Redeem Me (Say Something Book 4)

by Rodgers, Salice

  “Love you, Jos.”

  “Love you, Tay. I’m proud of you.”

  She leans in and wraps her arms around me. Joslynn has been my best friend for years and I love that she sees things the same way I do. She has been there for me through everything and I the same for her. If Kipper’s gooneys want to come after me then a fake letter of payment isn’t going to work.

  I slide my clothes off and throw them on the floor and crawl under the covers. It feels like it’s been nothing but wrench after wrench thrown in my face and instead of pushing me down it’s doing nothing but pissing me off.

  Trevor walks in the room and shuts the door behind him. He looks around the room at my clothes thrown all over the place. My thong is on the floor in front of the door. My shorts are on the mirror on the dresser, and my shirt is on one of the posts of the bed. Trevor’s eyes travel the room and then land back on me. His eyes fill with a longing that I can only describe as his sex look. He licks his lips like earlier and walks towards me.

  I so badly want to tell him no and have him be mad but the look on his face tells me he is going to have me begging him not to stop and I want to beg him. He stops at his side of the bed and starts to take his clothes off his eyes never leaving mine.

  Once he has all his clothes off he crawls on to the bed and grabs the covers from the bottom and jerks them leaving me naked and bare for him to look at. He grabs my ankles and jerks them apart pulling me towards him. He pulls my legs behind him on each side and grabs my thighs lifting me up and buries his face in me. He is not his normal gentle self as he pulls my clit in his mouth and lets it go with a loud pop. He slides a finger inside me and starts moving it in and out. The combination of his finger and his tongue is almost too much.

  “Bab…close…please.”

  He drops my hips and climbs on top of me and slides inside me. His hands grab my hips and he holds them where he wants them when I try to move. His eyes once again lock with mine and his pace is fast. I wrap my legs around him and ball the sheets in my fist. His hands tighten on my hips.

  “You feel so good.” He moans.

  He leans in and kisses my neck running his teeth across my skin. I tighten my legs and can feel his smile against my skin. He knows it’s close because he slows down to an almost stop and leans back pulling my legs from around him. He slides out and I almost want to scream at him.

  “On your stomach, Taylor.”

  I flip on my stomach and he leans over top of me and slides inside me.

  “This is mine. Say it.”

  “Yours… Please don’t stop.”

  He leans back and picks up the same pace as before. And it doesn’t take long before I scream his name so loud I know I will be hoarse tomorrow. He slides out of me and lays down turning on his side and leaning up on his arms.

  “I love you.”

  “I love you.”

  “I know you are not walking away from Sunshine’s and I love that you won’t walk away and give up. I would never try to take your decisions away from you. I just want you to be safe.”

  “I know.”

  “Then why are you mad? Even now?”

  “I am sick of it all, Trevor. Of crazy alcoholic dads and crazy ass men from school and whatever else life has to throw in our way. I want to run my restaurant and have kids and be fucking happy!”

  “Listen to me. We can’t help what life throws at us, what we can help is how we let it affect us.”

  I curl up under his arm and lay my hand on his chest. He wraps his arm tightly around me and sighs.

  “We have been through a lot since we met, Taylor Andrews, and all it’s done is make us stronger. Any time that you feel like life is too hard or nothing is going right I want you to look at that tattoo on your ring finger and know that no matter what I am here and I will protect you from anything and anyone.”

  His words give me comfort and I smile. If anything that life has done to me was worth anything it was when it threw Trevor in my path.

  Chapter Nine

  “Good morning, my child.”

  “Good morning, Janet. How are you?”

  “Good how are you feeling? Joslynn said you left early because you were sick.”

  “I am feeling a lot better thank you for asking.”

  “Good, good.”

  I lean in, kiss Janet’s cheek and then make my way to the counter and grab my apron. I feel like I am going through what Joslynn had to not so long ago knowing that Marshall and Trevor both will be coming in and out of Sunshine’s today to check in. Trevor swore to me that if he texted and I didn’t answer he would come and make a scene.

  I put my phone on vibrate and slide it in to my pocket and get ready for the day. The morning rush wastes no time in hitting full force. I walk to a table on my side and stop short as soon as I see the man from the day before sitting by himself.

  “What can I get you to drink?”

  “Coffee.”

  “I’ll be right back with that.”

  When I bring his coffee back he smiles and says his thanks.

  “May I talk to you for a second?”

  I look around Sunshine’s everyone seems to be doing good so I take a deep breath and sit down.

  “I have to hurry.”

  “It won’t take long. I wanted to talk to you while I was away from my boss.”

  “Okay.”

  He looks around us like he is looking for someone before he looks back to me.

  “Did he really try to kill you?”

  “He did.”

  I make no notion to try to hide what happened, maybe he can tell me something that will help.

  “When we were working here he talked about how much you pissed him off because you walked around here with your head held high like everyone owed you something.”

  “I didn’t go looking for him, John. He came here and when he told me his price I told him no. He is the one who came back here looking for me and said he would do it for free meals.”

  “Think about what you’re saying, Taylor. Say it out loud again.”

  I sit back in the seat and play my words over again in my head and my heart stops. Who remodels a whole building for free meals?

  “How much did he tell you he was getting paid?”

  “Thirty thousand dollars.”

  “And when the job was done and no money came?”

  “He made it sound like you skipped out on paying us. He said you said you didn’t have it right now. That is when he started talking about hurting you. He said he was going to catch you alone and demand you pay us or he’d beat your ass. None of us believed him. He always talked big while we were working like you and he had a thing in school and Trevor was just a phase.”

  “And none of you wanted to tell me? Or the police? He killed my kid. He tried to kill me.”

  “I feel bad about that every day, Taylor. Every day I feel like it was all my fault. Like I could have done something to stop it.”

  “You can help me now.”

  He looks at me confused and takes a shaky sip of his coffee. I feel bad playing on his guilt for what he didn’t do but I want this to end and if he can help me I will play on anything I can find.

  “How?”

  “Someone sent a fake lawyer here with papers saying if we didn’t pay they would have Sunshine’s shut down.”

  “We were all pissed we didn’t get paid. Some of the other guys even offered to help Kipper hurt you if you didn’t pay. They are dangerous, Taylor.”

  “Tell me something I don’t know. Can you help me?”

  “Tables are getting behind, my child,” Janet says as she walks past our table.

  I look around the restaurant and slide out of the chair.

  “If you have any more questions you have my number just call.”

  “Thanks.”

  I walk away from the conversation and feel like I know nothing more now than what I knew before besides the fact that others didn’t know the deal between Kipper and me other
than who I told and Kipper. He lied to them all and they worked their asses off thinking their first job was going to be a big one.

  My phone vibrates and I slide it out of my pocket.

  Hubby: Check in Sunshine

  Me: I am fine.

  Hubby: I love you

  Me: I love you more, talk when I get home we are swamped.

  I slide my phone back in my pocket and catch up on all the tables I had been letting slide. When I finally catch up Joslynn stops me behind the counter.

  “Who were you talking to?”

  “A guy who worked on Kipper’s crew.”

  Her eyes grow wide and her hand covers her mouth.

  “What did he say?”

  “Kipper lied, Jos. He didn’t tell anyone we weren’t paying in money. They all thought they were getting a big cash out. He said when they didn’t he started acting mad and blamed it on me saying I refused to pay. He said Kipper was going to hurt me and take the money.”

  “Why was he talking to you?” she asks and nods her head towards the door.

  “He said he left right after the job was done and the threats started.”

  “Have you told Trevor?”

  “I plan to. Jos, he said others joined in on the threats. That’s why I got the fake papers.”

  “Alright. Calm down it’s almost time to close. Just make it through the day and we can meet up at our house and talk.”

  I nod my head and walk away. How is it the one thing I am fighting for is getting in the way of finding out what I need to know. If I had more time I might know who was doing all of this.

  Chapter Ten

  Walking in to Joslynn and Marshall’s is like entering Chuck E. Cheese. Their house is full of toys and lil man isn’t even walking that good yet. I walk in to the living room and stop in the doorway. Lil man is on the floor playing with blocks sitting with pillows set up all around him. Joslynn is on the floor in front of him handing him the blocks and laughing at each thing he does.

  Marshall and Trevor are on their way from the shop. As I stand there I think about what my baby would have looked like. Would he or she have looked more like Trevor or me? Would our kids have grown up to be best friends just like Joslynn and me?

  I wipe my cheeks and walk into the living room.

  “Hey.”

  “Hey you okay?”

  “Yeah.”

  I hear the door slam and Marshall and Trevor both walk in laughing. I love that they are so close. I take a shaky breath and kiss Trevor when he sits down beside me.

  “What’s going on?” Marshall asks after he makes his round of kisses and sits down.

  I run through the whole conversation with John from work earlier and wait until they both stop yelling so I can talk.

  “He gave me his number.” I hold up the piece of paper and hand it to Marshall.

  He takes no time at all to pull his phone from his pocket and dial the number.

  “John? This is Taylor’s brother in law I understand you worked for Kipper? Could we meet tomorrow and talk? Sunshine’s… thanks bye.”

  He hangs up the phone and looks around the room.

  “This will end and then we are all going to the mountains for two weeks.” He leans back on the loveseat and rubs his head.

  All of this has been nothing short of a mess.

  “We are taking Janet with us this time. If we both leave her she might hurt us both,” Joslynn says laughing.

  ***

  When I make it to Sunshine’s the next day Trevor and Marshall walk in behind me. John is sitting at a booth by himself. He looks like he’s sitting on the edge of his seat as if he will bolt out the door at any second.

  “John, this is my husband, Trevor and my brother in law Marshall.” I point to each of them as I say their name and they shake John’s hand.

  John looks them both up and down and tries to smile. One good thing about having a beefy tattooed husband and brother in law is most people with half a brain are scared or at least a little intimidated. Trevor and Marshall sit down and I go behind the counter to make coffee.

  When I take their coffee back to the table none of them look up.

  “Taylor, you have a phone call.” Janet waves the phone above her head.

  “Sunshine’s Café this is Taylor how can I help you?”

  “You can start by paying us our money.”

  I look towards Trevor and Marshall, both of them are leaning on the table deep in conversation. My heart starts to race and my knees go weak.

  “Kipper lied to all of you. We didn’t agree on money. We agreed on meals.”

  “I didn’t work my ass off for shitty food, bitch.” The phone line goes dead.

  When I bought this place it was supposed to be a new beginning – a new start. After all it took to make Sunshine’s what it is, I just wanted to open it and then enjoy the life of being sober and married. When I found out I was having a baby I was scared and shocked because it was something I planned on for later in my life. I was afraid Trevor would walk away, and I was terrified I would be a bad mom. I had no choice but to prove myself wrong.

  When I woke up after what Kipper had done to me and was told that option was taken away from me, I felt like my life had ended. Walking back in here and getting to work helped me get past all of that. I knew that Sunshine’s was my beginning and Trevor was just the bonus. Now someone is trying to take it all away from me again and I feel like I am drowning in a river of new beginnings to cover up the bad. When I look to Trevor I know that no matter where we are he is my new beginning. I take a deep breath and go about work.

  “Baby, we are heading out.”

  “I love you.” I lean over the counter and kiss him, breathing in his smell and the feel of his skin under my hand as I run my fingers along his cheek.

  I watch him walk out and try to hold in the tears that want to fall. I don’t tell him about the phone call. Maybe I should just walk away from here and let them have it. As much as I love Sunshine’s it has been nothing but one thing after another. This place is not my new beginning it’s my end unless I put a stop to it.

  “Taylor, daycare called. I have to go get Elijah. Are you going to be okay?”

  “Yeah, I can clean up and lock the door. Kiss lil man for me.”

  She nods her head and runs out the door. I lock it behind her and go about cleaning up. The waitresses do a good job in keeping it clean throughout the day so there isn’t much to do. I check my phone and slide it back in my pocket. Trevor is probably still at the shop so I pour a glass of tea and sit down at one of the tables and look around.

  I want to make sure that walking away from here is really something I can do. I don’t want to hurt Joslynn but I don’t want any more pain. I feel like I am cowering down but when is enough enough? When is it okay to walk away and not be looked at as giving up?

  The feeling of being watched follows me as I walk around Sunshine’s making sure one more time that all is clean and okay to leave for the night. I stop and look out the wall of windows. The street is bare of people and the street lights are the only thing I can see.

  I shake my head and walk in to the kitchen. The sound of breaking glass soon follows. I look around the kitchen for anything I can find to make me feel safer. I should have known with all that was going on staying late and by myself was a bad idea.

  I grab a knife and slide between the sink and the wall pressing as hard as I can against it. I hear footsteps all around the floor passing the kitchen door and I pray that is where they stay. I slide my phone out of my pocket and text Trevor.

  Hubby: Break in at Sunshine’s! Hiding in the kitchen.

  I slide my phone back in my pocket and try to push myself farther back against the wall wishing it would swallow me up. My whole body is shaking. My heart is racing and my hands are sweaty. Outside the kitchen I can hear more breaking glass and laughing. There is nothing I can do but sit here and hope they don’t make their way in here.

  I raise my knees to my c
hest and cover my head rocking back and forth. This is the last straw. This is the point where I know if I make it through this night then I am done. The yelling gets louder and so do the sirens. The kitchen door slams open and I cover my mouth to hold in the scream I don’t want them to hear.

  “Sunshine? TAYLOR, baby, it’s Trevor. Where are you?”

  “No,” is all I can seem to say.

  I feel his hands on my arms and I lift my head and look in to the eyes of my saving grace.

  “Are you okay? Did they hurt you?”

  I shake my head and wrap my body around him. He picks me up and carries me out of the kitchen and I bury my head in his chest.

  “Mrs. Andrews?”

  Trevor stands me up and I open my eyes coming face to face with a police officer. He is about the same height as me. He’s bald with his sunglasses resting on his forehead. If I wasn’t scared to death I might find it funny that instead of pushing them to the top of his head he stopped mid-way.

  “I am Officer Pepper do you know any of these men?” He motions to the room.

  I don’t want to look at them. I just want to go home and hide in my bed. My limits have been pushed and I am ready to throw my hands up and wave the little white flag. I so much wanted to be strong and stand my ground but there’s a line and Kipper was the start of it. His crew not only crossed the line they danced on it.

  There are three men laying on the ground with their hands in handcuffs behind their backs and their faces turned towards me. Each one of them have a smug look on their face like this isn’t over. I recognize each man from Kipper’s crew. I may not have talked to them but I saw them in passing.

  I look back to the officer and nod my head.

  “They worked with Kipper here.”

  Trevor wraps his arms around me and I lay my head on his shoulder.

  “I would like for you to come to the station and answer a few questions. Are you okay with that?”

  “Can’t I just take her home?” Trevor growls and tightens his arm around me.

  “Sir, I know you have all been through enough but this case has been on my desk for weeks. I would like to close it and all of us go on about life.”

  “It’s fine. I don’t mind.”