Bad Seed

by Rye Hart

But it was the movement of something in my pocket that caught my attention.

  It was vibrating, and I scrambled for it as the car went over a bump. As I slammed against the hood of the trunk, I tried not to cry out. I picked up the phone, and I attempted to find my voice, but Grant’s panic took over my presence.

  “Theresa. Where are you?”

  “I don’t know, Grant. I don’t know. I’m in a—”

  We went over another bump, and it crashed my shoulder into the roof of the car. The phone tumbled from my hand, and I scrambled for it. Grant was my only connection to the outside world, and my battery was dying. The car was flying down the road and tears were rushing down my cheeks, and I could barely catch my breath enough to speak.

  “You’re in a car,” Grant said. “Is there anything you can see or hear around you?”

  “No. Grant. We’re going too fast. We are going over a lot of bumps. Help me. Find me, please. I don’t—I don’t know what—”

  We ran over yet another fucking bump, but this time it rolled me to the back of the car. I crashed against the metal, and it took everything I had not to cry out. My entire body was screaming in pain. I sobbed into my arm to muffle the sounds as I clung helplessly to the phone in my hand.

  What in the world was I supposed to do now?

  “Theresa? Theresa!”

  I put the phone back to my ear as the car started going down a hill.

  “We are going down a hill now. Help me, Grant. Please find me! Hurry!”

  “Listen to me. I’m going to find you, Theresa. I’m calling Hollis, and we’re coming for you, okay? Keep your cell phone on. Hide it. But whatever you do, don’t shut it off.”

  “Hurry. Please. I hurt so much, Grant.”

  The phone hung up, and it shattered my heart into pieces.

  I pulled up a text message to Hollis and managed to send something off to him. I told him I was in a car and I didn’t know where I was and that I needed him. I needed my brother. Then, just as I sent off the message, the car came to an abrupt stop. With shaking hands, I turned my phone onto silent and shoved it into my pocket, and the moment the trunk of the car flew open the sun blinded my eyes

  “Come here.”

  And I recognized the voice instantly.

  Ike grabbed my hair and pulled me from the trunk. He tossed me to the ground, and I heard the cock of a gun. The cool sensation of metal pressed against my head, and I began sobbing. Tears dropping onto the dirt beneath me as I held my arm up to try and block his attack.

  “Please. Ike. Don’t do this,” I said breathlessly.

  My eyes finally adjusted to the light around me and the look in his eyes made me heave. The crazed angry glare of a man who had lost control of his life. It made me vomit onto the ground below me. I felt his hand come down around my arm and he yanked me up, ranting about how disgusting I’d become. How he could’ve loved me was beyond him. How I was a waste of space and wasn’t going to get away with ruining his life.

  I stumbled along beside him, and an abandoned building came into view. I had no idea where I was. No clue. I spat onto the ground to try and rid my mouth of its awful taste, and Ike slapped my cheek. I tried yanking away from him, but it was fruitless. His grasp was so tight I could feel the bruises already forming, and I knew I was in trouble.

  I honestly wasn’t sure if anyone would find me. How the fuck had he gotten out of jail?

  Ike kept ranting as he yanked the door to the abandoned building open. He tossed me inside, and I stumbled and crashed to the ground. The floor was cold and covered with mold, and I immediately began to cough and wheeze.

  Then, I felt his gun at the back of my head.

  CHAPTER 32

  GRANT

  My heart was racing as I drove through town. There was only one person who could have taken Theresa, and I was going to dismantle him limb from fucking limb. How the fuck he’d gotten out of jail was beyond me, but I didn’t fucking care. I had promised that I would keep her safe, and I had failed. When I’d returned from dealing with her landlord to find the front door wide open, her clothes spilled onto the floor, and no one in sight, I had gone into immediate panic mode.

  So, I opened my phone, plugged her number into a tracking application I’d paid very good money for, and let it loose.

  She was on the other fucking side of town on the edge of an abandoned steel mill. I’d called Hollis and told him what was up, and he told me he’d gotten a strange text from Theresa. The moment Ike’s name left my lips I heard him crash through a pair of doors on his side and the phone call went dead.

  The sirens in the distance told me he was coming, too, but I was going to get there first.

  And when I did, Ike was going to be dead.

  The sirens raged behind me in the middle of town as I traveled through the thick woods, over bumps and railroad tracks and cracked cement with weeds growing through them. Like Ike. A damn weed I had to kill. They always found a way to sprout back up, no matter what you did.

  Unless you pulled them up by the root.

  And I was about to pluck Ike from the earth like the little weed he was.

  I pulled into the closest lot near the dot on my phone screen, and I saw a car with its trunk popped. I was in the right place. I jumped out of my car and shoved my phone into my pocket, then looked over toward the abandoned warehouse.

  I took off for the front door, no longer trying to keep quiet.

  My woman was in there. And she was hurt.

  I barreled my shoulder into the door and crashed into the room. Ike looked up at me with wild eyes and a snarl on his lips, but the only thing I saw was the gun that he had trained on Theresa.

  I ran at him as he turned his gun on me and fired. Theresa was screaming and curling tighter into the corner as the bullet screamed by me. My hand shot out and gripped Ike around his neck, and without thinking, I lifted him into the air.

  “Does this feel good to you?” I asked.

  I slammed him into the floor before I put my knee straight down into his thigh. His groan was so satisfying that I raised my fist into the air.

  “What about that?” I asked. “Does that feel good? Right in your leg?”

  “Get the fuck off me!” Ike yelled.

  I brought my fist down into his jaw before he started fumbling with his gun. I disarmed him easily and ejected the magazine from the gun. I cracked it against his face before I threw it across the room, right through a fucking window that shattered.

  Theresa was crying, and nothing was stopping me from killing this man I had pinned underneath my knees.

  I raised my fist into the air and gritted my teeth. I drove it hard into his face, knocking it off to the side. Punch after punch. Hit after hit. And his bones began to give way. Crunching underneath my fists. My vision was dripping black. The pathetic excuse for a sack of skin whimpered as my fist kept delivering blow after blow until he was barely recognizable.

  Then, a sound pierced my raging haze, and I felt a pair of hands wrap around my arm.

  “Grant! Stop! You’ll kill him!”

  My nostrils flared, and the smell of blood was potent. Theresa was tugging on my arm, begging me to stop. She pulled me away from Ike, and he lay there, motionless on the musty warehouse floor. I turned around and scooped Theresa’s shaking form into my arms, falling back off the piece of shit like she wanted so I could hold her. I wrapped my arms around her and shielded her vision with my chest. I ran my fingers through her hair and rocked her. She was gripping my shirt so hard her knuckles were white. Sobbing so hard she was coughing and retching. I planted kiss after kiss on the top of her head, my mind slowly coming to as the sirens grew closer.

  Theresa turned her face up to mine, and I immediately dropped my lips to her skin. Kissing her puffy eyes and her reddened cheeks. Kissing her tears away and holding her closer than I ever had before. I nuzzled my nose against hers, and she wrapped her arms around me, her lips pressing into mine over and over again.

  “You’re never
leaving my sight again. Do you hear me?” I asked. “Never.”

  “You’re here. How did you find me?”

  “Through methods I’m sure your stubborn side won’t approve of. But I would do anything to find you. My heart can’t take the thought of losing you.”

  Her eyes met mine, and my lips dropped to hers again.

  “I love you so much, Theresa.”

  I whispered it into her lips. I felt her nod, our foreheads drifting together as the police crashed into the building. I hugged Theresa so close I could feel her heart rattling against my chest, and I continued rocking her as a light flickered on in the corner.

  It illuminated the room, and I made sure Theresa was looking at none of it.

  I turned my head around and saw Hollis, and his eyes were stoic. He held his gun, ready to shoot, and it was pointing at Ike’s motionless body on the ground, but his eyes were on me.

  On us.

  Police surrounded the body and paramedics rushed to the scene. Hollis holstered his weapon and strode over to us. I was ready, prepared for anything that was coming my way.

  But instead, Hollis yanked Theresa from my arms and pulled her into a hug of his own.

  “Are you okay?” Hollis asked.

  “I am now,” Theresa said breathlessly.

  “Did he hurt you? What happened?”

  “I don’t know. I can’t remember, Hollis. One minute I was packing and the next—”

  “How the hell did he get out?” I asked.

  “Apparently, his lawyer was smart enough to request a psychological evaluation which the judge granted. He was being transported to the psych ward of MDI for his appointment when he escaped custody. He must have made straight for Theresa’s after stealing a car because we had just been notified that he’d gotten free.”

  “Well, he won’t get away again. I made sure of that.”

  “Are you hurt, baby?” I asked Theresa, feeling Hollis shift on his feet next to me.

  My eyes shot over to Hollis, and he glared at me.

  “My arms and my shoulders hurt from crashing around in the trunk,” Theresa said.

  “Then let’s get you looked at by the paramedics,” Hollis said.

  I followed the two of them as Hollis guided her over to the ambulance outside. My eyes fell to my bloodied fist as one of the guys began to clean it off. Hollis was smoothing his sister’s hair out of her face and occasionally taking me in, and I wasn’t sure what was going to happen next.

  Until I saw Hollis walking toward me.

  “So,” he said.

  “So.”

  Hollis eyed me dangerously, and I shook my head. I wasn’t playing the dick-measuring game any longer. I shook my head, then brushed past them as they were preparing to load Theresa into the ambulance. I was readying myself to get in and go with them, but Hollis’ hand fell to my shoulder and whipped me around.

  My nostrils flared as my angry stare met his.

  “What?” I asked.

  “I told you that you and I were going to have a talk about this,” Hollis said.

  “And you two assholes think this is the time to do that?” a voice sounded from a few feet away.

  My eyes flew over to Theresa, and I watched her lean up from the gurney. She reached out her hand for mine, and I took it without hesitation. I walked over to her and bent down to her forehead, kissing it tenderly before cupping the top of her head. Severe bruising already showed on her arm, and it made me sick with anger. I saw Hollis approaching us from the corner of my eye.

  I held my hand up to him to stop his approach and his eyes grew wide.

  “That’s my damn sister,” he said.

  “Then start acting like a proper brother.”

  “What the hell do you think I’m doing right now?”

  “Nitpicking her life choices,” I said.

  “Hollis, give it a rest, okay?” Theresa asked.

  “Give what a rest?”

  Theresa shook her head as a big sigh left her lips.

  “Grant?”

  “Yes?”

  I watched a grin spread across her face, and it filled my heart with so much joy.

  “I love you,” she said.

  Everyone turned to stare at us as her hand came up to cup my cheek.

  “I love you more than air. Or water. Or sunbathing topless next to a creek.”

  “What?” Hollis asked.

  “I love you more than wine. Or Jane. Or the lilies on my mother’s grave. I love you more than snow, or thunderstorms, or oceanfront views from lavish hotel rooms.”

  “What the fuck is going on?” Hollis asked.

  “But most of all?”

  She guided my face toward her lips and paused, allowing her breath to pulse against my skin. Then, she fisted my shirt, commanding my body and attention as all the cops and the EMT workers turned to look at us.

  “I love you more than Hollis,” she said, whispering.

  “Now that’s just bullshit,” Hollis said.

  She pulled me toward her, and our lips crashed together. Our tongues battled as I chuckled into her taste. Her arm slid around me, gripping me so tightly I thought the EMTs were going to have to pry her off me with a crowbar.

  But I didn’t care.

  Whatever Theresa wanted, she would get.

  CHAPTER 33

  THERESA

  “I still can’t believe your father told Hollis to shut up,” Grant said. “He looked like he meant it.”

  “He meant a lot of things he said in the hospital. Like his apology to you.”

  “Are you sure you don’t want to stay another night before we head out?”

  “I’m sure,” I said. “I want to get to Boston. I want to see your place. I want to learn about the life you created for yourself.”

  “Well, I’ve already got you set up with a doctor that’s going to check you out in a few days. Just to make sure.”

  “Ever the worrier,” I grinned.

  “For you? Always.”

  As Grant and I drove down the highway and barreled toward Boston, my mind drifted back to the hospital. With our fingers laced and his palm sitting on my thigh, I was finally off on a new adventure. I’d quit my job at my father’s dental practice, and he’d accepted my resignation with a smile on my face. Hollis was still piecing things together, but, in the end, he sent me off with a hug and a smile.

  And the promise that I would call once we arrived at Grant’s place.

  We’d had to stay in Maine a few extra days. Concussion protocol was triggered the moment I was rolled back through those double doors. Thankfully, there was no concussion. Instead, I had a sore jaw and some bruised ribs, but Grant holding my hand through the night and staying there with me helped to relieve a lot of the fear I was still experiencing.

  In the end, my father admitted that Grant was perfect for me. Hollis didn’t like the way that statement tasted on the tip of his tongue, but he knew it all the same. He saw how Grant cared for me and how much I loved him, and in the end, he gave Grant “the lecture.” The one that went a little something like “if you hurt my sister, I’ll kill you.”

  Grant’s response?

  “Don’t worry. If someone hurts your sister, I’ll kill them too.”

  Ike was going to prison for a very long time. Once he got out of the ICU, of course. No criminal charges came against Grant based solely on the fact that he was acting to save my life. Which was great, though I’m pretty sure Hollis strong-armed a few people into standing down.

  It was one of the only ways he knew to show me that he really did want me to be happy, even if it meant shacking up with his best friend. I fell asleep on and off in the car until I felt it slow to a stop. I peeled my eyes open and took in the beautiful house in front of me and gasped. The stars were twinkling over the incredible home I was looking at, and I gawked as my eyes turned toward Grant.

  “This is where you live?”

  “Built it myself. What do you think?”

  The beautiful
two-story home was pale gray on the outside with white trim. There was a wrap-around porch with stone accents that stabilized it on the foundation. The grass was a lush deep green underneath the pale moonlight, and the trees and beautiful flowers that sat around the house gave it pops of color that reminded me of Grant’s tattoos. The stonework was hand-laid, there were rocking chairs placed all along the porch with tables in between, and a porch swing sat off in one of the corners overlooking the whole of the property.

  “Want a look inside?” Grant asked.

  “Oh yes,” I said breathlessly.

  We left my bags in his car, and I walked up to the front porch. He unlocked the door and ushered me in, and the entire place came alive. With one flick of his wrist, a soft light illuminated the whole of the house, bathing the mahogany floors with a decadent shimmer. There was a sitting room with a fireplace immediately to my left, a staircase against the wall to my right, and further through the house was an entertainment room as well as the kitchen. I walked into the middle of the house and looked up into the loft as my eyes danced over the hand-painted wooden artifacts that looked almost hand carved.

  “You built all of this yourself?”

  “Me and my team, yes. I designed it.”

  “You designed it?” I asked.

  “What did you think my job was?” Grant asked.

  “I don’t know. Sitting and giving orders?”

  He chuckled as he wrapped his arms around my waist.

  “Want to see the upstairs?” Grant asked.

  “If by ‘upstairs’ you mean your bedroom? Then, yes.”

  His eyebrows quirked up as I turned around in his arms.

  “It’s been days since you’ve touched me,” I said. “Don’t make me wait any longer.”

  “Now that is a problem I can easily rectify.”

  He picked me up in his arms and carried me up the flight of stairs. The stunning light blue walls lead us down the hallway and in through the last door to the left. There was a giant four-poster bed that had a double-door balcony view of the incredible backyard of his property, and I gasped again. His yard was planted with lush trees and beautiful plants and rose bushes that bloomed in every color. It was like his tattoos had come alive on his property, and as he laid me down on the bed, my eyes came back to meet his.