Chapter 5
Ryder
I had never felt as helpless as I did in that moment, seeing my beautiful Everleigh beaten, bruised, and terrified. My heart was aching knowing the hell she’d just been through and there wasn’t a damn thing I could do to take that pain away.
I was devastated that Everleigh had to end up shooting Scott to protect herself but I know that if I’d found them before she shot him I’d have killed the fucking bastard myself. If I wasn’t holding onto Everleigh in that moment I probably would have done something heinous to his dead body just to revel in the fact that he was dead and he wouldn’t be able to ever put his hands on my girl again.
I calmly held her in my arms and cried openly for everything she’d been through tonight, hell for everything she’d been through in the past few months, knowing there wasn’t a damn thing I could have done to ultimately stop it. I didn’t care if I looked weak in that moment, because once I heard her voice on the phone I broke down. I was relieved that she was alive but I was also terrified of how I’d find her.
Thankfully Scott wasn’t able to do what he ultimately planned to do but he’d gotten some shots in on her and after we made it to the motel and I saw her bloody and swollen face I felt like someone had punched me in the gut. I didn’t know what else to do but just hold her in my arms and promise to take all the hurt away. Holding her was the only thing right now that felt real.
When the cop came over to us and wanted to ask Everleigh some questions, I demanded that she be taken to the hospital first. Not only did she need to get her lip and eye looked at, she needed some time to wrap her head around what she had to do to protect herself. She’d killed someone to save her own life and that was going to really hit her harder than anything ever had. I wanted to delay anyone pressing her about it as long as I could.
I was about to help her to her feet and get her outside the room and away from Scott’s dead body but she weakly asked the cop, “Am I going to jail for this? Scott kidnapped me, beat me, tried to rape me, and threatened to kill not just me but my friends. I’m terrified.” She started to cry hard and I cradled her head into my chest, careful to not hurt her.
The officer, whose last name I thought I heard was Tanner, knelt back down to us and said, “Everleigh, I will do everything I can to help you. We have a mountain of evidence that will prove you acted in self defense, including two restraining orders, his prior arrest record in Muncie for the assault on New Year’s Day, and the pending murder charges for killing Trisha Cramer. I promise I will do anything and everything I have to do to make sure you will not face any charges for this, okay?” he said.
Everleigh nodded but she wore a look of doubt and disbelief on her face. “Evie, you’re going to be okay. Do you trust me?” I asked her.
Her eyes went from Officer Tanner’s to mine and when our eyes connected, a weak smile spread across her bloody lips. “With my life,” she said.
I leaned and kissed her swollen eye and said, “Okay then. Let’s go to the hospital and get you checked out. All right, gorgeous?”
“All right,” she answered and I helped her to her feet. As we exited the motel room I looked back at the cops that were investigating and taking pictures of the crime scene. I saw Everleigh’s boots lying on the floor and her bra carelessly tossed on the bed. Rage boiled my blood and I glanced at Scott’s body for the first time since entering the room.
Narrowing my eyes at him I growled, “Rot in hell, mother fucker,” and I ushered Everleigh out of the room.
A few hours later both Everleigh and I were still at the hospital. I’d had my head checked out by a paramedic at the club and I was already cleared so we were just waiting for the doctor to look at the test results. During the final struggle between Everleigh and Scott she’d suffered a nasty blow to the back of her head and it required a CT scan to check for any damage. The cut on her lip wasn’t bad enough to require stitches. Her eye thankfully looked okay and would eventually heal but the doctor said that she would be sporting a black eye for about a week.
While we waited for her test results, I held her hand as she lay quietly on the bed. “You know I love you so much, right?” I said, giving her hand a squeeze.
She turned her eyes toward mine and offered a sad smile. “I love you too, rock star. When I think of how close I came to losing you tonight…” she trailed off, fresh tears rolling down her cheeks.
“Hey, you never came close to losing me, gorgeous. We will always find each other no matter what the world throws at us. We’ve got this, baby,” I said, leaning in and kissing her hand.
“I wish I could believe that. I’m so afraid I will go to jail for killing him,” she cried.
“I told you I won’t let that happen. Officer Tanner won’t let it happen either. We all will make sure that justice is really served here.”
“I’m not so much scared of being in jail,” she said.
“Then what are you scared of, Evie?”
Taking a deep unsteady breath, she said, “I’m scared of being away from you. The most terrifying part of this whole thing was not being near you and thinking you were dead. You are my everything, Ryder, and when you aren’t around even for a few minutes I feel like half of me is missing.”
I choked down my emotions because I needed to be strong for her in that moment, but her words touched me on such a deep level. Since we made it to the hospital I had decided to stow my emotions as best as I could, because as distraught as I was, I needed to be her rock. Hearing her say I was her everything was the one bright spot in this hellacious night, and I had to force back happy tears for the first time all evening.
“Everleigh,” I said, standing up and leaning close to her face, “you will never have to worry about that because you won’t be away from me for even one second from here on out. You are my everything too, gorgeous, and nothing is going to keep us apart ever again. I love you so, so, so much,” I said, my voice barely above a whisper.
She leaned up and kissed my lips lightly. “I love you too,” she said as another tear rolled down her cheek.
There was a knock on the door and Everleigh said “Come in,” as I wiped the tear from her cheek.
We both turned, assuming it was the doctor, but instead it was Danni, Jessie, Sadie, Kris, Beau, Jude, and John. For the first time since this nightmare with Scott began Everleigh looked calm and happy. “Hey family,” she said.
As usual, Sadie did her best to stow her emotions and remained strong but Danni and Jessie were sobbing messes as they made their way to Everleigh’s hospital bed. I squeezed her hand and let go so she could have a moment with her friends. As the girls collapsed onto her and they all shared an embrace, I felt a strong arm around my shoulders. “How is she, man?” asked Jude, a worried and sad expression on his face. His hazel eyes almost looked gray, like there were gloomy storm clouds in them to match his mood.
“Physically she seems okay. We are just waiting on the results of the CT scan to come back. She hit her head pretty hard in the struggle,” I said and all of the guys frowned. “Mentally on the other hand…”
“I know this has to be rough on her,” Beau said. “I can’t believe she had to kill that sick fucker. Poor girl,” he said.
“I know,” I said. “She’s terrified that they will arrest her and that we will be apart again.”
“Hey,” Kris said, “she knows that there is no way in hell we will ever let that happen, right? She’s our sister and we love her. We will protect her too.”
I nodded and all of us huddled together in a group hug. “I know you will. Thank you all so much for being here,” I said.
“We’re brothers, Ryder, and this is a family. Try and keep us away,” Jude said and I lifted the corner of my mouth in a smile.
There was another knock on the door and someone, I’m not sure who, muttered for whoever it was to come in. The guys and I backed away from the door as the doctor walked in.
His eyes widened at the sight of all of us crammed i
nto the small room. The guys backed farther away as I made my way over to Everleigh’s bed. She grasped for my hand as Danni, Jessie, and Sadie fell to the sides of the bed. “Hello Everleigh,” he said.
“Hi, Dr. Eller,” Everleigh said.
He looked around at everyone crammed into the room and he furrowed his bushy eyebrows. “Uh, I’m sorry, but everyone will have clear out now. This room is for family only,” he said, not even phased by the fact that he was being glared at by four large tattooed rockers and a hulk of a bodyguard.
Everleigh looked point blank at him and said, “They are family. They stay,” she insisted. “Do you have my test results?”
Dr. Eller snorted out a laugh and shook his head. “Yes, and everything came back normal. You don’t have a concussion and your scan looked clear. Looks like you were very lucky, young lady,” he said.
I let out a sigh of relief as Everleigh said, “Well, that’s one hurdle I’ve jumped tonight. Thank you, doctor.”
Dr. Eller nodded and said “I will have the nurse start your discharge papers, but I did want to let you know that there are two police officers waiting outside to talk to you. If your family won’t wait outside for me they will have to wait outside for them,” he said and before I could call him a mother fucker or a douche bag or anything he left the room in a huff.
Everleigh’s eyes were as wide as quarters as I wrapped a protective arm around her. “Ryder,” she whimpered, looking like a scared little girl.
“It will be okay, Evie, I promise.”
There was a quick tap on the door and it opened before anyone could say anything. “Everleigh? It’s Officer Tanner. Can we come in?” Officer Tanner came into the room followed by another man, obviously a detective or something, and he was surprisingly wearing jeans and a leather jacket. Neither of these guys looked like cops to me at all and they seemed laid back. I instantly felt a little more at ease.
“Um, y-yes,” she said. I felt her hand grip mine for dear life.
Sadie moved over to Beau, who instantly pulled his little sister into a one armed hug. “We will be right outside if you need us, okay girl?” she said.
“Okay. Thanks Sadie,” she said.
“Come on everyone,” she said, her hand noticeably landing on Jude’s bicep. She quickly let go but kept her eyes on him for a second longer than I think she meant to. She reached out her fist to me and we bumped them together for a moment. Then she half-smiled at me before she walked toward the door.
Everyone started to pour out into the hallway and before he left, Jude looked back at us and said, “Love you, sis.” Then he winked at her before he walked out and closed the door.
Officer Tanner approached the bed and said, “Everleigh, this is Officer Nick Ramirez and he’s my partner in homicide.”
Everleigh reached out her hand and offered it to the detective. “Nice to meet you,” she said, sounding nervous.
“Nice to meet you too, Everleigh. I know that tonight has been very traumatic for you, but we need to ask you some questions. Is that okay?”
She nodded and said, “Yes, but only if Ryder can be with me. I can’t do this without him.”
Officer Ramirez smiled at her. “Of course he can. Is it okay if I sit?” he asked, motioning to a chair in the corner.
Nodding again, she said, “Sure.”
He pulled the chair close to the bed and took out a pen and a pad of paper. “All right, Everleigh, why don’t we start at the beginning of this evening and go from there? We already have reviewed the files we had sent from the Muncie Police Department and we know about your history with Scott Adams, including the attempted sexual assault and the murder of Trisha Cramer. Can you just tell us about what happened tonight?”
Officer Tanner noticed Everleigh start to tear up and he walked over to the bed. Gently placing his hand on her shoulder, he said, “It’s okay, Everleigh. Take your time.”
She swiped away a few tears and after taking a deep breath she began to tell them all about what happened starting with our night out at the club and how Scott attacked me from behind while I was taking a piss.
She told him all about being abducted at knifepoint, about how she’d luckily given into my concern and tucked the gun I’d registered in her name into her boot just in case there was trouble. She told him about how Scott told her that he’d killed me, how he’d punched and slapped her face, how she’d pretended to give into him, and how she’d pulled out the gun in an effort to scare him off of her long enough to call for help.
She told him about what he threatened to do to her…everything he threatened. My stomach churned and my blood boiled as I heard Everleigh, the love of my life, tell the police about how he threatened to beat her within an inch of her life, rape her violently, and then slit her throat before he set out to do the same to Danni, Sadie, and Jessie.
She told them she begged him to stop and that she didn’t want to hurt him, which I believed with my whole heart. Everleigh had such a pure aura around her and there was no way she would ever hurt anyone on purpose.
After she was finished giving her statement, she looked drained and emotionally spent. As Officer Ramirez was finishing writing down her statement, she asked the question that had us both worried. “So are you going to arrest me now?”
He looked up from his paper and asked, “Why would I do that?”
“Because,” she asked, pausing to take a breath, “because I killed him. I didn’t mean to and I wish to God it didn’t happen, but it did. No matter what the facts are and that it was self defense that doesn’t change the fact that I killed someone that I used to care about,” she said, and suddenly she was breathing heavily and I was afraid she would start to hyperventilate.
I rubbed her arm and tried to soothe her. “Evie, baby, calm down. It’s okay,” I said, kissing her on the forehead.
Officer Tanner said, “Everleigh, we just came tonight to get your statement. You will not be facing charges in the death of Scott Adams. He was stalking you, he murdered your friend, he had a violent history with you, and we have scores of witnesses that will corroborate everything that has happened. That plus the DNA we collected from the scene…this is pretty open and shut. You were protecting yourself, Everleigh, and this was self defense in its most basic form.”
“So, I’m not going to jail?” she asked, a tremble of hope in her voice.
Officer Tanner smiled at her and said, “No, sweetheart, you aren’t going to jail. Because of your bravery you, and from what I hear your friends too, are safe tonight. Ryder, you are free to take her home.”
I smiled and held her tightly against me as she shed tears of relief. “I told you, baby, that this would all be okay. It’s finally over.”
“Finally over,” she cried as I rocked her back and forth.
As the officers stood to leave, I told them both, “Thank you.”
Officer Ramirez just nodded and Officer Tanner said, “You’re welcome. Make sure she takes it easy. Oh yeah, and by the way,” he said, “my wife Rory and I are huge Bad Blooded Rebel fans. It was great to meet you and your band mates in person. Maybe next time it can be under better circumstances.”
I smiled at him and said, “For sure. You and your wife have two front row tickets and back stage passes in the mail to our next show in New York, my friend. I’ll have them sent to the precinct.”
“Thanks, man. If this doesn’t make me husband of the year I don’t know what will. Goodbye you two,” he said, and with a wave he left the room.
It really was finally over. I could take Everleigh home and we could be free to live our lives without anyone trying to stop us. “So, are you ready to go home?” I asked her.
She smiled weakly at me and shrugged. “Where is home exactly?”
My brows furrowed. “It’s wherever you want it to be. The album is finished but we can stay in New York-”
“No,” she said quickly. “I…I don’t want to stay here anymore. Too many bad memories.”
I nodded in
understanding. “I agree. I’ll call the realtor and put the penthouse up for sale first thing.”
“Okay,” she answered, sighing.
“Well do you want to go back to Muncie? That is technically still your home. You grew up there, your job is there, and Pizza King is there,” I said, and she huffed out a laugh.
She thought about going back to her hometown for a long moment and then let out a deep breath. “I don’t think I want to go back there either. I love Muncie and I will miss Deuce but I can’t live in my house anymore knowing that Trish was staying there for me and was attacked there protecting me. I won’t be able to face people in that town after they find out about what happened to Scott.”
“Everleigh, he killed Trish and he tried to kill you! You acted in self defense.”
“We both know that but no one there is going to care. Half the town will feel pity and sorrow for me and the other half will look down their noses at me and call me a murderer. I can’t go back there, not anymore.”
I gave her shoulders a gentle squeeze. “So, where do you want to go then?”
She turned her big brown eyes to me and said, “What about Cincinnati?”
I blinked a few times. “You want to move to Cincy? Why?”
“You came and stayed with me in my town and we’d probably still be there if your label hadn’t forced you guys to come here. You risked everything to come to me, so why shouldn’t I do the same? I have nothing keeping me in Indiana anymore and I’d follow you anywhere.”
“I think that’s the other way around, gorgeous,” I said smiling. “I quite literally have followed you around. I’ll go wherever you want to, baby. If Cincinnati is where you want to be-”
“It is,” she said.
“Then that’s where we will go. I’ll take care of everything and we can leave in the morning if you want.”
Redeemed (Bad Blooded Rebel #4) Page 5
