Torn

by A. F. Crowell

  “Y’all still haven’t picked him up?” Drew pulled out his phone. “Hold that thought, I gotta get this.”

  Drew walked away and left Tommy and me standing in the parking lot filled with unmarked cars. “I gotta get home. Leila expected me to only be gone for a few hours.”

  “Right, get outta here. Drew’s takin’ you. I’ll check in later.” Tommy dropped his cigarette and stepped on it.

  “Do me a favor, call Drew if you get word on Drill.” I turned and walked away before anyone saw us together.

  “No problem. Watch your back, man.”

  Walking in Drew’s direction, I caught the last few words of his conversation. “Yeah, I’d appreciate it, Bobby. I’ll see ya in a few.”

  “What’s up?” I wondered why Bobby had called him and what Drew wanted him to do.

  “Huh.” He dropped the phone into his left cargo pocket on his pants. “Oh, he called to see if I had bailed you out. He’s on his way to your house to watch it in case Drill shows up there.”

  “Fuck, man, I swear to God if he goes near her I will kill him with my bare hands.”

  “It’s not gonna come to that. Bobby should be there any minute.” We climbed into Drew’s black Tahoe and sped out of the parking lot, heading to the house.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Leila

  Blood poured from the gash on my forehead and ran down my face. I was pretty sure my nose was broken. Drill still had a death grip on my hair. He spun me back around toward him and started to drag me toward the door. I managed to grab the scissors in the midst of the chaos, hiding them with the handle in the palm of my hand and the blade behind my wrist.

  Letting go of my hair, he reared back and punched me in the right jaw and I collapsed to the floor with a wail. I couldn’t tell if it was tears streaming down my face or blood.

  “That’s for being a fuckin’ pain in the ass. I will drag you out of this fuckin’ house by your goddamned hair if I have to. Your choice.” He squatted on the floor right in my face and I saw my opening. His neck was exposed and he was balancing on one hand. This was the only shot I would have to make it to the panic room, but he stood up too quickly.

  “I’ll walk, but I can’t get up on my own.” The thought of him touching me made my stomach roll and my skin crawl. Pushing those thoughts aside, he grabbed my left elbow and yanked me to my feet. I took advantage of the momentum propelling me forward toward him. Spinning the scissors around, I swung my right arm around with all the force I had and imbedded the blade into the left side of his neck just below his jaw, aiming for the carotid artery.

  Blood spurted from the puncture wound and sprayed all over me. Shock and disbelief covered his face as he released me to grab at his neck. Turning, I ran for the closet, holding my stomach, slamming the door behind me and frantically pulling the clothes off the rod to get to the panic room door. I ripped the door open, rushed inside, and pushed the door closed as quickly as I could. Arming the system, I slowly backed away from the door. I looked around the room I had prayed to never see inside of again. Remembering the security cameras, I turned on the computer monitor and tried to remember how to use the system.

  “Damn it, why didn’t I pay attention?” I cussed myself as I pressed buttons. Wiping my forehead on my sleeve, I tried to see the tiny words on the camera icons on the screen. Clicking on all of the cameras, I tried to see if Drill had left, but the only camera that I could seem to get a picture from was right outside the panic room I was currently panicking in.

  “Fuck.” My vision was obscured by blood and I was getting weaker by the second. I tried to slow my breathing and collect myself. I sank onto the couch and began taking slow, deep breaths. It didn’t matter if I screamed at the top of my lungs; the room was soundproofed. I had to wait until someone came into the closet and I knew it was safe to leave. In here I was safe and Drill couldn’t get to me, so I would wait.

  I tried desperately to calm down but the room started to spin, and I knew I was going to pass out. The adrenaline had worn off and my hyperventilating wasn’t helping. Darkness started to creep in and the sound of my pounding heart was steadily getting further and further away.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Jaxon

  Drew sped across downtown as I tried to call Leila again. Eight p.m. and she hadn’t called me back. Trying to remain calm, I told myself she was sleeping, which she did a lot. All of the baby books said the end of the pregnancy was really hard on the mother because the baby was basically out of room.

  Drew’s cell started to buzz. “What’s up, Bobby?”

  The silence was killing me. “Is he at my house?” I asked only to be ignored.

  “We are about a block away,” Drew finally answered Bobby. “Don’t break the door down, if there’s nothing wrong you’ll scare the shit outta her and she may very well shoot your ass.”

  “What the fuck, Drew?”

  He hung up and dropped the phone into the console between the seats. “Bobby knocked on the door, but she didn’t answer. The front door is locked and Ruger’s in the backyard so he can’t get in.”

  “Something’s definitely wrong. She’d never leave Ruger outside while she took a nap.” Leaning forward, I grabbed the pistol from my waistband, ejected the clip, checking it before popping it back in. I unlocked the safety and pulled back the slide to load the chamber. Flipping the safety back on, we pulled into the driveway and I was out of the SUV before Drew had a chance to come to a full stop. Grabbing my keys, I ran around the front of the vehicle and up the steps. Bobby was waiting on the front porch.

  “I tried her cell again and I can hear it ringing,” he said as I unlocked the door.

  Drew took the front steps two at a time. “Remember, it may be a false alarm, don’t go in here guns blazin’ and scare her into labor. She’ll kill all of us,” he tried to reason with my overprotective ass, but damn if he wasn’t right.

  “Fine.” We rushed into the foyer.

  “Lei, babe, I’m home,” I hollered up the stairs. Nothing. “Y’all take the downstairs. I’m going up.”

  All of the lights were out on the second floor, but the light shined down from our bedroom. “Leila, where are you?”

  Sweeping the second floor with my gun trained ahead, safety off, I opened the nursery door, checked the bathroom and spare room. No signs of her or any struggle. Slowly creeping up the stairs, I heard Drew and Bobby clear the first floor and start my way. Halfway up the stairs I could see the door to our bedroom wide open with all the lights on.

  Looking down, I noticed a faint trail of blood. Immediately, all the hair on the back of my neck stood on end. Bending down, I ran my finger through the droplet. It was still wet, not even sticky, which meant it was fresh.

  Bobby noticed the trail coming up the steps from the first floor. “Small drops all the way down the stairs, looks like they were heading out the house.”

  I hauled ass up the last five steps with Drew and Bobby on my six. Everything looked unscathed as I scanned the bedroom. Then I turned to my left and saw the bathroom door mostly closed but there were four bloody fingerprints about a third of the way down the door. I kicked the door all the way open, not at all prepared for the scene of sheer horror that was on the other side.

  “Holy shit,” Drew mumbled from behind me.

  “Leila,” I bellowed. “Lei, baby, where are you?”

  “Be quiet for a minute and listen.” Bobby swatted at me. “If she’s here she will be screaming for you. Listen.”

  I stood in our blood-covered bathroom listening, waiting to hear her call my name, praying to hear anything. Please God, let me find her. Please God, let her be okay. I would do anything she wanted, just let her be okay.

  “I don’t hear anything. Bobby, go room to room and check every cabinet, closet, or any place she could’ve hid,” Drew directed as I just stared at the blood smeared on the vanity. The mirror was shattered and still had a clump of hair hanging from the frame.

  “I’ve
got hair.” Carefully I stepped through the large pool of blood and got a closer look. “Fuck. Goddamn it, it’s hers.” Something had gone horribly wrong in here and it was entirely my fault. “Motherfucker. I should’ve been here.”

  Bobby left the room, gun drawn, and started sweeping the house again.

  “Where’s Ruger?” I realized we could get him to track her or at least I hoped he could.

  “Out back. I left him there because I didn’t think we’d need him in the way. Why?”

  “Get him. Old police dog—he can track her.”

  “Damn.” Drew flew out of the room.

  Standing there alone in the bathroom, I finally let my eyes take in the entire scene. She fought. Hard. All of the crap on the vanity was strewn about on the floor covered in blood, the mirror on my side had been smashed with what appeared to be Leila’s head. A wave of nausea hit me. Oh God, what if this was all her blood?

  “I got nothing,” Bobby shouted up from the second-floor landing. “Blood trail ends at the grass off the front porch.”

  Drew came up the steps with Ruger by his side. I grabbed a pair of her pants off the floor and threw them over to Drew. With one quick word in German he held the jeans out to Ruger, “Suche.”

  Ruger sniffed the jeans for a split second then started tracking her.

  “Dude, I don’t know if this is gonna work. Her scent is everywhere,” Drew doubted as Ruger smelled his way into our walk-in closet. “See, he’s just—”

  “The panic room.” It dawned on me that she could be in the panic room. I bolted to the back left side of the rectangular room. There was blood all over the beige carpet. My suits were all over the floor, the section hiding the room was pulled out, and I knew. She made it into the room.

  Bobby flew into the large closet, eyes wide taking in the scene, but Drew chimed in first. “What the fuck?”

  I started banging on the door after trying the passcode to open the door. She had to have activated the system if the code didn’t work. “Lei, open the door, babe. It’s me. Quantico, damn it, Quantico.”

  Ruger was barking like a fool and I was thankful Drew was holding him by his collar. I looked up into the camera; she had to see me. Why wasn’t she opening the door?

  “Why can’t you just open the damn thing?” Bobby asked.

  “Once the system is engaged the only way to open it is from the inside. There are cameras set up at the front and back doors and here.” I pointed to the camera above the door. “If whoever was here didn’t take her, she has to be in there.”

  Banging on the door relentlessly, I started to give up hope that she was in there or if she was then she was hurt so bad that she couldn’t get to the door. Or worse, and she’s…

  No. I won’t go there.

  She was alive. She had to be.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Leila

  The dull sound of banging woke me. Thud… Thud… Thud.

  Oh God no. He’s back. It all rushed in like a horrible nightmare.

  Pain had set in. Wincing, I closed my eyes, bringing my hand up to my temple to feel the dried blood caking the side of my face. I looked down and saw all of the blood on Jaxon’s shirt, then glanced over to the monitor, trying to make my eyes focus.

  “Jaxon,” I screamed when I saw his gorgeous face on the screen. He was leaning on the door, fist banging, looking exhausted. God, how long was I out?

  Where is Drill? Did Jaxon find him?

  Knowing I had to get to the door to open it, I sat up on the couch and tried to stand. Only to fail. My legs were so weak I couldn’t even stand. I rolled myself off the couch and crawled on my hands and knees to the steel door.

  Once I reached the door, I used the handle to pull myself to standing and pressed the code to use the intercom. “Jax.”

  “Oh God, Leila, open the door, babe. I’m here. It’s okay. Open the door. Quantico.” Jaxon’s voice gave me the burst of energy I needed to disengage the alarm and unlock the heavy door. Pulling as hard as I could, the airtight seal broke and the door slowly swung open.

  The instant I saw him I lost it and sobbed, partly from relief but mostly from fear. “Is he gone, Jaxon? Did I kill him?” Jax rushed forward and caught me as I collapsed into him. “Is he dead?”

  “Shh, I got you, babe. It’s okay. I got you. Are you all right?” He scooped me up then carried me out of the room into our closet. “Drew. Get the medics!”

  Jax took me out to the bed and gently set me down. “Baby, who was it? Who did this to you?”

  “Is he dead? Where is he? He was in the bathroom. Is he dead? Did I kill him?” I gasped, trying to catch my breath and stop crying.

  “Who, Leila?” Drew interrupted rather gruffly.

  “Drill. I stabbed… I got out of the shower and he came after me with a… I stabbed him. In the neck. I killed him, didn’t I?” Why wouldn’t they answer me? A paramedic entered the bedroom carrying a duffle.

  “Babe, tell me what hurts. Is the,” Jax paused, clearly fighting for control, “is the baby okay? He didn’t hurt her, right?”

  “I’m okay, I think. Just my head, but she’s still moving around.” I looked down and saw the blood crusted on my hands and down my arms from where I tried to wipe the head wound. I didn’t even want to think about what I must look like. “What time is it? How long was I out?”

  “It’s nine o’clock. Do you remember what time…this started?” he gritted out through his clenched teeth.

  “Sir, I really need to check her out and get her to the hospital,” the young paramedic said as he sat his bag on the floor next to me.

  “Right, sorry.” Jax scooted toward the foot of the bed away from me, but kept his hand on my leg the whole time.

  “You’re not gonna leave me, right?” I knew the answer before I asked and I was surprised at myself for asking. He wouldn’t leave my side, even if I asked him to.

  “Babe.” He cocked his head and gave me the look. Shivers ran down my spine, even after my ordeal, he still got to me. “I’ll never leave your side again.”

  “Oh great, now you say that,” I tried to joke, but the pained look on his face told me it was too soon. “Sorry, Jax, I didn’t mean it.”

  “No, it’s okay.” He hung his head then looked over as Drew approached.

  The paramedic introduced himself and started to ask me what happened while bandaging the gaping laceration in which you could probably lose a roll of dimes. I caught a glimpse of myself as Jax walked past the mirror on the dresser.

  I was a hot fucking mess. My legs were coated in dried, hardened blood. Most of which wasn’t mine. It was Drill’s. I couldn’t believe he got away. I must not have hit the carotid like I had intended. I mean I didn’t really want to kill him—but I did. What if I had though? The thought was nauseating.

  “Hey, Lei, how ya feelin’, kiddo?” Drew stood behind the paramedic, looking like he wanted to knock the guy out of the way.

  “Okay, I think. Although I’d like to take a shower and get all of this blood off me.”

  Drew looked to the paramedic for reassurance. “BP is a little low, which isn’t surprising, but I still want transport to have her and the baby monitored. She’ll probably need some stitches in her forehead and definitely a CT since she lost consciousness.”

  “Sounds good.” Jaxon eyed Drew then nodded to the side. “Babe, I’ll be right back. I just gotta talk to your brother for a minute. I’ll just be in the hall and Carlos here is gonna be with you.”

  “I’m fine, Jaxon, really,” I said to reassure him. The medic stood and started packing his stuff back into the duffle while Jax got up and kissed me before trudging out of the bedroom.

  Carlos sat back down on the bed. “Do you want me to bring the stretcher up or do you think we can help you down the stairs?”

  “Please, I’d like to walk down if I must go.”

  “Ma’am, you took a pretty hard hit, we definitely need to get you to the hospital.”

  “Leila?” A tall, m
iddle-aged man wearing black cargo pants and a black shirt stood next to Carlos.

  “Yeah?”

  “Hi, Leila, my name is Commander Bob Gorden.” He extended his hand. “I’d like to ask you a few quick questions while everything is fresh in your mind. Is that okay?”

  “Fuck no it’s not. Leave her alone, she can answer your questions later.” Drew went into big brother mode.

  “Matthews, I need you to wait outside.” Commander Gorden didn’t take his eyes off me. Frankly, it was really intimidating and I wanted to answer his questions so he would leave. “Tommy, clear the room please.”

  “All right, y’all heard the boss, everyone out,” shouted a guy wearing riot gear. Quickly the room emptied out, including Carlos, but Jaxon waltzed right back in past the guy barking out orders. He nodded at Jaxon. “Coleman.”

  “Bob, seriously? Can’t this wait ’til we get her and the baby checked out? You can ask her in a few hours. I’ve already questioned her. I can answer all of your questions.” Jaxon was slightly more diplomatic than Drew, but only slightly. His neck was tense, telling me he was reining it in and was about to break.

  “Leila, can you please tell me to the best of your ability who did this to you?” The commander ignored Jaxon’s request.

  I looked at Jaxon then back to the tall man towering over me. “Drill. I mean that’s how I know him. I’m not really sure what his first name is.”

  “That’s fine. Can you please tell me what you were doing when you first saw the perpetrator?” His no-nonsense monotone voice was gravelly.

  Taking a deep breath, I started into the night’s events. “I had just come out of the shower when I found him sitting on the foot of the bed waiting for me.”

  “Did he say anything?” He continued to question me. Questions Jax had not asked and questions I didn’t want to answer with Jaxon present.