance. “Just give me another month or so to put it all together.”

  He rubs his chin, chuckling under his breath. “Another month, huh? I don’t know if Sam’s gonna like that.”

  I shrug. “What choice does he have? You can kill me too if you want. Knock us all out and then you won’t get shit. I know that’s an option he won’t like either.”

  Robby smiles and my eyes focus on the chip that’s still in his front tooth. All the money he makes and he still hasn’t gotten around to fixing it. “You’re not the last one.”

  I shoot him a look. “How do you figure?”

  “There’s a pretty little widow at a shop downtown that may have answers.” He takes a step back. “Maybe I should pay her a visit. You call her Bishop, right?”

  My nostrils flare and I can feel every last shred of restraint bleeding out. I get inches from his face, spitting with my words. “You leave her the fuck out of it, you hear me? I swear to God I’ll fucking kill you.”

  Not amused or ruffled in any way, Robby continues to speak calmly. “Seems I’ve hit a nerve. Guess you’ll be tightening up that timeline after all.” We stand in a face-off for a moment until he pats me on the shoulder. “Two weeks. That’s the new deal and the last chance you get before we have to look elsewhere for payment.” He cocks his head. “You won’t like that option.”

  With a rough pat on my face, he turns back to his car. I clench my fist as I watch him walk away. I pleaded with Walker not to take it that far without me. I told him it was a bad idea and he wouldn’t listen to me. Now I’m left with all of the debt and half the money. I have no idea where Walker kept his share or the rest of the inventory. The only person who can possibly know is the last person I want to ask, but it looks like I’m out of options.

  The last impression I got from Tess was that she knew everything. I hope she still does.

  I finish out the day after all and Mark is extremely grateful. I personally detailed Robby’s car and changed the breaks. It would have been easy to mess with them and cause an unfortunate accident—but I would never do that. It was a test and I knew it.

  The whole way home, I play over in my head what I’m going to say to Tess. Ever since she found out what we were doing, she’s been surprisingly cool about it. That’s not to say she was thrilled about the idea of her boyfriend and best friend being drug dealers, but she took it in stride. Sloan was another story. The way she found out was a bit more dramatic, and I have to say, I’m quite impressed she kept it together so well. She could have easily freaked the fuck out and landed me in prison a few years earlier than scheduled.

  The fact that I’ll be working side by side with Tess is the only thing I can be thankful for at the moment. The thought of her being alone all day now is not something I want to dwell on. More than ever, she’s going to need my protection.

  Instead of driving straight to the shop after work, I take a detour up an old dirt path. I follow the winding road up to the top of the cliffs and shut off the ignition. Sitting behind the wheel, I stare over at the rock. It doesn’t belong to Dean anymore—it belongs to Jeremy.

  Taking a deep breath, I step out of my car and walk slowly over to the cliff’s edge. There are always flowers and notes strewn around the rock. Some are from friends, or us, but most of them are from people who didn’t even know Jeremy. The accident was such a tragedy in this town that it keeps getting passed down from person to person. There hasn’t been a pa
rty up here since and I don’t think there ever will be.

  Coming here to talk to him has been something I’ve been doing ever since he died. I feel his presence when I come up here and I know he’s listening. I would give anything for him to answer me back. That motherfucker was the craziest out of all three of us but was surprisingly the most rational. He could see things in a way we couldn’t, and although I didn’t always agree with him, I always listened to what he had to say.

  Shoving my hands in the front pockets of my hoodie, I step to the edge of the rock.

  “Man, I really wish you could help me out with this,” I say, my voice penetrating through the open air. “I honestly don’t know what Walker was thinking.”

  I laugh as soon as the words leave my mouth. That’s not true. “Yeah, I guess I do, huh? He was thinking about Tess. He wanted to make sure she would be okay if anything ever happened to him.” I laugh again bitterly. “Well, he was fucking wrong, wasn’t he? That’s one thing I’ll never understand. How he thought she would ever be okay without him. You could take away everything they had and she would still be happy if she got to have him.”

  “How do I tell her that her husband wasn’t who she thought he was?” I raise my arms up like someone is going to answer and then let them fall at my sides. “I don’t. I can’t fucking do that. If it all has to fall on me, so be it. I’m used to being the bad guy, what’s one more thing? What’s one more reason for people to think the worst of me when all I’ve ever tried to do was set us straight again?”

  I lower my head and close my eyes. “I know you weren’t there when shit got really bad, but I have to believe you would have wanted to stop it too.” With a sigh, I open my eyes and stare straight over the cliff. I never look down. “I made a promise to Walker and I intend to keep it. Looking back on it, I think he knew what was going to happen. I think it really got away from him and he couldn’t find the words to tell me.”

  I light a cigarette and take a drag, speaking as I exhale. “But I promise you this, I will make sure Tess is safe. I won’t let anything happen her. I love her in ways that I can’t even begin to describe to you.” With a shaky breath, I take a step off the rock onto solid ground. “When this is all over, Walker’s death won’t be for nothing. I’m going to make it right.”

  Taking one last look at the rock, I turn for my car. The heaviness in my chest doesn’t subside this time like it usually does. Talking to Jeremy always brings this light into my heart when it’s typically veiled in darkness.

  Instead, the clouds in the sky blacken and it starts to rain.

  19

  Lucky

  Tess- Then

  Still recovering from the graduation party last night, the guys are moving a little slow today. I told them they would be too hung over to build a car—but what do I know?

  The kick-off to any summer in our town is consummated by the annual fair. This year, Jeremy got the bright idea that they would enter the demolition derby. It’s basically a bunch of guys in painted up cars, smashing into each other until only one car remains running. Sounds fun, right?

  I’m currently watching Sloan and Perry make out. They’re going at it so hard in the corner of the garage that I’m not sure where one of them starts and the other one ends. Walker nudges me and I break my stare.

  I laugh when he gives me a look. “What? How can they breathe?”

  Walker smiles and leans down to kiss me gently. “Some people don’t have the luxury of taking things slow. They have to bank it all up before they get into another fight.” He kisses me again and holds the sides of my face. “That’s why we’re so lucky, Tess. No worries here.”

  The effortless smile on my face confirms that. I never worry about me and Walker. We’ve been together for almost a year and I think the worst argument we’ve ever been in was where to go for dinner. As happy as that makes me, I wish Perry felt lucky too.

  Jeremy drops a wrench from beside us and lets out a frustrated sigh. “Geez, Perry. Would you give it a fucking rest already? I need your help.”

  Perry’s hand slowly creeps up and he flips him off from behind Sloan’s back. I stifle a giggle and look back and forth between them. My brother has never let a girl distract him. He says relationships are bullshit and refuses to allow a girl to tell him what to do. I don’t have the heart to tell him they’re not really like that. Perry has set a bad example for all of us—except for Walker of course. He’s perfect.

  Jeremy shakes his in disgust and goes back to ripping unwanted parts from the car. Perry continues for a moment longer and then finally pulls himself away from her. Sloan stands and looks around the room.

  “I’m bored,” she breathes. She leans over and kisses Perry on the cheek. “I’m going to get coffee. Call me later.”

  Perry grins at her and pats her on the ass. “Love you.”

  She blows him a kiss from the door and I stifle a gag. How these two can be so wickedly sweet one minute and hating each other the next is a mystery I’ll never solve.

  Perry clasps his hands together when she leaves. “Okay, what do we need to do?”

  “Ohhh,” Jeremy remarks, poking his head out from inside the car. “I’m glad you finally decided to get your head in the game and out of Sloan’s ass.”

  Perry smirks, rolling up the sleeves of his shirt. “Whatever, dude. You’re just jealous.”

  Jeremy and Walker both start laughing. No, Perry. No one is jealous of you and Sloan.

  Despite a few arguments, and some choice words, the car-building was a success. They guys easily beat out their competition and were deemed the winners. I wouldn’t exactly call it a major accomplishment. It basically solidifies the fact that none of them can drive properly. Regardless, after any win there is only thing that can be done—get drunk at the cliffs.

  I’m sitting in between Walker’s legs on the back of some guys’ tailgate. Perry and Sloan are now fighting of course. Apparently, he looked a little too long at some girl at the fair who was cheering them on. Lucky for Perry, Johnny isn’t here for her to hang all over in retaliation.

  Jeremy stumbles over to us with a girl tucked under his arm. Upon closer look, I notice it’s Serena Wilson, one of Sloan’s annoying cheerleader pals. This is going to be fun.

  “Did you guys see that shit?” He points back to the fire with his red plastic cup, foamy liquid splashing out of the sides. “Someone just tried to literally pole vault over the fire pit.”

  Walker’s laugh vibrates through me. “Yeah, we saw. I wonder where they found a stick that big?”

  Perry leans into Walker from where he’s standing beside us. “Well, I could show ya I guess,” he slurs grabbing his crotch.

  I roll my eyes. “You guys are in rare form tonight.”

  Perry smirks and punches me lightly in the knee. “Come on, Bishop. Lighten up.” He proceeds to take a few steps toward the crowd of people and dramatically holds his arms out. “We’re champions!”

  Everyone erupts in cheers, holding up their drinks in excitement. Perry smirks back at me over his shoulder and I can’t help but smile. They are all having fun. I should too. This may be the last summer we’re all together. Even though graduation for them didn’t exactly mean college, it still poses a lot of doubt as to what the future holds.

  Serena presses herself closer to my brother, flush against his side. He smiles down at her and I say a silent prayer he doesn’t decide this is the time to start a relationship. Not that I don’t want him to be happy, but having another girl like Sloan around to deal with sounds like torture to me.

  Walker’s lips brush my ear. “What are you thinking down there?”

  I turn my head to see his smile and kiss him once. “I was just thinking about how cute you are.”

  “Oh yeah,” he says, tickling my side. When I start to giggle like an idiot he stops and kisses me again. “That’s what I was thinking about.”

  “Okay, now you two are being disgusting. And you say I’m bad,” Perry scoffs before tilti
ng his cup back.

  Facing my body forward again, I narrow my eyes at him. “You’re just jealous that you can’t do this with Sloan right now.”

  He lips twist into a scowl and his jaw hardens. “I don’t give a fuck what Sloan does. I’m so fucking done with her shit.”

  Jeremy gives him a shove and he stumbles sideways, glaring at him. “Who are you fooling? She’s pissing you off so bad right now. I give it until the end of the night before you two are back together.”

  Perry gives a firm shake of his head. “No way. I mean it this time.”

  Serena decides that she should also put her two cents in. “Are you pissed she’s going to the same school as Johnny next year or something?”

  Jeremy gives her a warning look to stop talking, but it’s too late. Perry’s face shifts darker, his eyes narrowed. He stalks closer to her and she shrinks into Jeremy’s side.

  “What the fuck are you talking about? Johnny is going to LSU.”

  She shakes her head and I want to cover my eyes. “Nope. He’s staying here and going to State.”

  Perry slams his cup to the ground and starts to move toward an unsuspecting Sloan standing by the fire. Jeremy leans his head down to Serena and kisses her hard once.

  “You’re a troublemaker,” he says, spinning her around. He gives her a shove toward her friends. “Come find me later,” he calls to her with a wink.

  Serena flashes a coy smile and Jeremy looks to us and shrugs. “I guess I better stop him.”

  Jeremy jogs to catch Perry before he makes it very far, pulling him back a step. He throws his arm around his shoulder. “Easy there, guy. You need to chill. We’re celebrating remember?” Perry tries to shrug him off and Jeremy laughs. “Come on, forget about it for one night I’m begging you. I want to have some fun.”