by Peach, Hanna
He stops at the door, opens it and peers out. He turns briefly to me and pulls his gun out from his belt. “Coast is clear. Let’s go.”
He pulls me along the short length of corridor, his gun leading the way. We reach the fire escape and slip inside the cold, dank stairwell. He pushes the light on and the staircase is coated in a sickly light.
“You think they might be here?” I ask.
“No, they don’t know about this place. But better safe than sorry.”
When we get to the ground floor the back exit is lit up by the green glowing exit sign above the door. He presses down the door handle with the butt of his gun, pushes the door open a slip and peers out.
“Stay close,” he whispers to me.
I snort. “Like I have a choice.”
We slip out into the dark night. He presses against the building and slides along until he gets to the corner. Along the side fence is a slim path overgrown with untrimmed bushes.
He pauses and turns back to whisper to me, “My car is the black sedan parked directly across the road from the entrance. Walk calmly with me to the driver’s side, wait for me to open the door and climb through to the passenger’s side. Got it?”
“I know how to walk to a getaway vehicle, you know.”
He gives me an exasperated look before reaching into his pocket with his cuffed hand. In turn it yanks my hand forward and I almost touch his crotch. My cheeks heat. Damn him. He pulls out his car key and gives the street another cursory look.
“Let’s go,” he says, and he takes off into the open, gripping the gun to his side.
The metal of my cuff cuts into my skin and I wince, but I force myself not to make a peep. I won’t give him the satisfaction. I am itching to pull out my gun, still hidden in my pants, and put a bullet in one of his long legs. That’d slow the bastard down. But I don’t. I need to bide my time. I need to be obedient with him and lull him into trusting me. Then once I have the damn cuff off me, I can pull out the gun and take pleasure in watching his face turn when he realizes he has been fooled. Like the bastard fooled me.
The openness of the street feels like a savannah. I imagine predators lurking in the shadows, watching us. My gaze darts around, my skin alert. God, why do my shoes have to be so loud? My footsteps are ricocheting like bullets off the inside of cave walls.
We almost reach the car when I hear, “Well, well, well.” It’s a deep voice calling from behind us.
Shit.
Caden turns, shooting an arm out to push me behind him. Over his shoulder I can see the barrel of a gun pointing at us from the open driver’s side window of a dark car parked silently in the shadows. The car door opens and a dark figure steps out. “Drop the gun, Caden, and kick it over to me.”
Caden laughs. “What game are you playin’, Mack?”
Click.
“I ain’t playin’. Do it or I shoot.”
“Okay, okay.” Caden drops his gun. It clatters on the gravel and he kicks it over to the man named Mack still hidden in the shadows. Cade lifts his hands, pulling my cuffed hand up with it, and I raise my other hand to follow.
“I always knew there was something off about you, Caden,” Mack says. “When I spoke to Valentine, she said you were too much of a pussy to fuck her, even though you told everyone you did. I mean, who the fuck turns down Valentine?”
Valentine. The matchbook. The woman on the other end of the line.
“So I got suspicious,” Mack continued. “And when this familiar-looking broad shows up on our lot, you start acting mighty strange. It’s a good thing I decided to follow you.”
He moves forward so that the streetlight shines dimly across his hook nose. It’s the guy who recognized me at the lot. I flinch and draw closer to Caden. My heart thunders like a wild horse, desperate for escape. They’ve found me. Jacob has found me.
“That’s fuckin’ bullshit, mate. You’re just mad ‘cause I got to her before you,” says Cade. “I’m taking her in to the boss right now. I don’t need your help to handle her.”
“Do you think I’m fuckin’ stupid?” Mack moves around the car towards us. Caden shuffles back slightly against me and I grip his arm. “What’s Jacob gonna say when I tell him I found you cozying up to his girl? Looks like you’re going to get your wish, Caden. You’ll finally get to meet the big man in person.”
Mack jerks his gun. “Both of you, hands on the boot of the car.”
“What do we do, Caden?” I whisper to him.
“Just do what he says, kitten,” Caden whispers back. But I can see in his eyes the look of defiance. He hasn’t given up. He’s trying to find a way out of this mess.
My resolve firms up. I’m not giving up either.
We walk slowly to the car boot and place our hands on the bonnet. It’s warmed from the engine. I hear Mack step behind us. Out of the corner of my eye, I see him thrust the barrel of his gun into Caden’s back as he pats him down. Mack finds a second gun holstered under Cade’s pants around his ankle. He belts this gun and steps back. Then he rummages through my bag before he is satisfied there are no more weapons.
“So Caden, you’re gonna drive so I can keep an eye on you two. But you’re gonna uncuff yourself from her first.”
“I don’t have the key.”
Mack laughs. “You wanna do things the hard way, huh? How ‘bout I’ll give you two choices. One, you uncuff yourself. Or two,” I hear a flick. I turn my head to see the moonlight glinting off a knife. “I’ll cut her pretty little hand off.”
I whimper.
“Alright, fine,” Caden says. He reaches down with his free hand.
“Hands back up.”
“Chill. I’m just getting the key.”
“Okay, but any wrong moves and you’ll be breathing through the holes in your back.”
Caden reaches into his pocket then presents a small silver key to Mack before uncuffing us.
“Sonofabitch,” I mutter, “you said the key was in your car.”
I hear Mack smirking as I glare at Cade. He rolls his eyes as if to say, Really? You wanna get angry about that now?
I rub my wrist when the cuff comes off.
“Alright, kids. We’re gonna go for a little drive.”
Mack directs Caden to sit in the front seat of his black sedan and me in the passenger seat. With the gun trained on Caden the entire time, Mack gets in the back seat behind Caden and tosses my bag on the floor next to him. He throws the car keys into Caden’s lap and stabs the gun at his shoulder. “Drive. Back to the lot. And no funny business.”
Caden turns on the car ignition and pulls away from the curb. I grab the seatbelt and clip it on. The seatbelt presses a hard object against my side. Oh my God. Caden’s gun. Mack didn’t search me. I still have Caden’s gun.
We have a chance to get of here, but… how? And how do I let Caden know that I have it? I eye the houses that we pass. I know from when I followed Caden that it’ll take us around twenty-five minutes to get to the lot. I have twenty-five minutes to come up with a plan. Think.
Think…
An idea strikes me.
I fold my arms across my chest. “Bastard,” I mutter.
I feel the gun barrel bruise me in the shoulder. “Watch your mouth, girlie.”
I retract my shoulder away from Mack’s gun. “Not you. Him.” I glare at Caden to emphasize my point. “I knew I was better off on my own.”
Caden glances over and catches my look. “What the fuck have I done now?”
Mack smirks and settles back in his seat. He’s clearly enjoying the animosity between us. I have to keep this going.
“I found the box of condoms that you hide under your sink, Caden.”
Caden frowns as he drives. “What?”
Shit. He isn’t getting it.
“Yeah, the condoms that you keep hidden under your sink. I know that you haven’t been using them with me. So why the hell do you need that extra protection?”
His frown deepens.
Com
e on. Come on. Get it.
Then I see it. The light goes on behind his eyes. Yes, he knows I am talking about his gun.
He is silent for a moment before speaking slowly, and I can tell he is choosing his words carefully. “You found them huh? The box under my sink.”
“Yep. And I have all the evidence on me to know that you are cheating on me.”
Mack is chuckling in the back. “Oh, boy. Jacob’s gonna love that you’ve been banging his girl, Caden. You are so fucking dead. He’s gonna love me for bringin’ the both of you in.”
I can tell Caden is barely listening to Mack. His eyebrows are furrowed and he’s leaning forward slightly in his seat, pretending to be concentrating on driving. I slip my hand into my right pocket and close my fingers around the handle. I pull out the gun and hold it against my thigh.
“So what are we going to do about this third person in our relationship now that I have the evidence in my lap?”
Mack can’t see the gun from his seat behind us, but Caden can. He glances over to me. His eyes widen almost imperceptibly, but I know he can see the gun.
“I’m sorry, kitten. I never meant to put you in this situation. But it’s all up to you.”
I swallow. I know what he’s telling me. He’s telling me I’m the one who is going to have to shoot Mack. “So I’m going to use this evidence to get rid of her.”
“Yes. And I’ll brake it off.”
My head bobs like a toy. Okay. Shit. Okay. I think I understand what he’s telling me. I have to shoot Mack and Caden’s going to brake hard at the same time so that Mack doesn’t have time to shoot back. Oh God. Can I really do this? What if I crap out, or miss, or Caden gets shot as well?”
“Kitten,” Caden’s voice snaps me out of my thoughts. “When you’re ready, put your hand in mine. We’ll do this together.”
This is it. Stay strong.
My breathing is unsteady as I reach out with my left hand and place it into his. I slip my hand holding the gun up to my chest and hold it flat against my breast. And I prepare myself.
His hand squeezes mine.
Several things happen at once and it seems like slow motion. I spin my torso, bring the gun up to point at Mack and pull the trigger. The gun booms inside the small space of the car. Mack’s eyes widen. Caden slams his foot on the brakes and I feel myself lurching forward. Caden lets go of my hand and throws out his right arm across my body. A second boom goes off as Mack pulls his trigger.
This second shot ricochets inside my head like an echo. I don’t feel any pain. No. Not Caden. He can’t have shot Caden. I glance over to him, but his eyes are wide and startled. Oh God. He’s been shot.
My seatbelt and Caden’s arm catch across my chest and I whiplash around them. As I snap back into my seat everything speeds up again. In the back seat Mack has a blood stain spreading across one shoulder. But he isn’t dead. He lifts his gun barrel up to me.
I scream as I point again and pull the trigger.
Bang.
Bang.
Bang.
Until the noise turns to click, click, click. The bullets are all gone. Spent. Mack slumps back against the seat and is still. I drop the gun.
“Caden?” I shriek as I look over to him and start to paw at his chest. The bullet wound. Where is the bullet wound?
His hands come up to grab mine. “Hey, it’s okay,” he shushes at me. “I’m okay. He didn’t get me.”
I melt forward into his hands and I can’t help the sob that escapes me. I close my eyes as he runs his hands flat on my back. But Mack just keeps staring at me, even with my eyes closed he is staring at me, his pupils two accusing orbs. And blood. Blood all over the back windshield. Turns out I’m a monster just like Jacob.
Blood on the walls. Blood on the glass. “Oh my God, Caden. I just killed him.”
“Kitten, open your eyes,” his voice breaks into my thoughts. I do, but my vision is shaky and I feel like I could just float away. His voice is the only thing that anchors me. “Hey, don’t look at him, look at me. At me, kitten. That’s it. I know you’re probably feeling the need to freak out right about now, but you can’t. Not yet. We’re still not out of danger, okay? I need you.”
I want to sink back into his arms and forget about the world, but I know he’s right. I think I nod.
“Listen to me,” he says. “We have to get rid of the body, okay? But I need your help, kitten.”
“Wha−” It comes out as a choke. I swallow and try again. “What do you need me to do?”
“I’m going to get out and push him down so he’s lying across the floor and clean up the windows. While I do that, you need to change your shirt and wipe your hands and face clean using the mirror, okay? Then get back in the car.”
My hands and face?
I look down at my hands. Oh God. There is blood splatter all over my right hand. I whip my face around to look in the mirror, but Caden stops me, his fingers on my jaw directing my eyes to his. “Kitten. Stop. You need to hold yourself together, okay? You have no other choice but to stay strong.”
You don’t know how strong you are until you have no other choice.
Yes. I am strong. I have been strong before. I can be strong again. I swallow my resolve and feel my insides harden. I nod. “I’m fine. I’m fine.”
He gives me the hint of a smile. “Good. Let’s go.”
We both get out of the car. Only then do I notice where we are. We have stopped by the side of a road full of warehouses. There are barely any streetlamps and nobody around at this late time of night. I don’t recognize this street as being one that I drove down when I followed Caden to the docks. He must have turned off the route at some point so that we would be in a deserted street when the gun went off. Smart, smart Cade. No witnesses to worry about.
But not for long. The dawn is just beginning to lighten the far horizon. I wipe my right hand on the shirt I’m wearing. Then, using the side mirror and the hem of the shirt, I wipe my face. I get out of the car and open the door to the back seat, forcing myself to concentrate only on my bag on the seat. I unzip it and take out the top shirt. Thank God it’s a black one. I strip my bloody pink sweatshirt off and replace it with my new clean black shirt. Then I go over my body and wipe off any stray spots of red. I get back in the car. Caden finishes up in the back seat and returns to the driver’s seat.
He pulls from the curb straight into a U-turn.
“Where are we going?”
“We’re going back to my place to pick up my rental. You’re going to drive that car and follow me, okay? So we can dump the body.”
I feel all numb as we pull up back at Caden’s apartment. I’m not sure how, but I manage to drive Caden’s car and follow Caden all the way to a quiet spot along the river. I barely know what I am doing as I watch Caden drive Mack’s car – with Mack and my bloody shirt still in it – into the river with the help of a rock on the accelerator pedal. As the black roof of the car submerges, my mind sinks with it.
Chapter 30
I just killed a man.
Blood on the walls. Blood. Blood on my hands. Blood everywhere.
I’m a monster.
These thoughts circle through my mind like the slow gears of a clock, over and over.
Click.
Click.
I am shaking in my seat, in the passenger seat of the rental that Cade is now driving. I keep finding spots of blood on my body that I missed. It’s everywhere. All over my fingers and arms and I can feel it starting to dry in spots all over my skin and my face. As it dries it crinkles and pinches at my skin. I need to scratch it all off. But it won’t scratch off. Caden keeps glancing over at me. He turns the heat up, but it doesn’t stop the chatter of my teeth.
Finally Caden pulls the car out the front of his apartment block.
“Stay here.” His voice cuts through the rattle of my teeth and of my head and of my screws coming loose.
He gets out of the car. Where is he going? Oh God. He is leaving me. Alone. I al
most scream and run after him. But before I do, a noise behind me tells me that he hasn’t gone anywhere. He has just popped the boot of the car. He shuts it then reappears at my door. He opens the door. He bends his large body down to me and wraps me in a blanket in his arms and eases me out.
My hands fold limply at my chest. I shove my face in his neck and breathe him in. His wood smoke cologne, the smell I have come to love, the smell I have come to associate with happiness and safety, is mixed with sweat. And it anchors me. That and his strong arms around me are the only things keeping me sane.
I feel him carry me through the building and to his door. Then with barely any effort he unlocks his front door with me still in his arms and we slip inside. My beautiful Caden is so strong. So strong.
He goes straight for the bathroom. He makes me stand in the shower while he strips me. He turns on the water, testing it to make sure it’s not too hot or too cold, then he eases me under it. I can barely feel the water at first.
“Start washing yourself, kitten. I’ll be right back.”
He disappears out of the bathroom.
My heart clenches at being left alone. I see the water running pink from the blood. His blood. The man I just killed. Shot. Murdered. Blood, blood everywhere. On the glass. On the wall.
The warm water flows over my cold shock and I start to thaw. As I thaw the cauldron of guilt begins to boil in my heart. My mind starts to replay the sound of the gun going off and the look in his eyes when he knew he was about to die and the hot blood that sprayed up into my face and into my open mouth.
Just that one small movement of my finger. One half-breath, one click and a life is over. That’s all it takes.
I think I hear myself crying. There they are, my soft cries that barely register over the running water beating off my back. But I can feel them, each sob wrenching from the depths of my soul. My legs shake and I can’t hold myself up anymore. I crumple to the cold tile floor and tuck my face into my knees.
