“It wasn’t your fault, son. You can beat yourself up for it untill the cows come home, but there’s only person responsible for this mess and it’s Trevor.”
Jackson looked up at Phillip Harper, meeting the older man’s worried gaze, “I know that. Logically, I know that. But logic doesn’t seem to be cutting it right now.”
Phillip took the seat beside him. “It never does when it comes to the women we love.”
Jackson had never come right out and told anyone that he loved Evie. He didn’t bother denying it though. In that moment, he made a vow to himself that he would tell her the second she was back in his arms.
The buzzing of his phone saved Jackson from having to respond openly. A quick glance at the screen and he saw that the text message was from Trevor. He scanned it quickly and then re-read it to be sure he had all the information. “Phillip, Trevor wants a quarter of a million.”
“I can’t get that kind of money right now. It’ll take days!”
“I’ve got it. If Morris will open the bank and get me to my safe deposit box, I can get it for him... He says that if we bring the cops, he’ll kill her.”
“Then no cops. We do whatever it takes to get her back alive,” Phillip responded. His voice was resolute.
“I’ll talk to Reed. We’ll get her back, Phillip. I’m not going to let her go now.”
Phillip nodded, “Whatever happens, Jackson, I know that you’ll do everything in your power to bring her home safely. And if you can’t, if it’s too late for Evie, just promise me you’ll kill the son of a bitch.”
“If I have to follow him to hell and back, I will.”
Jackson left the hospital, motioning for Reed to follow him. Outside, he showed him the text. “He’s at that abandoned motel by the river... I have to get Morris to the bank so I can get the cash.”
“You’re going to pay the ransom? What’s to stop him from putting a bullet in the both of you?”
“You are. I know you have a gun at the office. I need you to get it and head out there first. Get yourself in position and wait for me.”
Reed started to protest, but thought better of it. “Fine, but if this goes south--”
“It won’t,” Jackson said sharply. “It can’t.”
TWO hours later, Evie was seated on the filth littered floor of a motel room that hadn’t housed guests in over twenty years. From the smell, she knew it had housed a few rodents. She could hear scurrying in the walls and shuddered in response. Trevor had tied her hands to the headboard which was bolted to the wall. She’d tugged, pulled, even laid down on the disgusting floor and kicked at it, but the damn thing wouldn’t budge. Shifting her weight, since her behind had long since gone numb, she kicked one of the many empty bottles that littered the floor and it went skittering into a pile of trash.
“Would you stop making so much fucking noise!” Trevor roared at her.
Evie didn’t bother to respond. Two hours with Trevor had told her just how desperate he was. He’d never stopped watching the windows, paranoid that someone would find them. It wasn’t the police, her father or Jackson that he feared. It was a man named Tony. Recalling the shady man Lisa had brought to her engagement party, Evie could understand why. “Trevor, I can get you the money. You just have to let me go,” she said reasonably.
He whirled on her then, “Just shut the fuck up! All your snooping has made things worse! Now it isn’t just Tony I have to worry about! I have the goddamned cops after me too! All because of you.”
Pointing out that it was because he had done things that were illegal would not help her cause any, so Evie bit her tongue. “Trevor, I have money. I can clear out the savings accounts and give you everything in them.”
He approached her then, stalking across the room. Evie braced herself for the blow, but it was still staggering. His open hand struck her cheek so forcefully that her head snapped back, connecting painfully with the wall. She tasted blood and knew that her lip had split again. He grabbed her bound hands, twisting them painfully as he pulled her to her feet. When he shoved her facedown onto the tattered bed, she began to scream. He grabbed her hair, pulling her head back roughly. “Just shut up! This is all your fault! And Jackson’s! How could you, Evie? After all those years together, how could you go straight to him knowing how much I hate the son of a bitch?”
“Trevor, it wasn’t like that! You had left me!”
“I didn’t have a choice! Tony was demanding all the money and I didn’t have it... I convinced Lisa to go and talk to him, to make things right, but I didn’t know she’d gone to the feds! He killed her! Right in front of me and if he finds me, I’m a dead man!”
With every word, his grip on her hair had gotten tighter, the pressure on her neck increasing as well. Evie was afraid it would snap if he didn’t let go. “Trevor, you’re hurting me!”
He released her so quickly that her head bounced against the mattress, but then his hands were tearing at her clothes, shoving the hem of her dress up over her thighs. “I’ll show you, Evie. You just have to remember how good it is between us... You can leave with me. We’ll take the money and go away together!”
She struggled, trying to break free from him, but his legs were clamped around hers, keeping her from moving. “Don’t do this! Trevor! Please, stop this!” Evie could hear the sound of his belt as he began to loosen it, and the rasp of his zipper was deafening in the room. But then he stopped. Evie heard the crunch of gravel and the roar of an engine outside. Trevor stepped away suddenly and she sobbed with relief.
“Looks like Jackson is eager to have you back,” he said bitterly, as he hastily fastened his pants. He grabbed the gun from the scarred table in front of the busted window, and walked outside. Dropping to her knees on the filthy carpet, Evie began to tug at the bed frame again. The mattress shifted off the frame enough to reveal the metal bed rails beneath. The frame had rusted from the leaky roof, leaving sharp jagged edges along the rails. Evie sighed in relief as she began the arduous process of trying to slice through the ropes at her wrists. The metal chaffed at her skin, but she kept going, nearly shouting with victory when the rope began to fray. Moving as little as possible so as not to alert Trevor, she blocked out the pain and simply kept sawing away at the ropes.
Trevor opened the door, calling out, “Jackson! Last room on the left and don’t even think about trying anything!”
Evie could see Jackson approaching through the barred windows. The wrought iron had been intended to give the motel a New Orleans type appeal, but it had failed miserably. Still struggling with her bonds, she watched as Trevor motioned Jackson inside. She felt the warmth of Jackson’s gaze on her, saw him surveying her critically to see if she was hurt. Banked anger blazed in his eyes and Evie prayed that his temper wouldn’t get the better of him.
“Toss the phone out the door and open the bag!” Trevor demanded and Jackson complied, flashing stacks of cash inside the black duffel.
“It’s all in there, Trevor. Now, let Evie go.”
“I’m afraid no one is going anywhere, Mr. Cope.” The voice belonged to Tony Danova, Lisa’s former boyfriend with the mob connections. He lounged negligently in the doorway, another muscle bound good behind him. Even in the heat of summer, they wore heavy sport coats, but the jackets did nothing to disguise the bulge of guns beneath. “You’ve been a very naughty boy, Trevor Dupree.”
“Tony--”
“Only my friends call me Tony, Trevor. My friends don’t duck out of me when they still owe me a hundred grand. You will call me Mr. Danova and you’re gonna hand me that piece right now.”
Trevor’s attempts to be a tough guy ebbed away and he sniveled at the other man. “I have your money right here, Mr. Danova, with interest. I was just coming to see you,” Trevor said, his voice trembling as he handed over the gun.
Tony shook his head, “Don’t bullshit me, Trevor. Now, as for you Mr. Cope and Ms. Harper, I apologize for this. It’s an unfortunate sequence of events that has led us all to be he
re at the same time.”
Jackson held up his hands in an attempt to placate the other man. “Far as I’m concerned, you were never here. We were never here. Trevor got cold feet and let Evie go,” Jackson said, his voice pitched low and his tone perfectly reasonable.
Tony let out a heavy melodramatic sigh, “I wish it were that easy, but it isn’t. Witnesses have a way of coming to back to haunt you, and I can’t have that. Trevor here is going to come with me. You and Ms. Harper will stay here...Jesus, Trevor, you don’t even have any fucking bullets in this gun!”
“I never really intended to hurt anybody. I just wanted to get the money I owed you,” Trevor said, his voice breaking on a sob.
Tony motioned to the muscle behind him, “Put him in the trunk. I’ll take care of these two.” The goon grabbed Trevor, who screamed like a little girl, as he was being hauled across the parking lot. Evie watched with growing horror as Tony Danova replaced the clip in Trevor’s gun with one that was loaded with real bullets. “Love triangles are always messy.”
“I’m not going to let you hurt her,” Jackson said, and with a move that was very much reminiscent of his football days, leapt across the ruined bed and tackled the other man to the floor. The struggled with the gun for several minutes, but Jackson was obviously the more powerful of the two. He had rested the gun away from him when the goon suddenly reappeared in the doorway.
The loud pop of gunfire echoed in the small room and Evie screamed at the growing red stain on Jackson’s shirt. Tony grabbed the gun from Jackson’s hand as he collapsed to the floor. He rose, brushing off his suit and stepped over Jackson’s prone form. He surveyed her bound wrists, “I’m going to leave here and within seconds, this place will go up in flames. I ought to kill you, I ought to put a bullet in his head and one in yours, but I don’t like to shoot women. It makes me feel a little funny, so... So here is what I am going to do, Ms. Harper. I am going to leave you and your rebound boyfriend in God’s hands. If you get out, then you’re free to go, safe from me and mine. If not, then I guess you’ll just be an unfortunate parable about the evils of jealousy... Because naturally, Trevor will be the presumed culprit.”
“Don’t do this! At least cut me loose and give us a chance!”
He shook his head sadly, “It’s a shame, Ms. Harper. You’re a very lovely woman. More of a lady than your late cousin could have ever hoped to be.”
Evie watched him walk away, her head reeling and her stomach on the verge of heaving. When the door closed, the sound of the lock snipping into place spurred her into action. Sawing the ropes back and forth on the bedrail, she trembled when she heard the splash of gasoline and smelled the familiar, overwhelming odor.
“Fuck it hurts to get shot,” he hissed.
Relief washed through her at the sound of his voice. “Jackson! I thought--” she couldn’t bring herself to finish.
Jackson knew what she had thought. Since blood was literally pouring from him, he knew that it wasn’t out of the question. He grabbed the cord of a broken lamp and pulled it toward him. He smacked it against the floor until another piece of the glass broke off. Taking the shard in his hand, he pulled himself over to the bed and placed it between Evie’s fingers. The broken glass was infinitely quicker than the rusted bed rail and within seconds, the frayed ropes snapped. He smiled, but felt his eyes closing against his will. A sharp slap to his face pulled him back to consciousness and to Evie’s irate form struggling to pull him to his feet.
“There’s a window in the bathroom that if we can get it open, we might be able to get out,” she panted brokenly.
Somehow, she got him upright. It had to be sheer determination on her part, he thought, cause he’d been no help at all. Still, he leaned against the wall and tried to stay in that position as he ignored the burning pain in his ribs and the blood that was trickling freely down his side. He felt her arms sliding around his chest, supporting his weight, as she struggled to get them to the other room. Flames were beginning to lick along the front wall of the motel room.
In the bathroom, he leaned against the filthy shower wall as Evie fought with the window that had been painted shut decades earlier. He would have offered to help but knew that at the moment he was more of a hindrance. The blood loss was taking a toll and it was all he could do to remain upright. As he listened to Evie cursing the window, he smiled.
“I don’t think you need any more bad girl lessons, Evie. You’ve got the lingo down pat.”
“Now, Jackson Cope, is not the fucking time!” she shouted. Spying the remnants of the shower curtain balled up in the corner, Evie grabbed it and tried to ignore the dirt as she wrapped it around her hand. She said a quick prayer as she punched the window with all the strength she could muster. Smoke was already filtering into the bathroom when the glass cracked under her fist. She hit it again and the glass shattered. Pulling in lungfuls of the clean air, she grabbed Jackson and pushed him toward the window.
“You’re going out first,” he said.
“No, I’m not! If I go out first there’s no way in hell you can make it out on your own. Now just shut the fuck up and climb.”
Jackson followed her orders because he was simply too weak to do anything else. Using his uninjured side, he levered himself up on the window sill and shimmied through the narrow opening. His landing was less than graceful and he hit the hard packed earth with an impact that made him sea stars. He watched from the ground as Evie hoisted herself up and out of the window. She landed in a heap beside him.
For the longest moment, neither of them said a word. “Phone,” he finally managed. “Reed’s close by.”
Evie got to her feet, and once again was pulling Jackson up with her. She didn’t have the strength to get him around to the front of the motel, but she at least wanted him further away from the building. Half dragging and half carrying him, she took in the pallor of his skin and began to panic anew. Tears were choking her when she heard the sound of Reed’s voice calling out.
“We’re here!” she screamed. “Behind the building! Jackson’s been shot!”
Reed appeared at the side of the building and rushed forward. He lifted Jackson onto his shoulders in a fireman’s carry and pulled Evie with him to the front lot. She could hear the wail of sirens in the distance. Lowering Jackson to the ground, Reed ripped Jackson’s shirt off of him and pressed it to the wound. He placed Evie’s hands over it, “Hold that! Put as much pressure on it as you can!”
Evie didn’t hesitate. She just nodded and watched as Reed ran toward the road to wave the paramedics over. With the debris cluttered lot, it would have taken precious time for them to locate them. Time ceased to have any meaning. Evie was only barely aware of the noise around her, of the men screaming instructions to one another and to her. She simply held on to Jackson and prayed with everything she had in her.
It was Reed who pulled her back. He grabbed her arms and lifted her bodily away from Jackson as the paramedics loaded him onto a board and into the back of the ambulance. “We’ll meet them at the hospital.”
“I need to stay with him!”
“Evie, it’s bad. Really bad. They need the room in the back to work on him in case--”
“In case he dies on the way?”
“Yes, Evie. Let’s go. I’ll get you there. I promise.”
Numb, she allowed Reed to lead her to Jackson’s truck, where he pulled a spare key from the wheel well. She kept her eyes trained on the ambulance in front of them, fearing that at some point during the drive they would turn off the sirens, signaling the end. By the time they reached the hospital, tears were streaming unchecked from her eyes, but she hadn’t made a sound.
Reed helped her from the truck and led her inside. Jackson was rushed straight into surgery and she was taken to a small cubicle in the Emergency Room where her cuts and abrasions were catalogued and recorded as evidence before being treated and were then photographed again. The ropes that were still tied around her wrists were bagged as evidence and her clot
hes were taken as well. Marginally cleaner, she was given a pair of scrubs to put on and returned to the surgery waiting area where Reed still sat stonefaced and silent. Her mother and father were there, as well. Phillip rose and pulled her into his embrace, and Evie finally snapped. The silent tears gave way to great hiccuping sobs.
“Evie, my sweet girl! I could kill Trevor for this!”
“I don’t think you’ll need to,” she said on a watery sigh. She told them about Tony Davano and that the police had already taken him into custody after rescuing Trevor from the trunk. Reed had filled her in on that as soon as they arrived at the hospital. She recounted the entire sordid tale as they waited. When it was done, they all fell silent and stared at the waiting room walls. It seemed like hours passed before the surgeon came out to update them.
“For right now, he’s in critical condition but he’s stable. The bullet didn’t pierce any major organs but it did nick an artery. He lost a lot of blood and has a few broken ribs for his trouble. The blood loss is really the key issue here.”
“When can I see him?”
“They’re moving him to recovery now and from there, he’ll go to the unit. When they get him settled in recovery, I’ll give you a few minutes with him, but once he’s on the unit, you’re at their mercy.”
Fifteen minutes later, Evie was standing beside Jackson’s hospital bed, looking down at his incredibly pale face and noting the brackets around his mouth. She couldn’t stand the thought that he might be in pain. “I’m so sorry! This is all my fault!”
Bad Girl Lessons Page 9
