Faithless

by Amanda Bennett

  He started for the door, but it dawned on me that I was still tied up. "LONDON!"

  "Yes, beautiful."

  I practically vomited in my mouth a bit at his words, but pushed past it. "Can you please untie me?"

  "Don't worry, lover boy will be here shortly to do just that. Have a nice life Riley Turner." And then he was gone.

  The house was eerily silent and I couldn't help but wonder if he would come back for me. I didn't have to wonder for too long, because minutes later, Tristan was rushing through the back door.

  "Riley, oh my god what happened? Are you okay?" He quickly untied my wrists and then started to work on my ankles. I sat on the couch rubbing my raw wrists, before I frantically started searching for my phone.

  "We need to call the cops. London, he's going to go kill Mr. Rollins."

  "What do you mean he's going to kill Mr. Rollins? I don't understand."

  "Mr. Rollins is his father. Apparently he murdered his mother and London witnessed the entire thing as a child. His dad knew people and got away with it, and then his father became involved with my mom, I don't know really. A lot of it didn't make any sense. We need to call them, now."

  "I'm on it." Tristan began pacing the room once he got on the phone. "Yes this is Officer Tristan Hayes. I need a unit sent to 1710 W Stryker Road in Malibu. Yes, it's an urgent matter there is a suspect there who is threatening to kill the man who lives there. Yes, I'll hold."

  "What did they say?"

  "They're checking the address and sending a unit out. Yes, I'm still here. Okay, thank you. Yes please keep me updated." He ended his call and came right over to me. "Riley, are you sure you're okay?"

  "Yeah, I'm fine, but I think we should go. We need to go and make sure London doesn't do anything stupid."

  "Riley, I don't think that's such a good idea. He's dangerous and obviously on a mission for revenge."

  "I know Tristan, but I have to try and help him."

  "After everything you found out tonight, you still want to help him, why?"

  "Because he was there for me. Whether or not he was genuinely interested in me, he helped me a lot. He was there. You know?"

  "Not really, but if this will help you get over the whole thing, then I'll take you."

  "Thank you, Tristan."

  I gave him a quick hug before we raced out to my car and took off towards Mr. Rollins house. It didn't take too long to get there, but once we did we realized the entire house was dark. Maybe he hadn't actually been home when I talked to him. Maybe London hadn't gotten to him yet. We pulled up in the driveway next to a black sedan that I didn't recognize. The police weren't here yet, and that worried me. I jumped out of the car and started making my way up to the front door. Tristan ran up behind me, wrapping his arms around mine, pining them to my sides so I couldn't move them.

  "Tristan, what are you doing?"

  "I'm stopping you from doing something completely stupid. We need to wait for the police to show up."

  "Aren't you the police?"

  "Yes, but they need to be here. I can't just go barging into someone's house."

  I tried to keep walking, pulling Tristan behind me, but I didn't make it far. Tristan was far too large for me to move and just as I was about to give up, a gunshot rang out. I covered my ears as Tristan pulled his pistol from behind his back. He headed for the door and I was quickly following behind him.

  Another gunshot rang out and Tristan kicked the door down, all the while keeping me hidden safely behind him. When we crossed the threshold, I dropped to my knees at the sight laid out before me. My eyes went wide. My hands flew up to my mouth, as I tried to muffle the scream forcing its way out of my mouth. There, not more than five feet in front of me Mr. Rollins and London lay dead, blood pouring from the bullet wounds in their heads. Mr. Rollins between his eyes and London's to his temple. I couldn't believe what I was looking at. As much as I had tried to hate London tonight for all the shit he had put me through, a part of me still cared for that scared and hurt little boy. How could I have let this happen? I crawled over to London's body as the tears began to roll down my face. I reached out for his hand and pulled it to my chest. I cried, not for the man who wanted revenge and would stop at nothing to get it, but for the man I had met who just wanted peace for his mother. I don't think I could ever blame London for what he did. Did I agree with it? Absolutely not, but I understood how it felt to have someone hurt you so badly that you would stop at nothing to have them feel that same pain. I understood London. As much as I didn't want to be able to relate to him, I did. Because not a day goes by when I don't think about something awful happening to Gavin for what he did to me. I just wasn't brave enough to do it myself.

  Tristan's arms wrapped around my waist, as he tried to pull me back from London's body. "Riley, we have to go outside. The police are here and they need to have full access to the crime scene."

  "He wasn't a bad guy." I whispered between sobs.

  "What, honey?"

  "He wasn't a bad guy."

  "How can you say that? He killed a man."

  "A man who got away with murdering his wife. A man he watched murder his own mother. Can you imagine what that would do to a person? Of course not, because officer Hayes has it all together. You pretend to be one of us, the abused and hurt ones but let's face it, you're not. You're just a normal guy with normal problems, who just so happened to fall for a broken soul. You'll never understand what it feels like to feel that amount of pain and not be able to do anything about it."

  "Riley, I do understand. Trust me. Let me take you home."

  "No! I think I'm good. I'll drive myself."

  I ran down to my car that still had the keys in it and started it right up. I peeled out of the driveway and took off in the direction of the one place that I knew would help ease the pain.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

  Tristan

  The minute Riley left, I knew what I had to do. First I needed to find her, and then I needed to tell her everything. I wasn't sure of where she would go at this time of night, so I started at her hose. The entire place was pitch black, just the way we left it. I quickly drove to my condo and ran inside.

  "Grace, hurry. I need you."

  "I'm here Tristan, I'm here. What do you need?"

  "Riley is missing. I need you to come with me while I look for her."

  "Of course. Let's go." She grabbed her sweatshirt off of the back of the couch and we ran down to my idling car.

  I took off like a bat out of hell, heading to where, I wasn't sure. I thought of all the places that she could've gone. The hospital, Mr. Rollins' office, the beach, and then it suddenly dawned on me.

  "Where are we going?" Grace's small voice echoed through the silent car.

  "We're going to Riley."

  "Do you know where she is?"

  "I have a pretty good idea."

  We drove for miles up the Pacific Coast Highway before we finally reached the turn off for the cliff I had found Riley on mere months ago. I wasn't absolutely sure that she would be here, but something in my gut was telling me she was. When we reached the top of the cliff, my headlights illuminated the only tree that sat up here and I saw Riley's bent over darkened form at the edge of the cliff. My heart jumped into my throat and I had a hard time even getting out of the car. My sister reached for my hand to stop me.

  "Grace, I have to go to her."

  "I know you do, Tristan. I want you to go to her. I want you to tell her everything and not just the simple stuff. Tell her everything, you hear me?"

  "Yes Grace, I do."

  "I'll be waiting."

  I jumped out of the car and slammed the door shut behind me. I ran with every ounce of energy I had left in me, until I reached her. I slowed down as I inched closer, not wanting her to do anything stupid. I wasn't sure what frame of mind she was in and I wasn't willing to lose her again.

  "Riley. Riley, please listen to me."

  "Just leave me alone this time, Tristan. Pl
ease."

  "I can't do that, Riley?"

  "Why not? You don't understand."

  "I think I understand more than you think. And I can't leave you alone, because, well, I love you Riley."

  Her reddened eyes glanced up at me for just a brief second before they were focusing on the view below her again. "You can't possibly love me."

  "But I do. I think I have loved you from the first time I laid eyes on you."

  "Nobody loves me, and why would they? I'm just as broken as I've ever been. I tried to fool myself into believing that I deserved love. That I deserved a chance to be happy, but let's face it, people like me, don't deserve any of that."

  I sat down a few feet away from Riley, not wanting to scare her off. "Riley, you do deserve love and you deserve to be happy. I love you more than even I thought possible. I love everything about you. I love your strength, your courage, your heart, but most of all, I love the person that you don't see in yourself. I need you, Riley. I need you more than I need air to breathe. Don't you see, something bigger than the both of us brought us together. It wasn't just your mom. There was a higher power that truly saw what we found in one another. I know you care for me just as much as I care for you. I can see it in your eyes when you look at me, when I make love to you, and even when you think I'm not looking, I see the way you look at me even then. We belong together, Riley."

  She glanced over at me, but showed no emotion. "I do love you, Tristan. I've loved you from the day I met you, but that doesn't change the fact that you could never understand who I really am. I've lost all faith in myself, in life, and even in people. Don't you see, I'm all out of faith."

  "I don't believe that Riley. I've never seen any one person have more faith in people than you. You had faith in London, even when he had you bound and threatening to take your life. You still believed that he was a good person and deserved to live." I turned towards the car, trying to wave my sister out. I couldn't see through the bright headlights as to where she was, but I continued to wave her out anyway. "There's someone I want you to meet." I turned back to the car again, "Grace, you can come out now." I waited and waited, but Grace never came out of the car.

  "Who? I don't see anyone there."

  "Trust me, she's there. Grace, come here please." I glanced back at the car one last time and realized that Grace was no longer waiting for me inside the car. "Riley, there's something I need to tell you. Some things I feel I need to explain. When I told you that I understood you, I wasn't lying. I do, all too well I might add."

  "How so?"

  "Promise me you won't move. I'm coming over to you. Promise me you won't jump."

  I looked at Riley with all the faith in the world. I prayed that when I stood to move close to her that she would still be there. I slowly stood up and made my way over to Riley's side. I sat down right next to her and reached out for her hands. "Riley, there's things about me that you don't know. I want to tell you, but I need you to be a little bit open-minded and not judge me. I need you to believe me and have faith that I won't ever leave you, until you ask that of me. Can you do that for me?"

  Riley nodded her head and I let our hands rest together in my lap. "My father was a horrible person. He was never around for Grace and me. Grace is my little sister. He was always wrapped up in work or running around with his new flavor of the week. When my mom found out he was cheating, she tried her damnedest to be the best parent she could be to my sister and me. She never left our sides. She helped us with homework and after school activities, sports and even Boy Scouts, for me. She was amazing, until the day my sister went missing. Dad had called that night saying that he would be late as usual. Mom made us dinner and we all sat around talking about our days. My sister was only sixteen, she had just met a new boy and it was all she could ever talk about. My mother listened as Grace went on and on about this boy, and when dinner was done, my mother told me to keep an eye on Grace while she ran some dinner to my father at his office."

  I glanced down at Riley, making sure she was still listening. "I'm listening Tristan. Please, go on."

  I wrapped my arm around her shoulders and pulled her in close to me. I could feel the tears welling up behind my eyes and I knew that at any given moment, I was going to break down. Knowing that I had Riley to hold onto made this bearable.

  "My girlfriend and I had made plans that night. I knew I was supposed to keep an eye on Grace, but she usually snuck out to see her boyfriend anyways. So I left for a little bit. I told Grace I would be back in about an hour and to stay put. When I got home an hour later, Grace was gone. I scoured the entire house and yard looking for her. I even called her stupid little boyfriend, but he said that he hadn't spoken to Grace since earlier. After I exhausted all of my efforts at home, I decided it was time to call my mom. She knew more of Grace's friends than I did and I figured once she got home, we could call them together. Of course my mother reamed my ass the entire time she was driving home, and when she walked through the door, I wish I could say she stopped, but she didn't. We tried to remain calm as we called Grace's friends and spoke with them and their parents. None of them had heard from Grace since earlier that night. That's when my mom and I started freaking out. She called my dad to ask him to come home and to tell him that Grace was missing, but he didn't answer as usual."

  I took in a deep breath as I started in on the rest of the story. Riley's arms wrapped tightly around my waist, giving it a squeeze, as she urged me to keep going.

  "My mom finally called the police. We knew that technically Grace had to be missing for at least forty-eight hours before they could do anything, but my mom had a friend on the force and he immediately sent out a search party to our house. There was no sign of forced entry and Grace's window was still locked from the inside, all of them were. Mom was out of her mind hysterical, and I tried to be the strong one for her, knowing that my father would most likely not be coming home that night. The police sent out a small search party in the woods behind our house and the park that was close by. I decided to go with a couple of my buddies and a few officers to the beach that was just up the street. We searched for hours and hours, but all of us came up empty handed. The police told us to stay home and wait to see if she would call, but she never did. After that night, the search parties took place every day for at least a month. When we approached month two, I knew what had happened to Grace, and I knew she wasn't coming back. My father had eventually made it home the next day. He blamed my mother, for everything. They split up and then divorced a month later. What kind of man divorces the mother of his missing child? His child who the cops were still patiently searching for? This just solidified my feelings towards the man, and I haven't spoken to him since. I don't even know where he lives and I don't care."

  "How did you and your mother get to where you are today?" The tears that were freely falling down her face strangled her voice.

  "My mother and I remained close throughout the entire thing. We helped each other cope with the fact that Gracie was missing and she may never be found. Three years ago, they found Gracie's body. She washed up on one of the nearby beaches, not too far from our house. That was the first day Grace came to me. My mom made me go down and identify the body. She told me she just couldn't fathom having to look at her baby girl, knowing she hadn't protected her. My mother always blamed herself, even though I chose to blame my father. Anyway, when I showed up at the mortuary, Gracie was there, waiting for me on one of the chairs in the hallway. I thought I was going crazy. There was no way I was seeing my dead sister. I ignored her and proceeded to go back and identify my baby sister's lifeless corpse. The only reaction I had was to break down and cry. I cried for hours and hours before I was finally able to make my way home. When I got home, I told my mom that it was Grace and she all but kicked me out of the house. Things got rough after that. My mother practically had a nervous breakdown when I told her that I had actually seen Grace, and that's when she told me to leave for good. She told me that she couldn't live wi
th someone who would only make this harder for her."

  "Oh my god, Tristan. I'm so sorry. I don't even know what to say. All this time, I never, I thought, I didn't think you understood what I had been through. I'm so sorry I ever doubted you."

  I brushed the hair back from Riley's face, so I could see her beautiful blue eyes. "You have nothing to be sorry for, Riley. I completely understand why you would think that with how you found out who I was."

  "Speaking of which, I don't mean to interject but how did you happen to save me? I'm guessing the original story is a lie?"

  I was starting to get choked up again, thinking back to that night. "I'm getting to that. See, once I moved out, Grace started appearing to me. It wasn't all the time, but it was enough that I started to question my sanity. When she started talking to me, that's when I knew I wasn't crazy, I needed her. She always came to me when I needed her help and support, and after that, she would just disappear. The night I found you, I was actually coming up here to do the exact same thing you were. I was done. My sister stopped coming to me, and after I told them exactly what Grace had told me about what happened to her that night and they all blew me off, well I was done trying to live on my own. My mother and I hadn't spoken in three years and I had no one left. I had lost all of my friends when Gracie started coming to me. She walked me through what happened to her, and who had taken her. I devoted all of my time to tracking the mother fucker down and needless to say, my friends weren't too fond of being friends with a crazy guy."

  Riley pushed against my lap and sat herself up. "Wait, you know who, who killed her?"

  "Yes. I do. My sister was the reason I became a cop. I loved my job. I was able to look shit up about her death, I had access to all sorts of information that helped me track him down, but my partner started to notice something was up. He went to the chief thinking I was doing drugs or something along those lines, but in all actuality, I was just talking to my dead sister. Trust me I know how it sounds."