“What do I do? He has a gun.” His weight is heavy on top of me, and it's a struggle to draw in a full breath.
“You're small. I bet you can crawl underneath all these cars without him ever seeing you. There's a door that leads into the complex on the other side of the lot. When you get there, throw a rock or something to let me know you made it. I'll distract him so you can get inside. Then run as fast as you can and lock yourself in your apartment. Then hole up in the tub. If he's choosing to come after you in public, he'll likely try to follow,” he says grimly.
I turn my head, trying to peer at him, but I can't see him behind me. “What about you?” I ask breathlessly.
Ace eases his weight when he realizes he's squishing me. “I'll be fine.” Another pop has me flinching underneath him, and I hear the sound of glass shattering a couple feet away. Ace swears. “He's getting closer,” he says with growing alarm, and I can now hear the sound of slow footsteps. “God dammit, go!” He slides off me and literally shoves me towards the next vehicle.
Pain seems to fade, and as I lie there on my stomach gazing at Ace with fear, it sinks in that things could go bad. Real bad. One of us might end up with a bullet in our head. “Ace...” I whimper.
He leans down and kisses my forehead. “I know. I love you. Go!” He pushes me further beneath the next vehicle, and I have no choice but to do as he asks.
I spare one last glance at Ace, whose back is now to me as crouches behind the Hummer's front tire to peer around it. I begin to army crawl beneath the vehicle he's pushed me towards, and it's not easy. My elbows are losing skin, and I'm now suddenly thankful I'd worn jeans to work. When I reach the point where I have to crawl out in the open to the next vehicle, I look around anxiously. All I see is the pavement and lots of tires. When it seems clear, I flatten myself to the ground and roll myself beneath it as fast as I can.
“Oh, come on, Faith! Meet your death like a big girl,” a voice shouts out.
I freeze beneath the car. That's not Oliver's voice. It's a woman’s voice, but I don't recognize it. The voice doesn't make sense to me, but it doesn't matter at this point. Whoever it is wants to kill me. I scramble as quickly as I can beneath the next few vehicles before I hear another short burst of gunfire. My heart leaps into my throat, and I clamp my hand over my mouth to stop from screaming Ace's name. I breathe heavily through my nose and wait to see if I can hear anything.
Another shot rings out, and I hear the woman warn, “Don't move, or I'm going to splatter your brains all over that car.”
She's not talking to me. Her voice is too far away. “NO!” I scream out from beneath the car when I realize she's found Ace.
“Faith, don't even think—” Ace's shout is cut off as another pop echoes throughout the lot.
No, no, no, no! If Ace goes down, I go down with him.
I scramble out from beneath the car, tears stinging my eyes when I realize Ace might be bleeding to death. I draw in a breath and slowly straighten up, waiting to feel the brutal impact of a bullet piercing my body.
When nothing happens, I focus on looking around and see that a woman has a gun pointed at Ace's forehead about twenty-five feet away. She looks familiar...
“Come join the party, Faith,” she sneers while she keeps the gun held steady on Ace. I'm relieved Ace is still alive, and his expression looks pained as he watches me.
I can tell this is the absolute last thing he wants me to do, but it's too late now. I hold my hands up and slowly begin to walk over to them. As I get closer, I realize it's Justin and Oliver's mother. She's changed since the last time I saw her. Her dark brown hair is almost now completely gray when a year ago it'd only just begun to show signs of gray. Her face looks aged, her eyes sunken in slightly. Her frame is now on the verge of skinny when before she'd had ample hips and bigger breasts. The ankle length skirt does nothing for her, nor does the ugly orange and red flowery shirt she's wearing. It's then that I realize that she was the elderly woman I'd seen on the bus.
As I walk towards her, I realize it was never Oliver that had been after me. I should have known that out of anyone in that family, it would be Barbara that would have a vendetta against me. Justin was always a 'mama's boy.' Barbara and Justin had been extremely close, and it hadn't been lost on me that she hadn't ever really approved of me. She'd always intimidated me with those cool, pale blue eyes of hers. There were times when Barbara had outright ignored me at their house, and I'd been meek as a mouse, eyes fastened on the floor as Justin spoke with her.
It makes sense that Barbara is the one after me since she blames me for Justin going to prison, but where's Oliver? I know he's here in Long Beach, because he'd been asking for me. Are they working together to kill me?
Barbara smiles coldly at me once I have reached them. She stands directly in front of Ace, the gun about three inches from his forehead, but her eyes are now on focused on me. “I see you've gone and whored yourself out to someone else. You ruined my boy's life, and now you've replaced him with someone new.”
Ace moves a fraction of an inch, and Barbara's eyes flash to Ace with cold warning glinting in their depths. “Do it, pretty boy. Think you can stop my finger from pulling the trigger before you get the gun away from your face? Doubt it. Killing you would be just as good as killing Faith here. I can just as easily take you away from her like she took my Justin.”
His jaw clenches as he stares her down, not saying anything.
“Where's Oliver?” I ask, still keeping my hands up in the air.
I'd just seen one of the curtains in an apartment window on the third floor move slightly. This tells me that we have an audience, and someone likely called the cops. All I need to do is distract Barbara long enough for the police to arrive.
Barbara's eyes narrow on me. “Oliver? What's he got to do with anything?” Her lip curls as she asks in a scathing tone, “You planning on trying to take him from me, too? Not happening, bitch.”
I realize she has no idea Oliver is in town. What the heck is going on? I'm scared, but I do my best not to show it. My main concern is getting that gun off of Ace. “Look, you have me now. Let Ace go, he has nothing to do with any of this,” I try to plead.
Her eyes flash angrily. “He's your boyfriend, isn't he?”
My silence is all the answer she needs.
“Then he has everything to do with this. What'd he do? Flash that fancy Hummer at you and you dropped your panties? Like 'em rich now, do you?” she taunts.
I don't dare look at Ace. I draw in a deep breath and try to keep my panic under control. “Barbara, I never wanted Justin to go to prison. I had no control over the situation once he stabbed me.”
“Liar! You pushed him to do it. You taunted him all the time, made him want you, then put on that little shy girl act. You played with his emotions, and when that wasn't fun enough anymore, you decided to breakup with him. My boy's in prison because of you!”
There's a part of me that's itching to tell her what I really think. No one deserves to be stabbed because they ended a relationship. I didn't deserve any of the things Justin did to me. But with a gun pointed at Ace's head, now is not the time to push forward with the newfound confidence I've found within myself.
“Nothing changes if you kill me,” I point out softly. “He'll still be in prison.”
“No, he won't!” she shouts bitterly, causing me to flinch slightly. “Do you know what they do to good-looking boys in prison? My son has gone through hell. You know what he tried to do three months ago? He tried to kill himself. He's not going to last another month, let alone live out the rest of his sentence. He's given up! My boy wants to die because you put him in that place with those sick monsters,” she accuses.
“Barbara—” My voice is cut off when a car recklessly pulls up into the parking lot.
Barbara stiffens, and her finger tightens on the trigger, causing me and Ace to tense up in alarm. Her eyes flash to the newcomer, and then they widen as Oliver jumps out of the driver's seat and rus
hes towards us. “Oliver? What are you doing here?” she asks with puzzlement.
“I've been trying to track you down since you left Harrison,” Oliver says as his blue eyes jump from his mother's gun, to Ace, and then to me. “It took a while, but I finally figured out you took off after Faith and that she came here to Long Beach. When I couldn't find you anywhere, I started following Faith. I thought I had you the other night at the theater, but then you disappeared with that crowd that was leaving after the show ended,” he says calmly.
All this time I thought I was being paranoid, when in reality it was Barbara stalking me. She’s been here in Long Beach for weeks, and I’d had no idea. God, she was the one who drove that car through the stoplights when that jogger pushed me out of the way. I hadn’t a clue she was after me, because we’d been concentrating on watching Oliver.
Now, I’m extremely thankful that I’d always taken care to stay in public, and that I never went anywhere secluded on my own. Those decisions had likely saved my life.
My attention shifts back to the present, and it's eerie how Barbara's hand stays steady as she keeps the gun pointed at Ace's head. The only thing keeping Ace from pushing it aside is the fact that there's no guarantee he can get out of the line of fire in time. I allow my eyes to shift to him and find that his eyes are on mine. I can see the simmering anger and frustration in his gaze over the fact that he's virtually helpless. Our fate lies in my hands, and quite possibly Oliver's. Now that I know he's not in Long Beach to kill me—I think—maybe he can calm his mother down.
Barbara frowns at her son. “You were at the theater? Faith was supposed to lose her life that night, but there were too many people around. I didn't realize there'd be so many leaving at the same time. I had no choice but to bail.”
“Mom, you can't kill her. I know you want to, but you have to let her live,” Oliver pleads as sweat begins to break out on his wide forehead.
“Why?” Barbara asks as her eyes fill with tears. Her hand begins to tremble slightly, and I stare at her finger on the trigger worriedly. “Justin's as good as dead, and it's all her fault.”
“I know, and I'm not disagreeing. But you love me, right?” Oliver asks as he slowly walks forward to stand near Ace. He's nearly as tall as Ace, only skinny and lanky whereas Ace is all solid muscle. He looks a bit pitiful next to him. As I stare at Oliver, I wonder how in the world he's going to get his mom to back down.
“Of course, I do,” Barbra says instantly.
“Then don't leave me. You kill this guy, or even Faith, and you go to prison. That agony you feel for Justin, that's the same thing I'll feel if you leave me. And what about Dad? He needs you. Mom, he has no idea you've been trying to hurt Faith all this time. If you put away the gun, we can leave Long Beach. He never has to know.”
Barbara is silent for a long moment, her eyes skittering from Ace to Oliver, then she finally stares at me bitterly. “You should die for what you've done to my son.”
I want to scream at her that I did absolutely nothing, that he's the one who almost killed me. Unfortunately, that won't help the situation.
I watch with horror as Oliver calmly reaches up and clamps his hand around the barrel of the gun. “Don't, Mom. For me, please,” he pleads, his expression coaxing as a bead of sweat trickles from his buzzed hairline and down his temple.
Barbara stares at her son, her finger reluctantly easing off the trigger while Oliver gently pushes the barrel away from Ace's head.
Ace slowly inches his way closer to me, his hand reaching out for my own. When his fingers brush mine, I clasp his hand tightly.
“Let go of the gun,” Barbara says as she snaps back to reality and struggles to yank the gun out of Oliver's grip.
“I will when they are safely inside. Go,” Oliver says curtly to us.
“No!” Barbara wails as she continues to tug on the gun.
It's a dangerous game Oliver is playing, and I am grateful that in this horrific moment, he's on our side. Ace doesn't need further persuading. He quickly shoves me towards the nearest entrance doorway while shielding me with his body. As we race for the door I hear Barbara screaming, “Let go!”
We're ten feet from the door when we hear Oliver shout, “Duck!”
Next thing I know, I am once again being tackled to the pavement as rapid gunfire echoes throughout the parking lot. My forehead head slams into the pavement as Ace's body lands heavily on mine, his arms folding over my head protectively. I lie there, feeling slightly disoriented as my ears ring and wooziness sweeps over me. I float on a haze of confusion until I feel myself being turned over. I stare up at Ace and watch as he anxiously skims his hands over my body, searching for wounds.
I blink up at him and try to distance myself from the sickening pain that's throbbing behind my forehead. “What happened?”
Ace gives up his search, looking relieved as he peers down at me. “She got control of the gun, and the police stepped in.”
I struggle to sit up, and Ace slips an arm around me. I can hear a commotion going on, so I manage to get my feet beneath me and cautiously stand up. Ace's arm stays wrapped around me protectively as I stare at the scene in the parking lot.
Oliver is crouching over his mother's prone form on pavement, and her clothing is now scarlet red. He's crying with anguish while three police officers hover around him with guns pointed. Two more officers are making their way towards us, guns aimed.
Both Ace and I quickly put our hands up.
Chapter Forty
Faith
It's hours later when Ace and I eventually take the elevator up to the second floor. His arm is still wrapped protectively around me while I lean into him, my head resting on his chest near his heart. It has been a traumatic evening, and I am still caught up in the shock of it all. I still can't believe Barbara is dead.
As for Oliver...I may not like him, but it had been painful to see him mourning his mother. There was a part of me that had wanted to walk over and give him some sort of comfort, but I didn't. It wasn't my place. Oliver did glance at us once as the officers managed to pull him away from his mother's body, and he'd given Ace a respective nod and me a hard stare. I have a feeling he'll always blame me for the deterioration of his family, but I know he'll never seek revenge. If that was what he wanted, he would have done it while he had the chance.
I can finally lay my past to rest.
Ace is stoically silent as we wait for the elevator to open up on our floor. It's been a very intense couple of hours and quite exhausting answering all the questions. Once we'd been released to leave the crime scene, we'd simply clung to each other as we'd gone inside and made our way to the elevator.
The doors slide open, and we step into the hallway. I spy Zoey and Caleb immediately. They are lounging outside my apartment door, clearly waiting on us. As we walk towards them, Zoey spies us first and she quickly bounds towards us, flinging herself at Ace. He lets go of me to wrap his arms around her while I'm engulfed in a warm hug from Caleb.
Emotional tears prick my eyes as I cling to him. I almost lost my life for the second time in just over a year. As I tremble from the reality of it, I let my body lean against Caleb’s with exhaustion. My elbows have bandages on them, and it hurts every time I bend them. My knees ache, my head throbs, and my tongue hurts just to talk. I'd refused a trip to the hospital—much to Ace's irritation—and had been released from the paramedics with a slight concussion and some abrasions. Thankfully, I didn't need stitches for my tongue.
“We couldn't believe it when someone hollered in the hallway that someone had a gun in the parking lot. The second we heard the news, we knew it had to do with Faith,” Caleb says grimly as he rubs my back.
“The neighbor’s down the hall let us into their apartment since their window overlooks the parking lot. That is one nightmare I never want to have to watch again,” I hear Zoey say shakily. “We thought you guys were goners at the end until you stood up.”
“It was close,” Ace agrees.
I'm not in the mood to be a part of the conversation, so I keep my head tucked into Caleb's chest while he continues to comfort me.
“Long fucking story, and she's about to drop,” I hear Ace say as I feel his hands on my shoulders. I'm once again pulled into the protectiveness of his embrace.
I look up at Caleb with pleading eyes. “Will you call my parents and tell them I'm safe? Tell them it was Barbara all along, and that it's over. I'll call them later tonight, I just...”
“She doesn't feel up to answering another round of questions. She's banged up and has a concussion. I just want to get her inside and let her unwind for a while before she starts getting grilled again,” Ace finishes for me.
“Yes, I’ll call them, and I'll be sure to point out that you'll call them when you're ready,” Caleb agrees as he leans forward to give me one last careful hug. Zoey hugs me too, and then Ace is ushering me inside. He directs me straight to the couch and hovers over me as I sink into the cushions, my eyes flickering shut with relief. It simply feels good to sit.
“No sleeping,” Ace warns. “I'm going to go run you a bath. Don't move.”
I open my eyes to peer up at him with amusement. “You don't have to fuss over me.”
“My adrenaline is still rushing, and I need something to do,” he bites out before he turns and walks off down the hallway.
Yikes. I get the feeling he's mad at me. I'm sure he'll clue me in soon enough, so I'm not going to dwell on his anger. He'll talk when he's ready.
A soft sigh escapes me as my thoughts shift, and I relax and wait for the bath to be ready. It sounds wonderful, and it'll keep my muscles from tightening up. I'm going to be extremely sore tomorrow. I see Daisy bound into the living room, and she immediately jumps up on my lap. I smile and pet her for a few minutes until I remember I have to feed her. After easing her off my lap, I gingerly rise to my feet, wincing slightly as my sore knees protest.
Building Faith (Long Beach Series Book 2) Page 36