Chasing Bad Boys: A Bad Boy Romance Series (Chasing Bad Boys Book 8)

by Kylie Parker

  “You shot me?” he asked as he looked into my eyes with disbelief “You let him get away”.

  The pain must have been too much for him to handle, nevertheless I let his head lay on my lap as I heard the sirens approach.

  “You chose him over me”, were the last words he uttered before drifting away into nothingness. I held him closer than ever and hoped he would understand what I did to him as soon as he woke up.

  “Man down”, I shouted “Call an ambulance”.

  The squad had now arrived at the premise and were rushing all over the place, attending to David and scanning the vicinity for the shooter. I held David in my arms, knowing the kind of argument that would erupt between us once he woke up. That did not worry me though, we always found common ground after arguing, what worried me most was if Robbie was far enough and hoped he would not get caught with the FBI.

  I shouldn’t have let him go, I shouldn’t have given him a head start but I knew I would never forgive myself if anything ever happened to him. The squad was armed with sniff dogs and guns with bullet proof vests and their cars blazing with sirens. I held on to David tighter until the ambulance got to him, the bullet graze was not deep but I knew it would take some time to heal.

  33

  Robbie

  Pulling the trigger on her own brother was a ballsy move for Sarah, I thought she would shoot me and David would add an extra bullet in me for dramatic effect. She gave me a head start and as I ran as fast as I could through the woods to God knows where my love for her increased. For a minute back there I thought she had believed her brother. He was quite convincing with his smart mouth and under cutting remarks. I could hear the sniff dogs from a distance as I ran; I needed a hiding spot, somewhere that would hide my scent until the dust settled so that I could re think about my next move. I was in a bit of a pickle, all the falsified documents, banner phones and cash I had gone through the trouble of forging were left behind in my crushed car.

  I had no time for picking them up after Sarah had fired the shot; his brother’s gun had stumbled from his grip with him to the floor after the shot. I had seen him trying to pick it up and had to run like the wind before he could fire at me. The hounds were drawing closer; I could hear them at a distance as I kept running. My mind had a million and one thoughts rushing through it as I ran. My mouth felt dry and so did my throat; I was totally numb both physically and emotionally. I needed to hide, the hounds would catch up on me sooner rather than later and I needed a plan.

  It was not easy to take in my surroundings in the dead of the night, I could not tell one shrub from the other. All plants looked the same at night; I needed something to throw the hound off my scent as they went on to scout the area.

  My heart beat faster as I heard the loud hound noises moving closer to me I needed to think very fast about my next move. Hiding behind the shrubs was a no go zone and climbing up a tree was too risky. I kept on running through the woods in the dark until my foot stepped on something hard, steel or iron I was not really sure. I stopped dead in my tracks wondering what it was I had just stepped on. My first thought was a land mine.

  “Don’t be paranoid Robbie”, I said to myself as I tried to have a closer look at what it was that I had stepped on. It was not a land mine, I was grateful for that but it looked like an entrance to a sewer. I tagged at it as hard as I could and it was surprisingly easy to open. Someone must have used it in the recent past, that was however not my concern. The approaching noise of the hounds was, I got on all fours before pulling the lid open and placing it aside. The foul sewer stench was what greeted me at first but it was easily overtaken by the loud barking and my survival instinct. The need to survive was much greater than my personal hygiene.

  I took in a lungful of precious air before going into the sewer and taking the ladder to the bottom. The hounds missed me by a second but I could tell from their loud barking they were standing very close. I had the added advantage of the night darkness and started walking into the sewer. The rats did not give me a break as I walked passed them. A few landed on my head. Almost the same size as cats but I did not care. A few rats resting on my head was much better than sniff dogs tearing me apart. I walked through puddles of muddy water or what looked like human waste (I tried my best not to think about it).

  After about fifteen minutes of walking, the stench started becoming overwhelming; I needed to get out of the sewer if I did not want to suffocate to death in there. I had no idea where I was but walked on looking for another set of stairs that would lead to an alternative sewer entrance.

  I seem to have somehow appeased the gods of survival on this fateful day, through the pitch black darkness; I was able to make out a set of stairs and slowly approached it. My hands were covered in mud or something close to it but my main concern was to get out of the sewer dungeon. I held on to the stairs with the little strength that I could still manage, my head felt dizzy and my eyes were foggy. I wanted to scream but went on moving along the stairs, my heart pounding faster in my chest with every second.

  My hand finally hit metal and I first tried moving it to the right, it wouldn’t budge. I tried moving it to the left, my grip forceful and hopeful and when it turned to the left, I felt a new form of strength over power me. My next step was shoving myself out of the shit hole (literally). I smelled like shit and I could swear a rat was holding on to my right foot. All this however did not matter to me, I kept on moving. My head went out first and I filled my lungs with air before gaining strength to haul my body to a cold hard ground.

  I lay on my back once I was fully out of the sewer, the stench was still playing on my nostrils and I could not hear or feel anything. I shut my eyes and relied on my sense of touch, my ears seemed to have been clogged as well and I didn’t want to imagine what would come out of it if I decided to clean it. There was hope though; no sounds of any hounds in the vicinity and I managed to form a smile on my mouth. I tried sitting up, it was early morning now and the birds were chirping away melodiously. I decided to enjoy nature and what it offered as I went on to breathe in. The sewer smell was slowly clearing away from my nostrils and giving way to fresh air.

  I sat up and took in my surroundings; I had no idea in the world where I was. I got to my feet lazily and stretched out my limbs, a rumbling from my tummy filled the air and I remembered how hungry I was.

  The usual heavy breakfast that Sebastian always served me in the morning played across my head. I placed both my hands on my waist and slowly moved to the sewer entrance that had granted me my freedom from the hounds.

  “Thank you”, I mouthed before pulling the lid back on it. Not too tightly though, there might be a poor soul looking for escape in the woods and would accidentally stumble on it, just as I had done. All my survival instincts were kicking in now and the sun was licking its rays on the horizon. I had never in my life been caught in such a situation but I knew I had a tale to tell later when I was back to my cozy billions. My clothes were soaked in shit and I decided to take off my night jumper to reduce the stench.

  I was surrounded with dry twigs, shrubs and bushes and decided to walk on in search for anything that would help me survive. The events from the previous night played in my head as I walked. Sarah had taken a big risk for me, one that would cost her her job if David decided to report the happenings to authority. I would have to call her as soon as I get access to a phone.

  I walked on, deep in thought and thinking of nothing else until something caught my attention. It was a rumbling noise on the ground that made a few pebbles around me rattle.

  “Train”, I shouted and began running towards the sound. My body was weak but I had to move towards the noise. Lucky for me, it slowed down as I approached it and I had a better look at it. It was a cargo train, the last time I had seen anything that old was in my 7th grade history book where we learned about the history of transport and communication.

  I looked straight ahead and noticed that it would only stop for a few minutes and let anot
her train pass by, this was my chance. I moved towards the train after spotting an open cargo. After which I shoved myself in it and tried catching my breath as my chest heaved up and down with fatigue.

  The train moved just as soon as I was in it, it took me a minute to register my surroundings but when I finally did I looked up and saw about three men looking back at me. One was quite old but the other two looked like gangsters, with scary looking tattoos and a few scars mismatched all over their bodies. I drew in a sharp breathe and let out a smile when they all placed their hands over their noses from the stench I had just walked in with on the train. All except for the old man who displayed a set of yellow teeth and seemed amused from my appearance. He went on to offer me his water bottle which I accepted and drunk from it without really looking at it. I offered him back his bottle but he kindly declined before saying “Gracias”.

  That was when I realized that I they were Mexican, I looked at the old man who still smiled at me looking amused and tried to check if my Spanish was intact.

  “Where is this train heading?” I asked after giving up on the little Spanish I knew.

  The old man did not reply but one of the men did with a slight nod.

  “Mexico”.

  34

  Sarah

  I don’t know which one was crazier, watching Robbie’s face on the news or staying up all night in the hospital next to David. The doctor had confirmed that the bullet wound was only a graze but it would take long to heal. David had shifted in and out of consciousness while in bed and talking about in audible nonsense. I placed a hand over my tummy and leaned back in my seat, I needed David’s story to collaborate with mine when he woke up. There sure would be an FBI agent asking questions about what happened. I felt slightly dizzy and remembered I hadn’t eaten a thing since the previous night. A nurse walked in and gave me a queer look as she went over David’s chart.

  “How far along are you?” she asked without her face lifting from the chart. For a minute I was not sure if the question was directed to me.

  “About 9 weeks”, I answered.

  “You need to eat something”.

  The mention of food made my stomach growl and she looked up into my eyes and smiled.

  “I will send you a plate”, she said before looking at David and walking out of the room”.

  I was left alone with my thoughts as soon as she walked out, I hadn’t started to show but it was simply remarkable how she had figured me out. The previous night’s events kept playing in mind and I wondered silently where Robbie was. Was he safe? Did I want him to be safe? Did he really have a plan set for us? I couldn’t warp my head around how Robbie had deceived me. My gut feeling knew that David was right and had been right all along. I had gotten the time to go over the different alias’s Robbie had used and the story checked out. Placing him behind bars would mean a great deal for the cop who did it. How could I have been sleeping with a fugitive and not know, I felt like a fool. He played me like a fiddle and pulled me the right way. I wanted to scream out loud, I don’t know what I was thinking with Robbie. I always ran a back ground check on all the men I dated before things got serious; the fear of proving David right was what made me not look into him.

  Nothing felt normal now, I felt suffocated and tired with hunger pangs that added to my frustration. The same nurse walked back in and placed the tray before me, I expected her to leave but she gave me another curious look and I knew she would give me a lecture.

  “You should take care of yourself and the baby, do not let stress make you forget that you are eating for two”.

  I smiled and secretly wondered what she would have done if she took a walk in my shoe. I watched her leave the room before I started eating and fixed my gaze on the TV again. The picture they used of Robbie was a younger version of him; they had it in every TV station as breaking news and would play it on every half an hour.

  I went on to munch on the tasteless hospital food that the nurse had brought me, it felt like gravel in my mouth but I could tell my stomach needed it. I watched the news and wondered where Robbie was again and hoped he would at the very least call me the first chance he got.

  The door burst open as I was immersed deep in my own thoughts and an unexpected person walked in. I had placed a call to her after David was taken up from the crime scene by the ambulance out of common courtesy but I hadn’t expected her to be at his side that fast.

  “Marisol”, I said and got up to give her a hug.

  “My God Sarah what happened?”

  “He got caught in a cross fire and suffered a bullet graze on his right leg”, I answered.

  Giving Marisol the real story was like pointing flies to where the shit was, she would make a very big deal out of nothing at all.

  “What do the doctors say?”

  “He is stable”, I answered “The wound is not as deep as we may have assumed but is heavily medicated as we speak”.

  “Has he woken up since he was brought to hospital?”

  “In and out of consciousness murmuring a few things, the doctor said we should give him a few more hours”. Marisol pulled the empty chair that was in the room and placed it next to her beloved husband.

  “Why don’t you take a break Sarah, go home, get a change of clothes, shower eat something I will be right here”, she said

  “I think I will take a stroll across the hospital grounds but I can’t leave him here like this”, I answered.

  I got to my feet and headed for the door, it felt better to change positions and I ran a hand through my hair as I swung it open.

  “Try salty crackers”, Marisol said just before I walked out “They will help with the nausea”.

  “What the fuck? Was there a sticker stuck to my back that said ‘nine weeks pregnant’ that I did not know about?”

  “Thank you Marisol”, I said and walked on to the vending machine to try out the crackers she had mentioned.

  The hospital was a crazy place to be, the paramedics would ship in people who looked almost dead, burnt, stubbed the list was endless, what caught my attention though was the women who were in labor being shipped in. That would be me in about nine months or so. Now that Robbie had made an abra kadabra disappearing act, I still had other options available to me. I could always opt for abortion and get my career back on track or I could go through with it and raise the baby by myself. That would mean a lot of office work for a very long time, my career would suffer a few hitches and wondering whether it was all worth it was a question I still needed to answer by myself.

  35

  David

  The stench of antiseptic and a lot of foul smelling drugs was what woke me up. I woke up with a fighting spirit ready to take care of unfinished businesses but I was not sure what I was supposed to take care of exactly. I flickered my eyes and noticed a bright light right on top of me. Was I on my way to heaven? Was I dead? The light flickered a bit and this answered my question, I was sure heaven didn’t need a change of bulbs. Marisol was the first person my eyes landed on which made me confused.

  “David”, she said and shockingly sounded concerned “David you are awake?”

  I took in my surroundings and nothing still made sense to me, where the fuck was I? The IV drip that was next to my bed knocked my senses back on and I realized where I was. I tried sitting up but felt weak and tired and very high on something I couldn’t tell what. My head felt like it was floating in midair; it was a very nice feeling.

  “How are you doing?” Marisol went on to probe with one hand on my shoulder.

  “What happened?” I asked “Where am I?”

  “You are at the hospital baby”, she answered “Sarah said you got hit in a cross fire”.

  Sarah’s name being mentioned must have triggered back my memory and I had to sit up as the events from the previous night came flooding back in my mind.

  “Slowly honey,”

  “It’s only a bruise Marisol, don’t worry about it”.

  “Well how did you
get it?”

  “Sarah gave it to me”, I answered and did not bother to look at her reaction after saying this,

  “But she said you got it in a crossfire”.

  “Yes a love cross fire”, I spitted out disgustedly.

  I felt tired and hungry but I could feel no pain in my body, the pain medication must have been very strong.

  “What do you mean love cross fire?” I gritted my teeth the last thing I needed was to wake up from an interrogation from my witch of a wife.

  “Fuck Marisol, why are you even here?”

  “Well Sarah should have aimed at your attitude David not your leg”, she snapped back rudely “I was worried about you, we might have our differences but you are still the father to my kids”.

  These words made me feel guilty for snapping at her and I relaxed in my seat. She genuinely looked worried, with her big dreamy eyes and pale skin.

  “I am sorry for snapping at you my dear, I guess I am still angry at my sister”, I answered.

  “Why are you angry at her?”

  “She chose love”, I simply answered and did not bother to give any explanation “Where is she anyway?”

  “She went to stretch her legs in the hospital grounds for a minute”, she answered.

  I could tell Marisol had a lot to ask me but I w as not going to give her the chance. I placed a hand over my tummy instinctively and looked up at her with sorrowful eyes.

  “I am famished”.

  “Let me get the nurse”, she answered and practically sprinted out of the room. I half wished she would react the same way back home whenever I asked her to do something. It literally took Marisol a tragedy for her to show any ounce of concern.

  Sarah walked in only moments after she had left my room and our eyes locked. She looked like she had been crying and I could understand her guilt but I was still as mad as a hippo with a hernia.