Edge Of Retaliation : Books 1-3

by Bella Jewel

  “Hey,” Ethan says, reaching over and taking my hand. I look over at him, studying his handsome face, and it only makes me feel even more hurt inside. “It’s going to be okay, do you hear me? Tanner is tough, so is Jo and the other two. They know what they’re doing.”

  “What if it goes wrong? What if something happens and they don’t make it back? I can’t live with that. I can’t let that be how this story ends.”

  “It’s not goin’ to be how this story ends, I promise you that.”

  I swallow and glance up at the ceiling.

  “Ethan?” I whisper.

  “Yeah?”

  “I’m sorry. I’m sorry that I’ve treated you so badly in the last few weeks. You didn’t deserve that. I was just so hurt, and so angry. You really were my shining light when I was away, and I couldn’t have done it without you. The thought of that not being real, it really bothered me.”

  Ethan is silent for a moment; he’s still holding my hand and his thumb strokes over my skin. “You know,” he says, his voice low and gentle, “it was real. I should have told you what Tanner and the others had planned when you got out, but I was torn. My loyalty was torn. I didn’t think they’d hurt you, and if they had, I would have made it stop. The thing was, the rest of it was real. I did protect you. Our friendship was real. I used to look forward to coming to work so I could hang out with you, Callie.”

  I close my eyes and take a deep, shaky breath.

  “I fucked up,” he goes on. “I know that. I shouldn’t have kept it from you. I should have been honest, and I wasn’t. I look back now and it seems so obvious what the right thing was, but at the time I was truly torn. Tanner and his family, they saved my ass so many times. I owed them so much ...”

  “What happened to you, Ethan?” I ask, opening my eyes and looking over at him.

  He smiles, but it’s weak and a little broken. “I was raised in foster homes. I lost my parents when I was only young. My mother died of cancer and my father killed himself. It left me ... broken. I went from home to home and eventually I was put with a family that lived just by the Yates family. I befriended them right away, Tanner mostly, of course, but they all took me in. Tanner’s mom used to make me school lunches when my foster family forgot and send them to school so I didn’t get hungry. After school, she would always make sure I was fed before I went home.”

  I swallow the thick lump in my throat and keep listening.

  “My foster family was messed up. You know, I’ve wondered so many times over the years how people like that can even pass in the system. How they can be considered capable of looking after a child that has no family. Half of them are bigger monsters than the families they are taking the kids from. It’s a cruel system, unfair and weak. Those kids need someone to be there for them, not someone to make it worse.”

  “Your foster family was cruel?” I ask.

  “My foster mother, Tayce, was a drunk, and my foster father, Frederick, was high on every drug you could imagine. They were abusive. I had a foster sister, Bay, and she suffered bad, too.”

  “What happened to her?”

  “I don’t know.” Ethan shrugs, frowning. “She got moved after I left home. I was going to let her come live with me, but when I went back to get her, she had been relocated. They wouldn’t tell me where. As I said, the system is misguided and poor.”

  “Did Tayce and Frederick ever ... hurt you?”

  Ethan nods. “More than once. Which is why I loved going to the Yates’ place. They always cleaned my wounds, and fed me, and helped me with my homework. They were my family. They still are. Which is why it was so hard for me to turn my back on them. But then I had you and ...”

  “I get it,” I say, and I mean it, I really do. “I would kill for a family like that, and if I had one, I’d probably have done the same thing.”

  “As soon as I knew who you really were and the kind of person you were, I stopped, Callie. I told Tanner I wouldn’t do it, and we had a falling out.”

  I squeeze his hand. “Do you miss him?”

  “Tanner?”

  “Yeah.”

  Ethan goes quiet, and then says, “Every fuckin’ day.”

  “You should fix things with him,” I say.

  “It’s too late for that. He hates me for not having his back. Hates me for not being on his side.”

  “That was when he didn’t know the truth. He does now. You should try and piece your family back together.”

  “You and him are a thing now?”

  I purse my lips and then shrug. “I think so. It’s hard to tell, with everything the way it is. I know I care about him. I know that even after everything, he matters to me.”

  “You matter to him, too. I’ve seen Tanner with people a lot, but I’ve never seen him the way he was with you today. He was scared, I could see the love in his eyes. You changed something in him, something he lost when Celia died. You’re healing him. He deserves that.”

  “Did he have a hard time growing up, too?” I ask.

  Ethan shakes his head. “No, they were the perfect family. Loving mom, strong father. They used to play games and laugh. Which is why I think it hit them so hard when his father had an affair. It changed everything in that house. Gone was the laughter and fun. Their mom was down, sad, and angry. Their father was distant. Tanner was angry and got into a lot of fights and a lot of trouble, Andrea moved out, and Celia was left alone. She lived with the most of it, the stuff they didn’t see, and I guess it was worse than we all knew because she didn’t tell anyone what happened to her.”

  “Were you and she close?”

  Ethan smiles, remembering his friend. “She was the little sister everyone liked. She never got into trouble, she was always happy and smiling. She was sunshine. She really was. She could make the darkest days bright. Which is why it was so hard when we were told you had said she killed herself. Nobody believed it, because Celia was always the light. But if we’re being honest with ourselves, we were all in our own world just before she died, and we didn’t pay enough attention to her. If we had, we might have seen how much she had changed.”

  “She was living through hell alone,” I whisper.

  “Yeah,” Ethan says softly. “She was.”

  I look over at him, and give him a weak smile before saying, “Ethan?”

  “Mmm?”

  “For whatever it’s all worth, I’m glad I had you. I’m happy you’re my friend. I hope you know that you made my life so much easier in there.”

  He stands, leaning over and pressing a kiss to my forehead. “You’re welcome. Now get some rest.”

  “I don’t think I can sleep. If Tanner ...”

  “If Tanner comes back, I’ll wake you. Get some rest, you’ve been through a lot.”

  “Okay,” I whisper, yawning. I’m exhausted. No doubt about it.

  “Sleep tight, Callie.”

  Ethan holds my hand until I fall asleep, his warm fingers curled around mine.

  Everything is nearly perfect finally.

  Nearly.

  We just have to get through this.

  One more thing.

  20

  “Hey,” a husky male voice murmurs, and a warm set of lips brushes across my forehead.

  My eyes flutter open, and it takes me a moment to focus and see Tanner leaning over me. His face is dirty, but he looks safe. He’s here. He’s alive. I make a happy sound in my throat and throw my good arm around his neck, pulling him down to me. His big body comes down over mine, gently, of course, and he wraps his arms around me. He smells like dirt, and gun powder, and possibly blood, but I try to ignore that.

  “You’re here,” I whisper. “You came back.”

  “I came back,” he says, pulling back and cupping my face in his palm. “Are you okay?”

  I nod. “I’m okay.”

  “I couldn’t stop fuckin’ thinkin’ about you. Felt like there was a knife in my stomach the whole time we were in there. Wonderin’ if you were okay, if you were goin�
�� to make it. Doctor told me they pulled the bullet out. You did good, babe.”

  I smile, and then glance behind him. No Jo. No Tatum. No Garrett. No Chase.

  “Where are they? Did something happen? Is everyone okay?”

  Tanner glances over at Ethan, who is asleep, his head dropped forward. He looks back at me and sits on the edge of the bed. “It was intense, to say the least. They figured out who Jo was, I guess they had more knowledge than we thought. When we realized she wasn’t comin’ back out, we had to go in. It was fuckin’ horrible, but the cops showed up only minutes later and took the joint down. Arrested all of them. Few people got shot, but we managed to get out fine. Had to make a statement before I could come here.”

  “And Chase?” I ask, my eyes wide.

  “Got him, too. He’s with Tatum, they’re on their way here. Garrett and I had to make a few stops, sort a few things out, and then we said we would meet them back here. Thought they would be here before me, but they must have stopped, too.”

  I nod, reaching for his hand and curling my tiny fingers around his big palm. “Was anyone hurt?”

  “Jo got pushed around a bit, hit a couple of times, nothing major. She’s okay. Bit shaken up, but okay. She managed to plant what she needed to plant before they figured out who she was. Brave girl that friend of yours, couldn’t have done it without her.”

  “She really is.” I smile, feeling a rush of warmth when I think about my best friend.

  “We didn’t leave her in there long, had a gut feeling they figured it out. Must have got suspicious when she randomly came in, not too sure what tipped them off, but we got to her before they could do too much damage.”

  “Did you ... shoot anyone?”

  Tanner shakes his head. “Tatum did, but nobody can prove it was him, there was too much gunfire when the cops came in, think he got away with it.”

  “Will you get into trouble?”

  Tanner shrugs. “No idea. Unless the cops get suspicious that we planted the goods there, then no. We gave them the information, told them we were tryin’ to get our friend, we brought a huge fuckin’ operation down. If anything, they owe us.”

  Good point.

  “I’m so glad everyone is okay; I was so worried.”

  Tanner glances at Ethan, then says, “He stay with you?”

  I look over at my friend and smile. “Didn’t leave my side. He’s good to me, Tanner. I know he means something to you, too. You should put the past behind you and mend fences. It would mean a lot to him.”

  Tanner nods, his eyes seemingly distant, and then he murmurs, “Yeah, maybe.”

  He looks back down to me and leans forward, brushing his lips across mine. I take it, relishing in how good it feels for a moment. “Was so scared,” he says against my neck as he nestles down, holding me close. “For a fuckin’ minute there, I thought you were gone. Made me realize what I did to you, Callie ...”

  “Is in the past,” I say, tipping my head to the side and breathing him in. “It’s done. It can’t be undone.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  “I know.”

  “I want to move forward, with you, clean slate.”

  “Me, too,” I whisper.

  “Thank fuck for that.”

  He releases me and stands. “I’m goin’ to find a shower, and then I’m comin’ back to stay with you until you get out of here, understand?”

  I smile, nodding. “Understood.”

  “I’ll be back soon.”

  He disappears and, while he’s gone, Ethan wakes and goes and gets some dinner. I eat the food the nurses bring me and wait for the doctor to come and check on me. They’re happy with my progress and finally move me to a ward where I’m put up in a far more comfortable bed. I have a sponge bath, get changed, and am just getting comfortable when Tanner returns. He’s clean now, his hair still damp from a shower, his clothes fresh.

  There is a look on his face, though.

  A look that bothers me.

  He glances around the room, and his eyes narrow.

  “You’re back,” I say once the nurse leaves the room. “Is everything okay?”

  “They’re not here with you?”

  “Jo and Tatum?”

  He nods.

  “No, they haven’t come in.”

  Tanner pulls out his phone and dials, listening for a few seconds and then hanging up. He tries again. Then shoves his phone into his pocket just as Ethan walks into the room, clean as well. Tanner turns around, facing him. “Have you seen them?”

  “Who?” Ethan asks.

  “Jo, Tatum, and Chase?”

  Ethan shakes his head, “No.”

  “What’s going on, Tanner?” I ask, my heart suddenly jerking into a race of its own.

  “They should be here. Went to the motel, nobody has been there. Called them, all their phones are off. I don’t know where they are.”

  Oh, god.

  “Maybe they stopped for dinner?” I ask, my voice shaky.

  It’s shaky because I know they wouldn’t turn their phones off to have dinner. I also know Jo wouldn’t stay away from me a second longer than she had to.

  Something is wrong.

  Something is very fucking wrong.

  “No. They were coming straight back here.”

  “Maybe they turned Chase in?” Ethan asks.

  “Tatum would have told me, and he isn’t about to turn his brother in,” Tanner murmurs, running his hands through his hair.

  “Tanner?” I whisper. “What does this mean?”

  “It means something went wrong, Callie,” he tells me, his eyes meeting mine. “It means they’re gone.”

  Gone?

  Gone where?

  TO BE CONTINUED....

  THEN AND NOW

  BELLA JEWEL 2019

  PROLOGUE

  Dear Fate,

  Here I am, finally writing to you again.

  Things haven’t changed, Fate.

  Time hasn’t healed anything.

  As always, nothing makes sense.

  Things aren’t coming together as they should.

  Time has changed us very little.

  It has only made everything that much more confusing.

  Nothing is fixed.

  Nobody is happy.

  We still live with a dark cloud over our heads.

  A cloud you refuse to clear away.

  If only you’d explain yourself.

  If only you’d tell me why you picked me.

  If only you’d tell me why you took Celia.

  If only you’d tell me why you chose Tanner.

  If only you’d tell me why this web of lies keeps growing bigger.

  Why can’t you just let us be?

  I have no answers.

  I do, however, have so many questions.

  Can you answer those for me, Fate?

  Of course you can’t. You want me to figure this out.

  To learn some valuable lesson.

  How am I to do that, when you keep changing the rules?

  No, Fate, rules are not meant to be broken.

  They’re there for a reason.

  Stop changing reason.

  You can’t control everything.

  Right ...

  You can control everything.

  You’re making sure I know that.

  You’re making sure I know you’re coming for me.

  For our final battle.

  I’m ready, Fate. I’m so ready.

  It’s time for my freedom.

  The freedom we both know I deserve.

  I’ll get my peace.

  Just you wait and see.

  THEN

  1

  JOANNE

  It’s dark.

  Really damn dark.

  The only thing that I’m thankful for right about now is that I’m not alone. Tatum is sitting beside me, beaten half to death, his hands shackled in front of him, his feet tied with an old, thick rope that’s attached to the wall, giving just enough
for him to scoot around a tiny bit. Every now and then, he winces, letting me know the pain he’s feeling is beyond even words. Mostly, though, he’s quiet. He’s resting, trying to find peace in the chaos of his mind.

  He blames himself.

  Everything that went wrong he thinks is on him.

  I can understand that guilt, but it’s not on him. It’s on all of us. Our plan ... It wasn’t well thought out. We were so desperate just to end this, to move on with our lives, to make all the bad go away, that we didn’t cross all our Ts and dot all our Is. In doing that, we ended up here.

  In a basement, not sure of our fate, having no idea what will happen next.

  Callie and Tanner are out there, no doubt having figured out we haven’t returned yet. They’ll be worried something is wrong, they’ll be trying to figure out what happened and where we are. I’m scared they won’t find us—hell, I don’t even know where they took us. All I know is that we were given the shock of our lives when we were followed after everything went down.

  One minute we’re driving, feeling the relief as the cops took away those drug runners, the men who ruined so many lives, and the next we were being chased down by a damn mad man. When we stopped the car to see what was going on, that was the end of us. They came on us without warning, guns loaded. They beat Tatum so bad I can still hear my desperate screams at them to stop, to just stop.

  They didn’t.

  They wouldn’t.

  Now, here we are.

  We missed one, you see. We thought we had it all planned out, that the police would take down their entire operation and we could walk away clean. What we didn’t know is that one of them was ahead of the game and got out before the cops could take him. He gathered more of his men and made sure we knew that messing with them would be the worst thing we could ever do.

  They’ve certainly made sure of that.

  I twist to the side, trying to stretch out my aching back. The wall is cold behind me, like hard stone against my already bruised and battered body. My feet are also tied together at the ankles and I’m bound to a wall, but my hands aren’t cuffed. I guess they figured I’d be too weak to go anywhere; besides, where would I go? Even if I got free in here, I’d have no way out. My face is bruised from the few hits I took, but mostly they took it out on Chase and Tatum.