Rule Number Four (Rule Breakers Book 4)

by Nicky Shanks

  “I’m sure.” I pin her arms to her side and kiss her lips. “I have enough money saved up for the mortgage for six months, and by then I should be able to figure out my life.”

  “Shouldn’t be too hard.” She rests her head on my shoulder. “Rockford’s a big city, but it’s not a big city at the same time.”

  I playfully groan. “Ah, I’ll figure it out. Maybe I’ll talk to Jackson and see if he wants to team up on something. He’s not exactly employed, either.”

  “Oh, something in common for the two of you.” She laughs and pokes my side. “By the way, he hasn’t made good on his promise to try and be friends with us. As far as I can tell, he doesn’t really plan to.”

  “You let me worry about Oliver Jackson. You worry about what you’re going to wear on your first day of work and the good grades you got on your finals.” I wink and let her go. “I’ll talk to Oliver and everything will be okay…okay?”

  “Okay.”

  I blow her a kiss and leave her standing puzzled in the middle of the room.

  Jesus, can I be any more pathetic?

  I’m at the mercy of Oliver Jackson.

  And I don’t fucking like it.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Oliver

  Darkness.

  No! Not this again!

  This feels like it did when I got in that accident.

  A big vat of nothingness.

  Wake up, Oliver!

  Replaying the last few minutes like a flash of photos in my mind, I recall what happened very slowly.

  Casey took Julie.

  He took her.

  ***

  “Hey, man, wake up!” Casey shakes me from my deep slumber. “It’s a brand-new day, Oliver. It’s been a week since you kicked Heather’s sorry ass out of here, man.”

  I groan and swat my arms around without opening my eyes. I remember going to bed with someone and I know it wasn’t Casey, who’s hovering over me like a motherfucking hen.

  “Go the fuck away,” I mumble into the pillow as I bury my face. “I don’t fucking want you here.”

  “I don’t care if you want me here.” He scoffs and starts smashing pillows over the rest of my head. “You don’t even want to be here, so that’s not a surprise. Now get the hell up and let’s go do something fun. You need some fun.”

  It’s unsettling how much Casey acts like a fucking woman sometimes.

  “Talk about your feelings.”

  “Be a different man.”

  “Get over the woman who shattered your fucking soul.”

  “Be happy, Oliver, just be happy.”

  “I know you loved her,” he says and pops the top of a silver can of beer, handing it to me as I sit up to look at him. “She knows you loved her. She just didn’t love you the same. You gotta let that go, man, it’s eating you alive.”

  “Oh, like you’re such a relationship expert, are you?” I snort and open the beer, chugging it. “Have you even asked that girl from the library out yet? Forget that you even went to a library, but finding a hot girl there is pretty rare.”

  Casey rolls his eyes. “Your outlook on women is jaded right now. This isn’t you. But, for your information, yes…I asked her out. And she has a name.”

  “What is it, then? Do you even remember anything past her thick ass and tan skin?”

  Casey shakes his head, but I don’t give a shit what he thinks about me. Honestly, I don’t give a rat’s ass about what anyone thinks of me at this moment. What Casey doesn’t know is that no matter how many nights I’ve brought a different girl home and tried to numb my pain…it never works.

  I’m not pining over Heather, though.

  The girl with the electric blue eyes…she keeps coming to me in my dreams. I thought I was over these dreams since they faded when I started high school, but they’re coming back with a vengeance. I can’t sleep anymore because it makes me jealous when I have to wake up and be without her.

  Heather was just keeping the spot in my heart warm until I found her again.

  I haven’t told anyone about the girl with the blue eyes because she’s all mine. I don’t want to share her with anyone—no matter how small the memory might seem—and the need to find her and hold her close to me grows with each night I spend awake thinking about her.

  “Hey, Earth to Oliver.” Casey snaps his fingers at me. “What the hell is wrong with you?”

  I clear my throat. “Sorry, what did you say?”

  “Nora.” He sighs and claps his hands together to keep me focused. “Her name is Nora?”

  “Nora? Oh, the girl you’re chasing, right.” I leap off of the bed to get dressed. He turns his head because he hates knowing that I look like I do when he looks like he does.

  I can’t help how other people see me.

  “Yeah, we’re dating now…she laughs at my jokes, which is weird.”

  “Especially since you’re not funny.”

  “Well she thinks I am, and I’m okay with that. Her laugh is cute—”

  I look toward the bedroom door, because I really don’t give a shit. “I’m going to take a shower—do you want to head out for breakfast after?”

  He notes my annoyance and shrugs. “Sure, I’ll wait for you in the living room.”

  I have to get him out of here so I can be alone with my thoughts. When he leaves, I shut the bathroom door behind me and turn the shower on in hopes that the steam will help clear my head.

  Endless ocean blue eyes.

  “Dammit!” I hiss, opening the shower door. I try so hard to forget her, but it’s not working. No matter how hard I scrub shampoo into my shaggy hair or how rough I wash my body…she’s not going away.

  Would I know her if I met her?

  What if I’ve already met her again and didn’t know?

  Should I research Officer Randy and call him up?

  Do I really care about some little girl that I got a four-second glimpse of over a decade ago?

  Yes.

  She stole your soul and you’re not complete without it.

  ***

  One thing is for fucking sure.

  I’m going to kill Casey so fucking dead when I wake up.

  Everything makes sense now that I’ve met Julie. My memories and dreams make more sense since I’ve been dreaming about her for several years.

  I don’t hear anyone around me, so I have no clue what’s happening.

  Am I dead this time?

  ***

  I look in the bathroom mirror and try to calm down.

  Julie has no idea what she’s asking of me. She wants me to put twenty years of tension with my mother—who just kidnapped the person I can’t live without—behind me and help her?

  She doesn’t know what she’s asking of me.

  I want to make her happy, though. I want her to see a side of me that no one else gets to see. She didn’t run after Veronica, but I know she desperately wanted to. That’s just the kind of person Julie is; she’s kind and full of so much infectious, upstanding goodness that it makes my jaw hurt.

  I fucking found her.

  I did it. I don’t know how I did it, but I did it.

  When Julie stepped out of Randy’s house the first time I met her, I didn’t know she was the one I’ve been looking for. It took a few weeks to realize she’s the girl from the backseat of Randy’s cop car. Her eyes have dulled since I first saw her years ago, and that’s because Brandon has been sucking the life out of her slowly. I’ve tried my fucking hardest to put her life back together and mesh it with mine, and so far…it hasn’t been a fairy tale, but it’s been a ride that I never want to get off of.

  I can’t shake the feeling from my head.

  I have to help Veronica. It’s what Julie would want from me.

  Walking back into the bedroom, I quickly find my phone and try to figure out what I’m going to do.

  Should I call Randy and have him pick her up and take her out of town?

  Should I call Casey and have him deal with it?
>
  Mrs. Atchley.

  That’s who I’m calling.

  “Hey, boy.” Her scratchy voice reaches me on the second ring. “Long time no speak, kid.”

  I strip naked as I cradle the phone between my shoulder and ear. “I’m sorry, we’ll be staying at the new house for a few days…can I bribe you into seeing it?”

  “You know I’m not fond of fancy things.”

  I laugh. “I know. I actually wanted to talk to you about something else, but I wasn’t sure how.” I proceed to tell her the entire story as quickly as I can so Julie doesn’t walk in and find out what I’m doing. I don’t want her feeling guilty and thinking that she forced me into doing this.

  I’m doing this because she’s full of goodness and I love her with every ounce of love I have to give.

  “So…” I take a deep breath once I’m done explaining. “Can you help me?”

  “I’m proud of you, Oliver,” Mrs. Atchley’s motherly voice shines. “This woman hasn’t been good to you a day in your life and you’re still willing to help her.”

  I shrug, knowing that she can’t see me. Reaching in to start the shower, I dodge the falling water and shut the shower door. “I just want to be the man Julie sees in me, that’s it.”

  She makes an agreeing noise and thinks for a few seconds. “Where is she? Veronica?”

  “I don’t know, she took off walking toward the outskirts of downtown.”

  Mrs. Atchley snorts. “Leave it to me. I’m at The Tavern and she’ll make her way here, I’m sure.”

  “She’s a drug addict, not a drunk.”

  “Trust me, kid. She’ll be here.”

  ***

  I wonder if Mrs. Atchley found Veronica.

  Oh, that’s right. They were in the hallway with me when Casey shot the gun off.

  Casey.

  That fucking shithead.

  Veronica never did tell him who his real father was, and it better not be my father.

  Colin Jackson is my father, not his.

  Mine.

  ***

  The pianist starts to play a soft, angelic melody, and everyone’s eyes turn toward the white double doors that slowly start to open. They can’t take their eyes off of her and this time, it doesn’t piss me off that people are checking her out.

  She’s an angel.

  Julie emerges from the double doors, white roses in her hands, and her eyes gravitate toward mine instantly. Just a few feet and she’ll be here, next to me, becoming my wife.

  My knees start to buckle and Harley pats my back from behind me to let me know he’s there in case I give into my weakness and drop to the floor. It’s a damn shame that Casey couldn’t be my best man; he turned out to be the worst person in my entire life. Harley has always been there for me, no matter what bullshit I had to offer, and that speaks volumes larger than trying to fucking kidnap my fiancée and force her to be with him.

  “Oliver?” Harley whispers behind me. “You good, man?”

  I nod and say nothing. I’m intoxicated by Julie, and it’s like her strawberry scent drifts all the way up the aisle and wraps around me, comforting my nerves and stopping my body from uncontrollably shaking.

  I want her more than anything I’ve ever wanted before.

  And she’s about to fully be mine.

  The white silk gown tucks around her curvy hips like butter, and she’s showing so much skin that it’s hard to concentrate on why we’re really here.

  She’s going to be my wife.

  I know she thinks she’s too young, but I don’t care.

  She’s. Going. To. Be. My. Wife.

  The pianist plays a little louder, and everyone stands as Randy joins Julie and she snakes her arm through his. He beams down at her—I know he’s proud of the strong person she’s become just like I am, even though it’s taken him a while to warm up to me. I know he’s proud of the man I’ve become too. I haven’t had a chance to talk to him about the night we met in the dark parking lot years ago, but honestly, I think letting it go would be just as fulfilling.

  It’s not going to change anything—it’s already changed everything.

  Randy walks her down the aisle toward me slowly; it takes forever for them to stop and become within arm’s reach of me. He kisses her cheek and whispers something in her ear that makes her smile before the pastor asks who is giving her away.

  “I am, sir. I’m her brother.” Randy nods at me and places her hand in mine. She’s warm and just as excited as I am about where we are right now.

  I gently tug her small hand toward me and place her in front of me. Her smile lights up the entire fucking church and it takes everything I have not to devour her lips before he announces us as man and wife. The reception afterward is going to torture me; she’s already jolting my insides by the way her big eyes are looking up at mine and she’s biting her bottom lip.

  I hear a snap, like a twig when someone’s stepped on it, and I look over to investigate but when my focus returns to Julie, she’s gone.

  They’re all gone.

  No more bride, no more pastor, and no more friends and family.

  I’m all alone.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Julie

  I’m screaming as loud as I can and it just keeps bouncing back to me against the darkness. This is such a weird feeling…it’s like I’m here but I’m not here at the same time. I hear distant whispers—I think that’s what they are—but I can’t make out what they’re saying.

  Or if they’re saying anything at all.

  I focus the best that I can on Oliver. It’s stupid to entertain the idea that he can somehow telepathically speak to me, but it’s worth a try.

  Oliver.

  Can you hear me?

  Waiting for him to answer makes me sad.

  Like really, really sad.

  Can you hear me?

  Can anyone hear me?

  It’s no use trying to scream to myself inside my own head, so I try and calm down. I wonder if Oliver is sitting at my bedside, watching the orange line go up and down like I did when he nearly died.

  The darkness gets cold and it hits me.

  The orange line bounced when he heard my voice.

  I don’t hear him.

  Panic flashes through the darkness and the last turn of events is behind a foggy glass that I can’t make out clearly.

  Casey.

  He had his fingers around my neck.

  He wanted to take me.

  Anger fills the darkness and I hear a gunshot.

  He shot off that damn gun.

  Who did he shoot?

  Oliver said to shoot him and Casey said, “Okay.” Then, the gun blasted my eardrums and all I can remember is someone pulled me into Oliver’s apartment, out of harm’s way.

  Lucy.

  She pulled me out.

  I ran back to save Oliver and he was lying on the ground, covered in blood.

  But so was Veronica.

  Then I blacked out.

  Was it me?

  Did he shoot me?

  ***

  The wicked grin on Marianna’s face sends shivers down my whole body. I know that she hates me; she’s hated me since even before Randy married her.

  She reminds me of the evil stepmother in the Cinderella story from that big, brown book Randy likes to read to me from. I used to laugh at her pointed nose and small, beady eyes until she told me she’d never wanted me to come here in the first place.

  Now I just see her as a person.

  A ghost of a person, really.

  Maybe I wanted her to be someone else, I don’t know. The people Randy is shipping me back to, they are the real monsters of my story anyway. I don’t have room for any more monsters in my life.

  Randy frowns as I step onto the Greyhound bus and turn back to say goodbye. A tear forms in the corner of his eye, but he doesn’t let me see it fall.

  “Hey, kid, you know I’d let you live here with me, but Marianna gave me an ultimatum—”

&n
bsp; I shrug. “It’s okay.”

  He shakes his head and sniffles. “No, it’s not. I know how they are; I know what they want you for, and I’m just shipping you back to be lost up in all of that.”

  “They just want the money from the state to help take care of me, no big deal.”

  He chuckles and puts his hands on my shoulders. “You’re way too young to be dealing with these adult problems. Let me talk to Marianna again. I’ll make her see why you staying here is the best choice.”

  “Randy, it’s okay, just let me go,” I say. “I want to go.”

  He raises his eyebrows in suspicion and looks back at his wife, who can’t even care enough to pretend to be sad that I’m leaving. “You don’t mean that.” He lowers his voice. “Just let me figure it out, okay? I promise you that I won’t leave you there for long.”

  “Don’t make promises you can’t keep. They aren’t going to let me leave again. I’m sure they’ve run out of whatever money I left them.”

  “Jules, you shouldn’t have to leave them money. You’re not the adult.”

  The bus driver honks for us to hurry up, and I don’t make eye contact with Randy as I hug him and put his arms back to his sides.

  “I have to go.” I turn to leave, but he pulls me back and hugs me harder.

  “I’m coming back for you, Julie. I promise.”

  ***

  Even though things didn’t work out for Randy and his wicked wife, they still produced Clyde from the love they had for each other and I wouldn’t change that for the world.

  Oh, Clyde.

  He’ll be going on his first date soon. I know he likes the new girl that just moved in across the street from Randy’s house. Even though Marianna left when Clyde was just a few years old, he still reminds me of her in every way except her attitude.

  I wonder if Randy knows that I can’t wake up.

  As much as I don’t like to admit it now, he’s really the person who saved my life. Yes, he sent me back to my parents—two people that should never be allowed to be in the public—but he also kept his promise and came back for me.