by Anna Brooks
“Why don’t you let her lie down and I’ll show you.”
“Show me what?” Smith grits out.
I wish I had the strength to do something, but I’m so terrified I can barely breathe. I almost feel more violated now than before. How can that be when they were just pictures?
“Trust me,” Erik says.
Smith carries me to the recliner and lays me down. I close my eyes and flinch when he tosses a blanket on me and kisses my head. “I’m just going to be in the kitchen. I can see you from where I am, okay?”
His footsteps fade away, and I squeeze my lids even tighter, but that doesn’t do shit; I just keep seeing the images over and over again.
Chapter 20
Smith
“Show me.”
Erik nods and turns the laptop around. Her email is up. “Look at the sender name.”
Mellicentlover69. “What the fuck?”
“This was the first one she saw.” He opens it, and I read the sentence then hang my head when the image of me comes up.
“Fuck.”
“What the hell were you doing?”
“Meeting a guy who’s going to help me find these fuckers.” Whoever followed me has bigger balls than I imagined.
“Well, that’s not the worst.” Erik swallows and pauses before he clicks on the link. “This is going to make you want to go out and find this fucker and choke the air out of his lungs, but Smith, I’m telling you, warning you,”—he points over his shoulder at Mellie in the chair—“she’s going to need you. You’ve got to keep your shit together.”
“Show. Me.”
He finally pushes the mouse down and opens up the emails. Showing me the photos. Pictures of the asshole holding photos of Mellie’s naked body, with the tip of his dick on them and his fucking cum spilling out. My fucking woman getting dressed in the hotel. Naked. He had cameras in there. Then he went home, jacked off on them, and took a picture of that. Fucking sick motherfucking cocksucker.
“Breathe.” Erik pats me on the back, and I release a deep breath.
“I’m going to rip his goddamned dick off and shove it down his throat.”
“She only saw the first couple, but she doesn’t know how many there are.”
“I need a few minutes with her.”
“I’ll hang out here. I don’t want to leave you two vulnerable right now, but I’ll be quiet.”
He’s right. If I were to just hold her right now and comfort her, it’d put me in a weak position since this prick is getting bolder. I don’t know what he’s going to do next, but on the off chance he’s stupid enough to come here, I’d rather have Erik be on alert.
“Thanks.”
I climb in the recliner behind her and hold her so tightly I’m afraid I will hurt her.
“He was there.”
“I know.”
“He was there.”
“I know, baby.”
“I don’t think I can... I can’t take care of myself right now, Smith. He’s going to kill me.”
“No, he’s not,” I growl. “He’s not.”
“I’m tired. So fucking tired. Can you just hold me?”
“Yeah. I’ll hold you as long as you need me to.”
She’s covered in a blanket and cocooned against me, but she still shivers. Mouse hops up and curls us against her, too. When Mellie’s breathing evens out, I slowly get up and start a reply to the first email. Telling the bastard that I will kill him when I find him. After realizing how stupid it would be to leave a trace like that, I delete it and slam the screen down.
“Are you going to call her brother?” Erik asks from the other side of the island.
“No.”
“You sure about that?”
“I haven’t exactly been keeping him updated with everything that’s happened here. He’s focusing on his case right now. When he’s done, I will. Besides, I don’t even know which asshole is doing this. The neighbor seems like a creep, but he’s been out of town working. It’s gotta be Norman. He’s the one who’s missing.”
“That makes the most sense.”
A little time passes with us just sitting. I’m racking my brain, not really sure what I’m looking for or thinking about. She stirs in her sleep and calms down just as I’m about to get up to comfort her. “I need to get her out of here.”
“What?”
“I’ve gotta get her out of here.”
“I heard you the first time, but what the hell are you talking about?”
“You know what I’m talking about.”
He rolls his neck. “It’s been seven years since anyone’s been there. How do you even know it’s still intact?”
“Because... I, ah, I’ve been there since.”
His eyes widen, and he stares at me in shock. My family’s cabin even further up north was the absolute best place in the world. We lived up there for months during the summers, and it’s where I have the best memories of my life.
“When?”
“I’ve gone up every July. Just for a few days. I also pay a guy to check on it a few times a year as well. My dad would be so pissed at me if I let that place fall apart. That’s the only reason I’ve been going.”
“She’ll like it.”
“Yeah.” I’m excited to share this with her. Even if it’s under these messed up circumstances, I want her to see this part of my life… Nobody else ever has. “I’m going to make some phone calls and pack a couple of bags.”
Once upstairs, I grab a duffel and load it with stuff for me, making sure to pack some extra ammo. Then I grab her suitcase and throw in some clothes and her flowery smelling shower stuff. As I’m doing that, I call Nate and put him in charge of the rest of the renovations. I don’t give a shit what happens with the rest of it; I just want him to get it done. Then I call Gerald and let him know the latest and what I’m doing. He’s going to have someone come and try to trace the IP address from those emails in the meantime. Last, I call Jay, but he doesn’t answer. He’s going to freak out when he knows what’s going on, but not knowing where she is will kill him. So I give leave a brief rundown on his voicemail, even though I said I wasn’t going to.
“Can you stay here and watch the house and the cat?” I ask Erik, when I get back downstairs.
“Of course.”
“He might get antsy and show up here. Be careful.”
“If this fucker is as smart as you seem to think he is, it won’t be too difficult to find a cabin under your dad’s name.”
“I know. But I’m prepared.”
I load up my truck and then walk over to Mellie. “Hey, sleepyhead.” I rub her arm and wait for her to wake up.
Her eyes fly open, and she sits up. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing. I wanna get you out of here.”
“Huh?” She rubs her eyes and scratches Mouse’s head.
“Let’s get out of here for a few days.”
“Where would we go?”
“My family has a cabin up north. It’s about a three-hour drive.”
She swallows and looks around the room for a moment before her eyes land back on me. “No.”
“What?”
“I want to go home.”
The already furious blood coursing through my veins rushes through a little faster. “What are you talking about?” This is her home. With me.
“I just want to go home. I want my brother.” A tear falls out of each eye, and she doesn’t bother wiping them off. “I’m sorry.”
“Fine.” I stand and hold my hand out for her to take. “Let’s get Mouse’s stuff, and we’ll hit the road.”
Erik must have heard because when I walk by him, he shrugs his shoulders. “What the fuck?”
“What am I supposed to say? Tell her no?”
“I feel ya. Man”—he shakes his head—“sorry, dude.”
I grab Mouse’s crate, fill a box with the rest of her stuff, and toss everything in my truck. Erik meets me in the doorway with some cat food. “I’ll put this in the truck.”
“Thanks.”
Walking past him, I reach Mellie in the same spot she was before. “Ready?”
“Yeah.” She stands and carries Mouse with her through the kitchen.
Erik comes through the door just as she’s about to open it. She jumps about four feet and screams so loudly, Mouse jumps out of her arms and runs away. “Mouse, no.” She chases after her and trips running up the stairs.
I hurry to the middle of the staircase and lift her up. Her forehead has a nice bruise on it, along with a little cut, and the blood mixes with her tears. “I can’t do this.” She sucks in a shaky breath and wipes her face. “I just want to go home.”
Every time she says the words, they slice through me. “I know. I’ll get ya there, but let’s clean up your pretty face first and then we’ll go, okay?”
“Okay.” She lets me carry her to the bathroom and set her on the counter.
I hand her a tissue, and she wipes her eyes. My first-aid kit is under the sink, so I pull it out. Pressing some gauze to her forehead, I then apply some ointment and a Band-Aid. She leans forward and rests her head on my chest and wraps her arms around me. Allowing her comfort and knowing she’s leaving is killing me, but I hold her as tight as I can and memorize the way she feels against me.
“I’m sorry,” she whispers.
“Don’t need to apologize.”
She pulls away and heads downstairs, grabbing Mouse from the bed on the way. Erik hugs her in the kitchen, and when we get in the truck and pull out, she turns on the radio and looks out the window. Mouse meows from the carrier buckled into the back seat, but stops after a minute and sleeps.
I keep my eyes on the road and continue checking behind me to make sure we’re not followed. Pushing aside my emotions, I focus on what I need to do and just drive.
We’re only about an hour into the trip when she finally speaks. “I need to go to the bathroom.”
“Fine.”
“Smith?”
“Yeah?”
Her hand presses on my thigh and the cool temperature of her skin seeps through the fabric. “Are you mad at me?”
“Nope.”
“Smith?” She sighs. “I’m sorry.”
“Stop apologizing.” I pull up to a gas station in a little one-stoplight town and park next to a pump. “Do you want me to walk you in there?”
I finally turn to look at her, and she blinks angry tears away. “No,” she snaps. “I’ll do it myself.”
Her sassy butt hops from the truck and storms across the lot. I catch up to her and grab her hand. She tries to pull away from me, but it only makes me pull her closer. “Stop it.”
“Let me go.”
“Mellie, relax.”
“There a problem over here?”
A bearded man walks our way and spits out a string of black on his way.
“No, there’s not.” I ignore him and focus on my girl because that’s what she is, my girl. Mine to take care of, mine to love, and mine to protect. “I’ll go in with you, okay?”
She shakes her head and sniffles. “Everything is happening, and I’m scared, and I want to run away with you, but I want to stay, and I want to go back home. I’m so sick of crying. But mostly, more than anything, I don’t want you to be mad at me. I can’t have you mad at me now, too.”
Her words run into each other, and I pull her even closer to show her that I’m not upset with her. “I’m not, baby. I’m mad at the situation and that I have to lose you, but I understand—”
“Best let her go, man.”
Today is so not the day to fuck with me. “Listen.” He’s now on my right side, so I turn to look at him. “I’m not hurting her. You can leave. Now.”
“Think the lady can speak for herself.” He crosses his beefy arms over his beer belly and nods at Mellie.
“He’s, uh…” she stutters, clearly uncomfortable under his inspection. “He’s not hurting me. We’re fine.”
I’m so not in the mood to deal with this fucker right now. I silently follow her inside, and when she comes out of the restroom, I lead her back to the truck and help her into it without filling up. There’ll be another gas station somewhere else down the highway. When I get back on the road, I take my cell out of my back pocket and toss it on the dash. She apologizes again.
“Why do you keep saying that? I told you, it’s fine.”
“Because you’re lying. I know you, Smith. You might not think I do, but I do.”
I tighten my hands on the steering wheel. “I’m fucking pissed, okay? I’m furious that you’re leaving me. But I love you so damn much that if letting you go is what you need, I’ll do it.”
“I want you to stay with me, but I can’t ask you to uproot your life until he’s caught.” Everything that’s happened today has been like a cyclone, and I’m spinning in circles so fast I don’t even know which way is up.
“If that’s what you wanted, I’d do it.”
“I don’t know what the right thing to do is.”
I reach over and hold her hand in mine. Hell, I don’t know what to say to her right now. Her decisions must be hers, not what she thinks will make me happy. “I want more than anything for you to be happy and feel safe. That’s what you need to worry about right now, okay?”
“I’m just so scared, and I don’t want you to get hurt and—”
“That’s what you’re worried about? Me? Mellie, that’s the last thing that should be crossing your mind.”
“It’s not, though. I don’t want to lose you. If something happened to you because of me. If he got to you first, I don’t know what I would do. I’ve already lost—”
She stops talking when sirens blare behind us.
“Fuck.”
“What is going on? Are you speeding?”
“No. Dammit.” I slam my hand on the steering wheel and pull over. In a town this small, I know exactly why I’m getting pulled over. I’m totally out of the familiarity of my city, and I’m scared as fuck she will be left alone.
Rolling down my window, I wait for the officer to approach, and when I look in the mirror, I see he’s already got his gun drawn. Fuck.
“Sir, I’m going to need you to step out of the vehicle.”
“Can I ask what this is about, officer?”
“There was a complaint about an altercation at the Mobil down the street. Witnesses say you were threatening this woman and got violent with her.”
“He didn’t. He—”
“Shh.” I shake my head at Mellie.
“Sir, out of the vehicle.”
With my fingers on the door handle, I turn to her. “Call Erik and tell him where you are. Can you drive back to my house okay? Put the address in the GPS and turn around. Don’t stop anywhere, just go straight back there; there’s enough gas. Erik can meet you halfway.”
Her lips are quivering, and I’ve never seen someone’s eyes so large. God-fucking-dammit!
“Now, sir!”
“Give me a damn minute. Baby, answer me, please.”
“Yes. I can.”
“I know you can. You’re strong, Mellie. You can do it.”
“Sir.” The officer’s voice gets louder, and I open the door.
Without looking at him and still trying to assure her everything will be okay, I step out and keep my hands raised. The butt of his gun presses into my neck, and he wraps a handcuff around one wrist then yanks that arm down. This is not protocol, so what the fuck?
I’m about to say something when he attaches the other side of the cuff to a metal ring in the bed of the truck. “What the fuck?”
He steps back and removes his hat then takes off the aviators he’s wearing. Mellie screams, and he shakes his head at her. When he turns his head and I see a scar in the shape of a lightning bolt on his neck, it fucking plows into me like a damn freight train. Shit!
“Shh,” he scolds her.
“You sick motherfucker.” I pull at the handcuffs and rip my skin open, but nothing budges. I’m so f
ucking stupid. Goddammit!
“Come with me, Mellicent, and I won’t kill him.” His gun is still trained on me.
“Don’t you fucking do it, Mellie.”
“What are you going to do, Mellicent? Drive away and drag him?” An evil laugh erupts from him. “No, you’re going to come with me like a good girl.”
My arm feels like it’s going to fall off, but I keep pulling. I’ll never stop fighting for her. Either I’ll break my hand or the metal on the truck will weaken eventually, right? Between watching what he’s doing and keeping an eye on her, I see her reach toward the glove box where I have a pistol, and I smile internally at how smart she is.
“Reach in there, and I’ll shoot him. I swear I will!” He shouts at her, causing her to cry harder as she shakily brings her finger to the button to open it.
“Grab the gun, baby. Shoot his fucking head off.”
Just as I say it, a bullet of fire spears through my leg. For a moment, all I see is black from the pain. The weight of my body falls towards the ground, but my cuffed arm acts like a boomerang and yanks me back up.
Mellie screams, and Norman laughs. “I told you I’d do it. Get out of the truck and come with me, little one. I need to know you want to be with me as much as I want to be with you, but you need to be the one to come to me this time. Whether he survives is up to you.”
I blink while the world comes back into focus just in time to see her lift her hand enough to show she’s conceding. I continue pulling at the cuffs and the truck so hard it shakes. “No!” She slides across the driver’s side seat and her foot comes out first, then her legs, and finally, her red face and watery eyes. “No, baby. Don’t. Please, God, don’t.” The pain in my arm is nothing compared to my thigh that’s sporting a fucking hole with a river of blood flowing out, but I’ll fight for her until I’m dead, so I keep using any strength I have left.
The second her feet even hit the ground, he grabs her and pulls her back against his chest. She squeezes her eyes closed, and he places a hand flat on her stomach. Silently, tears pour down her face. When he slides his hand lower and puts it over the crotch of her jeans, her knees buckle, and he laughs as he pulls her up with one hand. “You’re so worth the wait.”
“Don’t you fucking touch her! Get your sick motherfucking hands off her!” I scream and pull and do every fucking thing I can. The blood drains out of my leg the more I move, and I feel lightheaded. “I’m going to kill you,” I growl at him.