Broken Cheaters

by Lacey Silks

  “So, Mommy? That’s an interesting development. I didn’t realize you and boy-toy were that serious.”

  I didn’t want to tell him that Trevor was Chloe’s son. If he knew that, he’d take his revenge out on him. He’d consider Trevor even more attention-worthy than before.

  “Maybe we can have some fun, the way I did with Chloe. She loved it, you know. She was the biggest whore I ever met.”

  “Shut up! Just shut up, you liar.”

  Trevor kept his hands over his ears, and I prayed he wasn’t hearing how Jack spoke about his mother. “She’s gone because of you. I blamed myself for years for her death, and it was all your fault. How could you, Jack? “

  “How could I? She’s the one who called my father, and then when I found out she was coming back and she was going to take her story to the media… well, I couldn’t just let that happen, could I? You know how the press likes to twist facts, don’t you?”

  Or in this case, they would be telling the truth.

  “Chloe wanted it that night. She begged me to—”

  “Stop it,” I hissed through my teeth, my gaze flying from Jack to Trevor and back.

  “Whatever. I’m going to take a shower.”

  “What about my hands?” I asked.

  “They’re staying tied. The kid can feed you.”

  He removed his shirt and went to the bathroom. As soon as the shower turned on, Trevor shot up to his knees, I rolled on my side, and he began working on the knot again. Neither one of us said anything, but I bet Trevor knew exactly how important it was for us to escape. After a few moments, he stopped.

  “Trevor, you can do it,” I encouraged.

  “My claw.”

  He rushed to the chair, opened his knapsack, and began the hunt for the raptor claw I’d given him. My eyes grew wide. He took out one dinosaur after another, leaving them all on the floor, until he found the raptor claw I had gifted him. His mouth stretched into a wide grin. He jumped up on the bed, and as soon as I heard the first rip of fabric, my heart skipped a beat. “You can do it, baby. I know you can.”

  Another rip sounded; then another. It didn’t take long for me to feel the fabric loosen. Once my hands were freed, he passed me the claw and I used it to tear apart the fabric at my ankles.

  I cupped his face in my hands. “You did so amazing, honey. Are you ready to leave now?”

  He nodded.

  The shower stopped, and I heard the clips holding the curtain slide over the metal pole.

  “We gotta go,” I whispered, pressing my finger to my lips.

  Trevor stuffed the raptor claw inside his pocket and didn’t even bother picking up his knapsack or the scattered dinosaurs. If he was sad to leave all of his dinosaurs behind, he didn’t show it. Instead, he grasped my hand tightly and followed my lead. I opened the door and closed it gently. It wouldn’t take long for Jack to figure out that we’d escaped.

  Our room was on the second floor. We descended the steep stairs as quickly as possible, but just as we got to the last one, Jack stepped out of the room. He had his pants on and the look of a man on a mission. But there was no way I would let him catch us again.

  We dove into the cloud of rain and hurried to the nearest car parked outside. I pulled on the handle, but it didn’t move. Instead, an alarm sounded.

  “Get the fuck back here.” Jack was running down the stairs, barefoot.

  “We need an older car, Trevor.”

  One that will let me jack it.

  “That one.” Trevor pointed to a Buick.

  I hurried, at this point praying, Please be open. Please be open.

  It was locked.

  Trevor let go of my hand and ran a few cars down, pointing to a rolled down window.

  “Twy this one.”

  It wasn’t as old as the Buick, but it would have to do.

  “Good find, honey.”

  I hurried to the Chevy, nearly slipping in the puddle, unlocked it, and opened the door for Trevor. Jack was already at the bottom of the staircase.

  “Hurry, Trevor.”

  I took my seat and rolled up the window. Thank goodness it wasn’t automatic, because as soon as I locked the door from the inside, Jack made it to the car. He banged on the window.

  “Open the car, Trish.”

  I ignored him and pulled the plastic underneath the steering wheel away. I fiddled with the cables and smiled to myself as soon as I found the two to start the ignition.

  “You better not fucking drive away, Trish!”

  Trevor pressed his hands to his ears. A few lights in the motel turned on. Jack lowered his voice and brought his face closer to the window. “I swear if you don’t open this door right now, you’ll have more than a broken nose.”

  “I’m not stupid,” I said under my breath, connecting the two wires. The engine sounded. Jack hit the window with so much force it cracked.

  I put the car into reverse and drove out of the parking lot, tires screeching and engine revving up, surprised there was no smoke along with fire spitting out of the exhaust. More lights turned on in the motel. As we pulled out, I saw Jack get into a Mustang in the parking lot.

  Shit!

  I turned right, cutting off an oncoming car. Where were we? The road didn’t look familiar until I saw the patch of light in the sky polluted by city lights. I turned left toward the brightness, and soon enough found the main road back into the city. Rain was pounding against the windshield and lighting illuminated the night every few seconds. Streams of water flowed down the road.

  It didn’t take long until I saw headlights in the rearview mirror. As I drove uphill, memories of the night I was in the accident with Chloe filled my mind.

  “Is your seatbelt on, honey?” I asked, turning around.

  “Yes.” He turned around in his seat. “Faster, Twish. He’s getting closer.”

  I pressed my foot on the pedal and the engine roared.

  “You don’t have your shoes on?”

  “There was no time.” I saw tears in his eyes. He was so afraid that his entire body was trembling. Maybe it was from the cold and the rain, but I doubted it.

  “It’s okay, Trevor. We’ll get you new shoes. Dinosaur ones.”

  I saw the corner of his mouth lift. At this point the rain was hitting the front window so hard that the fastest speed on these old wipers wasn’t enough. That windshield might as well have been made out of glass jar bottoms.

  “You can do it, Trish. I know you can. Just like that raptor chasing me in my dreams. Don’t let Jack catch us,” he said quietly.

  “I won’t let him hurt you, baby. I won’t let him hurt us.”

  That’s when I felt the first bump. The second one was harder. When the third one came, I lost control for a moment and panicked. The car swerved closer to the edge of the road. Beyond was a deep valley. Once I regained control, the past flashed behind my eyelids – images of Chloe and me rolling down the hill in my car. I wouldn’t let Jack drive me off the cliff again. I wouldn’t risk Trevor’s life. I slowly eased on the gas, hoping that when I stopped the car, Jack would do the same. But he didn’t – he continued bumping me, swerving to the left lane and sideswiping us. I wasn’t sure how much longer I could keep going, especially since I knew we were about to hit the more difficult part of the drive, up the mountain. That’s when the glass in the back window shattered.

  Trevor screamed.

  “Get down on the seat!”

  I couldn’t believe that Jack would stoop so low. How could he? But then again, this was a man who had deliberately gang-raped my sister and then killed her. Knowing there was a deep right turn ahead, I gripped the steering wheel harder. When another bullet hit the front window, I slowed even further. Jack swerved into the left lane, but just before he could side-swipe me, I saw the truck coming from the opposite direction. I pressed my foot on the brake.

  I didn’t remember if I screamed as the truck collided with Jack’s Mustang, but the fear and adrenaline cruising through my veins ma
de me think of only one person: Trevor. I pulled over and got Trevor out of the car. He clung to my front with his hands and legs. Rain poured as thunder sounded in the distance.

  I rushed to the truck driver. “Are you okay?”

  “Yes. Get off the road. It’s dangerous.”

  “Where’s the Mustang?”

  “Rolled down the hill.” He pointed.

  As relieved as I was, I felt my stomach turn. I rushed to the safer side of the road, set Trevor down, bent over in half, and emptied my stomach.

  “Trish.” Trevor pulled on my hand. “I’m wet.”

  I crouched down beside him and took him into my arms. “It’s okay. We’ll get some dry clothes soon.”

  “But I peed,” he cried.

  “You know what? So did I. There’s nothing wrong with that, honey. Nothing at all.”

  Sirens bellowed in the distance as I held my little boy caged in my arms. I never wanted to let him go. It didn’t take long for the police and ambulance to arrive. I borrowed the truck driver’s phone and called Axel as well.

  We arrived at the hospital at the same time. He held Trevor in his arms, kissing his head and checking his entire body.

  “Daddy, I am a hero now too.”

  “I bet you are. Are you going to tell me everything?”

  “There was a bad guy. And Trish was tied up and I helped her with my raptor claw but I forgot my shoes. Trish said we’ll get dinosaur ones.”

  “We definitely will. Hey, what happened to your ‘R’s?”

  He shrugged, “I don’t know. They just came on their own.” He beamed with pride.

  I tried to pinpoint the exact time when Trevor had begun pronouncing the letter, and it was in the car when we were trying to get away from Jack. Could fear have triggered his original speech impediment?

  Axel turned toward me and nearly collapsed. I brought my hand up to my face and touched my swollen nose. It hurt. I hadn’t had a chance to look in the mirror yet. They’d given me pain medication, though, and I was scheduled for surgery to set my nose in the next hour.

  “Are you all right?” he asked, concern washing over his face more now than when he’d first walked into the room.

  “Yeah, I am now.”

  It wasn’t until my mom took Trevor out of the room that I broke apart. I lost it. I couldn’t stop sobbing into Axel’s chest. I clung to his shirt with my hands. Overcome by sudden cold, my body trembled. We’d come so close to losing him — I was pretty sure I’d die if anything had happened to Trevor. He cooed and shushed, kissing the top of my head, combing his fingers through my hair.

  “It’s all over now, baby. It’s all over.”

  “Why did he have to be such a jerk?”

  “He was more than a jerk, Trish. He was a sick murderer. I wish I could have seen it coming. What he did to Chloe and you… it’s unforgivable.”

  “No one could have predicted it. Not even you.”

  I leaned against him just as the doctor came into my room. “How are you feeling, Ms. Dalton?”

  “Good, thank you.”

  “Are we ready for the surgery?” Axel asked.

  “Almost, but there’s something we need to discuss before that. I’d rather give you a local anesthetic than a general one.”

  “Why’s that?”

  “Ms. Dalton, you’re about seven weeks pregnant.”

  “What?”

  “Wait, what?” Axel repeated my question.

  “I assume you didn’t know, then.”

  My shocked face and Axel’s open mouth must have been enough of an indication.

  “The pregnancy looks viable, and your blood work is fine as well, but I’d rather we fixed your nose without putting you under.”

  “Is it safer for the baby?”

  “Yes.”

  “Axel? Say something, please?”

  “Ahm, whatever is safer for the baby, then.”

  “I’ll let you two have a few minutes before we get you prepped.”

  The doctor left. I couldn’t shake off the shock and started counting backwards in my head.

  “The strip club. That’s when it happened.”

  “I wore a condom.”

  “Did you check if it broke?”

  “Fuck, I could barely see after that, never mind have enough sense to check if my condom broke.”

  “What’s going to happen now?”

  “We’re going having a baby, Trish.”

  “So, you’re happy about this?”

  His mouth curved up slowly into the widest grin I’d seen on this man. “Are you kidding me? Of course I’m happy. It’s a surprise, but fuck yes, I’m happy. It’s one of the best surprises I could get. Wait, he said seven weeks, how is that—”

  “They count them from my last period. Two weeks before we first had sex.”

  “I’m not questioning you, Trish.”

  “I know you’re not.”

  He pressed his lips hard to mine, confirming his excitement.

  “I’m pregnant,” I whispered as I leaned against him.

  “We’re pregnant,” he said with pride. “Trevor’s going to have a sister or a brother.”

  “Who is also his cousin? That’s weird.”

  “Let’s stick to sister or brother, then.”

  Tied by Trevor, we would already be a family forever, but having Axel’s child would make our unit perfect. Me throwing up George’s tuna salad now made much more sense. My parents would flip at the news.

  I leaned against him just as his phone buzzed. Axel removed it from his pocket and stilled.

  “What’s wrong?” I asked

  “They never found Jack’s body.”

  Chapter 22

  I wasn’t sure how Jack could have survived rolling down a hundred-foot hill in his car, but apparently he did. While I’d been hopeful that he’d been eaten alive by wolves or maybe devoured by worms, beetles, and maggots, I knew better than that. Jack wouldn’t rest until he saw my last breath leave my lungs. The trick now was to get to him before he got to me. I could feel Chloe’s persistence to get revenge aching in my chest, but there wasn’t much I could do. I was carrying a child now, and the last thing I wanted to do was to put it in any kind of stress or danger.

  The authorities combed the accident area several times and there was no sign of a body. The rain had washed away any possible trail, and while there was a warrant out for his arrest, as each day passed without finding Jack, I began worrying that he wouldn’t be found unless he wanted to be. For as long as Jack was on the loose, I’d be looking over my shoulder. Worse yet, neither I, nor Axel, would be able to let Trevor out of our sight.

  Under Axel and George’s constant care, I remained at my parents for two more days before flying back to Long Island. We didn’t tell anyone about the pregnancy and decided to wait until we’d had more time to process it ourselves. Since our return, Axel had canceled all his meetings and appointments to stay with Trevor and me. I saw him working nights in his office, pulling on his hair and typing hard on the keyboard of his laptop, frustration apparent with each keystroke. At one point he was pressing the keys so hard I thought they’d pop out from underneath his fingertips.

  For the past three weeks, there hadn’t been a night or a day that I didn’t think about Jack. I’d dream about him lying underneath my bed, waiting for that perfect moment to strike. Or me walking into my closet only to find him sitting on my chair, all smug and satisfied that he’d by-passed the tripled security. Just thinking about it made me sick to my stomach.

  The evening before Trevor’s birthday party, I knocked on the door. “It’s almost midnight. Can I get you some tea?”

  Axel swiveled on his chair, leaned back, and stretched his legs forward. “Come ’ere.”

  Having come out of the shower, I was only wearing my robe. He sat up straight, and when I was close enough, he grabbed my hips and brought me down to sit on his lap. My legs rested over the arm of the chair, dangling in the air. I smoothed my hand over his c
heek. “I’m worried about you.”

  “Everything’s fine.”

  “Don’t do that.”

  “What?”

  “Say that everything’s fine when it isn’t. Talk to me.”

  “It’s difficult to close a deal when one of the building owners is a murderer on the run.”

  “Oh. I thought Jack canceled that appointment with you.”

  “He did, but he wasn’t the only owner, and his two other partners wish to sell. So, they’re in a bind now because they can’t officially list the building because Jack’s signature is missing.”

  “Is there anything I can do?”

  “No, it will happen, but it will take more time than I anticipated, which means time away from you and Trevor.”

  I pushed up and off his lap, but he brought me back down.

  “I should go. You have work.”

  He ignored me, stood up, wrapped his arms around me, and kissed the tip of my nose. “Is it still hurting?”

  “Not too much.”

  The bruising had finally eased, and my skin was beginning to regain its original shade.

  “And it’s Trevor’s birthday party tomorrow.”

  “My brother’s taking care of the decorations. He feels guilty that we had to cancel the last party because of what happened with Brad.”

  “That’s a lot of construction going on outside for a five-year-old’s party.”

  “He’s turning it into a dinosaur theme park.”

  “Trevor’s going to love it. How’s Beth doing?”

  “Honestly, I don’t know. So much has happened… I’m just looking forward to relaxing tomorrow.”

  “Why don’t we start the relaxing part tonight?” I asked, standing up on my toes to kiss the corner of his mouth and brushing against his front.

  “I like where your mind is going.” He slid his hand in my open robe, up along my ribcage, and onto my free breast.

  “You’re not wearing anything?”

  “I just came out of the shower.”

  A deep grunt sounded from his chest. “Perfect.”

  Axel leaned to the crook of my neck and licked there before gently biting. I heard myself moan as a familiar buzz circled down my chest to my lower half, which was being rubbed deliciously by the bulge in Axel’s pants.