by T L Swan
BROCK: Need a lift?
I glance up and see Brock parked on the other side of the road. He gives me a crooked smile in return, and my heart swells. I stand and run across the road to him. A car horn blares to life when I nearly run out in front of it in excitement.
I bounce into Brock’s car. “Oh my God, did you see that?”
“Be fucking careful.”
Hope blooms in my chest. “Hi.”
“Hello, Tully Pocket,” he says casually as he starts the car.
I smile goofily. He called me Tully Pocket. He hasn’t called me Tully Pocket for a month.
“How was your day?” I ask.
He shrugs. “Okay, I guess.” His eyes drift to mine. “Yours?”
“Better now.”
He rolls his eyes and turns his attention back to the road. Something is different about him this afternoon. I’m not going to push it. I’ll just try and let the conversation flow naturally. “Any news on the case?” I ask.
He shakes his head. “Are you sure Meredith didn’t say anything last night?”
I shrug. “Nothing.” I think for a moment. “And we were pumping her full of questions. I honestly don’t think she knows anything. The girl can’t keep a secret at all.” I look over to him. “Remember when she told you about my vibrator?”
He rolls his eyes in disgust. “Where is that fucking vibrator, anyway?”
I smile. “In my top drawer.”
He smirks but keeps his lips firmly clenched closed. “Meredith has been moved into a different house today. We’re going to go and see her tonight, if that’s okay. Just grab your things and we’ll head off soon,” he says as he watches the road.
I smile and widen my eyes. “Am I sensing that you’re beginning to like Meredith?” I tease.
He smiles this time. “She’s okay… I guess.”
I point at him. “Ha. See, I told you. Once you get past her weirdness she has a heart of gold.”
We pull up at my apartment and I climb out. “Are you coming in?” I ask.
“No, I’ll wait here,” he says, then he frowns. “No, actually I’ll come up.” He climbs out of the car. The two of us walk up into my building and into the lift.
He’s silent, keeping his hands to himself while I stand patiently beside him.
We make our way into my apartment, and I walk into the kitchen, turning to him. “Would you like a drink?”
He shakes his head, and his eyes hold mine. He looks like he has something on his mind. “Start talking.”
“Start talking?” I frown. Does he mean…?
“You heard me.” He waits for a moment. “Tell me why?”
“Why?” God, what is he talking about?
“Why you fucking left me, Tully. I did everything right. Everything that you wanted, I handed it to you on a silver fucking platter. Now I want to know why you left me.”
My heart sinks in my chest. He has a point; he did do everything right. “Brock, I didn’t want you to hate me. I know it sounds lame.”
He watches me intently.
“When you came to London and we had that first fight, you said you were there to take me home.” I throw my hands up in the air. “I knew that giving Simon my attention was going to be an issue for you. And I know you came around and said it wasn’t an issue at that time.” I take his hands in mine. “But if it had gone on for three, four, or even six months, you’d have become bitter. Anybody would have, Brock. Even me.”
He rolls his lips as he looks down at our entwined hands.
“I’m sorry that I left you, but I don’t regret it,” I say.
He frowns.
“I needed to be there for Simon, Brock. He’s very sick… still is very sick. I’ve already visited him three times this week.” I smile. “Did you know he’s having a baby?”
“What?”
“With Penny, that girl he was seeing.”
His face falls. “And you’re happy about it?”
“I’m thrilled about it. She’s really nice, and hopefully they’re going to try and make a go of it. He’s going to be a dad. I’m so darn happy for him. It couldn’t have come at a better time.”
He frowns, confused.
“When I tell you that my feelings for Simon are platonic now, I honestly mean it. I care about him but only as a friend.”
He drops his head.
“I love you, you big twatwaffle.”
His eyes rise to mine. “You need to come up with better nickname material than that, Princess Pussy Porridge.”
Tears instantly fill my eyes. In that moment, I know it’s going to be okay. I rise onto my tippy toes and kiss him softly. “Take me to bed,” I whisper.
He wraps his arms around me. “No. You’re in time out.”
I giggle up at him. “For how long?”
“Life.”
I smile, and we kiss. I hold him tight.
“We need to get going. Grab your things,” he sighs in defeat.
“Okay.” I run into my room and grab my overnight things, smiling at my reflection in the mirror as my heart bursts with hope. Please let us get through this.
We make our way downstairs.
“Oh, I’ll just check my mail.” I get the key and open the mailbox.
The janitor, Meredith’s friend, walks past. “Oh, Tully, hi. Can you take Meredith’s mail to her at her mother’s, please?” He hands me a big wad of mail of hers that he’s collected.
“Sure.” I stuff it into my bag. “Thank you.”
Brock’s phone rings. He digs it out and answers it. “Hey.”
He frowns as he listens for a moment. “Fuck’s sake,” he sighs. “Fine, tell her she’s a pain in my ass.” He hangs up.
“What’s wrong?” I ask as we walk out of the building.
“Meredith left her phone on charge in the safehouse. We have to swing by and pick it up.”
“Okay.”
“It’s not okay because it’s out of the fucking way,” he snaps. “She’s so annoying. How do you forget your phone?”
There he is, my impatient man. I smile goofily.
“What?” He frowns.
“I missed your cranky ass.”
He rolls his eyes, unimpressed, and we make our way out to the car, and then over to the safehouse. He wasn’t joking, it is out of the way. It’s on a private piece of land that sits on the edge of the national park. We haven’t spoken much but he held my hand on his lap the whole way here while I smiled like a two-year-old.
We pull up to the side of the house and I peer in. It’s an old house made of sandstone.
“God, this house is creepy.” I shudder.
“Wait here, I won’t be a minute. I’ll grab it and be right back.”
As he gets out of the car, his phone rings. “Stan.” He smiles. “What are you up to?” He chuckles as he disappears into the house.
I smile and put my head back to the seat, closing my eyes. I finally feel like I can relax. I think everything is going to all right. At least he is open to working on it.
Something hard and cold buts up against my neck, and I look up and find myself staring straight into the evil eyes of Cole, my boss.
And the cold, hard thing pressed against my neck happens to be a gun.
Holy fuck.
Chapter 26
“C-Cole,” I stutter. “What… what are you doing?”
My boss?
He jams the barrel of the gun up under my jaw. “Hand it over,” he growls.
“Please, what do you want?” I whimper.
“You know what I fucking want. Hand it over.”
“Cole, please…”
He opens the car door, grabs a handful of my hair, and he drags me from the car. The gun is still firmly in place. My eyes flicker to the house. Oh no… Brock.
“Ouch!” I cry. “You’re hurting me.”
“I’m going to fucking kill you in a minute. Give me the memory stick.”
“I don’t have it,” I whisper. “I swear
, I don’t.”
He hits me hard across the face with the barrel of the gun. Pain sears through my head and I become dizzy before I fall the ground. He kicks me hard in the stomach, and then he pulls me down the driveway and into the forest.
Oh my God, help me.
Brock
I answer my phone and hear Joshua’s deep voice. “Hey, fuck knuckle.”
I chuckle. “Oh, it’s you, you ugly prick.”
“What are you doing?” he asks.
“Picking up a phone for a pain in the ass client. What are you doing?”
“I’m still at work. I was calling to see if you wanted to come to Kamala with us. Bring your new girl if you want.”
I walk around the back and struggle with the key. It’s sticking and won’t open the door properly. I stand and jiggle it for a few moments as I try to loosen it. Finally, it clicks and turns.
“When are you going?” I ask.
“June, I think. We’re waiting for the twins to arrive, and then we’ll head over for a month. I’ll be working from there.”
I narrow my eyes as I consider his offer. I’m not even with my new girl anymore. “I’m not sure. Thanks for the offer, but I’ll have to think about it,” I reply. “Hey, how did you get on at the weekend?” I ask. Joshua played in a major polo tournament over the last few days.
“We kicked some ass,” he tells me. “Hey, Ben told me you are having some issues with your chick.”
I roll my eyes. Now we get to the real reason he’s calling. “Nothing for you to worry about, Nana.” I sigh.
“You know why I’m calling?” He laughs.
“Tell Natasha to butt the fuck out.” I sigh again. Obviously, Tash has made him call and check up on me. “Listen, I got to go. I’m working.”
“Yeah, okay. Think about Kamala. Ben and Didge can’t come this year because of the babies.”
I smile. “Sounds fucking weird, doesn’t it? Babies, as in plural.”
“Fuck, I know. They’re going to know their alive real soon. Catch you later.” He hangs up the call, and I hear the car door slam shut.
Tully must have got sick of waiting and is coming to see where I am. I go to retrieve the phone but it’s not in the kitchen like they said it should be. I go into the living area and check there. I can’t find it. I wander into the bedroom where she was sleeping. Ben said it was on charge.
I dial his number.
“Yeah, what’s up?” he answers.
“Where’s this fucking phone, man?” I ask. “It’s not where you said it was.”
“Oh, it’s in the bathroom.”
“Why the fuck is it in the bathroom charging?” I snap. “Who charges a phone in the bathroom?”
Ben chuckles. “Apparently, if it explodes, it’s less likely to start a fire.”
I roll my eyes, grab the phone and charger, and then I leave, locking the door behind me.
“How far away are you?” Ben asks as I walk down the driveway to the car.
I see the door open, and I stop dead in my tracks. I look up and down the driveway, noticing blood on the ground.
“Fuck, Tully!” I cry.
“What’s happening?” Ben asks suddenly.
“He’s got fucking, Tully. Shit, there’s blood, get over here now!”
I hang up and run down the embankment. I can see drag marks where he has pulled her. There are large drops of blood on the ground, so he’s obviously hurt her. My heart begins to hammer hard, and I run back to my car to grab my hand pistol from under the seat. I run back and slide down a muddy hill under a thick canopy of trees.
I look left and then right, trying to get my bearings. It’s just getting dark and the shadows of the trees aren’t helping. It’s eerily quiet.
What the fuck?
I pant as I try to catch my breath. I don’t want to call out and alert him to where I am, but I need to find them before they see me. I bend to the ground and put my finger through a droplet of blood. My adrenaline surges.
Not Tully. You’re not getting Tully.
“It’s time to give up!” I call out, and then I wait.
Silence.
Fuck, what do I do? My chest is rising and falling as I suck in some much-needed air. I run back to my car and flick open the glovebox, searching through it manically.
Bingo! The memory stick with photos of Hawaii on it.
I run back down the embankment. “I have the memory stick!” I call out.
“Hand her over and you can have it.” I look out into the trees as it gets darker and darker.
More silence.
Fuck.
I hold the memory stick up in the air and grip the gun tightly in my hand.
Where are you, motherfucker?
“Tully?” I call.
“Brock,” I hear her cry from somewhere farther down the hill.
I take chase and sprint down the hill, sliding and slipping on rocks as I go. All at once, I see her being rammed into a car, and my heart stops.
Cole, her boss, has her by the hair with a gun nuzzled deep against her neck. He’s pushing her into a parked car.
She has blood all over her face, clearly terrified.
“No!” I yell as I run towards the car.
He hits her hard again and knocks her unconscious. I run faster, slipping down the embankment as I go.
He shoves her in the car and takes off at an unreachable speed. I turn back and sprint back up the hill as fast as I can.
I slip and scramble as I make my way to the top. I’m out of breath, gasping for air as adrenaline beings to take over my body.
I jump in my car and tear down the driveway. A truck is passing, and I punch the steering wheel.
“Get out of my fucking way!” I scream.
I pull out around the truck and veer onto the wrong side of the road. A car screeches, twisting and turning to avoid hitting me. I dial Ben’s phone number as I tear down the road.
“What’s happening?” he shouts. I can tell he’s driving as frantically as I am.
“He’s taken her in a car. White commodore, number plate DRT745.
“I’m nearly on the road coming in now,” he says.
“There’s only one way in here, Ben. You’re going to come across him.” I’m shouting, and I don’t care. There’s no way I can keep calm through this.
“What do you want me to do?”
“Whatever it takes. He can’t get away.”
“Roger that,” he says, and then he hangs up. My foot slams down on the accelerator.
“Tully, hang on, baby,” I whisper through gritted teeth.
The road is winding around a mountain. Dusts seems to be moving in the air as if a car has just sped through here. He’s not far in front, I can feel it.
I speed up and lose it on a corner, the wheels skidding out beneath me. I nearly roll the car. I correct myself as quickly as I can, and I drive around the next bend, immediately spotting two cars.
Ben has crashed into the car to stop it. It’s literally just happened. He hit the commodore in the driver’s side, causing the car to flip. Ben’s airbags have gone off, and he appears to be okay.
A gunshot fires from the car and I duck down.
I think Cole’s trapped inside. Did he just shoot her?
Tully?
I sprint for the car and a shot fires out at me, but I don’t stop. I hold up my weapon and shoot him through the window.
He slumps, bleeding from a gunshot wound straight to the head.
Tully is still unconscious in the passenger side, trapped by her legs.
“Tully, are you okay?” I whisper frantically. “Tully!” I cry. I can’t get to her.
She moves and puts her hand to her head, squeezing her eyes shut tighter. Relief washes over me, turning my skin cold at the thought of having lost her.
But she’s okay.
A police siren creeps in from the distance, and I know Ben has called for backup.
I drop to my knees as the lactic acid in my body
takes over. “You okay?” I call to Ben.
“Yeah, man,” he calls back.
Fuck… that was close.
Tully
I lie in the hospital bed as they take my vitals. “I’m fine,” I sigh.
“You’re not fine,” Brock grunts. “You have a fractured cheekbone.”
“Which is going to be fixed after surgery tomorrow.”
Brock kisses my hand. He hasn’t left my side for two days. His family have all been to visit me, and Ben even bought Meredith in. It seems the boys all have a soft spot for her now. Callie has been here at night, too. Simon can’t come as he is in another hospital, but he’s called me every few hours. I’m blessed to have so many people care about me.
My mother smiles nervously from her chair across the room. I know she’s impressed with the way Brock is looking after me. I think she may finally be beginning to accept that Simon and I are just friends now. Watching her and Brock play nice to each other is really quite entertaining. They’re both being so polite, I fear I may be sick any moment. I know it’s completely for my benefit only, but I’ll enjoy the peace between them while it lasts… which I already know won’t be for long. Peter and my stepfather arrive, and I see anger flare to life in Brock’s eyes. He steps back and folds his arms over his chest, raising his chin as he glares at Peter. Arrogance personified.
“Hi,” I say.
“Hello.” Peter smiles, glancing nervously between Brock and me. It’s obvious that he’s trying to work out if I told Brock about the little incident in the lab this week. Well, yes, I did. Peter stands at the back of the room next to my mother, scared to come too close to me.
“You gave us a fright, Tully,” Peter says.
I smile sleepily. “It’s all okay now, though.”
Peter nods as he watches me. “I thought it was Cole all along. I thought it was Cole, but I just couldn’t prove it,” he says.
Brock rolls his eyes in disgust. In the investigation with the police, and with the evidence Brock had on Peter socialising with the girls after hours, Peter has had to come clean about sleeping with the working girls. He’s saying it was for fun and that no deal was ever negotiated, but Brock doesn’t believe it for a moment.