Twisted Hope: Bad Boy Second Chance Romance

by Kayley Cole

  He stumbles backward, grasping his face. I take several steps back as blood begins to seep between his fingers. I hear heavy footsteps rushing toward us, but before I can look, Jake hits the man across the face, his fist driving through the air so quickly that I don't realize what he's done until he's hitting him again. The man collapses onto the sidewalk, but Jake is on top of him, pinning him to the sidewalk before ripping the surgical mask off his face. Breathing heavily, Jake pauses, confusion rippling over his face.

  I take a couple of steps forward. With the blood all over his face, it's hard to make out who the man is, but my mind stirs with feelings of recognition as I look down at him.

  "Jordan," Jake says, biting his name out. Jordan Tomasi. He had been friends with Jake and Andrew when they were in high school. He had moved here from Tennessee and Andrew had taken him in as a friend as a gesture of kindness. The three of them used to cause all kinds of trouble around town. "What the fuck are you doing?"

  "Jake, it's not…it's not what it looks like. What are you doing here?"

  "What am I doing here? You've got some nerve asking me what I'm doing here when you're attacking Drew's sister."

  "It's not what it looks like."

  "I heard you the first time, you little snake. What do you think Drew is going to think when he finds out about this? And you should know in that thick skull of yours that his rage is nothing compared to mine."

  "Come on, Jake. We're friends. We were friends. Please. I could have a concussion."

  "I hope so," Jake hisses. "Answer my question. What are you doing? Why were you attacking Ellie?"

  "I just thought she was a random woman," Jordan says, the words falling out of his mouth so quickly that it's hard to understand him.

  "Liar." Jake presses his fist on Jordan's throat, applying the smallest pressure. Jordan coughs, the sound nearly resembling the sound of choking. "You're her real stalker, aren't you? I knew there was something weird about Natalie being her stalker. Were you two working together?"

  "I'm not her stalker."

  Jake's eyes narrow, but he seems to accept that Jordan isn't lying.

  "But you know who is her stalker, don't you?" Jake asks. "That's the reason you're here. You're attacking her on behalf of this stalker. Who is it?"

  "I can’t…”

  Jake applies more pressure to Jordan's throat. Jordan tries to move his neck, but Jake keeps his fist tight against his neck.

  "Please…”

  "Jake…” I cut in. "Don't."

  Jake raises his fist, setting it against Jordan's chest. "You're in danger still Ellie. He knows who your stalker is. The only way this dumbass is going to give it up is if he knows what I'm willing to do to give answers. He should already know that I don't give empty threats. Come on, Jordan. Save yourself some pain. Tell me who the stalker is and I won't make a scene in our pretty little hometown."

  I look up, scanning the streets. It still looks empty, but I feel like there are several eyes on us. They could be watching from higher floors or from inside building where I can't see them. Somebody could have already called the police.

  "I'm not going to say anything," Jordan says. "I'm not going to give myself enough rope to hang myself."

  I wince, readying myself for Jake to hit him, but Jake stands up, moving a step away from Jordan. Jordan warily looks up at Jake, but Jake is looking at me.

  "Do you know Jordan's history?" he asks me. I shrug.

  "I remember reading in the paper that he was arrested for robbing a convenience store when you guys were juniors."

  "Yeah, that was the one time he got caught," Jake says. "He robbed a few other places too. A few of them with a gun. It's a good thing he wasn't caught in an armed robbery all those times, or he would never have left prison."

  "An armed robbery," I echo.

  "Yeah. He must have been the one who planted your jewelry in my house. He would have had lots of opportunities to do it." Jake nudges Jordan's leg with his shoe. "Get out of here."

  "What?" I ask. "You can't just let him go."

  "He's not a threat to you," Jake says, but his gaze stays steady on Jordan. "If he comes after you again, he knows what I'm capable of."

  Jordan scrambles to his feet, feebly giving a small nod of gratitude to Jake before running away.

  "Why did you do that?" I hiss. "If my stalker is still out there, we still have a problem."

  "If your stalker is still out there, Jordan will be getting in contact with him. He's not going to roll on whoever it is. Besides, you need to tell your brother you were just attacked and your stalker isn't Natalie."

  "What does that have to do with letting Jordan go?"

  "Even if I left, do you think Jordan would be nice enough not to mention that I was here? Your brother clearly doesn't like the idea of us getting cozy with each other."

  "Right." I chew my lip. "You're right. Of course. Like always."

  He gives me a quick kiss. "Go inside. Call your brother. I'll be a couple of streets away if you need me."

  "Okay."

  He moves like he's going to walk away, but he stops himself and looks back at me. "Be safe."

  His concern squeezes around me. I pick up my guitar, fighting the urge to beg him to take me with him. "You know how hard that is for me— I love danger."

  He smirks, making a gesture that could be at himself or at the sidewalk, where some of Jordan's blood has spilled. "Don't I know it?"

  I feel his gaze stay on me until I'm back inside Tiny Kaleidoscope. Nobody is paying attention to me, but this time, I don't mind.

  Andrew sits in his recliner while I remain standing. He takes in every word, his face flickering between worry, confusion, and anger. I tell him that Jordan attacked me, that I was the one who managed to take his mask off and that he managed to escape after shoving me. I don't mention Jake or the conversation they had. Jordan comes into my story like a phantom, certainly more scary than the man who Jake had squirming under his fist.

  By the time I'm finished, I have to get a glass of water. As I fill up the glass, waiting for Andrew to say something, he's silent. I return in front of him.

  "So…" I say. "Natalie isn't my stalker. She wasn't a good friend, but she was telling the truth when she said she wasn't my stalker."

  "I see."

  "Do you not believe me? Do you still think it's her?"

  "Well, Jordan didn't say anything. Maybe she sent him in retaliation."

  "Why would she risk…” I stop. "What makes you think he was sent by somebody? Wouldn't it make more sense that he was my stalker?"

  His head tilts. "I know Jordan. He's a follower. And this stalker hasn't confronted you yet. Why would they do it now?"

  "Right," I say. "But Natalie wouldn't send him. I don't think she wanted to hurt me physically."

  "You said yourself that she tried to attack you."

  I shrug. He has a point. "What's going to happen next?"

  "What do you mean?"

  "Are you going to try to arrest Jordan? It's not like I can prove what happened. I didn't see anyone else around."

  "It won't be that hard to get Jordan to confess," he says. "He's not a smart man. I just need to give him enough rope to hang himself."

  I'm not going to give myself enough rope to hang myself.

  Jordan had said that tonight.

  "Have you…talked to Jordan lately?" I ask. Andrew frowns.

  "No. Why?"

  "You haven't chatted with him at all?"

  He snorts. "No. Jordan's always been bad news. I wouldn't risk associating myself with him. The only reason he'd ever talk to me is in the hopes I'd help him with some charges that have been brought against him and I wouldn't do that. It wouldn't be right, and I wouldn't want to make myself look bad in front of everyone else in the department.

  Jordan had been more terrified of my stalker than of Jake. As much as I wouldn't want to admit it, I'm certain Jake would commit terrible crimes for my safety, and I'm certain Jordan could see
that tonight, but he wouldn't confess who he was helping.

  My brother could get him in a fair amount of trouble. Jordan could have an angry policeman watching his every move. He could go to prison.

  Andrew would also know everywhere I was and be able to leave notes when I wasn't looking.

  He'd also have easy access to the yellow crime scene tape that was used on that box that contained the Tip of the Flame DVD.

  He asked me to move in with him, so the stalker wouldn't be able to find me so easily, but the stalker did easily find me again.

  I shift the weight on my feet. This theory makes no sense. There's no reason for my own brother to stalk me.

  "Why didn't you want me traveling with Jake?" I ask. It's not what I intended to come out of my mouth, but there's this lingering feeling that it's important. There's this feeling that it's completely different from how he used to leave Jake and me alone all of the time.

  "I told you— we couldn't trust that Natalie wouldn't go after you. And I was right. She or someone else is still going after you."

  I stare at him. He has the same blue eyes as me. "I lied."

  "Excuse me?"

  "I lied about part of what happened. Jake was at the restaurant. He was going to pick me up. He questioned Jordan."

  Andrew's hands tighten around the armrests. "And what did Jordan say?"

  "Shouldn't you know?" I ask.

  "What did Jordan say?" he repeats, his voice harsher.

  "Why did you do it, Andrew?"

  He looks at me. I wait for him to lie. I wait for him to tell the truth. At this point, whatever he tells me, I'm not sure I'll be able to tell the difference.

  "Do you know what it's like to be the man of the house at eleven years old?" he asks.

  "Mom didn't ask you to be the man of the house."

  He slams his fist against the armrest. I jump but take the opportunity to take a small step back. "Mom was depressed and spent all her time ranting about how Dad left us to chase his stupid dreams. Then, she kept telling me how I had to be a better man. How I had to grow up to be a good man and protect my family. I took it seriously for a while. Then I got bored with being a good mama's boy, so I ran around with Jake and Jordan, making a mess all over. Jake left. Jordan went to prison. I shaped up. I got a career where my job was to protect people."

  "That doesn't explain anything."

  "Do you know the horror stories I've heard as a policeman? I've talked with Denver law enforcement. I've been on the police forums. Saffron is fucking Eden in comparison to other places. In the last month, three homeless men have been murdered. Denver has nearly forty-five rapes reported per month, and those are only the ones that are reported. There are fourteen assaults a day there. And it's infinitely worse in other cities. Denver is considered a safe city, but it's much, much safer in Saffron."

  There's a knock on the door. We both ignore it— I’m not sure Andrew even heard it— but I'm just trying to figure out what the hell he's talking about.

  "So…what? You wanted to scare me into staying in Saffron by giving me a stalker in Saffron?"

  "Your boss at the Tiny Kaleidoscope called your cell phone a few months ago. She said a recording company was interested in you."

  "I never got a message from her."

  "I deleted it."

  No wonder Amber had been acting strangely toward me. She thought I was blowing her off.

  "Andrew…”

  "No." He cuts me off, standing up. Somebody knocks on the door again. "You think having one stalker is bad? Try dozens. Try fame. Try living in other cities. I can't protect you there. I can’t…”

  "I don't need you to protect me! I'm not a kid anymore, Andrew. I…”

  There's a crash— almost like a gunshot. I turn around to see Jake, his hand still on the door handle and the door frame splintered. He glances between us.

  "You weren't answering and I heard raised voices," Jake says. "I thought maybe Jordan came around here and I didn't want to be responsible for any trouble. I'm sorry, Ellie, but I have to tell him the truth because he can't do his job without it. By the way, Drew, Ellie may have told you that she was alone, but I was there and…”

  "He knows, Jake," I say. "He's my stalker."

  "Uh," Jake laughs. "What?"

  "He's my stalker. He sent Jordan after me."

  "What?" Jake repeats. He takes a couple of steps toward us but stops as Andrew takes a step toward me. "What are you talking about? Why would your brother stalk you? He didn't even know about us."

  "Of course I knew about you two," Andrew hisses. "Did you really think I was that stupid? I saw the way you two looked at each other. I heard the break-up songs that Ellie played as soon as you started avoiding each other. It didn't take a genius to figure out."

  Jake points to Andrew, but he's looking at me. "He's your stalker."

  "That's what I've been telling you," I say. "Apparently, he wanted to scare me enough that I wouldn't want to leave. He wanted me to need him so much that I wouldn't leave his side."

  "That's not true," Andrew says. "I just knew you were safest with me— someone who has had to protect you your whole life."

  Jake holds his index finger up. "One more thing. I was thinking driving over here— I never left Jordan alone in my room. I'd be fucking stupid to that. The man stole whatever he could get his hands on. I left you alone in my room though, Drew. Did you plant evidence in my room? Did you rob your own family?"

  Andrew's nostrils flared. "We were poor…”

  "That was always the weird part," I say. "Everyone else that was robbed was upper-middle class. We barely had anything to steal."

  "Everyone in my class was upper-middle class, which means everyone else could afford college. I knew Mom had saved her mother's jewelry and I knew I could use Jordan's graduation party as an alibi because everyone would be drunk."

  Jake takes another step forward. His demeanor seems calm, but I can see the anger rising in him just like it's rising in me. "So you tried to frame me for it?"

  "I wasn't trying to frame you. If I wanted that, I'd have just called the police on you. I stashed the jewelry in your room, so there was no chance my mom or Ellie would find it in my room or car."

  Jake lurches forward, tackling Andrew to the floor. They land hard on the floor, right next to the recliner. Andrew tries to shift his weight to get Jake off him, but Jake is punching with reckless abandon. Blood spouts from Andrew's nose before I can grab onto Jake, wrapping my arms around his neck and jerking back in a desperate attempt to stop him.

  "Jake!" I yell. "It's not worth it. Let him go. Stop. Stop."

  His last punch just barely grazes against Andrew's jaw before Jake jumps back onto his feet. I can't keep a grip on Jake's neck and I stumble behind him. He spins around, grabbing my hand before I can fall. He keeps his grip tight on my hand as he turns to look back at Andrew.

  Andrew's face is two contrasts of red— the crimson red of his blood and the scarlet red of his skin. His eye and his bottom lip are swelling. Sympathy inflates inside me and everything muscle in my body wants to quit working, so I'll fall to my knees beside him, but my brain reminds me of the death threat he sent me. It reminds me of my destroyed guitar and how he scattered my childhood photos inside it to scare me. It reminds me that he sent Jordan to attack me.

  "I'm leaving," I tell Andrew. "Don't bother to come find me."

  I nod at Jake. He leads the way out of the house, his hand keeping a tight grasp on mine.

  It's not the ending I wanted, but the truth is laid out in front of me and a man with battered knuckles and blood on his shirt is guiding me across it. The truth will follow me, and love will lead me.

  Jake

  My suite at the Rhiannon Hotel looks like a strange birthday party is about to commence. The band members of Body Satellite and Megan, my assistant, have all circled around the five pizzas I bought that were placed on the kitchen island, every one of them enjoying a different flavor. The four families we interv
iewed for the music video are all sitting in front of the flat screen TV, but trying to sneak peeks of the extravagant room. My camera crew members are sitting in the dining room area, chatting about our next project. Ellie sits next to me on the massive armchair, her hand resting on my thigh.

  "Should we start it?" I ask. Everyone cheers, the band members being the loudest, though they've already seen it at least a dozen times. I press play on the remote. There's a split second of black screen before it shows the four kids— all, who have been changed to look exactly like the four members of Body Satellite— with clean clothes waking up in the desert. They gather together, seeming to come up with a plan and start walking. As they gather their bags, it's shown that they each own a reflective surface— a mirror, a pair of sunglasses, a metal cup, and a piece of glass. Every thirty seconds or so, they reflect the devastated buildings in Saffron.

  "When we all return home/Saffron is dust and debris," Tim's voice sings Ellie's lyrics, but I can only ever hear Ellie singing them.

  The wind starts to pick up when they're clambering up The Rocky Mountains. We had to get creative with some fans to make it work. Desperation is beginning to set in, and their clothes are dirty.

  "When they said that life wouldn't be easy/I thought I'd rise above like a tornado/But down on the ground, I've planted my heart/So, I know I'll reap what I sow."

  The cast changes to the teenage versions of the band members as the pace of the music video picks up. As they reach the top of one of the mountains, they discover they're at the Eastern Plains. The Eastern Plains slowly dries up and becomes the Black Canyon, which flattens into the Great Sand Dunes. Nature begins to grow all over the Great Sand Dunes and becomes the Colorado Forest State Park. We even kept the footage of the teenage version of Tim falling into a river.

  Everywhere the men go, they become frantic and the winds become stronger. Their reflective surfaces keep reminding them of home.

  As they walk into Saffron, they're the full-grown band members they are. They're filmed helping to rebuild, though the winds make it difficult for them to do anything. As Tim delivers the last line— “if I could have done it alone/I'd have done it a thousand times”— all of the reflective surfaces get swept away by the CGI-tornado we created while the band members watch them disappear.