Lead Me Home: A Fight for Me Stand-Alone Novel

by A. L. Jackson

His stance protective when he ordered, “Don’t move.”

  4

  Ollie

  Bitch.

  It was spray painted in red across her door, and pieces of wood were splintered where a sharp object had been rammed against the door.

  Probably an axe.

  My heart raced like a motherfucker, anger and protectiveness and fear this blistering heat that churned a thousand tons of adrenaline through my veins.

  My chest cinched tighter with every step as I inched forward.

  It made it harder and harder to breathe.

  Hit with the overpowering urge to make sure she was close, I reached back for Nikki.

  Not sure whether to wrap her up and run with her or rush the fuck inside and take out any asshole stupid enough to still be in there.

  Take out any piece of shit who might threaten her.

  A fucking landslide of jagged rocks scraped at my throat, and I looked back at Nikki who was watching the whole scene through wide, horrified eyes.

  Totally shocked.

  My insides curled. Every worry I’d ever had surfaced. A surprise attack.

  “You still got 9-1-1 up on your dial?” I gritted through clenched teeth, inclining my ear toward the door, trying to listen for any movement inside.

  The frame was splintered. Lock knocked loose. Door hanging open an inch.

  “Yes,” she whispered, voice choked.

  “Call it. Tell them to hurry,” I urged, nudging the door open with the toe of my boot and taking a quick peek in to look around her tiny apartment.

  Stillness echoed back.

  But the place . . . it was trashed.

  Pictures had been torn from the walls. Lamp knocked to the floor. Couch flipped, ripped apart. In the kitchen, which ran along the far back wall, boxes and cans of food were strewn across the floor.

  Ransacked and ravaged.

  I roughed a shaking hand over my face, trying to see through the red blaze of hate that clouded my vision.

  I could feel my control slipping.

  My sanity shifting.

  Fuck. It’d been shifting all along—since the night my sister had gone missing and I’d become an entirely different man.

  My cool had been nothing but a front as I waited.

  As I watched.

  As I forced myself to hang back, feign patience, until a debt came due.

  It was what kept me moving every day. Hunting for my sister.

  It was the singular focus of my life. What I’d devoted myself to.

  Could feel a splinter of that focus breaking off as my hands curled with the crushing need to chase down any fucker who would even think about hurting Nikki.

  Nikki.

  Nikki. Fucking. Walters.

  This girl threatened to be my undoing.

  From behind, I listened to one side of Nikki’s conversation with the 9-1-1 operator. “Yes, that’s the correct address. The door is busted in, and it has been spray painted.”

  “It looks like it was splintered with a sharp object.”

  “Second floor apartment.”

  I cringed with every detail she reiterated.

  Like I was having to see it for the first time.

  “No, I don’t think anyone is inside.”

  “No one is hurt. There’s no need for an ambulance.”

  At least not until I found them.

  “I’m not sure,” she said.

  Nikki nodded and whispered at me, “She said to wait outside and not touch anything.”

  I gave a restrained nod.

  It was painful.

  I wanted to charge inside. Do a little of that hunting I was made to do.

  Protect her.

  Just like I’d had the overwhelming need to do earlier, running over here to check on her since she hadn’t returned my text.

  I was the dumbass who’d showed up here unannounced.

  But what if I hadn’t?

  Dread spiraled through me. A slow stir of something that had simmered forever.

  Heat igniting beneath it.

  All of two minutes passed before we could hear sirens approaching.

  My eyes remained on that indigo gaze, refusing to lose sight, wanting to sink deeper.

  Search for the secrets I could so clearly see hiding there.

  I forced myself to stand still.

  Her lips moved slowly as she spoke into her cell. “Yes, thank you, they’re here.”

  She ended the call and pulled the phone from her ear.

  “Who did this?” The question was nothing but shards of hatred from my tongue.

  Slowly, she shook her head, blinked in a confused, agitated fear.

  Didn’t matter. I was certain I saw a moment of clarity doused with worry flit through her expression.

  Her own intuition meeting with mine.

  “I don’t know,” she whispered.

  I wanted to grab her by the shoulders, shake her, demand more, but two officers were climbing from the cruiser that had just pulled into the parking lot below, their lights spinning through the desolate night.

  Couldn’t help but feel grateful when I saw the face of the man who started climbing the steps.

  Seth Long.

  He was an old friend from high school who’d gone into the academy right after graduation. A good guy. A good cop.

  Surprise had him faltering a step when he realized who was standing in front of him. “Nikki . . . Ollie . . . God. The last thing I expected was to roll up here and find you two. Are you okay?”

  The obvious answer was no.

  But true to form, Nikki turned and plastered on one of her smiles. “Yeah. Thank God. We’re fine.”

  Bright, blinding light.

  Motherfucking sunshine.

  A taste of sweet, sweet lemonade.

  That was what Nikki was. Felt myself itching to lean forward and glean some of it. To swim in her calm and her belief.

  They said sunshine chases away the dark. I swore, all it did was deepen mine. Amplify why I couldn’t take her. Have her.

  I was a bastard.

  A sinner.

  God knew what I was responsible for.

  He also knew what I’d be willing to do—vengeance a greed I carried in the palm of my hands.

  But that girl? She was a sin I’d never again commit.

  Seth and his partner stepped around us, their guns drawn as Seth nudged the broken door open with the toe of his boot.

  They edged in, quick to scour before Seth was back in the doorway. “Whoever was here is gone.”

  “Thank God,” Nikki whispered, releasing a huge breath.

  Relief.

  Wasn’t even sure that I felt it.

  The only thing it meant was the person who’d done this was still running the streets.

  “I need you two to hang out for a bit while we take some pictures and dust for prints.”

  He swung his gaze to Nikki. “If you’re up for it, afterward I’d like you to come inside to see if you see anything missing. I have to warn you, the place is torn up. It’s not pretty.”

  Nikki crossed her arms over her chest. Hugging herself.

  My sight snagged on the dragonfly tattoo on the inside of her right wrist. Every time I saw it, it felt like my guts were being shredded.

  The way she wore her ghosts the same way I wore mine.

  “It never was,” she attempted like it was going to lighten the mood.

  I wasn’t fucking laughing.

  The second Seth disappeared, I spun back around.

  This girl was so fucking pretty it hurt to look at her. I bit back all those old feelings I couldn’t feel. “I need you to go through every single person who might have done this to you.”

  She sucked her lip into her mouth. “I can’t think of anyone.”

  I wondered if she knew I could see straight through her.

  “Don’t do this, Nikki. Don’t protect someone who doesn’t deserve protecting. What is it you’re trying to hide?”

  Set
h popped his head back through the door, interrupting all the demands I wanted to make. “We’re ready for you.”

  “Thank you,” she said, sidestepping me and entering her apartment.

  I followed right behind.

  Nikki started moving through the place, cringing, clearly worrying as she took in the tornado that had ripped through her home.

  A storm.

  That was exactly what it felt like had hit.

  It was the same feeling that had been gathering strength for a while.

  Rising and lifting.

  The nightmares I couldn’t escape coming more often and more intense than ever.

  That gut-deep intuition that something was coming.

  Something wicked.

  I paced her crummy little apartment, yanking at my hair, feeling like I might go out of my damned mind.

  Seth was finishing getting her statement where they’d ended up in her bedroom while I stewed and raged in the living room.

  I could hear her voice floating from her room. “There was this box my grandma just left me. She said there were some mementoes and keepsakes in there that she wanted me to go through and share with my sister. I only picked it up a couple of days ago. I hadn’t had the chance to go through it yet. It was right up there . . . at the top of my closet.”

  “You’re sure?”

  “Yeah. It was definitely there.”

  “You don’t know what was inside it?” Seth asked.

  I peeked down the short hall, watching him scribble something in his notebook.

  “No. But it had a little lock. It probably looked like the only thing in the whole place that was of any value. Whoever it was is going to be sorely disappointed when they crack it open and find it’s probably nothing but a bunch of pictures I painted my grandma when I was a little girl. The only other thing I can see is missing is a silver ring I’d left next to my bathroom sink.”

  Yeah, someone was going to be sorely, sorely disappointed.

  Surely, they didn’t have the first clue that coming in here and messing with Nikki meant they were fucking with me.

  Sometimes lessons had to be learned the hard way. I was going to be all-too happy to teach it.

  The three of them moved back out into the living room, Seth talking while they did. “My guess is this is another case of punk kids running the streets and causing trouble.”

  Seth said it almost casually.

  “They probably took off running when your neighbor came out to see what the commotion was. It happens more than I would like to admit. They’re looking for anything easy to unload for a little cash, and if they don’t find anything, they don’t think twice about ruining people’s belongings, out of spite or fun, I’m not sure. Either way, it sucks that you have to deal with the aftermath.”

  She nodded but looked unconvinced.

  “Are you sure you can’t think of anyone who would have done this?” he asked for the third time.

  Nikki’s gaze dropped to the floor, off to the side as she ran her hands over her arms and gnawed at that plump bottom lip.

  She wasn’t saying something. I knew it. Knew it.

  She accused me of not knowing her.

  What bullshit.

  I knew her better than anyone.

  She went back to hugging herself. “I can’t think of anyone. I mean . . . I’m Nikki. Who could hate me?”

  She gave a wide grin.

  Honestly, it looked a whole lot more like a grimace than anything. Kind of pathetic and awkward and desperate.

  She wasn’t fooling anyone.

  “What about at school or the diner?”

  Her head shook. “My classes are all online, and everyone’s wonderful at the diner. Who wouldn’t be after Rynna feeds them those breakfast pastry pies. Happiest people in the world. I’m sure you’re right, and it was just kids,” she continued with a resolute nod. “There are packs of them roaming the area all the time. It was bound to happen.”

  Bound to happen.

  I was bound to kick someone’s ass.

  “Luckily, if that’s the case, they usually move on once they figure out there isn’t anything of value for them to take.”

  Although Seth’s words were obviously delivered to offer her some comfort, he kept shooting me glances on the sly.

  Nikki laughed a self-deprecating sound. “Well, then, I’m sure that ring was worth a mint, and unless they were after the VHS player my grandma gave me for my tenth birthday, then they are straight out of luck.”

  Seth chuckled while he scribbled something onto a fresh sheet in his notepad. “You probably made yourself a prime target with that one.”

  “I knew I should have gotten a security system with all my valuables. Oh God, what if they’d found my Discman?” Her eyes went wide with feigned horror. “Living the high life is dangerous.”

  I would have laughed if I wasn’t so pissed. Only this girl would make light of the situation.

  She’d also be the one to hang on to all those pieces of her childhood.

  My insides clutched as I thought about her hopping into her grandmother’s car every Saturday morning.

  Tagging along to yard sales and thrift stores like it was some sort of epic trip to Chanel.

  Couldn’t count the number of times the girl had busted into our house with pride in her eyes to show off the latest gadget she’d picked up with her grandma. Half the time, it’d already be obsolete or missing pieces or just plain ugly, but she never cared.

  She’d go on about why it’d called out to her. Why it was supposed to have belonged to her all along.

  Sentimental to the skinny bone.

  Hell, I wouldn’t have put it past her to be carrying a beeper in that huge-ass purse of hers, too.

  “You should have been born in the seventies,” Seth teased.

  “I know, I was robbed. Think of all the awesome music I missed out on in the eighties.”

  He laughed. “Robbed. Vandalized. You really are a target.”

  Anger soured on my tongue. Knew he was being cool. Setting her at ease. But her safety wasn’t a damned joke.

  “All right, I think that’s all I need for now,” Seth said, ripping out the sheet and flipping the notepad closed. “You know where to get in touch with me if you think of anything else. Sometimes things become clearer after the shock wears off. We lifted a couple of prints, so I’ll let you know what we find, and I’ll send someone over first thing in the morning to get your door fixed.”

  Nikki sent him a wobbly smile. “Thank you, Seth. I really do appreciate it.”

  “Just doing my job, though, I have to admit, wasn’t a fan of doing it here. You need to be careful, Nikki.”

  “I know.”

  He hesitated. “Are you sure you’re fine?”

  She nodded and pasted on one of those smiles. One of the ones that promised Nikki Walters was just fine.

  Having a blast.

  Even when the world tossed her shit and problems and trials, she chose to live life large and to its fullest.

  “Yeah, I’m totally fine. No need to worry. I knew what I was signing up for when I moved in here.”

  Seth shook his head. “All right then, I’m going to get out of your hair. Take care of yourself,” he told her.

  He walked toward me and reached out to shake my hand. With the other, he slipped me the sheet he’d ripped out of the notebook.

  Unease rumbled in my gut.

  I gave him a tight jut of my chin. “See ya, man.”

  “Yup,” he said before he and his partner slipped out.

  Nikki followed them and did her best to wedge the door shut.

  While her back was to me, I peeked at the note.

  None of this sits right. Call me.

  Nikki grunted, trying to get it shut but the wood was too mangled and disfigured.

  What if she’d been there? Alone?

  What would have happened then?

  What had the intruder’s intention been in the first place?


  Fear tumbled through me like a slow, excruciating burn.

  Lava that sprouted from my soul.

  Singeing my insides.

  It was doubled by a bolt of that rage. A stake through my spirit.

  It landed right in the midst of the rest of that bubbling fury, leaving me to barely hang on.

  Sometimes I looked in the mirror and was terrified of myself, having no clue who I was gonna be when it happened.

  When it all came to a head.

  Where she stood facing away from me, I watched a tremble roll through her body. The girl refused to let on that she was shaken up by the incident.

  She thought I didn’t see her.

  Problem was, I could see her too well.

  “You knew what you were signing up for when you moved in here.” There was no question behind it. Just an accusation.

  A frustrated laugh jolted from her mouth, and from behind, she shook her head. “Sometimes there aren’t any other options, Ollie.”

  She slowly turned to face me, and she lifted her chin a fraction.

  Defiantly.

  Proudly.

  That was my girl.

  Proud and way too brave and far too sweet.

  A dangerously reckless combination.

  “We work hard. We make do. We accept that sometimes our lives aren’t as pretty as we might like them to be. We accept that our lives don’t look the same as we once imagined they would.”

  Regret tumbled through me at that.

  I was the holder of so many of the dreams she’d whispered about.

  Dreams she’d trusted me with.

  I was the image that no longer looked the same.

  “It wasn’t like I was going to continue to live with my sister once she got married and became a mom. So here I am.”

  She lifted her arms out to the sides like her reasoning was going to deter me. “Home sweet home.”

  She started for the kitchen that was only separated from the living room by a change from old, worn carpet to dinged-to-shit linoleum.

  I surveyed the disaster again. Unease knocked at my ribs. My voice was low when I spoke. “Looks personal to me. You sure there isn’t anything you want to tell me?”

  She kept walking, dipping to grab three boxes of cereal that had been pulled from the pantry and dumped onto the floor.

  But I saw it.

  The misstep.

  The way her spine went rigid in fear.