by Tina Saxon
Fate Hates
Copyright © 2017 by Tina Saxon
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.
This book is a work of fiction. All names, characters, locations and incidents are a product of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, things, living or dead, locales or events is entirely coincidental.
ISBN Digital: 978-0-9987762-0-0
ISBN Print: 978-0-9987762-1-7
Edited by: Max Dobson @ The Polished Pen
Proofreading by: Elaine York @ Allusion Graphics
Cover design by: Damonza
Formatting by: Damonza
www.tinasaxon.com
Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-one
Chapter Twenty-two
Chapter Twenty-three
Chapter Twenty-four
Chapter Twenty-five
Chapter Twenty-six
Chapter Twenty-seven
Chapter Twenty-eight
Chapter Twenty-nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-one
Chapter Thirty-two
Chapter Thirty-three
Chapter Thirty-four
Chapter Thirty-five
Chapter Thirty-six
Chapter Thirty-seven
Chapter Thirty-eight
Chapter Thirty-nine
Chapter Forty
Chapter Forty-one
Chapter Forty-two
Chapter Forty-three
Chapter Forty-four
Chapter Forty-five
Chapter Forty-six
Chapter Forty-seven
Chapter Forty-eight
Chapter Forty-nine
Chapter Fifty
Chapter Fifty-one
Chapter Fifty-two
Acknowledgements
About the Author
Chapter One
I’M FINISHED. DONE! I take a deep breath in, blow out slowly, and look around. Campus life. Students are scattered everywhere; some run to make it to their class on time while others relax in the grass, studying for their next exam. And then there are those who need to get a room as I spot two bodies making out under my tree. The tree I’ve spent hours studying under. I laugh, shaking my head. I’m going to miss this. This part of my life is over. I mindlessly walk across campus, relieved after finishing all my exams.
Oomph! I’m knocked over by a five-foot-two pixie.
“Addie!” Sydney screams. “We did it!” We both tumble to the ground. For being so little, I don’t know where the hell she hides all that power. I am not a small person—well, next to her I’m not. Sydney is tiny. She has always reminded me of Tinkerbell. With her short blond hair styled in a pixie cut and huge, sparkling ice blue eyes, I swear she’s going to start flying one day, sprinkling fairy dust everywhere.
We lie in the grass, looking up at the blank blue canvas just waiting to be painted. It’s May in Texas so the heat from the sun is already blistering, but everything is so green from the April rains.
“I can’t believe we’re done with college,” I say, grabbing her hand.
Sydney is my best friend. We’ve been inseparable since we were ten. I had just lost my mom and went to live with my aunt; Sydney lived next door. I love her like a sister. We both have strong personalities, but we couldn’t be any more different. She studied music and teaching, while I studied criminology and forensics. She believes in fairytales, while I think life is too cruel for such things. But she is the yin to my yang. I don’t know what I would have done without her.
She looks over at me, pouting. “I don’t want to grow up. Growing up means you leave.” I squeeze her hand tighter. The time is coming, but I try not to think about it. Last summer I did an internship with the NYPD’s Forensics Department, and I fell in love with New York City, its overwhelming but exciting atmosphere, constant state of movement, horns from cabs racing to their destination, the never-ending nightlife… I loved it all. They offered me a job once I graduated. A dream job and one that I couldn’t pass up.
I roll over on my side. “Syd, we’ll still see each other,” I say. “And we’ll talk everyday. Anyway, you have Dean now,” I tease. Syd and Dean met last year at some art festival. He’s probably glad I’m leaving; she’s always made it clear to any guy she’s ever dated that I’m part of the package. Our friendship has always come first.
Until now.
My chest hurts just thinking about leaving her.
“I’d give him up to keep you any day.” She smiles as her eyes fill with tears.
“Don’t. Don’t you dare cry and make me feel worse than I already do.” My eyes start to well with tears, too. We both sit up and embrace each other.
“I’m sorry, Addie,” she says, wiping away her tears. “You know I’m excited for you. I’m just going to miss you like crazy.” She sighs.
My phone vibrates in my back pocket. Pulling the phone out, I see it’s a text from my aunt wondering how my finals went. I glance at the time.
“Oh, shit!” I jump to my feet. “Syd, I’m late. You know I love you and this summer we’ll have lots of time before I leave, but right now I have to run.” I blow her a kiss before I turn and speed walk toward my car.
“Wait!” she screams, running after me. “There’s an end-of-year party tonight at Dean’s. Please say you’ll come.” With her short legs, she’s almost at a run trying to keep up with me.
“I need to get to work. You’re slowing me down.” I laugh, looking at her.
“Addison, stop! I’m not letting you go until you tell me that you’ll go with me tonight.” She grabs me, stopping me.
“Okay.” I sigh. “I’ll meet you at the apartment after my dinner with Howard at eight.” She lets out an excited scream and jumps into my arms, wrapping her legs around me. I have to drop my purse to grab onto her, steadying us so we don’t end up on the ground again.
* * *
“Good afternoon, Addison.” Howard greets me with a warm smile. Howard is a courthouse security guard. In the three years I’ve been working part-time at Austin’s District Court, Howard has become part of my family. I adore him. He’s an attractive older man with a fun personality and a heart of gold. When he was in his forties, his wife died. He never remarried or had kids. I never understood why women weren’t beating down his door, but he always tells me that his heart was buried with his wife. I don’t believe that; he has one of the biggest hearts I’ve seen.
“Hi, Howie.” I smirk, getting ready to go through security.
He looks around. “Shh, you know I don’t like to be called that at work.” Howard likes everyone to think he’s a badass, but I know he loves it when I call him ‘Howie’.
I offer a bemused smile and head through the metal detector. When I get to the other side, I call out, “See you a
t dinner?” We’re celebrating the end of my finals.
“You bet! Meet you down here at six.” I wave my hand in confirmation as I walk to the elevators. “Oh, FYI, Jack was down here looking for you a little while ago,” he hollers before I enter the elevator. I look his way and roll my eyes, hearing his laugh as the doors close.
Jack. My lovely boss. A middle-aged man who thinks he’s God’s gift to women. In reality he’s pompous, short, round, balding, and suffers from little man syndrome. Never been married. No surprise there. He makes crude comments at the most inopportune time. How he stays the Court Administrator baffles me. I’ve been his assistant for three years. He’s really not that bad now that I’m used to his personality. I just ignore him most of the time. Surprisingly, he’s very intelligent but has absolutely zero common sense.
He’s already yelling for me as soon as I enter my office. “Addison, nice of you to join me today.” His voice drips with sarcasm. I roll my eyes again and take a deep breath before walking into his office.
“Jack, you know I had finals today,” I say, leaning in his office doorway, crossing my arms.
“I know. I’m just kidding.” Typical Jack response. He’s always kidding. “Congrats on finishing. I can’t wait for you to be full time.”
I just shake my head. He’s very aware that is not going to happen since I’ve already given my official notice and only have one more month.
“Jack…” I sigh “…you already kno—”
“I know, I know,” he resigns. “You can’t fault me for trying. I mean, how can you leave me for New York?”
Very easily.
Ignoring his question, I ask, “Is there something you need me to do? I heard you were looking for me earlier.”
“Oh, yeah.” He points to a stack of court dockets. “I need these delivered to the correct courtrooms. Apparently, the only thing going for one of the interns is her looks. She delivered these all to the wrong courtrooms,” he says, not even looking up from his computer. I used to have a comeback when he made asshole comments, but I’ve found it’s easier just to ignore them. And sometimes I agree with him, like this time. I grab the dockets and quickly walk out of his office.
It irritates the hell out of me when the interns get these dockets mixed up. It’s not rocket science. And it happens more often than I’d like.
I hand the last misplaced docket to the judge and he shakes his head, then gives me a lopsided smile. I shrug. I know they hate it more than I do. As I’m walking down the hallway, I hear someone yell.
“Add Cat!”
Only one person calls me that. I turn around with a smile as Frankie struts toward me. At least this time he doesn’t have handcuffs on. Frankie has been arrested for many things, so he’s at the courthouse a lot. He seems to know how to get anything illegal from drugs and guns to prostitutes. I wonder who he has in his back pocket since he never seems to go to jail for very long… if at all.
“Frankie, what the hell did you do this time? I told you that you can’t go streaking down the road.” I cross my arms and twist my lips trying to stop myself from laughing out loud.
“Haha, my little Add Cat. You know I’d only get naked for you.” He wags his eyebrows and winks.
“Whatever!” My voice comes out higher than I expect. My cheeks redden and burn. Clearing my throat, I say, “Really, what are you doing here? I thought you agreed to stay on the up and up?”
“I’m here meeting my probation officer. Chill out, girl, I ain’t done nothing wrong. I’m trying to prove I’m worthy to my Add Cat.” He gives me his lady-killer smile.
My eyes widen. “Would you stop!”
“Woman, you know how to break a man’s heart.” He puts a hand on his chest. Well, shit. He can’t be serious… can he? We’ve been friends a few years and he’s never shown any interest in me, which I’m okay with because bad guys usually aren’t my thing.
Now if he were a good guy, he’d definitely be my type. He’s over six feet tall with lots of muscle. He has naturally tanned skin with the lightest green eyes I’ve ever seen. I usually don’t care for guys with shaved heads, but on Frankie it’s hot. He is definitely good looking, but very much a bad boy.
“Gotcha!” Frankie throws his hands out, laughing. “Girl, I love ya, but I’m pretty sure you can kick my ass being a third-degree black belt. I don’t need no woman to protect me. It’ll take away from my street cred!”
Relieved, I laugh, too. Sometimes Frankie comes to the gym to take classes. He’s watched me spar a few times then comments that he pities the guy who ever messes with me.
Chapter Two
IT’S ALMOST SIX o’clock when I’m freshening up in the restroom before I leave for dinner. With a grumbling stomach, I leave the bathroom and hear yelling. What the hell? Usually the place is quiet after five; people scramble out of here like ants marching. Of course the commotion is coming from the hall that I need to go through to get back to my office.
I don’t like confrontation so I lean up against the wall, waiting, hoping they figure their shit out soon so I don’t have to interrupt. If this goes on for much longer, I could go downstairs and come up on the other side and hopefully miss them. My spine stiffens when someone yells, “Put the gun down.”
Wait, I know that voice.
Then another. “You don’t know what the hell you’re doing!”
Holy shit! That’s Frankie. I take off my shoes so my heels don’t echo. I glance down the empty hallways, hoping there is something or someone who can help. Dammit, I don’t see anything but marble walls and floor. The other man is yelling back at Frankie. I catch something about Frankie ratting him out. The two men go back and forth. The other guy’s voice is getting more and more agitated. Frankie is getting uneasy.
I start pacing. Frankie’s in trouble, and I can’t stand here and do nothing. My heart picks up speed as I walk slowly down the hall. I stop at the corner, taking a few quiet breaths, before peeking around it. The other guy has his back to me, waving around a gun. He stands about six feet away from me, so I size him up. He’s not quite as tall as Frankie, medium build. What the hell should I do? I’ve taken down guys at the gym much bigger than him so I might be able to get the gun away from him. Security has to be on their way up. If I heard all the yelling, I’m sure someone else has, too.
BANG!
I jump at the sound and Frankie screams. Peeking around the corner again, I can see he shot him in the leg.
“Aww, man, I fucking missed. I meant to shoot you in the head,” the guy with the gun says sarcastically. “This time I won’t miss.”
Not thinking, I drop my shoes and run toward the guy. I have the advantage of him not seeing me coming. I grab the arm holding the gun and twist until I hear it pop. The gun falls out of his hand as I throw him over my shoulder, body slamming him to the ground.
“Fucking bitch! You broke my arm!” he screams as he jumps back up. Damn, he’s quick. He’s coming toward me so I kick his knee, sending him to the ground again screaming. I quickly glance at Frankie to see if he’s doing okay as I reach for the gun. I don’t even see the guy before he yanks me up and throws me against the wall like a rag doll.
I scream as my head slams against the marble floor. My vision blurs as I fight to gain consciousness. Trying to focus, I narrow my eyes. I see the asshole pick up the gun and point it at me. Frankie yells something. It sounds like I’m in a tunnel. My head hurts as I try to sit up. Warm liquid runs down my face and I can only assume it’s blood. My surroundings begin to fade when I hear two gun shots then everything goes black.
* * *
When I wake I’m lying on a stretcher being lifted into an ambulance. I struggle to focus and look around. “Addison, please lie still. You hit your head pretty hard. You were…” The voice keeps talking, but I can’t will myself to stay awake.
The next time I wake I’m in a bed. I move my hand and feel something attached to my arm. Familiar voices fill the room.
“Doctor, when the h
ell is she going to wake up?” Sydney says. Wow, she just cussed. She must be really upset.
“Shh… Sydney, it’s okay.” My aunt’s voice is filled with concern. “Doctor, can you tell us anything? She’s been out for hours.”
Hours? Last thing I remember was hitting my head. Well, that makes sense since my head is killing me. I open my eyes to the bright lights in the room then quickly squeeze them shut.
“Can someone please turn out the lights?” I whisper.
“Addie!” Sydney scream as she grabs my hand.
“Shh. Head hurts,” I whisper as I squeeze her hand. The brightness behind my eyelids goes away, so I slowly open my eyes again. There are just a few dimmed lights on now.
My aunt walks to my other side, grabbing my hand, too. “Addie, boy am I glad to see those beautiful blue eyes,” she whispers as she leans over and kisses my forehead.
“You know, if you didn’t want to go to Dean’s party, you didn’t have to go get yourself shot,” Syd says jokingly. I look over to my best friend, my brows furrowing with confusion.
“What the hell are you talking about? I wasn’t shot.” I lift my arms inspecting them and then start patting my chest. When I lift the covers I notice I have about ten stitches on my leg. What the hell? I look at her with huge eyes. “The fucker shot me?” I scream out in pain after sitting up too quickly.
Fuck! I press my hand to my head.
The doctor walks over and tells Sydney to wait over in the chair. I smile, knowing how persistent she can be and how much they must have had to deal with her since she got here.
“Hi, Addison. I’m Dr. Parker. I’m going to check all your vitals. Can you tell me your full name?” he says as he shines a light in my eyes. I answer all his questions while he looks me over. “Okay, you’re doing great so far. Can you tell me what you remember last?”
“I remember the asshole who wouldn’t go down throw me against the wall,” I say. “That’s about it. Oh, wait. I remember Frankie trying to talk to him.” The memory reminds me about Frankie. “Oh, my gosh, is Frankie okay?” I look at everyone in the room for an answer. The machine I’m hooked up to starts beeping faster.
