Club Thrive: Predator

by Alison Mello

  “If you really want to go over the top, take her to Oasis.” I wink at the girl.

  “I’ve heard of that place, how is it? Have you been there?”

  “You can say that. My boyfriend is one of the owners.” I chuckle.

  “That is pretty freaking cool.” Cindy takes a seat across from me with the other girl whose name I can’t remember.

  We continue our conversation about the two clubs for the remainder of our lunch break, stopping only to eat and laugh. I’m starting to feel a lot better about leaving the house and working. These people are so nice and are already accepting me as a part of their office even though I’m not a permanent addition to the team. You don’t find that at all locations. One office was pure torture. They hated taking young doctors like me in. I learned very little and was treated like shit. It was so bad I reported it to the school.

  The day is going by so quickly and I’m thrilled with this assignment. It’s been an awesome day and is finally almost time to go home. I’ve managed to make up some hours and helped Cindy get the day’s notes over for transcribing for Dr. Finley which was great for me because I got more time on the computer system. These systems are so important to know and the more time you have on them the quicker you’ll be.

  I’m about to say goodnight to Dr. Finley when Slade comes running through the door. “We gotta go!” he pants.

  “What’s wrong?” He takes my hand and pulls me through the door to his waiting SUV.

  “There’s been an issue at the house. I need to get you back there.” He slams his foot down on the gas, chirping his tires as he pulls out of the parking lot. He’s racing through traffic, focused solely on the road.

  “Slade, what’s happening?”

  “I don’t know too many details yet. I was just told to get you back home and in a hurry.” He hits his directional and shouts, “Sharp right.” I grab the ‘Oh shit’ handle in his SUV and begin praying that whatever is happening isn’t too bad. My mind is racing with panic over what could possibly be going on.

  We pull up to the house and I jump from the car before it’s even fully stopped and rush through the door. There are cops here talking to the doorman, who I run past, straight to the elevator, hitting the up button a million times, willing the doors to open, but they’re taking forever. Slade runs up behind me as the doors are opening and we both step inside. “Shelly, you need to know that Ryker was involved. That’s all I know. The elevator doors open and the door to the apartment is kicked in. My fear rises to a new level until I see Eli handcuffed and being dragged out of our apartment, kicking and screaming.

  “Ryker? Mikey?” I shout as I take in the damage in the apartment.

  ***

  Mikey

  “I have some work to do, little man, so I’ll be in my office.”

  “Okay, Mikey.” He sits on the couch, staring at the TV as he says it.

  I shake my head and make my way to my office to do some research on new ways to promote the clubs. They’re doing great, but we want to make sure we’re reaching our target audience, and that sometimes involves finding new ways to advertise. Technology changes and you have to adapt with it or get left in the dust.

  I’m deep in my work when I hear a loud bang. It sounds like a gun going off. A minute later I hear another bang and I go running to the living room to find Eli standing there panting. He’s kicked the door in and he has a gun. I have no idea how he even got up to my apartment, but I can’t worry about that right now. I have to protect Ryker, who’s on the floor in front of the couch.

  “Perfect, I can kill you and then snag my kid.”

  I hear Ryker gasp with fear. “Not today, Eli. There’s no way I’m letting you walk out of this house with that boy. I made him a promise that I would protect him from you and that’s what I’m going to do.”

  He bursts into laughter. “How are you going to protect him with bullet in your head?”

  “Is your aim that good?” I ask. “You look pretty doped up right now.”

  “Good enough I took down your guard.”

  I need to remain calm, but I also have to figure this out quickly because Cole’s been shot. “Why don’t we settle this like men, put down the gun? Or are you too much of a pussy to take me without it?” He laughs again, but tucks the gun into his pants.

  “Fine, you want to show me how tough you are, bring it.” He curls his fingers, calling me over to him. I approach slowly, hoping he doesn’t pull the gun on me and shoot me. As I get closer he grabs for it, but I’m quicker and I knock it out of his hand, sending it flying across the floor.

  “You think I didn’t know you were going to do that?” I swing at him, punching him dead on.

  He’s stunned, but only for a second, because whatever he’s on is boosting his adrenalin. “You’re going to fucking pay for that.” He swings at me but misses when I duck. I back away to avoid another punch. It’s pissing him off. He runs at me, wraps his arms around my waist, and hoists me into the air before slamming me into a table. Fuck that one hurt. I throw another punch, nailing him in the side of the head. It throws him backward, I get on top of him but he’s so fucked up he loses control and starts to swing crazy punches at me. He connects a few good ones and then shoves me down onto the ground. That’s when I notice Ryker is gone, but I don’t know where he went until he runs up behind Eli. He takes his plastic bat and slams his father in the back of the head.

  “Get off Mikey,” he screams, hitting him over and over, but it’s not affecting him much. The kid is only five. Eli winds up and back hands him, knocking him to the floor.

  I see red. I can’t believe this fucker just hit him. I jump up from the floor and slam my body into his. When he hits the ground, it knocks the air out of him, but I can’t stop hitting him, not until I’m pulled off by the police.

  Ryker comes running over to me. “Mikey.” He leaps into my arms. “You saved me, Mikey.”

  “Always, little man.” I rub his back, panting and smearing blood from my hands all over him, but I don’t care. I love this kid so much I can’t let him go. I need him to know that he is safe.

  “I love you, Mikey.” I can hear him crying as the adrenalin is now wearing off and his body begins to shake.

  “I love you too, little man.” The police handcuff Eli and leave him sitting on the floor while I take Ryker to the other room to freshen up before Shelly gets here. I send Slade a text telling him he needs to get her home as soon as possible because there’s an issue at the house. We’re okay, but she needs to get here.

  A few minutes later I hear Shelly calling our names. We both go running to the living room to find Shelly taking in the scene with Slade behind her. “Mommy.” Ryker runs right into her arms.

  “Are you okay, buddy?”

  “Yeah, Daddy was hurting Mikey.”

  “It looks like he hurt you too.” She runs her knuckles gently across his cheek.

  Ryker nods. “He hit me because I was trying to help Mikey,” he announces proudly.

  “You did an awesome job, little man.” We fist bump and then Cooper comes in.

  “Is everyone all right?”

  “Yeah, we’re fine. How’s Cole?” I ask, concerned.

  “What happened to Cole?” Shelly asks, fearing for her friend.

  “Eli shot him, baby.” Her eyes go wide.

  “Relax, Shelly, he’ll be fine. They’re on their way to the hospital with him now.

  “Thank god.”

  We all take a seat on the couch. “We have Eli,” Cooper confirms for Shelly.

  “I saw him being dragged out. What about his buddies?” she asks.

  “Yeah, he had a group of people downstairs distracting the doorman while he snuck by in a group of other people. He went straight to the elevator.” He shakes his head. “The bastard is smart. He knew he wouldn’t be let up, so he planned a distraction so he could get by and it worked. As soon as he stepped off the elevator, he shot Cole. The poor guy had zero time to react.”

&
nbsp; “What’s going to happen now?”

  “We’ll book everyone, and this time I promise you he won’t get out on bail. He’s done, and if he’s smart, he’ll plead out and take his jail time. We have plenty on him to put him away for years to come.” Cooper has a huge smile on his face when he says it. I can tell he’s thrilled to have caught him in the act so he could stick it to him good.

  “It’s over,” Shelly announces.

  “No more Daddy?” Ryker asks hopefully.

  “No more Daddy,” Shelly assures him. Relief shows instantly on his young handsome face.

  I wrap my arms around both Shelly and Ryker, hugging them tight, proud I kept my promise, and now that Eli is going to jail, it’s time for us to move on to the next chapter of our lives with the rest of our Club Thrive family.

  Chapter 25

  Ten Months Later

  Mikey

  “Why does Mom take so long to get ready?” Ryker asks me. His cute raspy voice is slipping away as he gets older. He’s grown so much this year and we’re both so proud of the young man he’s becoming. Both he and Shelly are no longer having nightmares and they stopped going to counseling about a month ago. He’s doing amazing in school this year, and soon he’ll be going on to first grade. He loves school and is making a lot of friends. Both he and Shelly are so much more relaxed now that Eli is in jail. He pled guilty and got a slightly reduced sentence but he really had no choice. His boys all flipped on him the second they got to the station. He had a crew of guys he was paying with drugs to help him get his hands on his son. As we expected, his guys caused the ruckus in the club to distract the bouncers so he could get to Shelly. He told the cops he ran when he heard the music start to lower. He realized he ran out of time and took off.

  “I don’t know, little man. They just do, and all we can do is love them and support them. Don’t even bother trying to fight it. Baby, we need to get going or we’re going to be late,” I shout to Shelly from the living room. Ryker and I have been ready for twenty minutes now but my girl is taking her sweet ass time today.

  “I’m coming, I’m coming.” Shelly comes walking into the living room looking stunning in a dress that comes to her knees in the front but to her sexy calves in the back. It’s white with purple flowers. The color looks stunning on her. Of course she has me wearing a white polo and Ryker wearing a purple one. “You two look so dapper,” she gushes.

  “Would you like a picture?” I ask, causing Ryker to groan.

  “I would love one.”

  Ryker rolls his eyes but stands in front of Shelly and I. He’s like me…we take them to appease Shelly, but neither of us are a fan of having our picture taken. “Ryker, don’t roll your eyes, and give me a nice smile or you’ll take a bunch of them.” He quickly changes his tune and plasters a smile on his face to take the picture so that we’re done in one shot.

  “Where are we off to?” Shelly asks for the third time today.

  “For the third time—it’s a surprise.” She rolls her eyes at me and I correct her the way she did Ryker. She laughs and shakes her head as she grabs her purse.

  “Let's go,” she demands, anxious to see what’s going on.

  It’s a Sunday afternoon, so it’s completely out of the norm for us to pull up to the club. I know Shelly is getting suspicious, so I tell her I just have to make a quick run into the office. She tries to tell me that she and Ryker will wait in the car but I tell her to come in with me.

  I pull my key and open the front door…when I do, everyone in the room shouts.

  “Congratulations!”

  Shelly has finally finished med school and is well on her way to becoming a doctor and we couldn’t be more proud of her. She deserves this party even if she told me she didn’t want one. There’s far too much to celebrate, and I’m hoping to add one more thing to the list shortly, but first we need to say hi to all of our friends. The entire gang is here, including Brea, Eric, Cole, and the Coopers.

  “Were you surprised, Mom?” Ryker asks.

  “I was definitely surprised, because I thought I told the two men in my life that I didn’t want a party.” She gives us a stern look, crossing her arms over her chest.

  We both laugh. Sky and Logan did an amazing job for us. The place is decorated with a banner, there are some streamers around, and some colored balloons, as well as balloons with graduation caps on them. We continue saying hi to friends and family. The kids are running around on the stage dancing to music, and there’s food set up along the wall by the bar. We ordered a huge buffet of food to feed everyone.

  “You deserve this. Enjoy it.”

  “Thanks, babe.” She kisses me, and that’s Ryker’s cue to run off to play with his cousins.

  Sky, Miranda, and Katie come over together. “Congrats, Dr. Lawson,” Sky says with a playful voice.

  “Not yet, I still have to do my residencies, but thank you.”

  “Girl, we are so proud of you for pushing through and finishing school while dealing with all you had going on. You are an amazing person,” Miranda says.

  “Thank you, Miranda. That’s sweet.” She hugs her.

  “If you ladies will excuse me, I’m going to go chat with the guys.”

  I walk away, leaving them to chat amongst themselves. Cooper grabs my hand, shakes it, and pulls me in for a man hug. “How’s everyone doing?”

  “Good. Thanks again for all you’ve done for us.”

  “You got it. That’s what families are for,” he reminds me.

  The party is going well and everyone is having a blast, but I have one more thing to do before we get too far along into the night. I jump up onto the stage and grab the mic. “Ladies and gentlemen, can I have your attention please?” The entire room stops and looks to the stage. Ryker knows what I’m about to do, so he grabs what he needs from Logan and runs up alongside me.

  I lower the mic to his mouth and he says, “Mom, will you come to the stage please.” Everyone erupts into giggles at Ryker’s cuteness.

  Shelly makes her way to the stage, and when she gets there, she looks at me with total confusion.

  “Shelly Ann Lawson, we met right here in this same building a little over a year ago, and the second we spoke I knew you were the one for me. You and Ryker stole my heart, and when I nearly lost you, it made me realize that life is too short and we need to live it to the fullest. Thanks to Cooper and his crew, we have managed to close a chapter of our lives that we all hope to forget. Now you’ve graduated from med school, and Ryker and I are so proud of you, but we have another chapter we need to write together. As a family.” She still looks confused, and she’s starting to shake. I’m not sure if it’s from nerves or because she knows what’s coming. I drop down on one knee and Ryker holds out a box with a ring. He opens it and I say, “Will you please be my wife?” She continues to stare at us with a look of shock. Her eyes are welling with tears.

  “Mommy, please marry Mikey. I want him to be my dad.”

  “Yes, of course.” The entire room cheers us on. I stand up, slip the ring on her finger, and hug my family tight.

  Logan takes the mic from me and says, “Looks like this party is just getting started. My boy is getting married!” The room erupts into another round of cheers.

  I turn to him. “Will you be my best man?”

  “I would be honored.” We hug it out on the stage while everyone continues to clap and cheer for us.

  Logan breaks out a couple of bottles of champagne, passing around glasses to celebrate. “To the happy couple.” He holds up his glass and everyone shouts,” Hear hear!”

  This has been an amazing night. We are lucky to have an amazing family to celebrate with, a family that may not be connected by blood, but family all the same. We love and support each other through good times and bad.

  The End

  Epilogue

  Shelly

  Mikey loads the back of the SUV with all of our luggage. I can’t believe we actually made this vacation happen. We’re all ta
king off for a long weekend to have some fun and relax on the beach. The weather is beautiful here, making it the perfect time to get away.

  “Baby, I think you’ve over packed just a little.” Mikey shakes his head when he sees my bag by the door. He’s already brought a suitcase down that has his clothes in it and small one for Ryker. When he came up, there was one more there for me.

  “Babe, you need to realize we’re going to the beach—that means wet clothes and sand. That leads to a lot of clothing changes. Plus it will be chillier by the water.”

  He sighs. I can see he’s contemplating arguing but he lets it go and opens the door to take my bag down to his car. “Whatever you say, baby.”

  “Thank you, love.”

  “You’re welcome.” He shakes his head and walks down one more time. I’d feel bad if he didn’t have an elevator, but he does, so he can manage.

  Ryker comes into the living room, fully dressed. He looks so cute in his shorts and striped t-shirt. “Did you brush your teeth?” I ask him.

  He shakes his head no. “Mommy, will you brush with me?” We do that from time to time. He’ll get his tooth brush and bring it into my bathroom so we can brush our teeth together. I kind of like it because he mimics my movements and it gets him to do a better job of brushing his teeth. Even if I just stand there with him he doesn’t do as good of a job. When we’re done, he shows me his bright smile. His eyes are filled with joy.

  “It’s time to go. Please go to the bathroom, because it’s a long ride and we don’t want to stop.”

  “Okay, Mommy.” He does as I ask while I grab my purse.

  Mikey is back. “Are you two ready?” he asks.

  “Yeah, Ryker is just going to the bathroom,” I inform him.