PRES: a bay falls high novel

by Kidman, Jaxson

  Most were smart enough to listen. Smart enough to see what the future held. Some were smart enough to just go with the motions and get the hell out of BC and either lived a good, rich life, or they fell sideways and ended up in serious trouble for good.

  Of course, that was what Brooks Crest was.

  BC, on the other hand, that was a whole other world within the world.

  They were nothing short of rich outlaws.

  Not afraid to kill.

  Because to them, they had nothing worth losing.

  Kip sat in the backseat of the SUV with Tinsley, his window down, Tinsley hanging over him as she looked out the window at the buildings.

  “It looks scary,” she said.

  “You don’t want to be there, love,” Barr said in a monotone voice.

  “You really had to go here?” she asked.

  Barr slowly nodded. “Yeah.”

  “Do I want to know why?”

  “Probably not, girl,” I heard Kip say.

  Barr lit another cigarette and studied the buildings as I drove by the rest of them to get away from the campus.

  Cole wasn’t going to be strolling along the main walkway, carrying a bag and some books.

  He was going to be hiding somewhere, waiting to make his next move. Thinking Ado was either going to get to Tinsley or get to Claire. But Cole wasn’t stupid. If it took too long, he’d know something was up. Ado knew that too.

  All I could hope for was that Claire was as street savvy as she pretended to be.

  At least for Tinsley’s sake.

  “Maybe we should just reach out to Mac,” Kip said. “Let him know we’re here. Meet up and talk. Play the aggressive angle.”

  “I want to get my hands on Cole,” I said.

  “Doubt Mac would listen to us,” Barr said. “Knowing him, he’d…”

  Barr trailed off.

  “He’d what?” Kip asked.

  Barr opened the passenger door and tried to get out.

  “Shit!” I yelled as I hit the brakes.

  Everyone jerked forward but it saved Barr from hurting himself.

  “What’s he doing?” Tinsley asked.

  I looked back at Kip. “Stay with her.”

  I parked the SUV in a spot that was far too open for my comfort and I got out to go after Barr.

  He walked through the perfect grass to a cobblestone like sidewalk.

  My hand grabbed his shoulder and pulled him back.

  “Barr,” I growled.

  He stopped, his cigarette between his lips, the smoke billowing up into his own face.

  I looked around, trying to figure out what got his attention.

  He had been with BC for longer than he cared to admit and talk about.

  Coming here was a risk to begin with, but for Barr, it was probably like torture. All the memories haunting him able to come alive. Ghosts I’d never see racing back and forth in front of his face.

  He took a deep drag of his cigarette and then pointed to a massive tree.

  “That’s one of the oldest trees here,” Barr said.

  “Yeah?” I asked. “That’s good. I didn’t take you to be a tree guy.”

  “It’s not the fucking tree, Pres,” he said. “It’s the initials carved into the tree.”

  I shut my mouth and kept it shut.

  My heart was pounding though. Dead set on finding Cole and ending this fight he started. Dead set on making things right with Tinsley.

  But I stood with Barr in silence, knowing that it wasn’t just me who felt some pain from the past.

  “I don’t want to be here either,” I finally said to Barr. “And I appreciate you coming here with me. With us. With Tinsley.”

  Barr flicked his cigarette in the direction of the tree and we walked back to the SUV.

  As he opened his door, we heard voices.

  It sounded like giggling.

  Drunk girl giggling at that.

  We both looked and when I saw who it was, I gritted my teeth.

  “At least you know she’s happy,” I said to Barr.

  He shook his head.

  It was three girls, two of them stumbling down the sidewalk. They were drunk, bumping into each other, trying to play some kid game like don’t step in the lava or you’ll die kind of thing. The other girl walked behind them. The prettiest of the three, no surprise to me when it came to Barr and his desire for the prettiest one in the room.

  “What are you going to do here, Barr?” I asked him. “You want to cut that scar?”

  One of the stumbling girls fell and smacked her knee off the ground.

  She cried out OW! and the other girl started to laugh so hard she fell down to her ass.

  “Mel always took care of everyone,” Barr whispered as she tried to help the other two drunk girls back to their feet.

  I didn’t know much about Mel at all. She was just another ghost of Barr’s past. But this was one ghost I was able to see.

  Mel lifted her head and looked right at me and Barr.

  Shit.

  I could feel every muscle in Barr’s body tighten.

  They stared at each other for a few seconds before Mel’s face became confused.

  Rightfully so.

  Why the fuck was BFH in BC territory?

  I didn’t say a word or do a thing. It was up to Barr to decide what he wanted to do next.

  Mel quickly looked away.

  I saw something that I knew Barr saw.

  He stepped forward and I grabbed his arm.

  “You do this and everything explodes,” I said.

  He looked back at me. “You saw what I saw? Her eye…”

  “Could be anything,” I said.

  “But it’s not,” Barr said.

  “If you’re sure, then let’s go. We can put the three of them in the back of the SUV and get out of here. I’ll call Mac and we’ll let everything sort itself out.”

  Barr curled his lip and shook me away.

  He stepped back and climbed into the SUV and shut the door.

  I looked to Mel again as she struggled to get the other girls to their feet.

  The entire thing didn’t sit well with me.

  “Pres, we have to move,” Kip said as he rolled his window down. “Have to protect what we have so we don’t lose anything else here.”

  I nodded and got back into the SUV and drove away.

  Barr stared out the rearview mirror the entire time.

  * * *

  “He fucked us,” Kip said from the backseat.

  Kip was suddenly between Barr and me.

  His blue eyes were spitting fire.

  “What?” Barr asked.

  “Ado. He fucked us.”

  “Fucked us how?” I asked.

  Tinsley squished her way next to Kip, putting herself between Kip and me.

  “Claire’s in trouble,” she said.

  “Claire?” I asked. “What? How?”

  “She just texted me. They’re there.”

  “Cole?” Barr asked.

  “Yeah,” Kip said. “Ado fucking played us. Got us out of there. He probably called Cole and said we were headed his way. So he darted our way.”

  “I sidetracked us,” Barr said.

  “No, you didn’t,” I said. I cut the wheel and turned the SUV around. “He wants to play this game… then we’re fucking playing it.”

  “Call Mac?” Kip asked.

  “No,” I said.

  “I’m with Pres,” Barr said. “I want to get my hands on them.”

  “What about Claire?” Tinsley asked. “What do they want with her?”

  “You already know that, sugar,” I said. “There’s a dark reality there…”

  Tinsley let out a long sigh.

  “It’s okay, girl,” Kip said. “We’ll fix this.”

  “If they’re there,” Tinsley said, “then… what if they…”

  “All I can do now is drive,” I said.

  “What if she’s gone? What if they hurt her? What do
they actually want? Money? Or…”

  “Love,” Barr snapped. “Stop it. Cole is taking his stand. He wants to control BC.”

  Kip moved away and slammed himself off the backseat of the SUV.

  I drove as fast as I could.

  That was the worst part of it.

  Just being stuck in a goddamn vehicle knowing something was happening.

  Just like that long drive after I got the call that my mother was dead.

  The silence.

  The pain.

  The guilt.

  The racing thoughts.

  And while Claire wasn’t Tinsley’s mother, she was just about as close as you could get. I didn’t want Tinsley to feel that kind of pain. Then again, she had felt that pain before. All those times she found her mother overdosed, almost dead…

  I turned my head for a split second and looked at Tinsley.

  Fuck, I loved her so much.

  I moved my right hand back and grabbed for her hand.

  I squeezed it once and let her go.

  Tinsley grabbed my hand then and squeezed it back.

  That was good enough for the moment.

  “We need a plan,” Barr said a few minutes later to break up the silence.

  “No, we don’t,” I said. “We already have one. They want us to bust in and fight. That’s what we’ll do.”

  “You sure about that?” Kip asked.

  “There’s one of two things happening here,” I said. “One… we bust in and they show their force. Their power. They want it to be known that they are serious. Going after Claire hurts Tinsley and that hurts me. But going after Claire means they are going after the streets too. That kind of move puts Cole above Mac. We play it off. We tell them to take Claire. That we hate her.”

  “What?” Tinsley yelled.

  “Play the game, love,” Barr said. “Makes sense.”

  “You need to say it too,” Kip said.

  “Then we can attack them,” I said.

  “What’s the other option?” Tinsley asked. “You said that was one. What’s two?”

  I looked in the mirror and my eyes met hers.

  “Two… they’ve taken Claire and we never see her alive again.”

  * * *

  It was option one.

  Which I figured.

  Because that was the kind of person Cole was. If he really wanted to do something, he would have done it without involving the Rulz. Getting me to meet him alone so he could have Ado and Bain hold me was weak. Meeting me on the beach was weak. Threatening me with a note on the front seat of my SUV was weak. Trying to run Tinsley off the road was weak. And then going after Claire directly… weak.

  He wanted attention and he was going to get it.

  He knew nothing of the rage that went through my body and my mind and my heart as I entered the house.

  I couldn’t even begin to imagine what was going through Barr’s mind. Especially after seeing Mel.

  And Kip…

  Kip was Kip.

  If he wasn’t surfing, telling dumb jokes, or hitting on Tinsley, he was always ready for a fight.

  Claire was sitting in the same seat with the same glass of wine.

  Well, sort of.

  The wine glass was broken in half, wine staining the counter and dripping to the floor like thin blood.

  Cole stood behind her, his eyes wide, telling me right out of the gate that he was messed up. Getting fucking high and trying to make a play at BC.

  Even still, we entered the kitchen with caution.

  I hated that Tinsley was with us.

  I didn’t want her to get hurt.

  Or to see any of this.

  Ado and Bain were on the other side of the counter.

  I looked at Ado and curled my lip.

  He smirked.

  Fucking prick.

  “You got what you wanted,” I said to Cole.

  “I did,” Cole said. “But not how I wanted it. I gave you a chance, Pres.”

  “I was on my way to talk to you,” I said.

  “We know how you talk,” Bain said. “It’s well known that the Rulz don’t talk. They fight.”

  Kip cracked his knuckles. “So let’s talk.”

  Bain stepped toward Kip.

  “Fuck,” Barr said.

  Kip swung a long right punch and smacked Bain in the nose.

  It was like Bain didn’t actually think it was going to happen.

  Bain’s head snapped back, blood shooting into the air.

  I jumped toward Claire, but she was already in action.

  She threw an elbow and hit Cole in the gut.

  He let out an oomph sound and turned just enough so I could hit him.

  I needed to keep an eye on the gun though.

  As I tackled Cole to the floor, we began to wrestle.

  “Tinsley, move back,” Claire yelled.

  All I could hear were thuds.

  Me fighting Cole. Barr fighting Bain. And Kip fighting Ado.

  There was no way this ended quietly or peacefully.

  Cole managed to get a cheap shot on me, kneeing me between the legs. It was enough that I kicked back to get away from him. It was just an instinctual movement.

  I crashed into one of the barstools and it tipped over.

  Cole rolled away and got up to his knees.

  I watched the gun as it slowly lifted up.

  My hand reached for the fallen barstool, knowing it was my only chance. I wasn’t sure if it would hold up as a shield or not. There was only one way to find out.

  “Fucking prick,” Kip’s voice boomed.

  A second later Ado was thrown over the counter and landed almost on top of Cole.

  That gave me enough time to get out of the way of the gun and get to my feet.

  Kip was standing on the counter like a wrestler on the top ropes.

  I turned my head and saw Bain hit Barr in the jaw.

  Barr took the hit and threw his head forward, hitting Bain.

  Claire had an arm around Tinsley, whispering something into her ear.

  From the corner of my eye I saw Cole trying to make a move.

  He was going toward the sliding glass door.

  Kip jumped off the counter and we both went for him.

  As he swung his arm back holding the gun, I dove forward and punched his wrist.

  The gun fell free as Kip tackled him.

  There was one problem.

  We both took our eyes off Ado.

  I turned my head just in time to see Ado falling on top of me.

  I put my arms up and he came down on me like he wanted to hug me.

  “Just hang tight,” he whispered to me. “Mac is on his way. I didn’t fuck you over.”

  Before I could say anything, Ado punched me in the ribs.

  I groaned and punched him back.

  Kip had Cole pinned down.

  But Cole wasn’t going down that easily.

  I had no idea where it came from, but a knife suddenly slashed through the air.

  Kip fell back just in time, allowing Cole to get away again.

  I turned, trying to throw Ado off me.

  But Ado grabbed my shoulders.

  I had no choice but to punch him.

  He rolled off me and both Kip and I hurried to our feet to chase after Cole again.

  “Barr!” I called out and pointed to Cole.

  Barr tossed Bain aside and the three of us were going after Cole.

  He threw the knife at me but it was a terrible throw. The risk wasn’t worth it though because Cole managed to get the gun again.

  It was the Rulz facing off with Cole and a gun.

  “Don’t do this,” I said to Cole. “You made your point. Be a man about it.”

  “Oh, I am, Pres,” Cole said. “The plan was always the same. From day one. To take down the Rulz. And I know how to do it.”

  “It’s three on one now,” Barr said.

  “And we don’t mind a dirty, unfair fight,” Kip said.

&n
bsp; “I know that,” Cole said. “That’s why I came prepared.”

  Cole smiled. Blood on his teeth. His face swollen.

  The gun pointed at me.

  I had to make my move.

  No matter what.

  It was up to Barr and Kip to take care of Tinsley.

  I stepped forward and Cole made his move too.

  Claire’s voice yelled, “Get him!”

  Cole moved his arm to the side.

  The gun was no longer pointed at me.

  I turned my head, knowing already that the gun was pointed at Tinsley.

  And that’s when Cole pulled the trigger.

  Chapter 22

  The Rulz were on the move.

  Myself, Barr, and Kip all setting our attention on Tinsley, the three of us thinking some of the same thoughts but plenty of different ones. What she meant to each of us. Everything that had happened from the second we met her. And quite honestly, whether the other two liked it or not, I met her first. And I made her mine. And mine meant forever.

  So when I saw her standing right where she had been, a look of shock on her face, I didn’t know what to think.

  It took me a second to allow my mind, heart, body, everything to catch up to the scene.

  “Tucker,” Claire said. “Shit.”

  I looked down on the kitchen floor and there was Tinsley’s father.

  He had taken a bullet for his daughter.

  I lifted my head and looked into Tinsley’s eyes.

  They were filled with tears.

  The rest of the scene crushed me like a wave.

  I turned my head and saw Cole and Bain already out the back door.

  I made it two steps before Barr wrapped his arms around me and held me in place.

  “Let it go,” Barr said. “He’s not getting far. Trust me.”

  My eyes moved to Ado as he stood at the glass door that went outside.

  He showed his hands. Keeping to his word that he hadn’t fucked us over.

  “You all need to get out of here,” Claire said. “Cops will be here soon enough.”

  My attention went back to Tinsley.

  I jumped at her, over her father as he held his chest where the bullet had gotten him. I hugged Tinsley and she let out a cry into my chest.