The Price of Love

by Cassy Roop

  “Please, Mrs. Hawkins. He has my best friend. He came to Spain and took her by gunpoint and I am scared he will harm her. Please, I beg you to tell us where he is. She...she is pregnant…please,” Cassie begged my mother.

  “Gunpoint? Surely you are mistaken child. My Brett is a good man.”

  “Your Brett is a sadistic bastard and he has my best friend now tell us where he is!”

  My mother looked around at all of us and a horrid look crossed her face. I think she was now starting to realize that Brett was not who he appeared to be.

  “I have not seen him in over a week. Last I spoke with him he was working on the house he bought. He said that he was getting ready to move in.”

  “What house? Where?” Jackson chimed in.

  “I--I’m not sure. I have not seen it yet. He said he would show it to us as soon as it was finished. I assumed he would tell us when he was finished.”

  It was not much to go on but it was a possible lead. If he was working on a house, then maybe that was where he had been planning to take Kendall.

  “Think. Think real hard. Did he say what area of town? Color? Description? Anything Mrs. Hawkins. A girl and her baby’s life could be at stake.”

  “Brett won’t harm her. He always loved that girl. She broke his heart, but he still loved her.”

  My patience was wearing thin with my mother. I felt like she was still trying to defend him.

  “You don’t know that! For fuck sake mother look what he did to her parents!” I yelled.

  “He did it in self--”

  “Don’t say it was self-defense! You know he fucking murdered them!” I interrupted her.

  Jackson walked over and placed his hand on my shoulder. They were moving rapidly up and down to match the rhythm of my labored breathing. I knew I was starting to lose control, but I was desperate to find Kendall.

  My mother seems to be struggling internally. She finally spoke after what seemed like forever.

  “All I know is that he said it was over in the Singleton area. Do you really think he will hurt her?” she asked with a catch in her voice.

  “Yes, mom I do. I have been trying to tell you that he is mentally unstable for years. You just chose not to believe me.”

  With that I turned my back on her and walked out the front door. Cassie and Jackson soon followed. We all piled in the car and we sped off in the direction of the Singleton area. I was confused by my mother’s information. Singleton was an industrial area that had more warehouses than homes.

  Jackson was behind the wheel and on the phone barking orders at someone. I could tell he was worried about Kendall almost as much as Cassie and I were. Cassie had been unusually quiet these last few hours and I knew she was struggling with a deep inner turmoil trying to not think about what Brett could be doing to Kendall.

  “What’s the plan?” I asked Jackson as he ended his phone call.

  “I have several men headed over to that area now. They are to ask around. See if they have seen anything suspicious. Maybe check out some of the warehouses. I have a feeling he was lying to mommy dearest.”

  The thought that Brett had Kendall holed up in some damp, run-down warehouse had me cringing. I looked at Cassie sitting in the back seat. She had been crying silently to herself. Her tear stained cheeks were evidence of it.

  “We are going to find her Cass. If I have to use every last dime I have and every resource available to me I will. I will keep searching till my last breath to find her.”

  She nodded and turned to stare back out the window.

  Kendall

  Someone help me please.

  I could not move. My face hurt. My legs hurt. Everything hurt. Brett had taken his anger out on me with his fists. One of my eyes was swollen shut and my lip was bleeding. My head throb from where he banged it against the wall. I wanted to go home. I wanted out of here. This was a nightmare.

  Someone help me please.

  I could not tell if the words were coming out or if they were just in my head. Brett said this was my punishment for letting another man touch me. Now here I was tied down to the bed with my arms over my head and my legs tied to the foot rail.

  I was spread eagle on the bed in nothing but my bra and panties. I had thrown up several times now and I didn’t think Brett believed that I was just sick anymore. There was a new hatred in his eyes with the conclusions I think he was coming to.

  “You little whore! You let him touch you. You let him inside you. Are you carrying my brother’s bastard child, Kendall? Huh? Answer me!”

  “Ye--yes--yes,” I choked out. I was now a sobbing mess. My breathing had become rapid. I felt like I could not get enough oxygen.

  “Fuck! No… No… No!”

  He grabbed at his hair so forcefully I thought he was going to pull it out. He turned to me and his eyes were ferocious. I had never seen such evil in my life. I felt like a demon was present instead of a man.

  “Well, we will just have to take care of that, won’t we? I’m going to get some things. You are staying right here until I get back.

  “Nooo!” I screamed at him as he left out the door. He closed the thick heavy door and I could hear the latches lock. This could not be happening! He could not meant what he just said.

  We will just have to take care of that won’t we?

  My stomach rolled and I was going to be sick. I cannot lose my baby. It was the one thing I had in my life that was my blood. Even though it was not here yet, he or she was my only chance left for a family.

  I started crying even harder. If he was going to take my baby, he might as well take me too. It hit me hard that this was probably his intent any way. I cried so long that I did not even remember when I fell asleep.

  Chapter 25

  Tristan

  Jackson’s team, as well as Jackson, me and Cassie had spent the last five hours combing the Singleton area. We had gone door to door as well as stopped people on the street to show Kendall’s picture to everyone we came across in hopes that someone had seen her. So far all we had reached was a dead end.

  As each hour goes past, I was getting more and more desperate. We had looked over nearly all the warehouses in the area. We were approaching the last one when I saw him. Brett was climbing into a car.

  “Jax!” I yelled so loud that Jackson slammed on the breaks. I pointed in the direction of where Brett was climbing into the car.

  “Holy shit, it’s him.” I heard Jackson murmur.

  Cassie sat ramrod straight in the back seat to see where we were looking.

  “Do you think he has her in there?” Cassie asked.

  “I’m not sure, but we are going to find out.”

  We waited until we saw Brett drive away. We went to the door that we saw Brett walk out of to find it locked with a padlock. Jackson took his gun out from the holster and pointed it at the lock. Pulling the trigger, he shot the lock and the door opened. We filed in one at a time into the dark warehouse. Jackson pulled out a small flashlight so we could see where we were going.

  The warehouse seemed empty for the most part. Quickly we set out in different directions to see if we could find Kendall. I noticed another door toward the back of the warehouse. I quickly made my way over and noticed that it seemed to be really thick and locked up. Locked up good.

  There was a keypad located next to the big door. “Jackson! Over here!” Jackson and Cassie both came running up to where I was standing.

  “Someone has put a lot of effort into keeping what is behind this door from anyone. That is a pretty fancy security system,” Jackson said as he looked at the keypad.

  “Seems strange in an empty warehouse doesn’t it? Can you get it open?” I asked him. I knew in my heart of heart that Kendall was behind this door. I could feel it. I could feel her. The connection I had with her as so strong it felt like our hearts beat together as one.

  Jackson produced a small screwdriver from his pocket and went to work removing the faceplate on the keypad. After prying it off, h
e glared at all the wires inside. Jackson was the best security man in the business. That was why he was responsible for all of my hotels.

  “Fuck this is hard,” he said and he concentrated on going to work on the wires, “one wrong move and it alerts whoever put it here that there is a breach.”

  Minutes go by as Jackson concentrated. I could feel my heart racing in my chest with anticipation. Sweat was forming on my brow. She had to be here. She just had to be.

  “Yes!” I heard Jackson hoot and I heard the locks click out of place. I pulled the heavy door open and walked into a room that looked just like a bedroom. My eyes shot to the still woman chained to the bed. She was in nothing but her bra and panties, and bruises were covering her body. Her eyes were closed and her breathing looked shallow.

  “Fuck Kendall!”

  I rushed over to her side and placed her face in my hands. It was covered in bruises with one eye swollen. Her lips were dry and cracked open with dried blood.

  “Kendall, Kendall, baby wake up. Please baby wake up!”

  Cassie’s sharp gasp entered the room and she was next to Kendall in a flash kneeling on the other side of the bed trying to free her from the chains that bound her wrists and ankles.

  I gently shook Kendall’s shoulders trying to rouse her. She let out a moan and I felt the tiniest bit of relief. Slowly her eyes opened and she looked up at me with unfocused eyes.

  “Tristan.”

  “Jax, help me get these restraints off.” I tell him. He came over with some sort of pick and within moments had the cuffs off her arms and legs. I scooped Kendall up in my arms and held her tight.

  “Kendall, baby its ok. We are here. We are here.” I said as I rocked her in my arms. I was too busy holding my girl in my arms that I didn’t hear the click of the gun.

  “Hello Tristan.”

  The sound of Brett’s voice had me froze in place. I glanced back at him and he had Cassie in his arms with the gun pointed at her head. Jackson had his gun drawn and pointed at Brett. Kendall looked up and gasps at the sight of Brett’s gun aimed at Cassie.

  “Put the fucking gun down Brett,” Jackson demanded. Brett laughed a bone chilling laugh as his gaze bounced back and forth between me and Jackson.

  “Good thing I had to come back to get something. I would have missed out on the party.” Brett said with a sarcastic tone. His eyes were dilated and sweat was pouring from his body.

  “No Brett! No please don’t hurt her!” Kendall pleaded with him.

  “Everyone just listen and shut up,” Brett barked. “Who are you going to choose Tristan? The best friend or the girl you tried to steal away from me? Either way only one of them is walking tonight.”

  “No!” Kendall cried. She clambers to her feet shoves me away from her. In an instant she was running over to where Brett was holding Cassie. The fear in Cassie’s face was imminent.

  “Brett, I’ll go with you, just let her go, please.”

  Brett looked at Kendall and then he raised his head to glance at where I was standing next to the bed. With a huge shove he tossed Cassie in Jackson’s direction and raised the gun to aim it at me. The next few moments went by in an instant but they might as well had been playing in slow motion. Kendall looked at Brett and then back to where he was aiming the gun at me.

  Before I could even blink, Kendall was racing back to me. She threw herself into my arms just as Brett fired the gun and I sink to the ground with her in my arms.

  I heard Cassie scream and then Jackson unloads his gun on Brett. The last image I had of my brother were the eyes rolling back in his head before he collapsed.

  I sat in a chair next to her bed. The only sounds in the room were the slow steady beeping of the machines that monitored her vitals. Her chest was rising and falling, giving signals that she was alive. I had never been more scared in my life than I was when I heard that gunshot. My girl, my beautiful, brave, sweet girl jumped in front of me and Brett and took a bullet for me.

  There was blood everywhere. I was so sure that I was going to lose her. By the time the paramedics had arrived she was pale and lifeless. I held her in my arms afraid that if I let go, she would let go of her life.

  The paramedics declared Brett dead at the scene. Funny how I had absolutely no emotions to shed for someone who was my blood, my brother? That man was not my brother, but a monster. My family, my love was lying here in this hospital bed.

  Every once in a while she would stir, but she still had not woken up yet. The doctors assure me that she and the baby were ok. The bullet did not hit any vital organs or anything that would affect the baby, but she did had to have a blood transfusion because she lost so much blood.

  Why hadn’t she woken up? When would she wake up?

  The door to the room opened and Jackson and Cassie come in. Cassie, I knew, was beside herself with worry. Cassie was the first one to bring Kendall out of her shell after what happened with her parents. The bond these two girls share was insurmountable.

  “Tristan, why don’t you go and take a shower or go get some coffee and food. Jackson and I can stay here with her. We will call you if anything happens,” Cassie said.

  “I’m not leaving her side until she wakes up Cass. I’m not leaving.”

  I never wanted to leave her side again. Realizing that I could have lost the one person who meant more to me than anything in the world was bone chilling. I shivered at the thought.

  “I will run to get you some clean clothes, and Cass you can run down to the cafeteria to get him some coffee and food,” Jackson said as he walked over and placed his hand on my shoulder where I was sitting next to Kendall’s bed.

  I nodded. Cassie walked over to Kendall and leaned in to kiss her cheek. Big, bright tears are pooled in her eyes as she whispers to her friend, “I love you. I won’t be gone long.” After that she and Jackson left the room and I was once again alone with Kendall and the engulfing sound of the beeping monitors.

  I looked down and saw where I held her limp hand in mine. I caressed the softness of her skin. I would do anything for her to wake up. Even if I had to promise to let her go, I would do it. I lifted my head to the sky and plead with God.

  “This woman is the very breath I breathe. Even if it means that my own heart breaks in the process, just heal her. Keep her and the baby safe. I will do anything. Anything.”

  I leaned in to kiss her hand and a tear rolled down my cheek. Love was a sacrifice, it was a want and a need. It was a desire so strong, that it was like a never ending gravitational pull on your soul. It consumes your every thought, your every action. You never make decisions without thinking about that love. Your love. Sometimes love comes with a price. My price was to sacrifice every part of me so that she could be free and happy.

  I looked at my beautiful girl lying there in the hospital bed. I would gladly pay any price if it brought her back.

  Please wake up baby. Please wake up.

  Who I was pleading with I did not know. I guess I was pleading with her, with God, with anyone or anything that will bring her back to me.

  All I was met with was silence.

  Kendall

  I heard voices and beeping all around me. God the beeping. It was driving me insane, but I was frozen in place. No matter how hard I tried to move my body, it would not listen.

  Baby please wake up.

  Was that Tristan? Was he here? I tried to open my mouth to speak, but nothing happens. Why couldn’t I wake up?

  I could hear people come in and out of the room. At one point I think I heard Cassie and Jackson. The one constant person who stayed was Tristan. I could feel him holding my hand. My heart squeezes. I hated him but I also loved him. I was a pool of fluctuating emotions.

  What happened? I remember Brett taking me somewhere. I remembered him beating me and chaining me to the bed. I recalled Tristan, Cassie, and Jackson finding me. Brett coming back. The gun! I remembered him pointing it at Tristan. I ran and jumped into Tristan’s arms just as Brett fired the gun. That
was why my side hurts so much.

  Oh God, the baby!

  No. No. No. My baby. Was my baby ok?

  I stir. I could feel Tristan’s grip tighten on my hand.

  “Kendall? Kendall baby wake up. Come on Angel. I need you to wake up.”

  Movement. I could feel my fingers move. I struggled to fight against whatever was pulling me down. Down, down, down. I was swimming in a dark abyss. It was no use. I was fighting a losing battle and soon the darkness took total control.

  It felt like I had been asleep forever. I gave it one last try as my eyes finally fluttered open. I was in a hospital room. I looked over and Tristan’s head was resting on where our hands are joined. Cassie was slumped over asleep in a chair in the corner of the room.

  I wiggled my hand out from Tristan’s and his head snapped up to lock with my eyes.

  “Kendall, oh Angel, you're awake!”

  Cassie stirred and when she opened her she saw that I was awake. Immediately she jumped up from the chair and ran over to my side. She reached for my hand and squeezed it so tight I feared it may break. Then she leaned down and threw both arms around my neck engulfing me in a massive hug.

  “Easy killer,” I managed to choke out. My mouth was dry and my tongue feels like it was stuck to the roof of my mouth.

  “Sorry. I am just so fucking happy you are awake. Do not ever do that to me again, Kendall. You had me scared shitless. Why would you jump in front of a bullet to begin with? Sorry, Tristan, no offense,” Cassie said.

  I looked over at Tristan and there was fear and worry in his eyes. I felt anger towards him for lying to me. Finding out that he was Brett’s brother had nearly destroyed me, but a part of me still loved him. Even though we may not survive, I knew I would not want to survive in a world where he was not in it. Especially with the baby.

  Oh God, the baby!

  My hands fly to my stomach and I looked at Cassie with pained eyes.

  “The baby is fine Kendall. The bullet missed all your vital organs and did not do anything to the baby. You did however lost a lot of blood,” Tristan said explaining to me when he saw the worried look on my face.