“Um, no. Yes. I’m so confused. We were all worried about you.” She hung her head, avoiding eye contact with me.
“I said, I was sorry.” I reached out to touch her hand with mine, but she retreated from me.
“No, you don’t get to touch me. Not now. I feel like you used me. Why would you do that?” Her voice shook.
The magnitude of all that had gone so horribly wrong finally hit me.
Hillary draped an arm over my shoulder. “I’m so sorry.”
Tears fell from my eyes at such speed, I could no longer see in front of me. “She took my son.”
“I know. We’ll get him back. Kelly’s working on that today for you. We’ll get him back.” Hillary held me, rubbing my neck and back.
“We?” I thought I’d heard her wrong.
Something registered in Hillary’s eyes. Fear, maybe? “Yes, we. This is going to sound crazy, but I can’t walk away now. Too much has happened. I don’t know why and I hope I don’t regret it, but what I do know is, how much you love Edge and how very much he loves you.”
I had no words. No one -- no woman -- had ever wanted to go to bat for me. I was humbled by her willingness to stick around after the way I’d treated her. Regardless of what happened between us, I knew I’d never ever be able to repay her for willingly returning to my chaos.
“Do you want to go home or--” Hillary started.
I swallowed hard. “Home. I have to be home in case she comes to her senses and brings him back.”
Hillary kissed my cheek. “Okay, then, let’s go.”
I squeezed her hand. “Thank you. Thank you for everything.”
Chapter Eighteen – Hillary
As much as I tried to convince him, E.J. refused to get some sleep. He tossed and turned on the sofa as did my best to console him. Kelly had made several phone calls to Stephanie’s attorneys but they weren’t very forthcoming with information. They wouldn’t even tell her whether or not Edge was with Stephanie or in the custody of the state.
“Try and sleep.” I rubbed E.J.’s back.
“I can’t do this. I have to get out of here.” He pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and stepped out into the hallway.
“Where are you going?” I’d promised Kelly I’d keep an eye on him and do my best to keep him out of trouble.
“We need to talk” he said to someone on the phone. “Can you meet me at the spot?”
I waited while he continued his conversation, but I had the feeling whatever he was up to would ruin any chance of him getting his son back.
“I’ll be back later. Can you stay here in case something happens?” E.J. asked.
“Where are you going? Who were you talking to?” It felt so strange to ask him those questions, but the last thing he needed was to do something he might regret. I didn’t want to see him lose everything because he was angry.
“Not now, Hillary. Just stay here and wait. I’ll be back,” he said as he rummaged through a cabinet. “Where are my damn car keys?” He looked around the living room as he screamed for his business manager, “Annie! Annie! Where the hell are my keys?”
“I don’t think she’s here. I think, Kelly sent everyone away. I heard her talking to one of your security guys earlier.” I hoped I could stall him long enough to make him change his mind.
“Why did she do that? I need security here!” E.J. dialed another number on his phone.
“Why do you need security now? I thought you told me you don’t like having people around? Kelly thought--”
He turned his back to me and started screaming into the phone. “Why the hell did you send my team home? Who told you to do that?”
“Calm down, please. She didn’t do anything wrong. She was trying to help.” My words went unheard because Kelly was yelling loud enough to drown out the sound of my voice.
E.J. stormed out of the house without saying another word to me. By the time I made it to the front door, he was already peeling out of the drive, out of earshot.
I guess, I’ll wait here, I thought.
Being alone in E.J.’s home gave me an uneasy feeling. I didn’t know what to do with myself. I felt out of place. I needed someone with me, so I grabbed my phone and called Felicia.
“What in the world is going on? Your boyfriend is all over the news!” Felicia didn’t bother with saying hello. She cut right to the heart of the matter. I loved that about her.
“They took Edge away from him.” Hearing the words come out my mouth made it all more real for me. “I don’t know what I’m supposed to do.”
“Where are you? I’ll be right there. Hold on, okay?” Felicia remained on the line while I tried to pull myself together to give her directions.
While I waited for her to arrive, I walked the floors to burn off some of my nervous energy. Every room I walked into was filled with photos of Edge through every stage of his young life. I could see how much he was loved. It made me sad for E.J. I couldn’t imagine having a child taken away from me. I loved kids; that’s why I became a teacher. I loved being around children. I hoped to have children when I married Sam.
“Have you been crying?” Felicia asked when I opened the front door for her.
“You could say that,” I said, hugging her. I was thinking about Sam and--”
“Oh. Are you okay?” Felicia hugged me. “Where’s E.J.?” She stepped in, taking in the large home.
“He left. I don’t know where he went. I don’t know when he’s coming back. All I know is everything is really messed up and wrong.” Fresh tears spilled from my eyes. I wasn’t cut out for this kind of thing.
“How did all this happen? Who took him?” she asked.
I led her to the living room and pushed the blanket aside so we could sit on the sofa. “I guess Stephanie filed a complaint. She said E.J. attacked her. The next thing I know, he asks me to watch him while he straightens things out and the police are at my door, accusing me of hiding Edge from his mother.”
“So, is he with his mother? Where does she live?” Felicia turned the television set on. “Listen to what they’re saying about him on the news. They’re talking like he did something awful to her.”
I wasn’t sure I wanted to hear what they had to say, but at the same time, I needed information and since E.J. was too consumed with grief and anger to function right, I’d have to rely on the news media for the time being.
We stopped talking as soon as E.J.’s face appeared on the screen. The reporter said, “The fall of The Arm. Is this latest incident the beginning of the end?”
“What are they talking about?” I asked.
The reporter continued, “We have an exclusive interview with the victim of the alleged assault, Stephanie Razor.”
“That’s his ex-wife?” Felicia started to laugh. “Where did he find her? She looks like a streetwalker.”
My jaw clenched. What was she going to say? What story had she come up with to warrant tearing apart a child’s life -- her child’s life?
Felicia raised the volume up as she started to speak. “... and now some other woman is raising my son. I don’t know her, but I’ll tell you what; my attorneys told me she used to be his teacher, but they fired her when they found out she was banging his daddy.”
Chapter Nineteen – Razor
“I swear, I’ll kill her!”
Kelly flew out of her seat and grabbed me by the collar. “Shut your mouth before someone hears you. That’s the last thing you need to have happen at this point. They already want to hog tie you and strip your whole life from you; what else do you want them to take away from you?”
The doctor stepped out into the waiting room. “For Hillary Jackson!”
I stood up. “Right here! How is she?”
“She’s doing okay. She’s a little tired and sore, but she’ll be fine soon. Sounds like she took quite the spill. We’re going to admit her because of the bump on her head, but she should do just fine,” the doctor explained.
“Can I see her?” I asked.
&nb
sp; “Yes, but give her a little bit of time. The police are speaking to her now. I’ll send someone out to let you know when she’s ready. For now, hang tight.” He walked back through the doors.
“They’re going to keep her overnight,” I explained to Kelly.
“I heard. Good. A blow to the head is nothing to mess with. Here they come,” Kelly said, motioning toward a couple of Chicago’s finest walking in the entrance doors.
I watched them as they walked through the set of emergency room doors and spoke with the front desk staff. “What are they doing here? They need to be looking for Stephanie, not here dicking around.”
“Mr. Razor?” The taller of the two police officers walked over and held out his hand to me.
“Yeah. Did you find her?” I asked, ignoring his extended hand.
“Not yet, but we have officers out looking for her. You said you were with her earlier today?” He asked.
Kelly coughed. “Excuse me? You were with Stephanie today? When? Where was this?”
Her tone told me she wasn’t pleased with that revelation.
“She was at The Spot, like she always was. Old habits are, you know, hard to give up. Once a tramp, always a--” I started.
Kelly coughed again. This time louder than before. “Did you have some questions for E.J., officers?”
The officers smirked at each other. One answered, “Do you have a few minutes? I want to clear a couple of things up?”
He didn’t have to ask me twice. If it was going to get me closer to locking Stephanie’s crazy ass up, then, yes, they could interview me, but they’d have to make it quick. “Let’s do this. Ask away.”
They sat down on either side of me while Kelly placed herself in front of us, watching and listening.
“I can do this,” I said to her.
“I’m sure you can, but I’m not moving. Ask your questions, gentlemen. Mr. Razor has nothing to hide.” She wore an air of confidence when she meant business.
The taller officer spoke first. “My name is Detective Gurrola. This is Detective Richards. We’ll make this quick. When we spoke to you at your house, you mentioned spending some time with your ex-wife today. I’m sorry, but in all the confusion, we didn’t catch what the nature of your visit with her was.”
“She lied to the police and they took him away from me. I don’t know where he is or if he’s being fed or anything. I needed to talk to her, but she--” I started.
“How did you know where to find her?” the officer asked.
“I called her,” I answered.
Kelly’s eyebrows narrowed. “You called her?”
I knew it was a mistake, but I was desperate. “Yes, but only because I wanted to talk to her about Edge. It was stupid. I shouldn't have left Hillary alone at the house.”
“Sir, I can appreciate the strain you must be under, but you really have to let the courts figure this stuff out. Harassing your ex, well, it looks bad. Looks really bad for you. There’s already the accusations against you,” the officer said.
“She has my son somewhere. I wanted to make sure he was okay. It’s like she’s taunting me. She doesn’t want him. This is about her wanting to hurt me.” I fought back angry tears.
The other officer spoke. “Why would she want to hurt you? Did you ever hear her say that or is that just conjecture?”
Kelly interjected. “Are you going to get to the point anytime soon? Mr. Razor would like to check in on Hillary, the real victim here or did you forget?”
“No, no, of course not. We’re here to clear things up so we can proceed,” Detective Gurrola said, offering a crooked smile. “You understand, don’t you?”
“What I understand is you’re here questioning me when you should be looking into who went into my house and attacked my girlfriend!” I’d had enough.
“We’re doing that. Why are you so sensitive? Don’t you want us to get to the bottom of this for you? For Miss Jackson?” Detective Gurrola asked.
“Do you have surveillance cameras on your property?” Detective Richards tried another approach, but I got the feeling it would lead right back to me being at fault somehow.
“Yes, but they’re not on. Nothing ever happened at my house, so I didn’t see the need. I have alarms, though,” I answered, regretting my decision to handle things myself. “I have security guys if I need them, but they don’t live with us. It’s always been just me and my son. Why?”
They looked at each other. “We’ll check with your neighbors. I’m sure at least one of them must have security cameras.”
“It was her. I know it was her,” I said. “Ask Hillary. She’ll tell you who did this to her.”
“Officers are speaking to her now. She tells a slightly different story. She says it was a man who did this to her. Do you know any males who would want to get into your home and hurt someone you care about? Any enemies?” Officer Gurrola asked.
A man? What man?
“No. I mean, on the field, I have rivals but no enemies. The only person I know who hates me is Stephanie. She did this. I’m telling you, she had something to do with this. When I spoke to her, she said something about hurting Hillary. I ignored it because she’s a crazy big mouth bi--” I started, but Kelly interjected.
“Did Hillary see his face? Did she recognize him? How do you know this guy wasn’t there to rob the place and found her there? I don’t understand what you’re getting at and my client is under an extreme amount of stress, so either get to the point or get to work, gentlemen,” Kelly said.
Their mouths formed small grins, but their eyes told a different story. They had no intention of looking into Stephanie. They wanted to pin this on me. Make me look like the bad guy.
“Thank you for your time, Mr. Razor.” Detective Richards stood up, offering his hand. “If we have any more questions for you, we’ll be in touch. Give Miss Jackson our best, champ.”
Champ?
I grumbled in response, not inclined to want to respond with niceties. They hadn’t helped ease my mind at all and didn’t deserve kind words or my deepest gratitude.
Kelly shook their hands for me. “Goodbye, gentlemen.”
After they stepped out of the building, Kelly turned to me. “What the hell was that about? You called Stephanie? Have you lost your damn mind? I told you to let me handle this! I told you things would work out if you let me do my job. What part of stay home and out of trouble did you not understand?”
I didn’t have the energy to fight with her over this. I knew I’d made a mess of things. I’d fully accept the blame.
Taking the now-vacant seat next to me, Kelly placed her hand over mine. “Do you really think Stephanie had something to do with this? Why would she attack Hillary?”
“She’s nuts. I don’t know. She does things without thinking. They said it was a man?” I couldn’t wrap my mind around it.
“Yeah, isn’t that a load of crap? As if there’s not enough to worry about, we have to figure out who else wants to hurt you or in this case Hillary and why. I’m going to check to see if they’ll let you in to talk to Hillary yet.” She walked away while I sunk into my seat, feeling the weight of the world on my shoulders.
“C’mon, super stud, they said you can go in to see Hillary now. I can’t wait to hear what she has to say,” Kelly grabbed my hand and tugged it.
The nurse pointed us toward her room. The curtains were drawn shut. My hands shook as I reached for it.
“Hey, beautiful,” I said before I noticed the bandage on her head.
Tears brimmed in her eyes. “Hey.”
I froze in place. What had I done?
Kelly stepped forward to hug Hillary. “How are you feeling, sweetie? Are you in a lot of pain?”
I swallowed hard.
“Not too much. My head is sore, but it will be fine. The medications should start kicking in soon. They’re going to admit me,” Hillary said, her voice hoarse.
“Tell us what happened,” Kelly prompted her. “Who did this to you?”
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A lone tear escaped Hillary’s eye.
Chapter Twenty – Hillary
If I was a different type of person -- someone like Stephanie -- I’d hunt her down like the dog she was. But, I wasn’t raised that way. I wasn’t an animal. I had morals. Thankfully, I also had reminders all over the place, telling me to not sink low. Felicia being one very loud, boisterous, overbearing one of them. She’d never let me do something stupid.
“Hey, sugar!” Felicia walked in carrying a large canvas bag.
Razor's Edge: A Bad Boy Romance (Bad Boys of Football Book 2) Page 12