Tortured (Cherry Grove Series Book 4)

by Cole Lepley

  I shrug, flicking my ash over the side railing. “No, I probably deserved that.” I take another drag and she’s still watching me, concern in her eyes.

  “Perry, I worry about you too. All the time.”

  “It’s not your job to worry about me.”

  She steps forward and grabs my arm. “Yes, it is. I love you just as much as you love me. I can’t remember the last time I saw you smile and actually mean it.”

  Tess’s face flashes in my mind and I do smile. That quickly fades when I remember the place we’re currently in. I shake my head. “It’s complicated.”

  “That’s all you ever say,” she scoffs. “Do you think I can’t handle it? I’ve been through some shit too you know.”

  When she turns to walk away from me I pull her back. I flick my cigarette into the yard below and meet her eyes. “Mack, if you knew half the shit I’ve done you’d never look at me the same.”

  Her face shifts from irritation to empathy. “That couldn’t be true. You’re the best person I know.”

  I’m too exhausted to argue with her, so I just smile and kiss her forehead. I wish that were true.

  41

  Stalemate

  Tess- Now

  When I pull into the lot at the emergency room, my hands are still shaking. No matter how I feel about Perry at the moment, nothing could stop me from getting here. News of the accident spread through town fast. I’m harboring a little resentment that I had to hear about it from two ladies having a conversation in the check-out line at the grocery store. He could have called me—at least, that’s what I would’ve done.

  When I exit the car, I’m not really paying attention where I’m walking, because I almost run straight into Sloan coming out of the large sliding doors. I huff when I come to a stop, slowly meeting her eyes.

  “Of course you’re here.” I angrily readjust the strap of my purse. “I’ll bet he called you, too.”

  She picks at her nail polish, not looking at me anymore. “He said you aren’t speaking right now.” She lifts her head and gives half a shrug. “He said if he called you, you probably wouldn’t have answered.”

  I roll my eyes. “I’m sure that was the reason.”

  I push past her with a wrath I typically keep inside, but right now, I can’t. All I can think about was how fast he so obviously went right back to her. Just like I knew he would. I almost make it to the door, but Sloan grabs my arm.

  “It’s not what you think,” she says quickly. I glare at her hand on me and she pulls it back. Even though a million things are running through my mind, I still take the time to notice her engagement ring is still missing.

  She folds her hands over each other in front of her as if I’m an idiot.

  “I don’t believe you,” I say, my voice clipped. When she starts to open her mouth, I take another step closer, interrupting her. “And to be quite honest, I don’t care at the moment either. You two deserve each other.”

  Sloan laughs under her breath. “Why? Because he’s a liar, too?”

  “So, he told you why we’re fighting?”

  She shakes her head. “No, he didn’t actually. But I can only think of one reason, other than me, for you guys to fight.” She gives me a knowing look. “Perry doesn’t full-on lie, more like he dances around the truth long enough to distract you from actually telling you.”

  As much as it pains me to admit—she’s right. Sloan probably knows him just as well as I do whether I like it or not.

  I cross my arms, already losing the minimal patience I have left. “I would love to stand out here and have this conversation with you all day, but my primary concern right now is Mack and to make sure that he’s okay. I’m sure that masochist is in there blaming himself once again for something that is completely beyond his control.”

  She gives a sad smile. “He is, so be nice.”

  “I’m always nice,” I almost growl back at her.

  She nods once. “Yep, like I said.” She reaches over and pats my arm before turning to leave. “Go easy on him.”

  If Sloan is asking me not to be a dick, it must be pretty bad in there. After taking a deep breath, I walk inside the automatic doors and immediately scan around for him. I don’t have to wonder where he is for too long as I see him coming off the elevator. His eyes are cast to the floor, walking with his hands in his pockets.

  “Perry,” I call, making my way toward him.

  He stops in his tracks, the dejected smile on his face nearly breaking my heart all over again. I practically fall into his arms when he gets to me, wrapping myself around him tight.

  “I came as soon as I heard,” I breathe into his neck. His hands cradle my head and lower back before he sighs against me.

  “I’m so glad you’re here,” he says softly. “I didn’t think you’d come.”

  I pull back and give him a look like he’s lost his mind. When I heard Mackenzie was involved in a car accident with Sean, I couldn’t get here fast enough.

  “Of course I’m here,” I say, placing my hand on his cheek.

  He gives me another lung-bursting squeeze before releasing me and taking my hand. He starts to pull me toward the doors. “I need to go outside, get some air.”

  I follow him willingly, although I’m sure the air he needs is going to be replaced by the smoke he’s about to inhale into his lungs. Even before we’re all the way outside, he brings a cigarette to his lips and lights it. I catch the glare from the girl sitting at the reception desk and stifle my laughter. He likes to break the rules no matter where he is.

  We walk around the corner and he leans against the side of the building, taking a deep drag. “This is all my fault,” he says, expelling a forceful lungful of smoke.

  I shake my head. “You always say that…”

  “It’s fucking true, Tess. You weren’t there.”

  His anger doesn’t surprise me. Perry has two modes in time of panic; murder and guilt. Actually, it’s usually a combination of both. Arguing with him is completely pointless, so I let him believe what he wants. I watch him take angry drags of his cigarette for a moment, giving him a chance to calm down.

  “What happened?”

  He sighs. “Mack got this bright idea that she would get into a car with that asshole and talk to him alone.” His fist clenches. “Judah saw her leaving and we followed them. I had to watch helplessly from two cars back while he drove her into oncoming traffic on the fucking freeway.”

  My eyes close as I picture what that must have been like for him. I shake my head, placing my hand on his. “I’m so sorry. Is she okay?”

  He nods quickly while taking another long drag. “Yeah, she’s going to be fine. A couple ribs on the left side are broken, and she shattered her left arm in two places, but other than that she’s expected to make a full recovery.”

  I move closer, holding his hand tighter. “That’s all that matters.”

  We don’t talk about Sean. It’s been almost twelve hours since the accident and the big story is about him—and the fact that he didn’t make it. Small town sports stars make headlines faster than anyone else does. That, and the fact that nobody really knows what a terribly disturbed person Sean was.

  Perry tosses his cigarette to the ground and reaches for the mints he always carries in pocket. He pops one in his mouth, moving it around for a minute before angrily chewing it.

  “I’m just glad she has someone else that loves her. Judah seems like a good dude, even though she’s been keeping him at arms length for the past couple of months.”

  “Love is scary, especially after what she’s been through.” I laugh once. “It’s actually scary for anyone, no matter what the circumstance.”

  He locks his eyes on me with a heated gaze.

  “Well, he’s not just going to walk away because things got difficult.”

  I sigh heavily. He’s not going to make this easy on me. “I’m here now, aren’t I?”

  He’s quiet for a moment and then he leans in and I know wh
at he’s going to do. I turn my head before his lips meet mine. Hurt flashes in his eyes and tilts his head to me. “I can’t even kiss you now?”

  I move my hand to rest on his chest, putting a little distance between us. “Just because I’m here, doesn’t mean anything has changed for us.”

  He swallows hard, his features darkening. “Okay, so you can toss me out after one little fight, but you gave Walker countless chances and never once kicked him out.”

  “That was different.”

  He laughs. “How was that different?”

  I poke my finger in his chest. “Because you’re not supposed to lie to me.” My voice comes out louder than I expect and a couple walking by gives us a look of concern. I take a step back and cross my arms, waiting for his inevitable defense.

  Instead, he looks over my shoulder, shaking his head. “I’m not changing my mind.”

  “Neither am I.”

  Perry huffs another deep sigh. “Tess,” he says, tenting his hands together in front of him. “I wish that I could let this go, but I can’t.” He throws them out and then they fall at his sides. “For as long as I’ve known you, all I wanted was for you is to be happy. That’s why I tried so fucking hard to get Walker to stop. I promised you that he was the best thing for you and I was going to make damn sure I didn’t let you down.” He takes a step closer, invading my space. “That’s why I didn’t kiss you that night at your party, and why I tried so hard to make a relationship work with a girl I knew I could never please, and most of all, it’s why I continued to do the wrong thing over and over because I was hell bent on keeping that promise.”

  I bite my lip, letting his words sink in. When I don’t say anything in response, he keeps going, speaking softer this time.

  “It completely blows my mind that you can stand here and act like I’m the one who threw us away. I’m trying to fix us, not make things worse.”

  “Working for Robby doesn’t fix things, Perry.” My eyes narrow. “That’s why we’re where we are in the first place.”

  He doesn’t waver. “Everything comes full circle eventually.” He motions his hand toward the building behind us. “Look at Sean.”

  I’m afraid to ask my next question, but I do it anyway. “Are you really going to be able to kill someone?”

  He looks away from me again and I shake his arm. When his eyes drift back to me, they are resolute. “Why do you think that’s what he wants me to do?”

  “I know you. I know what you would do for him.” He tries to look away from me again, but I move closer and grab the front of his hoodie. “And I know you could never do anything like that.”

  He messes with the beanie on his head, pulling it lower. “Yeah, well things change.”

  Fighting back tears, I let go of his shirt and take a step back. “They don’t have to. All you have to do is tell him no.”

  Consideration dances in his eyes for a moment and I’m holding my breath. For about a half a second I think I may have gotten through to him—until he shakes his head.

  “I can’t do that.”

  I want to cry, scream—punch him. But I can’t do any of those things. I’m frozen to the ground while my entire world slips out from underneath me. He’s determined to put himself in danger and all for what? Nothing he does will bring Walker back and what scares me the most is how he will feel afterwards. Perry was never the hardened criminal everyone perceives him to be. This was something that was thrown on him and he went with it. He went with it until it dragged everyone down in its path, and now he has to find the strength to stop once and for all. I wish for once I was good enough to be the reason.

  42

  Retribution

  Perry- Now

  As per usual, I receive a phone call from a blocked number while I’m still sitting at Mack’s bedside. I know who it is, and although the timing is completely fucked, I mouth to her that I’ll be right back. She waves me off, too busy staring at Judah with that love-drunk look on her face. And she denies it.

  When I’m safely in the hallway, I connect the call. Robby starts talking before I even say a word.

  “Twenty minutes. At the point.”

  He hangs up as abruptly as he called and I scrub my hand down my face in frustration. That wasn’t a request, it was a demand. If I don’t show up now I may lose my chance, or even worse, Robby could be pissed I punked out and come looking for me. Thankfully, Judah comes strolling out of the room behind me. I grab his shirt, pulling him over with a rough tug.

  “You need to do me a solid.”

  He raises an eyebrow. “Um, dude. The last time I did you a solid I was assaulted by one of your jilted ex-girlfriends.”

  I roll my eyes. “She was never my girlfriend.” Throwing my arm over his shoulder, I lead him farther down the hallway. “Besides, she’s a lot nicer than the kinds of people who are usually looking for me.”

  His eyes widen. “Okay, what do you want me to do?”

  I smile, releasing him from my grasp. “I need to leave for a little while. Something came up.”

  “Okay,” he says slowly. I already see the hesitancy on his face. “Is this something you don’t want Mack to know?”

  Fucking right it is—but he doesn’t need to know that. Mack never knew about the shit me and the guys were into, and if I have my way, she never will. The only problem right now is that it’ll look extremely shady if I leave during a time when I typically wouldn’t dream of it.

  I grip one of his shoulders, looking him dead in the eye. “Just tell her I went to deal with something that involves Tess. She’ll understand that.”

  I turn to walk away and he steps in front of me. “Wait,” he says, his eyes shifting back up the hall and then to me. “Should I be worried?” He’s so tall he has to lower his head a little as he whispers the next part. “Do you need like back-up? I could help you.”

  I laugh and give him a playful shove to the wall. “You’re funny, Judah.” I pat him on the shoulder again. “I like you.”

  He’s still sporting that dumbfounded look on his face when I walk away and head toward the stairs. Guys like Judah don’t need to be involved in the things guys like me do. You need to have many hardened layers and rough edges to be able to look yourself in the mirror after doing shit like that. I wouldn’t wish it on anyone—even myself.

  The point is code for where we usually schedule drops. It happens to be about a half mile down from the bridge Walker and I were forced to leap from to escape the cops. It’s also the point in which Walker was killed.

  Robby and several men are already waiting for me when I pull up along a dirt road, just before the bridge. He gives me an irritated look as I exit my vehicle and walk toward him.

  “Your timing is shit,” I say, coming to a stop in front of him.

  Robby’s expression remains stoic. “Sorry, Michaels. I didn’t realize you had your heart set on a specific time for this murder.”

  I’m already losing patience with him and I’ve been standing here for all of thirty seconds. Instead of antagonizing him further, I nod to the duffle slung over his arm. “What’s that?”

  He drops it at my feet with a smirk. “It’s a bag full of kittens.”

  I grit my teeth, but he laughs. That actually pisses me off more. When he finishes his stupid joke, he nudges my shoulder like we’re buds. “You’re the bait and this is the sweet stuff that’s going to help lure him in.”

  “Who’s he?”

  Robby scratches his chin as if he’s considering lying to me. “Turns out, it was my old pal Sam. It seems that after I cut him out of the business, he wasn’t too thrilled about it. He must have thought Walker was an easy target to get to me.”

  This surprises me and I release a low whistle. Truth is, we never met Sam. It would make sense that Walker would have no idea who he was if Sam ambushed him. But it still doesn’t seem right. Sam was the guy above Robby. If he wanted to get to him, it would have made more sense to just kill him. Why kill Walker?

&nb
sp; “If I show up, and he knows Walker was my boy, what makes you think he’d want to do a deal with me?”

  He shrugs. “He doesn’t know who you are and he already agreed.” Robby laughs. “You’re awfully full of yourself, aren’t you? You were small time at best. He won’t put two and two together.”

  My eyes narrow to slits. This feels like a set-up.

  Robby picks up the duffle and hands it to me this time. I immediately set it on the ground to open it and he laughs.

  “What are you doing?”

  I look up at him, laughing once. “I would like to see what I’m carrying around.” When I open the bag, my eyes widen. “What the fuck? This isn’t weed.”

  He smirks. “No shit. It’s meth.”

  Standing in one quick motion, I get in his face. “Jesus, Robby. If I get caught with this, I’m looking at twenty years. What if he’s an informant or undercover or some shit?”

  His face scrunches up like I’m ridiculous. “You honestly think I wouldn’t know by now? He was my partner in this for years.”

  My arms shoot out to my sides in anger. “Who fucking knows? The list of things that surprise me is getting shorter by the minute.”

  He steps closer and places a hand on my shoulder. “Relax. You’ve done this a million times. Just make the drop and we’ll pick you up when you’re done.”

  I shrug him off, the veins in my neck already bulging. “Yeah, and what if he wants to shoot me in the head?”

  “Perry, you need to chill.” He lights a cigarette and nods me forward. “I got your six.”

  Gritting my teeth, I pull the bag from the ground and start walking. “You got my six,” I mutter under my breath. “You shady, gangster motherfucker.”

  “What’s that?” he calls after me.

  I turn around and walk backwards for a few steps, throwing up double middles. “I said fuck you, Robby.” My voice booms through the silent night sky and a smile tips up the corners of his mouth.