by Sophia Gray
The officer goes still. All I can see is the rise and fall of his chest, and I’m sure I can smell his sweat. He’s no longer mad, he’s pissed, but he’s riled me up enough that I don’t give a shit about that. Veins pop under the skin of his skull and hands, and I can see his fingers clench into fists. I can tell from where I stand that all he wants to do is beat the hell out of me. If he takes things that far, maybe I’ll let him. Then again, who would believe me over an officer of the law?
Keys jingle as Bryce opens the door to my cell. I can’t help what’s in my nature, and I make a run for the opening. He wasn’t as fast as me at the inn, so in all likelihood he won’t be as fast as me here.
Unfortunately, my judgment is wrong.
The door slams in my face with an ugly crash, and I stagger away from it with my hands up. The officer comes toward me, his big fists balled up. It looks like he’s ready to give me a pounding.
“If you fucking touch me without due cause, you’re gonna be in a world of shit.” I point at him as I back away. There’s nowhere for me to run, but if I can keep some distance between us, I’ll be able to figure out what his weak spots are. The cell is small, though, and he’s a big man who takes up a lot of space.
“I have all the cause in the world, you piece of shit!”
When he lunges for me, I’m not fast enough to get away from his fist. It glances off my cheekbone and sends me into the wall. For a moment, I see stars, but red rage flickers on the edges of my vision. I lose all sense of self-preservation as I slam my fist into his jaw. He hits me back, and he hits me back hard. I can’t even tell where it came from. I reel back and once again find myself with the wall supporting me. Before I can get away from it, one of his knees crashes into my gut. I swear I hear a rib crack as I double over. My breath is gone, and I gasp for air. There’s no way I can call for help.
I’m positive that’s the end of it, but once again my judgment is wrong. Officer Bryce seems like a man of the law, but the next blow he lands sends me to my knees. The heel of his boot comes for my face, and this time I manage to scramble back from it. With a snarl, I push off from against the wall and rush him. He outweighs me by at least 50 pounds, but my momentum sends us both crashing to the floor. I still can’t find my breath, but I still manage to land a solid blow to the officer’s nose before he uses his superior weight to throw me off. I land hard on my left shoulder, and a sharp pain snaps through it. All it does is piss me off more, though. It makes me want to rip his balls off and stuff them down his throat.
When he comes at me again, I know I won’t be able to get up in time. My teeth bared, I draw in a hiss and curl up into the fetal position. My hands cover the back of my head and neck while my knees protect my chest and belly. Again and again, he kicks me with his heavy, police issue boots. My hands, forearms, legs, and back feel like they’re going to shatter with every blow. At no point, however, do I tell him to stop or make a sound. I’ve already given him enough satisfaction by getting caught. I refuse to give this asshole more.
His hands are on me without warning. They try to rip my own away from my head and neck. I uncurl just long enough to send a sharp jab into his face, but all he does is roar and smash the back of my head against the hard floor. I’ve come to the conclusion that this man is completely insane. In fact, he belongs in an institution, not a fucking police station. As I curl myself up for the second time, all I can think about are Kristel and the baby. I can’t leave them with a man like this. The police have never been a friend to me, but they have always, in the past, followed rules and protocols. I still barely even know what I’m in here for, and Bryce’s asshole partner is just as bad.
As he slams me viciously into the floor again, I hear a lowcrack as one of my ribs snaps. I gasp in pain and lash out without thinking, and my fist collides with his jaw hard enough to knock him away from me. Before he can come at me again, I hear gunfire from the front of the station. Screams and shouts follow, and I swear I recognize the voices of some of my crew members. How the hell did they find out I’m in here?
Bryce backs away from me and points. “We’re not done here.” He slips through the door of the cell, locks it behind him, and runs down the hall toward the front.
Since the cops are occupied, I let my guard down for the first time and allow myself to cringe. Everything hurts, and as I sit up, the world around me spins. Despite my attempts to protect my head, he kicked me there one time too many. I’m lucky if I’ll even be able to stand up without falling over at this point.
“Son of a bitch, that asshole is fucking crazy.” I grimace and manage to crawl up against a nearby wall. With its help, I struggle to my feet and lean heavily against it.
The jingle of keys echo down the hall, and I brace myself for a second beating. When I see Grant turn the corner, though, my eyes light up with hope. “Grant? What the fuck are you doing here? How did you get back here?”
“Shut up, there’s no time to explain.” He uses the keys to open my cell, strong hands dragging it open. “We gotta be out of here yesterday, come on!”
I open my mouth to ask him something else, but snap it shut as I limp out of the cell. Adrenaline surges through my system, and I manage to half run, half hobble down the hall and to the front door. Grant is there every step of the way to support me in case I lose my balance and fall. I’m hurt worse than I’m willing to let on, but somehow he seems to know. As we get to the front doors, my heart leaps into my throat. There are dead and wounded police officers everywhere. Three of them are slumped against the wall while one groans and writhes on the floor in the waiting area. I don’t have time to look if there are more, but I have no doubt that there are.
“What the fuck did you do?” I gasp.
“We saved your life, dumbass. Now come on, you see that van out front?” He points to it, and I nod. “That’s Plan B.”
“The fuck was Plan A?”
“Ask nicely.”
I let out a laugh, but immediately regret it. Bryce wasn’t kind to my ribs. We burst through the front doors and almost fall down the steps. I can hear the footfalls of people, likely officers, as they hurry through the station to get to us. Without a second thought, I throw myself into the van as soon as Grant slides the door open. He jumps in right beside me just as the vehicle shoots off onto the road hard enough to knock me flat onto my back.
“Fuck, who’s driving?”
Grant shakes his head at me as he starts an assessment of my injuries. “Your mouth just keeps getting worse and worse as time goes on, you know that?”
“Whatever, how did you know I was in prison?”
“Kristel.”
“Kristel? What? How the hell did she find out?”
“Me.”
“Okay, you need to give me more than one-word answers here, Grant.” I grind my teeth as he pulls up my shirt and prods around my ribs.
“You have some busted ribs, but the hospital’s not a good idea right now. I’ll take you to the safe house on the west side of town.”
“That place is full of contraband, Grant, it’s not a good plan.”
“It is. Just trust me. Don’t ask how or why, we have more important things to think about right now.”
“Like?” I brace against the bottom of the van as the driver takes a dangerously tight turn.
“Like staying low and keeping you out of sight. We didn’t bust you out of prison for nothing you know. Besides, considering what happened with Will…” He drifts off and looks at me.
“Did you find him?”
“Yeah. And I took care of him and everyone else who was in on your downfall, including Morris. Your position is safe enough for now, so don’t worry yourself over it. I know that if I linger on it too long, my head starts to spin. No one was closer to you than him. And to know he turned on you for money… hell, it breaks my heart.”
Before I can say a word, Grant’s phone rings. When he looks at the caller ID, he hands it to me. I see the number and sit back against the side o
f the van even though it hurts just to breathe. We’re slowing down, and I know we’re nearly at the safe house. “Kristel?”
“Oh my God, Andre! What happened?”
The sound of her voice makes me laugh, and I ignore the surprised expression on Grant’s face. “Yeah, baby, it’s me. They got me out. Are you okay?”
“No… my dad is taking my mom and me to the airport in two hours. He wants to get us as far away from you for our ‘safety.’ Fuck, I hate him so much right now. I’m sorry, Andre, it’s my fault he-”
“Wait, what? You’re going where? Listen, your dad is fucking nuts, Kristel, you can’t go anywhere with him!” I breathe faster as my heart picks up the pace. Sweat prickles across my brow. Bryce took away my freedom twice, nearly ripped apart my gang, and now he’s trying to take Kristel and our baby from me. There’s no way I’ll let this stand.
“Shit! I can’t talk right now, he’s coming.”
“No, no, no! Kristel, wait! Where are you-”
Click.
“FUCK!” With a snarl, I throw the phone across the van and watch it bounce violently off the side and onto the floor. This is unbelievable. The cops are everywhere and the woman I love is about to be ripped from me. I’m running out of time.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Kristel
I don’t know what to do. As I sit on my bed and stare out the window, all I can think about is Andre and the rest of the crew. The baby also comes to mind, and the sharp pain I felt earlier is gone. The fear of losing the baby, however, isn’t, and my hand periodically rests against my belly.
Please be okay, I think. Please, please be okay.
With thoughts of the baby come thoughts of Andre and the Black Knights. They have been more of a family to me than my own parents. They’ve never been overbearing, and they’ve always allowed me my independence without abandoning me. I’ve never felt as though I owed them anything or as though I had to do something for them. With my parents, I always feel obligated to do what they want because they’re always telling me what they’ve done to make my life better. With that hanging over my head, it just makes me want to separate myself from them even more.
As I look at the phone in my hands, Andre’s voice echoes in my head again and again:
Listen, your dad is fucking nuts, Kristel, you can’t go anywhere with him!
He’s right. My father is fucking nuts. As I push the cell phone under my pillow, he unlocks my door and pushes it open. My stomach drops, and I let go of the phone so I can sit up. I’ve always considered my father reasonable, but today he proved me wrong. When I see how banged up and bloody his fists are, my jaw goes slack. Why does it look like he’s been in a fight?
“Dad? What the hell happened?” I sit up more. “What did you do?”
“I gave your ‘boyfriend’ a piece of my mind.”
“What?! What the fuck? Why would you do that? What did he ever do to you?” My voice gets louder and louder, and before I know it I’m on my feet.
“HE VIOLATED MY LITTLE GIRL!”
My father’s explosion should have been enough to shut me up, but I’m terrified for Andre. Against any judgment I could possibly have in that moment, I brace myself and step toward him. “I amnot your little girl anymore, Dad! I am a grown-ass woman who can make her own damn choices! You have no right to treat me this way, and neither does Mom! The only reason I haven’t called the police is because youare the police! And from what I can tell, you’re one corrupt asshole who only wants to control me. You never wanted to help me! You’re just doing this to protect yourself!”
Silence dominates the room for many moments. I can see it in my father’s face. I’ve hurt him. “What?” I fold my arms across my chest and raise both eyebrows. “Got nothing to say?”
He swallows and looks away from me. His head shakes slowly back and forth. “I can’t believe you, Kristel. After everything your mother and I have done for you, you treat me like this. We brought you into this world. We raised you. We’re the reason you’re even here on this Earth. How can you talk to me like this?”
“Maybe you and Mom are responsible for giving me life, but you’re also responsible for treating me like an adult. I’m not a child anymore, Dad. I’m not even a teenager anymore. And you guys just don’t seem to get that. No matter where I go or what I do, you’re always there, right behind me or right beside me. How the fuck am I supposed to make it in this world if you guys want me to be dependent on you all the time?”
His jaw grows tight, and he shakes his head violently at me. “I am not having this conversation with you, young lady. The plane leaves in three hours, and you and your mother will be on it. Period!” He points at me with an index finger for emphasis. His shoulders roll back, and he sends a glare my way before he storms out of my room. The door closes with a horrible crash, and any pictures on my wall shiver. I stand there in stunned silence, and while I want to cry tears of anger, I hold them back. Now just isn’t the time.
“Fuck!” I know it’s childish, but I stomp one of my feet and pace over to my window. My arms fold across my chest; I feel anxious and alone. I feel helpless.
The door opens behind me, but I don’t turn to look.
“Kristel?” My mother’s irritating voice fills the room.
“What do you want?”
“I want to know what’s going on. What…” She sighs. “Whathappened to you?”
“Mom!” My fingers clench into fists as I turn around to face her. “You’re just as bad as he is! And I don’t want to talk about this. Andre didn’t do anything wrong, and he definitely didn’t deserve to have the shit beaten out of him by Dad!”
She holds her hands up. “Stop yelling. And just listen to me, Kristel.”
“Really? You want me to listen to you after what he did? After what you agreed to? I have a life here, Mom. College. A boyfriend. Friends. A foundation. And you’re just like him. You want to rip it all out from under me like it doesn’t even matter.”
“No… that’s not it at all. Those things do matter, but your safety matters more. That boy isn’t safe. He’s a criminal. Why can’t you see that?”
“He’s the father of my baby, and I’m not leaving him behind, Mom. I love him.”
She looks at me with a stunned expression. “You what?”
My lips press together. “You heard me.”
“Honey… how?” She steps closer to me with her arms open. “How could you let something like this happen? Why?”
I step away from her and shake my head. “Dad just beat the shit out of a man who didn’t deserve it. I don’t hear you asking him these things.”
“You have no proof."
“Didn’t you see his hands? His face? It’s so obvious I’d know even if I was blind. Now get the hell out of my room.”
She stares at me and swallows, and her whole face falls. Maybe I should feel sorry for her, but the only thing I feel right now is anger that she’s backing Dad instead of me. She can put a stop to this, but from what I can see, she won’t.
“I’m serious, Mom. Just go. I don’t want you in here anymore than I want him in here.”
“Okay. Fine.” Her face is normally so full of life, but now all I see is a void. She clasps her hands in front of herself, turns away, and walks out the door. She shuts it behind her, and I want to scream when I hear the deadbolt fall into place as she locks the door.
I need to call Andre back, but the phone won’t stop ringing, and it’s been an hour since my father was in here. That means in another hour he will come back and probably force me to get into a car with him and my mother. The very thought of it makes my stomach roll, and I feel like I’m about to vomit all over my floor. As if the stress of Andre isn’t enough, I also have the baby to worry about. I haven’t told them about what happened when I tried to open the window, and I don’t intend to. They’ll just rush me to the hospital, and then I won’t stand a chance of finding a way out of this.
“Hello?” On the eleventh ring, j
ust before I know when the voicemail will hit, Andre answers.
“Thank god.” I speak in a low whisper so my parents won’t hear me. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine. Why?”
He’s trying to play it tough. I know him by now. “Andre, I saw my dad’s hands and his face. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that you two got into it. How did he catch you? What… why did he beat on you?"
“Kristel, there’s no time for this, okay?"
“No! You need to tell me what the hell is going on, Andre, and you need to do it right now. My parents are dragging me onto a plane in less than two hours and I don’t know what to do or where to go.”
There is a very short pause. “There’s no time. But I am safe, I am okay, and I have a plan. You just need to trust me. Can you do that? Can you trust me, Kristel?”