“Jen, are you okay?” Dorothy’s voice tried to bring me back to earth, but nothing could save me. I knew it the second a steely arm wrapped around my waist.
The plate in my hand wobbled and smashed onto the concrete.
“Jenna, what’s—?” I didn’t hear the rest of Dorothy’s question because the phone was ripped out of my hand and thrown aside while the one guy I’d been trying to run from pulled me against him and seethed in my ear.
“You have some serious explaining to do.”
I whimpered and tried to resist when Seth grabbed my wrist and started pulling me to his car. “Let me go.”
He snarled and yanked a little hard, pulling me off my feet.
My knee hit the ground and I cried out as the concrete grated my skin.
“Get up!” he thundered, hauling me back to my feet and pushing me forward. I smacked into his car, my body already aching with what was to come.
He’d punish me so bad for this one.
“Get in!” He wrenched the door open.
I shook my head and was rewarded with a stinging slap across the cheek before he cupped the back of my head and roughly shoved me into the passenger seat.
I dared not make a run for it.
His wide nostrils were flaring as he stalked around to the driver’s side and I was quickly paralyzed. He reversed and then tore down the alleyway.
Fear pulsed through my body in thickening waves as I clenched my hands together and wondered how many minutes I had left to live.
And then lamented the fact that they’d be spent locked in terror rather than blissfully asleep in the haven of Jace’s arms.
24
Jace
Thanks to an issue with the sound desk, we were messing around in the studio while it got resolved. I grinned as I smacked the drums and Flick started singing the lead for “Believer” by Imagine Dragons. Jimmy laughed at something Nessa said as they watched Flick deliver the lyrics with a sweet finesse before harmonizing with him.
I bobbed my head, enjoying the beat running through me. It felt good to get lost in the music after such an intense weekend.
Jenna had nightmares. As she lay beside me tossing and turning, all I could do was rub her back and soothe her with quiet words she didn’t even hear. I held her close when she’d let me, listened to her whimper and tried to keep the fissures in my heart from growing any wider. Having watched Dad survive the loss of his legs, I knew you could feel someone else’s pain, but this thing with Jenna was a whole new level. She was my woman, and that kind of love was very different. When she told me someone had hurt her, I could feel the protective rage stirring inside of me. I didn’t let it show, knowing any kind of angry force would scare her, but man, I felt it. I felt it to my frickin’ core.
I glanced up and spotted Marcus’s blond mop of hair. He strode up to the sound desk, looking irritated. I could sense his stress, even through the glass. Poor guy. Time in the recording studio was precious and the big guy—Mr. Torrence—was probably hassling him for wasting it. That man knew how to point the finger at anyone but himself.
We rounded up the song and I glanced at Jimmy, silently asking what we should play next. He started plucking the strings and led us into “All We Know.”
Nessa grinned and bobbed excitedly before bringing the mic to her lips and singing with him. They always sounded so good together. I picked up the beat and relaxed into it, loving the smooth tune. It had a similar feel to the song Flick wrote for Fliss. I wondered if he’d played it for her yet. The melody issue had been resolved, thank God. I so wasn’t about fighting. I really hated tension within the band. Thankfully no one in Chaos knew how to hold a grudge, so—
My stomach clenched as Marcus pushed the door open and looked right at me. He had a phone to his ear, and the worry on his face was stark and confusing.
Everyone stopped playing, obviously feeling Marcus’s tension as much as I did.
“Do you know some chick named Dorothy? She’s been ringing Torrence Records trying to find you. She’s worried about—” His voice cut off as new information was fed into his ear.
The way the color drained from his face made my insides churn with unrest.
“Wait, what? When?” He closed his eyes and softly muttered, “Shit.” Scraping taut fingers through his hair, he ended the call and looked at me with the kind of agony I didn’t want to see.
“What?” Flick asked for me. “What’s the matter?”
Marcus scrubbed a hand over his mouth before finally blurting, “The police just found Gavin behind the diner. He’s been pistol-whipped and is on his way to the hospital to get stitches.”
The drumsticks fell out of my hands, clattering against my kit as I lurched to my feet. “Where’s Jenna?”
Marcus’s blue eyes swirled with compassion as he gently destroyed my world. “They don’t know.”
25
Jenna
Seth was driving too fast. He always did, but I guess that worked in my favor. Hopefully we’d get pulled over and the police would see the red welt on my face. I wouldn’t stay silent this time. Seth couldn’t be friends with anyone in the LAPD. I’d have a shot to escape, and I had to take it.
I was motivated like I’d never been before, because I had someone waiting for me. Someone who would never abandon me. Someone who had gone out of his way to pursue me and keep me safe. His kind heart and sweet smile chipped away at my fear until I gave all of myself to him. He’d never let me down, and I knew the second he found out I was gone, he’d be sick with worry and searching the country to make sure I was okay.
I had to get back to Jace.
I couldn’t let Seth or his terrorizing own me anymore.
“Stop the car,” I tried again, my voice letting me down. It was quaking and soft, a pleading edge to it. I sniffed, ignoring the throb in my cheek, and spoke a little louder. “You have to let me go.”
“No!” Seth thundered, slapping the wheel and glaring at the road ahead. “I’m taking you back home where you belong.”
“I don’t belong there.”
“Shut up!” He swung out with a backhand slap that clipped my mouth.
My head thumped back against the seat and I tasted blood.
I sucked on my swollen lip, begging myself not to lose it and become the whimpering mess I always used to be.
Blinking and swallowing past the boulder in my throat, I eyed Seth as he sped me away from my real home.
He was like an ebony statue, strong and beautiful. It was impossible not to be drawn to his enigmatic force.
But inside he was a dark mass of rage and control. And I just didn’t understand that until it was too late.
Jenna.
My sister’s face whistled through my brain. She’d be so disappointed. She’d given her life to set me free and there I was, right back where she found me.
I glanced at the door and wondered if I could fling it open and throw myself onto the road. It’d hurt like hell, but could it be any worse than what Seth had planned for me?
Wait! Jenna!
“I’m Jenna,” I blurted, suddenly inspired by an idea I should have thought of back at the diner. “Aleesha died in that car accident and I’m her twin.”
“Bullshit!”
“You found a body in that car that looked just like me, but it wasn’t me. It was Aleesha. She died in that accident. I am Jenna. I have the ID to prove it.”
With a harsh growl, Seth pulled to the side of the road, his brakes squealing as we jolted to a stop. The seat belt dug into my body and I let out an involuntary gasp.
Spinning on me, Seth reached for my shirt.
“What are you doing? Stop!” Panic got the better of me. I had no idea what he was doing, but terror clawed through me as Seth wrenched my shirt open. Two buttons hit the dash and then he grabbed my breasts.
“Get off me!”
“You are Aleesha.” He gripped me hard, pain firing through my chest as I tried to push him off me.
It was no use, his long fingers and taut muscles were too strong.
“I know this body,” he growled. “I’ve touched every inch of it! So stop fucking lying to me!” he screamed, pulling a gun from his waistband and running the cool metal along the edge of my bra.
I could have shouted and cursed at him, begged him to believe that Aleesha was my identical twin and she’d died.
But he knew.
I’d never been able to lie to Seth.
Never.
His brown eyes sparked with hunger as he traced my heaving chest.
“You’re mine,” he growled in a voice husky and deep.
He sounded like a werewolf ready to devour his prey.
My eyes smarted, burning with tears that wanted to break free. Was he going to rape me right here on the side of the road? The torture of being taken by him made my eyes burn. The tears were begging to spill free, but I blinked to ward them off. I couldn’t give in to the fear. If I turned into a blubbering mess, I’d never be free.
“I’m not yours,” I croaked.
“You are.” His eyes shot to my face, holding me so I couldn’t look away from his wrath. “You’re mine! I’ve owned this body. I loved this body. And you are not allowed to leave me!”
“You don’t love me.” My voice shook. “If you loved me, you wouldn’t hurt me.”
“You think I want to hurt you?” He grabbed my face, digging his fingers into my cheeks. “I wouldn’t have to if you just did what you were told!” His expression crumpled with despair. “You just… you be a good girl and I won’t have to hit you no more. That’s all you gotta do.”
The dam holding back my tears started to crack and crumble. A few tears fell free as the old fear tried to eat me alive. It scraped at my insides, forming a tight band around my brain that screamed, Just do as he says and it’ll stop!
But it wouldn’t stop.
I couldn’t buy into that lie anymore.
Thanks to Jace, I knew what real love felt like, and I wouldn’t give in to Seth’s brutality again. I couldn’t, or I’d die.
Taking my stillness as a sign of compliance, Seth slowly let me go, tucking the gun back in his pants and reaching for the wheel.
It was my only chance, so I took it.
Flinging the door open, I stumbled out of his truck, tripping and grazing my exposed skin. It hurt but terror picked me up, adrenaline pulsing through me as I careened away from him. Pumping my arms, I tried to get some distance between us until a gunshot rang behind me.
Dust flew up near my feet. I screamed and ducked my head, veering left toward the embankment. If I could just get past the concrete barrier, then I could stumble into the ditch and maybe find some cover on the other side.
A car horn honked and I heard a screech of tires, but I was too intent on running to stop.
Glancing over my shoulder, I saw Seth looming. He was damn fast and closing the gap between us at a terrifying rate.
“I’m not going with you, Seth!” I screamed as I ran. “The only body you’ll be taking back to New Jersey is a dead one!”
He roared and ran harder, nearly catching me as I surged past the barrier and into the ditch. I just needed to make it up the other side.
Skidding down the gravel, I ignored the stings and bruises, clawing at the slope in order to get up and away.
But Seth grabbed the back of my head before I could. His long fingers fisted my curls and I was yanked back with an agonizing yell.
My breath left me when my back hit the dirt.
“Don’t,” I whimpered, wrestling with Seth’s hands as he tried to pin me down.
I wouldn’t give in.
I wouldn’t let him treat me like a rag doll again.
Reaching for the gun, I snatched his hand before he could point it at me. He grunted and pulled away but I held fast, letting out a screech as I threw my weight into gaining control of the weapon.
I’d never fought back, and it took him by surprise.
His brown eyes rounded before he started gaining control again.
“No!” I yelled, pushing off the dirt with a feral kind of scream and ramming into him. He hit the ground with a thud, me on top of him.
“Baby, stop,” he cooed, slipping into remorseful mode.
I wasn’t about to buy it.
“Let go of the gun,” I gritted out, trying to pry his fingers off the weapon.
He gently cupped my face, his voice shaking. “Don’t do this to us. Don’t destroy us.”
“You destroyed us!” I yelled, digging my nails into his fingers until he barked in pain and pushed me off him.
I kept hold of his wrist so he stumbled forward, crushing me to the ground. His hand bashed against a rock as he landed, releasing the gun from his grasp.
I scrambled for it, desperate to snatch it as he raised his fist at me.
His punch landed true, stunning me for a moment. Pain radiated across my face as I blinked and fought a wave of nausea.
Don’t give in! my brain screamed, firing a warning down my arm. I strained a little harder and managed to wrap my fingers around the gun.
“Don’t do this, baby!” Seth warned, surging for control of the weapon.
“Let me go!”
My cries went unheeded as we wrestled. Tussling with each other, we both grunted with determination, refusing to give in. Seth wasn’t used to me behaving this way and it threw him. I had to use his confusion to my advantage.
Raising my knee, I tried to clip him in the groin. I didn’t really manage but my unexpected fight surprised him, roused his uncontrolled anger until he wrenched the gun and accidentally fired it at the same time.
I let out a horrified scream as blood splattered my face and Seth went limp. His crushing weight pinned me to the ground, and all the tears I’d been fighting bubbled out of me in a wailing sob.
He was dead.
He’d just killed himself.
“Miss? Miss? Are you okay?” a shaken voice from the road called down to me. “I’ve called the police.”
I couldn’t answer the woman. All I could do was lie there bawling as the sky became a fuzzy mess and my pounding brain tried to make sense of what the hell had just happened.
26
Jace
Everyone was in shock after Marcus’s big revelation. We drove to the hospital so I could check on Gavin. We managed to sneak in unnoticed, and Gavin’s buddies were doing a stellar job of keeping the press at bay. The story hit pretty fast because the diner was full of people when one of the waitresses came through wailing about calling the police and a dead guy on their back doorstep.
Thankfully Gavin wasn’t dead.
I gazed down at his sleeping body. The stitches on his forehead were kind of nasty, and the doctor wanted to keep him in for one night of observation.
“The concussion isn’t too severe, but I still want to wake him every couple of hours throughout the night, and we’ll do a CT scan in the morning just to make sure everything’s working as it should before we release him.”
I nodded but remained mute, letting Jimmy and Flick answer for me.
Gavin’s parents were driving across from Arizona and would be there in the morning. In the meantime he just had us.
“I’m so sorry, man,” I mumbled, holding my head in my hands and fighting the urge to weep as terror for Jenna shrouded me.
The police had stopped by to get Gavin’s statement but he couldn’t give them much. He mentioned noticing a truck drive down the alley and park behind the restaurant. A tall black guy exited the vehicle, gave Gavin a friendly smile, then strolled off in the opposite direction.
He must have scoped the diner, saw Jenna inside, figured out who Gavin was and taken him out.
“I can’t remember.” Gavin winced as he tried to recall the incident. “I’ve got a blurry image in my mind of him walking back to his pickup, maybe he stopped to say something… and I didn’t even see it coming.” He sounded so gutted. “Some bodyguard.”
I
wouldn’t let him own that and told him plain and simple that he was the best guy around.
I don’t think he believed me.
“How you holding up, dude?” Ralphie walked in, holding out a mug of coffee.
I gave him a pained frown. “Any news?”
“None yet.”
I closed my eyes and fought the urge to puke.
“They’ll find her, man.”
“In what condition?” I whispered my biggest fear. The thought of someone hurting her killed me. She was precious and needed to be treasured, not beaten.
It made me sick to think I wasn’t there to defend her.
“Your parents are here,” Ralphie murmured. “Marcus and Kelly are filling them in.”
I bobbed my head and leaned forward, letting my hair cover my face. I didn’t want to see my folks. Mom would cry and hug me. Dad would tell me how everything would work out.
I wasn’t in the frame of mind to stomach it.
I just needed to see Jenna. To know she was okay.
When I first left Torrence, I wanted to drive the streets searching for her, but everyone told me it was a bad idea. I argued and bit back, but they were unanimous.
“Let the police do their job, Jace.” Nessa squeezed my knee. “I know that’s the last thing you want to hear and it fully sucks, but we have to trust that she’s going to be okay.”
I clenched my jaw and nodded, because that’s what everyone wanted me to do.
Ralphie’s hand landed on my back. He gave it a gentle pat before leaning against the end of Gavin’s bed and crossing his arms. Glancing up, I was relieved to see he had no intention of saying anything or giving me some kind of pep talk.
I wanted to thank him for his silence but couldn’t find my voice.
And so we sat there in solitude together, quietly supporting my bodyguard and praying my Jenna was found.
Ten minutes later, Marcus hustled in, his eyes bright with hope and excitement.
“They’ve got her.”
My heart took off, fluttering around my chest like an excited butterfly as I lurched out of the chair and grabbed my jacket.
Fine By Me: Chaos Novella (A Songbird Novel) Page 12