Ashley shook her head.
I narrowed my eyes on Nick. “I said move away from her.”
“No,” Nick said. His eyes darted between me and my brothers. He was fucked, and he knew it. “Stay away from us.”
Jesse started walking forward. “We just want to talk, Nick.” His voice was thick with menace. I’d already forgotten that he was the one who had warned me to take it easy and to keep myself under control when we got to Ashley. It seemed that the sight of her scared out of her mind, held in his grip, was enough to make him forget all about his words of caution.
Ashley whimpered again. “Don’t come any closer.”
Why was she warning us to stay back?
“Jesse,” I said, but Nick had already moved.
He’d rolled to his feet and slipped behind Ashley’s chair, putting her between him and us. He grabbed her hair, yanked her head back, and then pulled something from behind his back. He pressed the gun under Ashley’s chin, and Jesse froze. The hair on my arms stood straight up. Anger swirled in my gut, and terror threatened to bring me to my knees.
Don’t hurt her. Please.
“Don’t come any fucking closer!” Nick screamed.
None of us moved a muscle.
Ashley squeezed her eyes closed, and tears ran down her cheeks. I heard Ethan suck in a sharp breath beside me. I could feel his fear as much as I could feel my own. Jesse was ahead of me by about four steps. He slowly lifted his hands up to show Nick that they were empty.
“Let her go, Nick,” Jesse said. “You don’t want to hurt her.”
“Stay back!”
“Jesse,” I said, keeping my voice low. “Don’t push him.”
“Back up!”
Jesse backed up nice and slow until he was back in line with Ethan and me. And then we stood there like useless room decor.
I wasn’t the one who should speak. I knew I wouldn’t stand a chance of reasoning with him. He hated me more than he hated anyone, and I hoped Jesse would put two and two together. He had to be the one to negotiate this. Ethan was too much of a hothead. He’d react emotionally. Jesse would be able to keep a handle on it long enough to get the gun out from under her chin.
I hoped.
I saw Ethan glance over at me out of the corner of his eye. Only seconds had passed since we came into the cabin, but it felt like we’d been in this standoff for hours. Long, agonizing, painful hours.
Ashley started crying.
“Ash,” Jesse said. “It’s all right. He’s not going to hurt you.” Nick tightened his hold in her hair. Ashley’s gripped the armrests desperately. “Nick. Slow down for a minute and look at what you’re doing.”
I willed Jesse to succeed at this. He had to. The stakes were too high, and the police were too far away. Even if they did show up, it might only spook him, and things could get infinitely worse from there.
Nick was shaking his head frantically.
Jesse still had his hands up. “You care about her. Why else would you have gone through all this effort to get her out here all alone? What did you want to achieve?”
“I just wanted to talk to her!” Nick roared. Jesse didn’t so much as flinch. “I just wanted to talk to her.”
Jesse nodded. “I understand. You’ve missed her. Right?”
Nick licked his lips and nodded once. It was such a miniscule movement, I wouldn’t have caught it if I wasn’t looking for it. Ethan shifted nervously beside me. Nick’s eyes darted to my youngest brother.
Jesse distracted him with another question. “Did you get to talk to her? Did you tell her what you needed to say?”
“She didn’t want to hear it,” Nick said.
“Because you scared her,” Jesse said gently. “We’re going to stay here. We’re not going to come any closer. But if you care about Ashley, you will see how bad this is for her. Just think about it for a minute. Look at the position you’ve put her in.”
The gun lowered a good three or four inches. Ethan blew out a slow breath beside me.
Keep going, Jesse. Keep going. Don’t give him time to realize what you’re doing.
Jesse already knew what I was thinking because he pushed forward fearlessly. “We all know you care about her. Ashley knows you care about her. Right, Ash?”
Ashley, the bravest woman I had ever known, nodded slowly. “I do.”
Nick glanced at her. The gun went down another inch.
Jesse stayed where he was, even though I knew the compulsion to move forward must have been as overwhelming for him as it was for me. I wanted to go to her and smash Nick’s nose with the heel of my hand. Somehow, we had to make him forget that we were the biggest threat in the room. We had to make him think we were there to help him if we stood any chance of getting out of this all in one piece.
Ashley closed her eyes and tried to calm herself. I didn’t take my eyes off her as Jesse continued. “See, Nick? She knows. You made your point already tonight. All of this is just reversing that. You’re trying to convince her you love her, but you’re threatening her with a gun. Why are you trying to scare her?”
“I’m not trying to—this isn’t—” Nick broke off, growing frustrated. Jesse had to be careful. This could go very wrong, very fast. “I just wanted her to listen to me! But she wouldn’t! She wouldn’t hear a damn word!”
“I’m sorry,” Ashley whispered. Nick let out a frustrated yell. Ashley looked right at me as she spoke. “Nick. Please listen to me. I heard what you were saying. I promise I did. I—I might be able to make New York work again. But there would be a lot of changes we’d have to make. Things we would need to sit down and talk about.”
Nick looked surprised. I gave her one slow nod. Keep going, Ash. Keep going.
Her chin trembled, but she got it under control. “Are you willing to talk things through with me? I mean really talk? We will have to make compromises. I’ll meet you halfway.”
“What kind of compromises?” Nick asked.
Ashley held my gaze. “Well. What’s something you wish had been different when we were living together?”
Nick was watching her. He didn’t notice Jesse take a step forward.
“I don’t know,” Nick said.
“Okay,” Ashley said slowly. “That’s all right. It’s hard to think right now. But I think I want to go home with you. I’m ready. I was just being stubborn. I really do miss our apartment. And our friends in the city.”
She was saying all the right things. She knew how to manipulate him, and she knew Jesse was creeping steadily closer. But her eyes were on me the whole time. She dared not look at Jesse for fear of Nick noticing. So, she held my gaze, and I stared steadily back.
Ethan was holding his breath beside me. Neither of us dared to make a sound as Jesse got closer and closer. The gun in Nick’s hand had lowered enough to where it was now resting flat in Ashley’s lap across her right thigh. He was watching her with such intensity that he seemed completely unaware of the three Navy SEALS waiting to get their hands on him.
“Do you really mean all of this, Ashley?” Nick whispered. His voice was so quiet that I could barely make out a word he said.
“Yes.”
“Why don’t I believe you?”
Ashley closed her eyes. Nick reached out and wiped one of her tears away. She recoiled from him like the plague rested on his fingertips.
And then the jig was up.
Her fear and disgust of him touching her tipped him off and snapped him back to reality. He looked up sharply to where Jesse now stood a mere ten feet away. He still had his hands up, and he stopped walking.
Nick let out a furious yell and lifted the gun. Instead of pointing it at Ashley, he pointed it at Jesse as he backed away from her chair. Ashley tugged at the zip ties on her wrists and began crying in earnest now. She couldn’t see him. She had no idea where the gun was pointed.
“Jesse,” Ethan breathed beside me. He took a step forward, and I stopped him with a hand in his chest.
“Don’t
move,” I said.
“Don’t come any fucking closer!” Nick screamed at Jesse.
Jesse held his ground and nodded. “I won’t. Just put the gun down. Nobody has to get hurt here. We can all walk away.”
Nick shook his head frantically. He knew as well as us that he wasn’t walking away. “You’ll kill me,” he whispered.
“No, we won’t,” Jesse said.
“Liar!”
I stepped forward. “Nick. Enough. Either fire the fucking gun or put it down. I’m tired of listening to you drivel on like the pathetic coward you are.”
The room fell completely still. I had his attention now. Jesse was no longer his desired target. The gun trembled in Nick’s hand.
Ashley couldn’t see him, but she spoke to him. “Nick. Please. Don’t hurt anyone.”
“Shut up,” he snarled. “Fuck you, Dean .”
The gun shifted in my direction. Nick closed one eye. Ethan shouted a warning beside me, and I stood my ground.
Then Jesse made his move. He sprang forward as Nick closed one eye to take his shot. He realized his mistake when Jesse came barrelling toward him. Jesse let out a war cry, and I launched forward too. Ethan was hot on my tail. Ashley was screaming.
The gun went off.
I felt no pain. I pressed my hands to my chest, expecting them to come away bloody, but they didn’t. I kept going, rushing past Ashley, who was still screaming. There was blood on the floor about five feet past her chair.
Jesse was on Nick now. He had the gun out of his hand and was driving his elbow up under his chin. I heard his teeth crash together and then saw blood leak out of his mouth. He must have bitten through his tongue.
Then I saw the blood snaking down Jesse’s arm and dripping off his fingertips. I grabbed the back of his shirt and hauled him away from Nick.
“Get Ash out of here,” I said. “Ethan and I can handle this.”
Jesse closed his right hand over the bullet wound in his left shoulder. Blood pumped out between his fingers, but he didn’t complain. Instead, he turned and did as I said.
Poor Ashley was still screaming. She had no clue who’d been hurt. His bloodied arm was going to scare the hell out of her.
But he’d already gotten his hit in on Nick. Now, it was mine and Ethan’s turn.
Nick’s eyes went so wide, I could see the whites around his irises as he tucked himself against the kitchen cupboards. But he wasn’t getting away from Ethan and me. No way in hell.
29
Jesse
The burning in my shoulder was a sensation I was used to from my time in the Navy, so it didn’t stop me from following Dean’s orders and rushing to Ashley, who was now hysterically crying and desperately trying to break free of her bonds.
I moved around in front of her so she could see who was untying her. Her bright hazel eyes swam with tears as they widened with relief upon seeing me. “Jesse,” she whispered, her voice catching in her throat as her eyes flicked back and forth between mine. “The gun. Who got—who got?” She couldn’t ask the question. For all she knew, one of my brothers was lying in a puddle of his own blood on the kitchen floor behind her.
I cupped her cheek with my good hand so as not to get blood on her cheek. “It was me. I’m all right, Ash. Don’t worry about it. I’m going to get you the hell out of here. Okay?”
“Wait,” she said, and her eyes roamed over me, searching for the wound.
It didn’t take her long to spot the blood seeping through my black shirt. I was glad I hadn’t worn a lighter color. It would have looked far worse and probably scared the living daylights out of her. As it was, it just looked like something slimy was staining the fabric. Ashley whimpered and pulled at the zip ties on her wrists.
“Ash, relax. Let me get something to cut you out of these.”
“You’re hurt.”
“I’m okay. Sit tight.” It was a stupid thing to say. She couldn’t go anywhere even if she tried. Had I not had a bullet wedged under my shoulder blade, I would have emphasized the joke.
I patted her wrist and glanced up to assess the situation with my brothers and Nick. I needed to get into the kitchen to find a knife, and the three of them were making a mess of the place.
Nick was putting up a pretty good fight for a guy who was clearly suffering a mental break of some sort. That break probably meant he wasn’t processing pain the same way he might if he were in the right state of mind. His mouth was a bloodied mess, and his knuckles were split, which meant he’d landed a couple good hits of his own.
I got up and left Ashley’s side. She called out to me to come back to her, but I had to find a way to cut her loose. If things went wrong, I didn’t want her still in the house. It was my top priority to get her safely outside and trust that Dean and Ethan could handle Nick.
When I cut into the kitchen, Dean got a hold of the back of Nick’s shirt, and he whirled him around to slam him into the kitchen cupboards. He bent him over the counter, twisted his arm behind his back, and used the position to pin him there. “Ethan, go get some of those fucking zip ties. They’re on the mantle.”
Ethan did as he was told as Dean held Nick under his weight. Nick writhed around and wailed as Dean applied more pressure to his arm. I searched through drawers, desperately trying to find something I could use to free Ashley.
I needed to get into the one in front of Nick. “Move him over,” I told Dean.
Dean applied more pressure to Nick’s arm. Nick cursed up a storm and thrashed about. Dean growled. “If you do not stop moving, I’ll break your arm.”
Nick let loose a stream of foul language and continued trying to fight back.
So, Dean kept his word, and with one quick jerk, there was an acute cracking sound, followed by Nick’s scream. I opened the drawer he’d been in front of moments ago and found a small knife.
I ran back to Ashley. I was bleeding a little more now and knew I’d be running out of steam pretty soon. I dropped to my knees in front of her and worked to free her hands first. “Three fucking ties?” I asked aloud. “Who did he think you were, the Hulk?”
Ashley didn’t appreciate the humor. She didn’t even so much as smile. Her eyes were glued to my shoulder as I moved to the other wrist and cut through the plastic straps. Once her hands were free, she lifted them slowly from the armrests.
“Massage them gently. He had them pretty tight, and they’ll stop hurting if you get the blood flowing faster.”
Ashley nodded and began to gently rub her wrists as I freed her ankles.
“Are they okay?” Ashley asked once her legs were free. “Is anyone else hurt?”
“They’re fine. They have Nick pinned down. He won’t be causing any more problems. And the police are on their way. Come on. Let’s get out of here.”
I had to help her stand. Her knees trembled and gave out when she tried on her own. I tucked my good shoulder under her arm and wrapped my arm around her waist to walk her outside. The evening was cool and refreshing. I’d thought the fresh air would be a good idea, but Ashley started trembling to the point where her teeth began to chatter.
“Come on,” I said, leading her toward Dean’s car.
Dean hadn’t bothered to even turn it off. It sat running in front of the cabin with the headlights off. We’d left all the doors open. I helped Ashley get in the backseat and then walked around to close the doors. I leaned in through the passenger door and cranked the heat.
“Please sit with me,” Ashley said.
Dean was going to be pissed that I got blood all over his interior, but this was Ashley. I slid into the seat beside her, and she curled up against me. I held her to me fiercely, like I could protect her from the fear that was no doubt unfurling inside her. I rested my cheek on her head and inhaled the smell of her coconut shampoo. “I’ve got you, Ash. You’re okay. He can’t hurt you.”
And she started sobbing.
It broke my heart. I tried gathering her up in my arms, but my wounded shoulder made it difficult
, and I didn’t want to get blood all over her. So, I kissed her forehead and held her as tightly as I could with my good arm.
“I’m sorry,” she said. “Oh God, I’m so sorry.”
“You have absolutely nothing to be sorry about.”
“Yes, I do. None of this would have happened if it wasn’t for me. He never would have hurt you.”
I lifted her face to mine with two fingers under her chin. “Look at me. This is not your fault. In no possible scenario is this your fault. You hear?”
Her sobbing stopped. The tears continued to fall, but her breathing slowed to a more reasonable pace. “But—”
“No but. This is simple, Ashley. You did not do this or ask for this. Nick did. And if there is anyone who should take accountability for any degree of fault, it’s me and Dean and Ethan.”
Ashley blinked and began shaking her head.
“We knew he was dangerous. We knew he was going to try something. We had no clue he’d be this batshit crazy, but we should have been with you at every turn to prevent something like this. I’m so sorry this happened to you. We will never leave you in harm’s way again. Ever.”
“It’s okay,” she whispered. “I’m all right. He didn’t hurt me. He just scared me.”
Had we not shown up when we did, I was sure he would have hurt her. There was no doubt in my mind. The rage in his eyes when Dean had kicked that door down had held a promise of some degree of torture. I didn’t want to think of the kinds of things he might have been capable of in that state.
The car was heating up quickly, and Ashley had stopped shivering. She was still as close to me as she could get, and her fingers were coiled in my shirt. She only flinched when the whir of sirens sounded in the distance.
“They got here faster than I expected,” I said.
Dean and Ethan must have heard the sirens, too, because soon they were forcing Nick out of the cabin. Dean had zip tied his hands behind his back to stop him from causing any more trouble, and he pushed Nick to the ground outside the cabin stoop. Nick fell hard on his ass, winced, and shot a dark look up at my older brother. He said something to him that I couldn’t hear, and Dean laughed at him. There was grim satisfaction written all over both of my brothers’ faces.
Her Independence Day Page 17