You're It

by Shari J. Ryan

  Sasha tries to ignore us and stands in front of Tyler, keeping her from seeing us. Thank God for that. Tyler would scream for us. She’d make our presence more than known.

  Tango reaches into his back pocket, pulling out a rope. A rope?

  Jags is on the other side of Tango with a pistol in his hand. At least one of them has a weapon. I’m keeping my hands free so I can grab Tyler. I don’t want her to see me with a weapon in my hand. I don’t want to scar her like I was scarred growing up. I didn’t want this for her. I don’t want this for her. She doesn’t deserve it. I didn’t deserve it. I don’t deserve it.

  I step on a twig. It snaps. There’s only six feet between them and us. I made a noise. He sees us.

  CHAPTER NINE

  TANGO

  SHIT. I KNEW THIS WASN’T going to be easy. Cali’s probably freaking the fuck out right now. He’s looking right at us, and a smile is growing across his face. He reaches into his back pocket. His eyes are on me. He sees the rope in my hands.

  A pop sounds in my ear.

  Tyler’s screaming, running toward me. Everything is happening so quickly, I don’t know where to look first. I know I wasn’t shot. Tyler wouldn’t be running toward me if she was. I look at Landon—he’s holding his shoulder. I look over at Jags and he’s holding his pistol. I snap out of my haze and throw my rope around Landon, kicking the back of his knees in until he falls over. Cali grabs Tyler, holding her in a bear grip, running back toward the street. Tyler’s still screaming and it’s killing me, but I have to handle this.

  I kick Landon in the chest, noticing Sasha standing behind him, crying, her wrists still bound. I pull my knife out of my pocket and set her free. “Go. Go find Cali,” I tell her. She doesn’t say anything; her face is crumpled, soaked with tears.

  With Landon flat on the ground, curled up, still grabbing at his shoulder, Jags places his foot down over his chest, giving me the opportunity to see what the hell he was about to do to my daughter.

  I open the aluminum case, finding syringes and an IV bag with all its fixings. What the hell was he going to do to her? “You fuck!” I scream at him, watching the spit fly from my mouth. “For so many reasons, I should kill you right now. Not only did you break my friend’s heart, but you took my daughter. You took my daughter, you fucker.”

  “For a mill, you’d do the same thing,” he groans, drool pooling at the corner of his lips. Jags presses his foot into his chest harder, making him groan louder.

  “You wouldn’t have gotten a penny when they found out she didn’t have any of those chemicals in her system. They’re using you, because you’re a goddamn moron.” I spit at him. His head whips to the side. “When did they approach you?”

  He pushes against Jag’s foot, but that isn’t going to work. I keep forgetting what I’m dealing with here. A complete idiot. “I’m not telling you shit,” he says.

  “That’s fine.” I pull a pistol out of my back pocket. “Want to tell me now?” Sweat is beading over his face and he’s blowing the last of his air out of his nose. Call me a screwed up fuck, but I’m kind of enjoying this moment right now—so much, that I have no problem dragging this out.

  I cross my arms over my chest, knowing Jags has him contained. “Last week,” he grunts under his breath.

  “You just found out about Eli Tate last week?” I can see a knot bubbling in his throat.

  “Eli?” he asks.

  I unfold my arms, holding the pistol back out in front of me. “Heard of him?” I laugh a little. “Let me rephrase this: you’ve known about Eli Tate since the day you approached Krissy Tate. Am I right?”

  He grits his teeth together. “It wasn’t like that.”

  I cock my head to the side, smiling for effect. “Really?”

  “Dude,” he shouts. “I grew up in fucking poverty. I’ve been busting my ass to make money for the past ten years. I was in the right place at the right time and these guys offered me a shit ton of money. I took the initial deposit and I don’t get paid until I deliver them something. So far, I’ve delivered them nothing.”

  I squat down in front of him, resting my elbows on my knees. “You know why?” I grin again.

  He’s grinding his teeth so hard; I can hear a chisel sound. He’s not going to answer me, but that’s exactly how I want it. I want to answer it for him. “Because I couldn’t get into Krissy’s pants fast enough.”

  Like I said, when I lose control, there’s no fucking stopping me. I point my pistol right at his head. “What did you just say?”

  He shrugs his good shoulder. “Wasn’t quick enough.” He looks like he wants to take back everything he just said, but at this point I’m only seeing red, and I’m about to see a whole hell of a lot more of it. “Look, I’m sorry.”

  That’s all I needed to hear before I shoot him in the other fucking shoulder, then his right thigh. Then his left. “That’s my sister-in-law. Don’t fucking talk about her like that.” I grab his bags and walk toward the street. He’s not coming after us.

  Jags is beside me, grinning like an idiot. “That was fun, man. And he’s crying like a puss. What’s next? We bringing this show on the road, or what?”

  “Dude,” I laugh. “Put the pistol away.”

  We reach the street where the girls are and Cali’s sitting on the ground against the truck, holding Tyler in between her legs, her arms tight around her little body. Tears are streaming down Cali’s cheeks. For a woman who doesn’t cry, this little girl sure has had an effect on her. Sasha sees us and runs toward us, throwing her arms around me. “Tango, I’m so so sorry. I had no—”

  “Hey,” I say, pulling away from her. “Are you okay?”

  She nods lightly as tears trickle from her eyes. “Yeah. I just—”

  “It doesn’t matter. You’re okay. Tyler is okay. And he’s not.”

  “Where is he?” she asks.

  “Admiring his new holy jeans.” I laugh because…hell, that’s funny. She’s not laughing, though. She looks a little pale, and green.

  “Will he be okay?” she asks.

  “Do you care?”

  “I don’t want him to come near me, no matter how much I thought I loved him.” More tears. She must feel so out of her mind right now. Trusting someone for that long, only to find out what he really is. “We were going away next week. I thought he was finally going to ask me to marry him. I saw a ring box.”

  “Do you want to marry him?” I ask her pointedly.

  “Hell no. He tried to hurt my little God-baby. I don’t want him anywhere near me or her—any of us again.”

  “I called the police,” Cali says, sounding like she’s been run over by a freight train. “You and Jags need to leave.”

  I squat down in front of her and Tyler jumps into my arms. “I missed you, Daddy. Uncle Landon scared me. I told him I didn’t want to get out of the car, but he made me.”

  I comb my fingers through her auburn waves and tuck her hair behind her ears. “He’s not your uncle anymore, baby girl. You’re okay now.” None of us are okay right now. We have to leave the area again. Landon was only a gopher for those assholes. Slowly but surely, we’re going to turn into Cali’s parents, running away from life, and that scares the shit out of me.

  I give Tyler a kiss on the nose and hand her back to Cali. “I’ll see you at home, babe, but you know we have to talk about—”

  “Yeah, we’re leaving. Sasha’s coming with us,” Cali says. I look over at Sasha to see her expression, but she’s in between Jags’s arms. I give him a “fuck you” look, but he just offers me a shit-eating grin. Cali’s nodding her head and rolling her eyes. “Go, get out of here before the cops arrive.”

  I pull Cali off the ground and wrap my arms around her, pulling her into me while I look down into her sad eyes. “We got our girl back. I want you to smile.” She nods her head slightly. I hate when she looks at me like his. She breaks my damn heart. I lean down and kiss her hard, because that’s what she needs. I walk her backward until she hits
the car door and, grabbing the sides of her face, I give her more. I feel her arms tighten around me and I know she’s coming back.

  Her hand slips up the back of my shirt and she lifts up on her toes, bringing her lips close to my ear. “I said, meet me at home. We’ll pick this up there.”

  I promised to love and obey this woman. Thank God I got those things down pat.

  CHAPTER TEN

  CALI

  I MADE TANGO AND JAGS take off, afraid of what would happen if they ID’d Tango. There’s no US citizen registered as Tango Wright. Could be an issue.

  The police pull up no more than three minutes after the men left. Two of them step out of the cruiser, meeting up with us in front of Landon’s car. “Where is he now?” the older of the two cops ask.

  “He’s out there,” I say, pointing to the middle of the field.

  “What’s he doing all the way out there?”

  “Stealing my daughter.” I give the officer a cold stare, pulling Tyler out from behind my back. “Want her to tell you?”

  The cop kneels before Tyler and offers her his hand. “Well hello there, beautiful. Was that man out there trying to hurt you?”

  “I don’t know, but I thought he was nice, and now I know he’s not. He told me he had to see if I was sick, so he said we had to go away for a little while. I was scared. And he tied my auntie up. It wasn’t very nice.”

  The officer stands up after hearing Tyler out and turns to Sasha. “Are you the aunt?”

  Sasha stands up straight, uneasy and uncomfortable. “Yes, sir, and he tied me up. I—I’ve lived with this man for the past four years. I had no idea—”

  The officer places a hand on Sasha’s shoulder. “It’s hard to trust people.”

  She groans and looks over at me. I should say, “I told you so” but I’ll keep it to myself this time.

  “I take it the man is hurt out there?” The officer asks.

  “Yes,” I respond simply.

  “Can you tell me what happened once you found him?”

  If there’s one thing I’m good at it, it’s making up a pretty little lie with very little time. “I didn’t have a ride out here, officer, so when I saw these men driving down the road near my house, I asked them to give me a ride here when I found out this is where that horrible man took my little girl. When I told the nice men what was going on, they rushed here and went out there and saved Sasha and got my little girl back. I’m so fortunate they helped me out, because I don’t think I could have done much at my small size. I owe those men my life.” I sniffle and choke a little. Through a sobbing voice, I say, “I just wish I had gotten their names.”

  “Yes. It’s quite unfortunate,” the officer says, eyeing me warily. Damn, is my act getting old? “I’m going to need to take down your information in case we have further questions.”

  “Of course, sir,” I say, giving him a fake phone number.

  Sasha also gives the officer a faulty number. Good thing we don’t live around here. The officer closes his notepad and drops it back into his pocket. “You ladies get that little girl home. I’m glad she’s okay,” the other officer finally speaks up.

  I put Tyler in the backseat with Sasha and I hop in the front seat, thankful the asshole left the keys in the ignition. I’m not in the mood to figure out how to hotwire a BMW right now. I pull off the side of the road slowly and watch in the rearview mirror as the cops approach Landon. Both cops are standing there, staring at him. I wonder if he’s dead. Knowing Tango, he left him alive, but to the point where he probably wants to be dead. We share that desire in common.

  * * *

  We’ve spent the day debating whether we should leave the area or stay. I kind of want to just stay here and add more surveillance crap to our house, but Tango’s not for that. He wants to get as far away from here as possible, so we’ve all been slouched over on the couches in our living room staring at each other for hours.

  “Dude, you shouldn’t keep running,” Jags finally speaks up. “Look, I’ve got nothing big going on at home right now. You’ve got a spare room; let me camp out for a bit and help out. If they come back, I’ll be here.”

  Tango looks over at me and, while normally I would not want anyone moving in with our family, Jags helped save Tyler today and he wouldn’t be the worst person to have around. “Okay, but Sasha’s getting the spare room tonight, and until she can find a safe place to go. You can have the couch,” I tell him.

  “The spare room? You mean the room next to your bedroom,” Sasha asks.

  “Yeah, so?”

  “She might not want to hear you two boning in there tonight,” Jags yells over. “Wanna share the couch with me?” I watch Jags’s eyebrows dance around on his forehead while summoning Sasha to join in with his night activities. When I look back at Sasha, her cheeks are burning red and the palms of her hands are pressed against her cheeks. What’s funnier is, she doesn’t say “no.” They’d make an odd couple. “I’m just kidding with you, doll. I’ll sleep in that room if you’d rather have the couch. I don’t mind listening to the animal cries.”

  Oh my God.

  “Would the two of you cut it out? We’re not that bad,” I say.

  “Um, yeah,” Jags begins, “I’ve known you for less than a day and I already know you two are like a pair of bunnies. Can’t say I blame the guy though.”

  “You calling me a bunny, fuckface?” Tango yells from the kitchen.

  “Yeah, one of those cute little fuzzy ones with the big ass tail.”

  “Look, I don’t care where you both sleep. Figure it out, and no, I’m not sorry if you hear anything you shouldn’t hear tonight. I love my husband and he loves me and yes, we love to—”

  “Cali!” Sasha scolds. “Tyler probably isn’t even asleep yet.” True.

  “You don’t even know what I was about to say,” I rebut.

  “Yeah, except I’ve known you longer than a day. I’ve also stupidly walked into public restrooms to check on you when you’ve disappeared.” She looks over at Jags. “You should know that’s their ‘thing’.” I’m not even embarrassed. I’m a little proud. My smile says so.

  “Yep, found that out first-hand last night. This morning. Whenever the hell that was.”

  “Okay well, I’m sleeping on the couch, if that’s okay with you, Jags?” Sasha asks.

  “No problem, doll.”

  “Let us know if you need anything,” I tell them, pulling Tango down the hall toward our bedroom.

  As soon as we’re inside, I close the door. His arms are around me in a second, but now that we’re alone, I need to breathe. Pulling away, he loosens his grip. “What’s the matter, babe?”

  “I hate this.” I don’t want to live in fear. I’ve lived my entire life this way—on the run, in hiding, never trusting anyone. “We’re about to do it all over again and now to Tyler too. We need to figure something out. We can stay here, but is there some way we can prove that she wasn’t born with all of this crap running through her system?”

  Tango backs up the few feet it takes for him to reach the bed, where he sinks down into the mattress. “I don’t know why I didn’t think of this before but did you get any kind of blood work done when you found out you were pregnant?”

  “Yeah, I did, but I don’t know if they could tell how far along I was.”

  “We need to get those test results. I think a doctor will be able to tell by your blood count, which should be enough information to prove that Tyler was conceived before I was injected.” He stands back up with a proud look. “I think we’ve got this all figured out now.”

  “It sounds like we do,” I say, biting down on the corner of my lip.

  “I won’t let anything happen to you or Tyler. I’ll remind you of that every day for the rest of our lives. You have nothing to worry about. You just have to trust—”

  I press my fingers up against his mouth. “I do,” I say softly. When I tell this man I trust him, it’s a stroke to his ego, as well as other things. His ha
nds are around my ass, lifting me up until my legs loop around his waist, falling backwards onto the bed with me wrapped around him.

  “Should we give them a show, or what?”

  I bite down on his lip as he rips my shirt off, then my bra. His hands move slowly up from my waist until they cup around my breasts, making me cry out already. I pull his shirt off and move down to his belt, but before I get far, he flips me over, taking over the control like he likes to do. This is the only time I’ll ever let him have the control though. He tears my pants off, and my panties follow. I hear his pants fall to the ground, his belt buckle clattering with a bang.

  He takes my hands and pins them up against my head. “Don’t move,” he growls.

  It takes everything I have not to move my hands—not to touch him—not to grab him; and he knows this. His nose is against my neck, hovering his lips, letting his breath tickle my skin. My body is craving him and everything is starting to ache with need. This is when I lose it…every time. He wants me to beg. “You’re such a tease,” I moan.

  “This isn’t me being a tease, baby.” His nose traces a line down my core, his lips still a breath away.

  “Please,” I cry.

  “Please, what?” I lift my hands to grab him, but his hands reach up and pin my arms back down. “No. I told you not to move.”

  Finally, he pulls himself up and slides into me, thrusting hard and fast. I know I’m loud, louder than I should be with company in the house, but there’s no way to stop what’s happening. His teeth clamp down around my nipple and I can hear and feel his moan against my skin. “Tango,” I yell.

  “Not yet, baby. Not yet,” he grunts.

  “I can’t—”

  “You can.” He sits up, pressing into me harder. I open my eyes, needing to see his face, his expression, his enjoyment. He’s gritting his teeth and the veins on his temples are pillowing. Sweat is beading over his chest, and his grip is getting tighter. When his eyes open and a smile touches his lips, I lose it. I lose it regardless of him telling me it was okay to lose it, because fuck, I can’t control myself with him.