"What?" Sadie gasped. "That's so much worse, isn't it?"
Jack winced. "It'll be fine. Even if it isn't, I'm resilient. I'll push through."
Sadie sniffed, and I knew without looking that her angry facade was slowly crumbling into agony. I ran my hand down her back in soothing circles.
"It's okay," I said. "We're going to figure this out. There's gotta be something we can do, right? Do you know how long until they have your trial?"
Something flashed across Jack's eyes, and he shifted in his seat. "It probably won't go to trial. My lawyer says I should do a deal. I have no idea what kind of evidence they have on me, but it doesn't look good. It might just be easier to plead guilty in return for a reduced sentence."
"How reduced?"
He shook his head. "I don't know. It'll depend on how much evidence they have on me and how much more they can gather."
"How could this happen?" Sadie sobbed.
She was breaking my heart. A week ago I wouldn’t have even been able to picture what a crying Sadie would look like, and now I had one sniveling next to me while her brother, the love of my life, faced a future so horrible I was having difficulty wrapping my head around it. I understood what she meant. How could this happen?
Jack smiled in a way that I'm sure was meant to be reassuring, but I'd never seen such sadness in his gaze.
"Don't cry, baby sis. I'll be fine. Three square meals a day and I don't have to pay rent. Plus I've got all the time in the world to get super jacked."
That didn't help either of us, but I forced a smile. Jack shouldn't be the one cheering us up. We should be the ones cheering him up. After all, he was the one in prison.
"I don't want them to transfer you," I said. "I'm going to do whatever I can to make sure that doesn't happen."
"I don't think there's anything you can do, sweetheart."
I shook my head, denial gilding my veins. "There is, and I'll find it. I'll empty out the last of our savings and see if I can take out a loan so we can get you a better lawyer."
Jack frowned. "Don't do that. You'll only end up fucking yourself over. I can survive whatever happens to me as long as I know that the two of you are okay."
We're not, I wanted to say. We're not, and we won't be—not until you're home.
But that wouldn't have helped any of us, so instead, I said, "We'll be good. We've got each other, don't we Sade?"
My surrogate little sister blinked up at me and smiled, nodding her head weakly. "And we'll always have Paris."
"Nerd," Jack quipped.
"Loser," Sadie quipped back.
I laughed, and it was the first time since I got that awful call that I meant it. I wished that I could pull the two siblings in for a big hug, that I could bury my nose in Jack's chest and breathe in his scent. There was just enough of it on the bedsheets to taunt me at night, to remind me that no matter how tightly I wrapped those sheets around myself, they were a poor substitute for the real thing.
"Please just don't sign a confession or anything," I begged. "Not yet. Give me some time."
I caught Jack's gaze and held it, hoping he could read in my expression how deadly serious I was. I wasn't going to lose him—not to hell, high water, or prison.
"Sure, sweetheart. I'll hang on for now. If I get transferred before you get a chance to visit again, just know that I love you both so much and I'm thinking of you every second of every day."
"I know," I said.
Sadie sniffed. "Me too."
"And Sadie..." Jack's eyes crinkled at the corners, and he grinned. "Take care of my girl, okay?"
Sadie and I drove back to Cannon in silence. As soon as we got back to the motel, she'd toss her bag in her car and be back off to university. And I'd be alone. I was dreading the endless hours of silence, especially since I still didn't have a job or a goddamn clue. I was going out tomorrow to look again, but I didn't have much hope. I wasn't holding onto much hope for anything these days.
"He's going to be just fine," I said as we turned onto the exit toward Cannon. "He's the toughest guy I know."
"Do you know anyone else in prison?"
I glanced over at her with a flat expression. "Point taken. All I'm saying is that I know in my heart he'll be fine."
Sadie sighed and looked out the window. "I hope you're right."
Yup, the girl had broken my heart today. She was always so strong and outspoken, so seeing her defeated like this was rapidly sapping my strength. I knew then that however long it took to get Jack back, I'd have to be strong for the both of us. Even though I didn't know Sadie that well, I loved her brother and I loved her and I was happy to do whatever I could to support both of them through this. Was this what it was like to have a family?
"What the fuck..." My thoughts rapidly shifted focus when I turned into the motel parking lot and saw Derek's truck parked not far from Sadie's.
Derek was sitting just inside, drumming his hands on the steering wheel. He pulled his phone out when he saw me and started texting as he urged the engine to life. I parked my car in front of his bumper so he couldn't drive off and wrenched open my door. Sadie followed.
"Hey!" I yelled, tapping on Derek's window until he finally rolled it down. "What are you doing here?"
He smiled up at me like it wasn't incredibly creepy for him to be hanging around outside the place I lived.
"I'm meeting someone here," he said.
"Likely fucking story," I snapped. "You know this is where I live, don't you? Did Donnie send you to spy on me or something?"
"Should I be calling the cops?" Sadie asked.
"I told you, you dumb bitch, I'm meeting someone." Derek's eyes flashed with malice, and he glared daggers over at Sadie. I leaned down into his window and locked eyes with him.
"I'm not stupid," I growled.
"Well you sure fuckin' look it right now," he snarled.
"I'm calling the cops." Sadie's phone was in her hand a second later, and she began to dial.
"Fuckin' fine!" he shouted. "I'll leave. I'll meet my friend elsewhere."
"I hope she doesn't charge extra for that," Sadie retorted.
Derek glared at her, then turned to glare at me. "Donnie wants to talk to you."
"Too fucking bad," I said. "I don't want to talk to him."
I blocked Donnie's number ages ago, as well as those of all his friends. There was no way I was getting anywhere near that asshole.
I turned and walked back to my car so Derek could finally vacate his spot. Before I closed the door, he called out to me, "Don't forget, Mel. Donnie always gets what he wants."
Chapter 30
Melissa
Given the events of the afternoon, Sadie offered to stay with me at the motel another night. I declined. I wished I hadn't. It wouldn't have been fair to her though, especially with the long drive back to Tucson and the classes she would have to skip to stay. Her grades were already shaken up by this whole situation, and I didn't want to be the one who made it worse.
Nevertheless, once I was alone in my room—our room—I was instantly miserable. I tried turning on the TV so I could zone out for a few hours, but every little TV moment seemed to remind me of Jack and of how messed up things were. Crime shows were out of the question, obviously, but even Home and Garden TV failed to distract me. All I could think about was how Jack would be rolling his eyes if he were with me, though I knew he secretly enjoyed my guilty pleasures almost as much as I did.
I was so bored and upset that the knock on my door later that evening was almost welcome. Almost. I didn't want to see anybody unless they were Sadie or Jack, and even Naomi's smiling face wouldn't have made me feel better. Unfortunately for me, Naomi wasn't the one standing there.
Donnie was wearing one of his nicer shirts and had gotten a trim recently. His hair was shorn close at the sides with a great big flop on top that he probably thought was fashionable. I wouldn't have been surprised to learn that his barber screwed it up on purpose.
I didn't int
end to ask him, in any case. The second I saw his smug mug leering at me through the crack in the door, I went to slam it in his face. Donnie was faster, shooting out a hand to stop me, before jamming his shoulder into the door to send it—and me—flying back.
I stumbled back a few paces, startled. I was too flabbergasted to scream, which I knew somewhere in the back of my head was what I should be doing. Donnie was unpredictable at the best of times. I had no idea what I could expect from him after everything we'd been through recently.
"That's no way to welcome an old friend," he tutted, straightening the collar of his shirt as he strolled into the room. He let the door slam shut behind him and stood in front of it with his hands at his sides, fingers twitching like he was ready to catch me if I ran.
"You're not a friend," I snapped. "What do you want?"
Telling him to leave would be pointless. If I wanted him out, I needed to play this smart.
"You, obviously." He rolled his eyes like I'd just asked the most inane question there could be. "I don't know why you have to make everything so difficult. Your boyfriend's in the slammer, and he's not coming back. I'm here to re-stake my claim."
"Your claim?" I balled my hands into fists and breathed in deep through my nose. "You have no claim on me. I'm not a piece of property, and I'm not a pet. If you leave now, I'll think about not having you arrested."
Donnie chuckled and took a step toward me. I took a step back.
"You think cousin Ernie's going to arrest me? You've got to be kidding." He snorted. "That guy is wrapped around my finger like the rest of this town."
I stared hard into his eyes, wondering what the hell I'd ever seen there in the first place. Features that I used to find handsome now made my stomach turn, and the thought of him laying a single finger on me made my skin crawl. It felt like there wasn't enough air in the room and I had a vision of myself falling to my knees and gasping for breath as the panic overwhelmed me.
No. Not today. Today I win.
Donnie had terrorized me for too long, and now he'd gone too far—he'd taken away the man I loved.
"I never expected you to fall so low that you'd send an innocent man to jail just to get a girl back," I said.
"He's not innocent." Donnie raised an incredulous brow. "You don't really think he's innocent, do you?"
Of course I didn't. I knew that Jack's fights were illegal, but that didn't mean any of this made sense. If any other town issued a warrant for Jack's arrest, I might have thought differently, but this had Beringer stink all over it. Seeing Derek in the parking lot today fueled this suspicion, and Donnie showing up now solidified it.
Especially since Donnie wasn’t denying that it was he who sent Jack to prison.
"You must've had to pull some pretty big strings with the sheriff. And all this for little old me?"
"I always get what I want." There was a hard glint in his eyes that sent my heart racing up the bottom of my chest. I swallowed.
"So I heard. I must say, I'm a bit flattered that you went to all this trouble just to get me back."
He shrugged. "It wasn't much trouble at all."
I licked my lip. Now if I could just get him to openly admit it, I might be able to do something about it.
Donnie, apparently, was finished with the conversation. He didn't give me time to question him further about Jack, probably because he knew how close he was to revealing something important to me. He took advantage of my moment of weakness and charged forward with his hands outstretched. One hand grabbed my arm in a tight grip, but I rolled back my other shoulder just in time to avoid him grabbing me on both sides. Then, with every ounce of strength I could muster, I threw my free fist into his face.
Having never punched someone before, I was unprepared for how much it hurt. It felt like an electric shock blasted up my arm from my knuckles to my shoulder, numbing it while also setting it on fire. I cursed and pulled my fist back to my chest. Then, to help the point sink in, I kneed him in the balls.
Donnie groaned and staggered back. I yanked my arm free from his grip and ran around him to the door, grabbing my keys and purse before heading out into the night and hauling ass to my car. He didn't follow me.
Only when I was in my car with the doors locked did I allow a smile to creep up my face. I was terrified and panicked, and my hands shook as they turned the key in the ignition and started out onto the road, but I'd finally gotten a little revenge on Donnie. My punch landed right on his eye, too. What perfect, poetic justice. I hoped he got a massive bruise from it.
I didn't know where to go at first, so I just cruised around while I got my breathing back to normal. The rush in adrenaline took some time to subside. When it did, the fog in my mind cleared a little, and I decided to head over to Naomi's.
Naomi was at the front door before I even shut off my engine in the driveway. She had her arms folded over her chest and, despite the tattoos across her cleavage and the denim miniskirt, she looked quite motherly.
"Is everything okay?" she called out to me.
I unfolded myself from the driver's seat and slammed the door behind me. "I'm not sure."
"Come on in." She waved me inside. "I'll put on a pot of tea."
Five minutes later, I had a steaming mug of green tea in my hands. Naomi sat across the kitchen table, fingers tapping on the ceramic of her mug while she waited for me to speak.
"Donnie tried to attack me tonight," I said. "I think."
"You think?" Her eyes widened, and she leaned in closer. "What happened?"
"He was drunk and barged into my room, talking all this bullshit about claiming me back as his woman now that Jack's locked up." A shiver ran down my spine at the memory, at the realization that if I hadn't escaped, who knew what could have happened. "I kneed him in the balls and landed a punch on his face when he tried to grab me, then I got out of there."
Naomi grabbed the landline from the counter behind her and slid it toward me. "I think you should call the police."
I gave her a flat look. "And say what? That I assaulted Donnie Beringer?"
"In self-defense."
"I don't know if that'll even matter as far as Ernie's concerned." I sighed. "I don't want to risk it. Not yet, anyway."
Naomi looked down into her mug and ground her teeth, thinking. I sipped on my tea, or tried to at least. It burned my tongue.
"I want to kill that guy," she muttered a second later. "He's got the whole town in a chokehold, 'cept nobody seems to notice until he squeezes. By then it's too late." She looked up and fixed me with an entreating stare. "Is there anything I can do to help? You can stay here for a while if you're worried about him coming back. I can give you my bed for tonight, and we can move the girls around for tomorrow."
I shook my head. The last thing I wanted to do was inconvenience my friend. If I got spooked I could always change rooms, and besides, I doubted he would be coming back during daylight hours.
"No, I'm okay for now. There is something else I wanted to talk to you about though."
She nodded for me to continue.
"Donnie didn't deny tonight that it was him who got Jack sent to prison, which would make a lot of sense to me. He didn't outright say it, but it made me think maybe the situation isn't quite so hopeless after all."
Naomi sat up straight, spilling a little of the tea clasped in her hands. It was like a lightbulb had gone off in her head, and for the first time in days, I felt a spark of hope.
"What is it?" I asked.
"Maybe nothing, but if it's something I think I might know a way we can solve your Donnie problem for good."
Chapter 31
Jack
I was somewhere far away. Around me was an endless blanket of quiet, of solitude. There was no distant yelling, no metallic groaning, and no echoing sounds of footfalls against cement. Those were the sounds of the prison. I wasn't in prison. At least in my mind, I wasn't. Sprawled on the threadbare mattress of my top bunk, I closed my eyes and tried to enjoy every last se
cond of my last night before being shipped off to federal.
It wouldn't be this quiet there, and I wouldn't be so at ease. Worse still, I would be even further from Sadie and Melissa. Life wasn't fair sometimes, I supposed, but this was the kind of thing I'd been preparing for since I first started fighting. Every dog had its day, and every reward had its risk.
My only regret was that I hadn't spent more time with Melissa. It was a cruel twist of fate, letting me get so close to her just before I was locked away for god knows how long. And Sadie, poor Sadie. At least she was out on her own now. I would have never forgiven myself if she got put into foster care because of my stupidity.
The sounds of the prison filtered back into my consciousness. I could only ever hold them at bay for a little while. I sighed and turned on my bunk, letting my feet dangle over the edge while I stared at the opposite wall. My cellmate, a tightly wound Puerto Rican with a jovial sense of humor, was out playing cards with one of his friends. I wondered if I should join him.
A loud metallic clang drew my attention to my cell door, where a guard was rattling his baton against the bars.
"Paxton," he barked. "It's your lucky day."
The way he said it made it sound like it wasn't even in the same week as my lucky day. I slowly lowered myself to the floor and approached the open door, hanging just inside the cell while I assessed the situation.
"What do you mean?" I asked.
He gestured toward the front of the prison with his head. "You're out."
"Out where?"
The guard rolled his eyes and turned on his heel, walking off in the direction he'd gestured. "Come on, Paxton. I ain't got all day."
I walked after him, conscious of the curious stares that followed us down the prison block. My heart hammered with trepidation. Was there some Beringer influence inside the prison too? It didn't seem likely since most of the people here had never even heard of Cannon, but I didn't know how else to explain what was going on. I could only assume that wherever this guy was leading me, I wasn't going to like it. Unfortunately, I wasn't in any position to resist.
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