“Reed, you know the drill. Late night games, early morning departures.”
“I know but I wish I could have flown home last night. I hoped to get home before Ari took Davis to his new daycare.”
“Sorry, man, going as fast as I can.”
I nod at him and dial Ari’s number for the third time this morning, still getting no answer. We spoke last night after the game but for some reason, I feel the need to hear her voice this morning. She left after me on Saturday to spend the weekend with Katy. The wedding is only two weeks away and they have some last minutes things to handle.
Ari finally decided to move to Jacksonville permanently. Sophie will rent her place. There are a few items she wants to bring up here, so we’ve scheduled movers to come a week after the wedding. After the way she was treated at the birthday party, we pulled Davis out of his daycare and found a private facility close that he starts today. It didn’t take long for her to find the errors in my finances and investments and she has mostly taken over. A few of my friends have asked for her advice on their portfolios as well. Phillip has called a few times but Ari refuses to go back. Her leave of absence became a resignation.
“Are you trying for the shortest engagement in history?” Bobbie asks.
“Yep, not taking any chances. I wanted to give her everything she’s ever wanted.”
“You know you’re a man right?”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Just checking because you sound more and more like a pussy every time you talk about her.”
I open my mouth to argue, but close it with no response. He’s right. I laugh along with him.
When we drive up to the house, my body goes on alert when I see Darius waiting in the driveway. Something feels off.
“What’s up man?” I ask confused why he’s not with Ari.
“Waiting on Ari to get here because she texted me that she stayed with Katy again last night. They have Grange with them. I agreed to meet her here this morning but she hasn’t showed.” He answers.
“You haven’t heard from her?” The hair on the back of my neck starts to tingle.
“Not yet.”
“Davis was supposed to start his new school half an hour ago.” I go into the house and look around to see if they did come home this morning. There’s no sign of them—no overnight bags or breakfast items in the sink.
“Something’s wrong.” Panic fills my mind. I pick up the phone and dial her number again. On the fourth ring, she finally picks up.
“Ari! Where the hell are you?” I yell.
“Well, well, well. I’ve been waiting for you to call.”
My heart beat stops and my knees go week. I grab onto the wall to steady myself. Alex Fucking Moore’s voice burns my ears. She got to them.
Ari
Please, please don’t let her hurt my baby. Davis’s face is full of fear and confusion and I want to rip Alex Moore to pieces. The zip ties she used as restraints are cutting into my skin as I struggle to break free. Katy is struggling as well and blood runs down her hands.
Staring at the unrecognizable woman in front of me with absolute terror. When the doorbell rang this morning, all I saw out the peephole was a mass of long black hair. Even though it was early, I answered, thinking it was the neighbor across the street. As soon as the door cracked, I was knocked down with the barrel of a gun in my face. I tried to scream but she slammed the butt of the gun in my temple and my vision blurred.
She threatened to shoot Davis if I didn’t do what she said. I had to call Grange and Darius and lie about the schedule this morning so neither of them would come to the house. Then I had to tie Katy and Davis to the dining room chairs with the gun pointed at my head. I wanted to fight back but knew Davis would never recover if he saw his mother shot in front of him. And I had to be there to protect him.
I tried my best to reassure him we would be okay if he was quiet and behaved. Alex ridiculed me trying to soothe him. Knowing she was delusional, I kept my mouth shut and tried to figure out how to get us out of this situation.
We’ve been tied up for two hours and Alex has been ranting about how her life is ruined. If I thought she was unbalanced before, I now know she is certifiably insane. In her mind, she had made up a future with Reed. I’ve listened to how much she did for him in college and then following him to Jacksonville to support him. The pictures in her head are so convoluted and twisted.
If I didn’t know her face, I wouldn’t recognize her. She died her hair rich black and got extensions so it falls to the middle of her back. She’s lost enough weight that her clothes hang on her figure. Her once blue eyes have changed to brown with colored contacts. And she’s applied her makeup in a gothic way with lots of black eyeliner. She looks nothing like the woman she was.
When my phone rings, my stomach drops. I know it’s Reed wondering where the hell we are. He’s called several times this morning but Alex wouldn’t let me answer. My time is limited. She looks at the call and I know this time, she is answering it. I can see it in her evil stare that she wants to hurt Reed. She’s beyond humiliated and angry. She wants revenge.
I struggle harder against the restraints, needing to get free and protect my family. It’s only a matter of time now that Reed knows she has us that the police and everyone in the area will be on their way. I can’t let her kill us. My eyes meet my grandma’s and they are full of rage and determination. I don’t know what she is thinking, but I’m pretty sure it’s the same as me. Protect my son.
“Alex? What the fuck are you doing? If you hurt my family, I will personally kill you.” Reed screams through the speaker phone.
Davis starts to cry and my blood boils. He is scared out of his mind and Reed’s rage pushes him over the edge.
“It’s not polite to threaten a woman with a gun, especially when Ari is the first target. I want you to hear her beg for her life.” She mocks him.
“Why, Alex? What the fuck did I do to you? Why are you punishing me? If you have a problem take it out on me. They didn’t have anything to do with you.”
“You think you can do what you did to me and not pay for it? You’ve stripped me of everything—my dignity, my future, my plans.”
“Put the gun down, we can talk.”
I hear the roar of an engine and know he is on the way here. Voices in the background tell me he is not alone.
“The time for talking is over. Anything you want to say to your precious fiancée?” she sneers at me and points the gun.
“Ari, Angel, hang on. We are on our way!” he yells into the phone. “Fucking Alex, don’t you dare. This is between us, leave her alone!”
“I love you!” I scream and watch her face contort in anger. The horror washes over me as she moves the gun and points toward Davis. Sirens sound in the distance and I know this is it.
“No, no, no! Shoot me! Leave him alone. He’s just a child! Please don’t hurt him. He’s innocent! SHOOT ME! SHOOT ME! PLEASE!”
Reed is yelling in the background but I can’t hear him because absolute fear takes over my body. If she shoots my baby, I will never survive. I scuffle the chair trying to move in front of him. I see a flash behind her but all I can think of is protecting Davis.
Shots ring out and everything happens in slow motion. Katy flies out of her chair and covers Davis with her body. I let out a blood-curdling scream hoping someone will hear and help us. My chair tips over and my head bounces off the tile as pain shoots through me. I scoot over as fast as I can. Silence falls over the room and I look up to see Alex lying in a pool of blood. Above her stands a tall figure with a gun. Beside him is a small woman. I blink a few times to clear my vision.
“Luke? Cara?” I whisper.
She runs to me and cuts the ties on my wrists. I don’t say anything else but crawl over to Davis who is covered with Katy’s limp body. I cry out immediately when I see him soaked in blood, but realize it’s not his. Cara cuts him loose too and Luke moves Katy to start CPR.
&nbs
p; I hug Davis to me closely rocking back and forth. Cara sits behind me, wraps us both in her arms, and holds tight. The buzzing in my ears is so loud I don’t even realize the house is now filling up with police and paramedics. There’s a lot of shouting and I tuck Davis’s head into my neck to try and shield him from the dead body lying on the floor a few feet away.
The EMTs push Luke aside and start working on my grandmother. He moves to me and practically smothers me with his big body. I feel him trembling against us. We watch as the medics start IVs and load Katy onto a stretcher shouting orders.
Elderly woman, late-sixties, GSW to chest, bullet still lodged in cavity, get wings ready in case of air flight…
Time stands still as everything happens around us. It takes a while, but when they get Katy into the ambulance, they roar away. The paramedics fill the small space. A team is working on Alex, but I turn my head. After a long time, they try to talk to me and look over Davis but we refuse to let go of one another. Luke tells them what he knows and thinks we are in shock. They look at me sympathetically and give me some space. Cara brings me some water and helps me try to pry Davis enough to see his little face.
There’s a commotion at the door and I hear Reed shouting my name. Davis squirms against me when he hears his daddy’s voice and struggles to break out of my hold. Reed burst into the room with Bobbie, Darius, and Granger behind him. When he sees us, relief flashes on his face but the fear is still there. I let Davis go and he runs right into Reed’s open arms. I try to get up and Luke and Cara help me from behind. My legs don’t cooperate and I fall back to the ground.
My head starts spinning and I feel the blackness taking over. My heart races so fast I can hear it. My lips and tongue go numb and I can’t speak. All at once, I can’t feel anything. My arms won’t lift, my legs won’t move, and as I try to communicate, gurgling sounds erupt in my throat. My body temperature heats up but I start to shake uncontrollably. My breaths start coming in pants. The screaming around me starts again. I squeeze Luke’s hand tight before I pass out.
Chapter 32
Ari
I figure out I’m in the hospital before I open my eyes. The undeniable smell of antiseptic fills my senses and I momentarily forget what happened. Then it comes crashing back to me and I try to scream but my throat is too dry. Warm hands hold me down, and I look up to see Luke and Sophie on both sides of the bed. Sophie’s face is splotchy and red and fresh tears fall down her cheeks. I look around frantically for Reed and Davis.
“They’re with the pediatrician. Davis won’t let Reed go. He’s clinging to him. The paramedics tried to pull him off in the ambulance and he threw a fit.” Luke says softly.
I nod my head and feel a sting on my temple.
“Babe, you have a concussion and several deep abrasions on your wrist. You had a massive panic attack, and it scared everyone to death. They are keeping you overnight for observation.”
“Katy?” I croak.
They share a look and dread fills me. “Please no, please no, please no.” I chant.
“Ari, she’s in surgery. The bullet is deep in her chest cavity. She lost a lot of blood and the surgeon is worried about the stress on her heart and her brain since the stroke. We’re praying for the best, but it looks bad.”
My heart splinters. She can’t die, I can’t lose her. Sophie senses my breakdown and crawls into the hospital bed with me. She holds one side of me while Luke holds the other. They let me cry until I can’t breathe. Luke gets me some water while Sophie wipes down my face with a wet cloth. I finally get myself together and breathing under control.
“Ari, I can’t even begin to imagine how you feel right now.” Sophie says. “What can I say? What can I do to help you?”
“It’s terrible, I’m scared to death about losing Katy. I want my son in my arms. I need to feel Reed holding me. But at the same time I feel relief. Alex is dead.” I look at Luke to confirm and he nods.
“You saved our lives. Thank you—if it weren’t for you—”
“Shhh. I know, Ari. Let’s not talk about it now.”
“How’d you know to come?”
“It’s a long story. I’ll tell you everything when the police question us.”
“Cara?”
“In the waiting room with Amy.”
I nod. The door creaks open and Reed pops his head through. When our eyes meet a sense of calmness comes over me. He walks in with Davis in his arms.
“Mommy!” He reaches out. I grab him to me and hold tight. He squirms loose but remains sitting in my lap.
“I got a lollipop!” He pulls out the candy from his pocket. “Can I eat it?”
I nod and help him open it. We all exchange a glance at his attitude. I don’t know what I expected, but he’s not acting traumatized. There’s a knock at the door and the doctor walks in. He looks me over and confirms I have no nausea or blurred vision. I haven’t looked in the mirror, but apparently, I have a purple bruise on my temple from where Alex hit me. It’s tender but not painful. He agrees that if I have a good night, I can go home in the morning.
Reed takes Davis to the waiting room to see if he will sit with Amy while the police question us. He also gives Bobbie an update so he can leave. He returns with two officers who look at me sympathetically. I tell them everything that happened this morning from the time I opened the door until I passed out. I try to remember verbatim Alex’s ranting. Reed moves to my side and sits on the bed with me running his hands up and down my arms soothingly. I lean into him and smell the familiar scent of his body wash and cologne. He tightens against me but smiles slightly when he realizes I am sniffing him again.
“Mr. Adams can you explain how you became involved?” one of the officers asks Luke.
“I think we need to have Cara Matthews in here to explain it fully.” He answers.
Sophie leaves to get her, and Reed positions us so he is behind me. He wraps his arms and legs around me and kisses my forehead gently. Cara comes in with Sophie and the officer asks Luke again about his involvement.
“Cara called me this morning asking if she could come over. She had a suspicion about Alex Moore and knew Reed was on a plane. Once she told me what she found, I grabbed my gun and went to Katy’s to look around. I hoped Ari had gone back to Jacksonville as planned, but when I arrived and saw her SUV there and Grange’s truck missing, I knew something was wrong. I walked around back and saw them tied up. Even with her transformation, I knew it was Alex. I wanted to shoot her in the shoulder or something but when she pointed that gun at Davis and pulled the trigger, I aimed to kill.”
Reed starts to shake behind me and I look up to see his face. His jaw is ticking and his eyes full of pure hatred.
“Miss Matthews, how did you get intel that Alex was going after Miss Williams?” the officer asks Cara.
“Alex was vain and manipulative and I knew she was not going to take the public rejection well. A few weeks ago, I decided to look into her normal routine and figure out how she could fly under the radar. First, I contacted her regular hairdresser. It took some convincing and lying on my part but she finally told me about going to a hotel to do a transformation on Alex’s appearance. Alex told her she was in hiding because of humiliation of her public breakup. I got the hotel information and started following her about a week ago. She was slowly changing everything about herself. She was a social media whore and loved the attention online. So I did a search and found she had opened a new account with an avatar as her identity. She had opened chats with strangers asking about the best European vacation spots. Well, this morning, I went to my normal waiting spot and her car was gone. She never leaves this early so I got worried and called Luke.”
“Why didn’t you come to the police with your concerns?”
“And say what? The woman that my brother has a restraining order against changed her appearance? I grew up with her and saw the devastation she caused when she didn’t get her way. I knew she was up to something but I couldn’t prove it.”
>
“You’ve been in town all this time and following her?” Reed asks.
She nods her head and looks at me. “I knew I needed to do something to prove to Ari how sorry I am. I thought if I could trap Alex in a lie and expose her, it would help.”
“Do you agree with Mr. Adams earlier statement?” the Officer asks.
“Yes, when she fired off the first shot at my nephew, Luke shot.”
The officers ask a few more questions and I feel sick that Luke may be in trouble. There are several things in our favor, one is he is on the deed to the house. So technically, he was protecting his home when he found an intruder. After her stroke, Katy put both our names on the deed. She never explained why, but I suspected she wanted Luke to have a home if something happened to her or me.
When the officers ask everything they need to, they leave and Amy brings Davis back into the room. She hugs me so tight I think my ribs will crush. Reed never leaves from behind me and Davis crawls up in our laps. No one else wants to leave, and I doze on and off on Reed’s chest as everyone talks around us.
A doctor comes in a few hours later and introduces himself as Katy’s surgeon. He was able to remove the bullet; she had some complications, but made it through the surgery. I confirm she has a DNR and he explains the next twenty-four hours are critical. She’s in recovery but when she’s moved to ICU, we can visit for a few minutes.
After he leaves, Reed asks for the hospital administrator. He wants the largest room available in the hospital and a cot moved in so Davis can sleep close to me tonight. Then Amy and Sophie go to my house to get us some clothes. Luke and Cara take Davis to the cafeteria to get something to eat while Reed helps me get moved to the new room. He doesn’t let go of me once. When I am offered a wheelchair, he refuses and carries me instead. The new room is more like a suite. It’s twice the size and has a full hospital bed instead of the normal size twin. The nurse recommends that I eat something so Reed texts Luke to bring back some soup.
Reed's Reckoning Page 27
