by Lisa Ladew
“Do what for you, Dad?”
“Some computer stuff. I just need a little help. One job. It won’t take any time at all.”
“And then you leave her alone forever? You never touch her?”
“Of course.”
“I don’t believe you.”
His father chuckled. To Coleton it sounded like glass breaking. “You should believe me. I’ve changed. You should come see me,” his father said.
“Where are you?”
“The beach house.” Coleton knew his father owned at least five houses, most just outside town. Two of them his mom also had access too. Coleton only knew where a few of them were. But one of them was his childhood home. If he thought hard, he could dredge up memories about that house he thought he’d never try to remember again.
“You might see me, Dad. But I swear to God old man, if you touch her, you’ll pay.”
His father’s voice became hard. “You shouldn’t threaten Coleton. You’ve got a nice life. No one bothers you. It’s more than you deserve after what you did.”
Coleton felt his reserve shatter, just like that. He felt screaming accusations build up in his chest. He felt the desire to pulverize the old man’s face. Serve him up what he’d dished out so many times. He hung up the phone and threw it on the floor of the passenger seat, then used every trick he knew to get himself under control. Jen. Jen wasn’t safe. No matter if he did a job for his father or not. He had to warn her.
He heard a honk and saw the red Firebird slip behind his car. He retrieved the phone from the floor and prayed Jackson came up with Jen’s address before his dad did.
***
Jen drove home in the dwindling evening light, marveling on everything she and Ivy had talked about. She liked Ivy a lot. And she was so happy that Ivy and Ryker seemed to be nurturing some sort of epic love, but was Ivy hallucinating when she said that Hunter stared at her? She’d never seen any evidence of it.
As she pulled in to the driveway of her brother’s house she noticed that Jerry still wasn’t home, and that a strange car was parked in front. Not strange, that’s Coleton’s car.
Her breath caught in her throat. Why was Coleton here? And how had he figured out where she lived? She sat in her car and looked at it, mind racing. Should she be scared? Perhaps just drive away? Drive to Hunter’s place? But he wouldn’t be home. Ivy had said he had to go out of town to help his mother today.
Her mind flashed back to yesterday, when she’d decided he was no more dangerous than, well than one of those adorable sea lion pups. And could she trust that decision? Yes, she decided. She could. But she still needed to be careful. Because not being careful would be stupid and reckless, two things she wasn’t.
Coleton’s driver door opened and he walked to her car. She checked his hands, empty and free at his sides. She looked for evidence of a gun under his clothes and saw none. Of course she couldn’t see the small of his back. She checked his face and froze at what she saw there. Hot fear, misery and something else. Anger? Outrage? At her?
She placed her hand on her gear shift, ready to leave in a hurry if she needed to. “Coleton what is going on? Why are you here?” she asked while he was still five steps away.
“Jen, I need to talk to you. You are in danger.” The anguish in his voice stood out clearly and Jen wondered what in the hell had happened to make him sound so out of character. It scared her. She shifted her car into reverse, the gearshift thunking as she did so.
Coleton heard it and stopped walking. He held up his hands. “Not from me, Jen.” He dropped to his knees, so his face would be level with hers. His voice was low, but Jen heard every word. “I have to leave town, Jen. Maybe for good this time.” He cupped his mouth with his hands so his voice was projected directly to her and spoke even more quietly. “My dad knows you are a cop, Jen.”
Jen felt her muscles tighten and her arms want to draw over her heart. More than Coleton’s words, the look on his face terrified her. He was obviously scared to death for her, and that told her everything she needed to know. Even so, ridiculous responses rose to her tongue. I’m not a cop. Where did you get that idea? Maybe you’re a cop. She cleared her head and bit her lip so as not to spill a completely inappropriate laugh.
“Jen, we really do need to talk. But not here. Can you follow me somewhere?”
“This can’t wait?” What she really wanted was to talk to Hunter. And for none of this to ever have happened.
“No, it can’t.” His handsome face, sculpted into lines of dread, convinced her he was telling the truth.
“Where?”
“Somewhere public. And noisy. A restaurant maybe.”
Jen considered. “OK, but I need to run inside. You go sit in your car and wait for me. Don’t leave your car.”
He nodded and turned around, following her instructions. She checked his back. No gun that she could see. That didn’t mean much though. He could have one in the car.
Jen waited until his door was closed, considered leaving her car running, but knew she couldn’t. She needed her keys. She pulled her phone out of her pocket as she went and dialed Hunter’s number. No answer. Dammit! She left him a short message and considered as she let herself into the house. She ran to her bedroom and grabbed her own gun, eying the holster it was in. No, for this she wanted the bra holster. She found it in the closet, then ran to Jerry’s bedroom to check his window. Coleton was in his car, his body twisted towards the house, watching her watch him, tension visible even in his outline.
She pressed a button on her phone to call Sgt. Sadler and strapped on the bra holster, then ran back to her room for the special shirt that would let her get to the gun the fastest. Sadler’s phone rang and rang, and not even voice mail picked up. She sent him a text. Her first one ever. She hoped that Hunter would get back to her first though, Sgt. Sadler was more likely to scream at her for 20 minutes for the decision she’d already made, than he was to round up the cavalry.
She was ready, but she couldn’t go yet. No one knew she was going. And that was unacceptable. Ivy! She dialed Ivy’s number and let out a breath of relief when Ivy answered on the second ring. She ran to the kitchen and watched Coleton out that window as she talked.
“Ivy, Coleton is here. He says he has to talk to me but I can’t get hold of Hunter or Sgt. Sadler.”
No response from Ivy, then finally she said, “Where are you?”
“Home.”
Ivy sucked in a breath. “No way, Jen. How did he find out where you live?”
“I don’t know, but he looks scared to death. And he says his father knows I’m a cop. And he says he has to leave town but he needs to talk to me first. He says I’m in danger.”
“It could be a trap, Jen, you shouldn’t go with him.”
“I’m going to though. Can you keep trying to get Hunter on the line? And Sadler, I guess. Or maybe Ryker.”
“No Jen! You can’t! You’re going to get in trouble. Or hurt.” Her voice lowered until it was almost inaudible. “Or dead.”
“That’s the thing Ivy, I’m afraid if I don’t go, I won’t get in trouble, but I’ll be hurt or dead for sure. You should see his face. He’s white. And practically shaking.”
“It could be a ploy.”
“It’s not, Ivy. I know it’s not.”
“Jen, you’ve said yourself that you are sometimes naive. What if you are being naive about this? What if you’re missing something? What if you’re wrong?”
Ivy’s statement gave Jen pause. What if she was wrong? She watched Coleton out the window while images flashed through her mind. Adam on their first date, pinching another woman’s ass in front of her, then laughing like it was a big joke and gauging her reaction. Adam and all his women friends, who she had never liked, but knew he liked them. Adam becoming increasingly distant from her. She shoved the images aside and spoke again, her voice strong and sure.
“I could be wrong, but I still need to do this. And I don’t think I’ve missed anything. My eye
s are wide open, possibly for the first time in my life. Please, Ivy, please help me. I’ll tell everyone that you tried your best to talk me out of it and you only agreed to help me after I insisted I would go alone.”
“OK.” Ivy’s voice was quiet, but resolute.
“Thanks Ivy. I’ll text you as soon as I know where we are going. And don’t worry, I’m going in my own car. And I’ll call my brother. Maybe he and Sara can meet us there.”
“Good idea. I’ll start making phone calls too.”
“Bye.”
Jen dropped the phone in her pocket, all too aware that no one was on the other end, monitoring where she was going. She ran to Coleton’s car. “Give me your phone.” He looked at her, jaw set, and handed it over without complaint. “Follow me.” He nodded.
She climbed in her car and took off towards downtown, dialing her brother as she drove. He didn’t answer his phone. Of course not. Things couldn’t be easy today. Sara? She couldn't believe she didn’t have Sara’s number. She’d never put it in her phone. Besides, she knew that they all were celebrating something, and might be drinking. Was calling them even a good idea?
Jen looked in her rear view and saw Coleton’s fancy car keeping up with her easily. And several car lengths behind him, another red sports car. She turned right at the next intersection, then right again, speeding through the residential side streets. After Coleton turned behind her, so did the other red car. Damn. So he was being followed. Did he know? Was this the plan? To get her somewhere public and pump a few rounds in her? But why didn’t this faceless follower just do it already?
She shook her head, knowing if a sniper wanted to take her out, she wasn’t safe anywhere. They could do it through her kitchen window from the street. And that was why she knew she had agreed to go with Coleton. If she really was in danger from his dad, she needed his help.
She drove aimlessly down side streets, trying to decide where to go. Finally, she chose downtown. Front street. There would be people everywhere. If that provided any protection. She drove, one eye on her rear view, until she finally pulled up in a paid parking stall in a parking lot she knew had cameras everywhere. Coleton parked behind her and got out. The red sports car pulled past them and turned several aisles away, until she couldn’t see it anymore.
“We were followed,” she said, nodding her head at it.
“He’s with me. He’s making sure no one else is following me. I didn’t want anyone to follow me to your house.”
Jen nodded, texting Ivy her location. She handed Coleton back his phone.
“So talk.”
“Jen, everything you’ve heard about my dad, it’s all true. He’s a mobster. He kills people without remorse or without even thinking about it. It’s normal to him. He called me this afternoon and told me you were a cop, and he hinted if I didn’t do a job for him, you were in danger.”
Jen nodded, a lump in her throat. This was bad.
“And you’re not going to do the job.” It was a statement.
“I could do a hundred jobs for him, and you could still be in danger. It’s how his mind works. And besides. Whatever he wants me to do, it’s against the law. I’ve been hiding from him and his jobs for most of my life. His main goal in life is to turn me into a criminal just like him. But I can’t Jen, I won’t.”
“You could testify against him.”
“For what? He hasn’t been arrested in years.”
“You could provide evidence. We could arrest him.”
“I don’t have any evidence, Jen. I saw a few things when I was a kid, but I don’t know names, or what really happened.”
“Does he know where I live?”
“I don’t know. He could. I found you.”
Jen nodded, her mind strangely calm. “What are you going to do?”
“Leave town. Go back to San Fran, or Nevada.” His eyes lit up. “You could go with me. I could protect you. He wouldn’t follow us.”
Jen imagined it. She could leave with him. He was rich. He would take care of her. She would abandon her new job, and the new life she was starting here. She shook her head, her own eyes mirroring the fear and sadness in his.
“Coleton I can’t. We can’t.”
He took her hands, squeezed them. “Are you sure, Jen? Because I can’t think of any other way that you are sure to be safe.”
Chapter 20
Jen drove home slowly. She checked her rear view and saw Coleton was following her, but several car lengths behind. Night had fallen, and in the dark she could no longer tell if the other car was following him. She looked for a message from Ivy, but there wasn't one. A thought shot through Jen’s mind. What if they were all dead in their homes? A mobster’s bullet through one eye? She shook the thought off. No way. Besides, she was the only one in danger here, right? Coleton’s dad had no way of knowing who her team was. Right?
At least she had a plan though. She’d talk to Hunter first and see what he thought about the whole thing. And then she’d talk to Sara. Jen wondered if talking to Sara would mean that Fiore Savoy would disappear. Or maybe Sara could do some secret spying on him and find a way to put him in federal jail. A small voice in the back of her mind spoke up. Is this what you're going to do once you are on patrol? Every time you have a problem with someone you're going to run to Sara? She grimaced, but didn’t see any other way out of this, unless Hunter could find one.
Her house was still dark and quiet. She pulled in the driveway, watched Coleton drive past, and then turned off her car, heart still beating too quickly. She didn’t think it would calm down until she got to talk to Hunter. He would know what to do. She knew he would.
She walked to the house and unlocked her door, pushing it open and swinging it shut behind her. She flicked on all the lights in the entryway, including the porch light, but only one small light in the kitchen came on. Her fingers wanted to flick the lights on and off, on and off, but her brain short-circuited the action. A strange smell hit her nose— sweat. Adrenaline flooded into her bloodstream. Someone was in the house.
She forced herself to flick the light switches, and spoke to herself under her breath. “Darn lights, why aren’t the working?” As she backed up and grasped the doorknob behind her. As she twisted it, she saw movement to her left. She screamed and wrenched the door open, pitching her body backwards, trying to make it onto the porch. A hand shot out and grabbed her upper arm, pinched it mercilessly, and pulled her back in, slamming the door.
Jen fought with everything she had. She kicked, she hit, she head butted the dark form in front of her. The thudding crack of her skull hitting his surprised her, and dazed him. His hand on her arm loosened. She lunged to the side and got away from him. The back door! She ran for it, knowing it would be locked, telling herself to twist the lock open before she tried to wrench open the door. Another dark form slid in front of the door and she skidded to a halt in her living room. She gathered her elbows in and screamed, shredding her own vocal cords with the force of it. Only then did she remember she had a gun. She grabbed for it, but the form in front of her was too fast. She didn’t even get her hand on it. She opened her mouth to scream again but the second man covered her mouth cruelly, bending her backwards and falling on top of her. She bit the hand as hard as she could, feeling her teeth hit bone. Warmth gushed over her chin and splattered on her neck. The man screamed. “Oh you bitch!” and grabbed his injured hand. “Shoot her, just shoot her!” he cried.
Jen twisted backwards, trying to see if the first man had a gun trained on her. She couldn’t see him in the gloom of the entryway. She kicked out with one foot, connecting with the hand of the man she had bit. He fell on the floor and screamed again. She pushed with her feet, sliding backwards on the carpet in a frantic panic, still not seeing the first man. Her door exploded inward and someone else burst through the house. Two someones. Jen whimpered and tried to push to her feet. She couldn't fight anymore. She had to get out of here.
One of the newcomers yelled for her. “Jen!
”
Coleton. “I’m here! There’s two of them! They have guns!
“So do we,” a voice she didn’t recognized said. A flashlight stabbed through the dark, blinding Jen.
She heard fighting and crashing. She pushed herself into the far corner of the room and pulled out her own gun, not daring to point it anywhere but the floor. She didn’t want to hit Coleton. But she didn’t know what was going on. She could see shapes tumbling in her living room. She edged along the wall and tried another light switch. The light turned on and she blinked against it.
Coleton was on the floor, fighting with a man dressed all in black. Coleton was on top, wrenching the man’s arms up between his shoulder blades. A shorter man, thick and muscular, trained a gun and a flashlight on the man she’d bitten.
Jen looked at the 4 men, and panic filled her. The images she’d pushed away earlier filled her brain again. Hunter, Sgt. Sadler, and Ryker with bullets in their brains. And Ivy?
Jen grabbed her phone and speed dialed Ivy. Three rings. Four rings. 8 rings. Her heart dropped to her shoes and terror crowded out all rational thought. She ran past Coleton who was still wrestling on the floor with one of her attackers. She sprinted through her shattered door and ran to her car, calling 911 as she went and ignoring the cries of the men behind her.
***
Jen pulled in front of Ivy’s apartment, parking her car in a loading zone. She looked around for the cops, but didn’t see any. Sirens sounded in the distance. Too far away. She couldn’t wait. But hopefully when she made it to Ivy’s apartment, she would find Ivy sleeping, or just relaxing with her phone turned off, and she could call off the cops who were headed here.
Jen ran up the steps to Ivy’s place. She held her gun in front of her, the way that Hunter had taught her in training. Each step she took jogged a silent prayer in her brain. Please let Ivy be alright. In front of Ivy’s door she raised her hand to knock, then let it fall. She tried the knob. Unlocked. She pushed in the door slowly and silently, fear causing her heart to thud painfully in her chest. All she could hear was hot blood whooshing past her ears. But she didn’t dare take the time to take a few calming breaths.