Authors: Diana Gardin
I turn to my father and it takes
everything I have to stay calm as I say, “You’re going to let them go.”
“Of course I am,” he answers. “I’m not a
monster.”
“Then why are you bringing them in at
all?”
“Because I need leverage. You’re not
cooperating.”
“You won’t touch her. You won’t. I’ll
kill you first,” I promise, choking on the words.
“I won’t do anything I don’t have to do,”
he promises.
My breath is coming way too fast, and my
hands are balled into fists at my sides. If I have opened my mouth again, a
snarl would have been all I could muster.
Camryn is about to walk into the dragon’s
lair.
She’s going to cross right into my
father’s line of fire.
Chapter
25
Found
Camryn
I follow the black sedan into the parking
lot of a strip mall.
“Great,” Dara says, rolling her eyes.
“She’s going shopping.”
But the sedan continues around to the
back of the shopping center, following a long narrow asphalt road where a squat
cluster of warehouses sit completely hidden from the street in front of the
strip mall.
“I don’t think she’s shopping way back
here,” I point out.
The sedan stops in front of a warehouse.
Cooper’s mother steps out of the car and disappears inside.
Dara and I sit there, staring at the
warehouse.
“What should we do now?” she asks.
“I don’t know! I’ve never followed anyone
before!”
“I’m texting Brandon,” she says, pulling
out her slim, pink-covered cell phone.
“Are you telling him where we are?”
“Yes,” she answers firmly.
I sigh. “Then we might as well--“
I jump at a sudden, sharp rap on my
window, startling me. I look out my window, and a man in all black flashes a
badge at me.
I glance over at Dara. She shrugs.
I open my door, and the man puts his
badge back in his pocket.
“Please come with me, Miss,” he orders with
authority.
“But I’m not--“ I begin.
“Now,” he says. He grabs my arm.
“Hey!” Dara shouts. “Let go of her!”
A second man appears and grabs
both
of Dara’s arms.
The blood flowing through my veins freezes,
and I know instantly that we are in trouble.
The men practically drag us into the
warehouse where we have just seen Cooper’s mother enter.
After we enter, they let us go.
“What the hell?” I ask angrily. “Who are
you? Where’s Cooper?”
Both men just look at us. After a couple
of minutes of us just standing there like we’re waiting for something, a third
man comes down a long hallway leading to who knew what.
“Marc,” the man who flashed a badge at me
nods in greeting.
“He’s ready for them,” the man called
Marc says. He turns to us. “Right this way, ladies.”
He sounds like such a gentlemen. If they are
so civilized, then why are they treating us like we’re prisoners?
My mother often told me when I was
younger to always trust my instincts when I’m in a strange place or with
strange people. If I don’t feel safe, then I’m probably not, and I need to find
a way out of the situation, like
yesterday
.
Dara and I are already on their turf. It may be too late for us already.
“Do we have a choice?” I ask him.
Instead of answering me, the man holds
out his hand. “Phones.”
My mouth drops open. He wants our phones?
My fear, instead of paralyzing me like I would have expected, is making me feel
jittery and amped. I hand him my phone and Dara does the same.
She looks at me pointedly, and then cuts
her eyes to our retreating phones. I know what she’s thinking. She already
texted Brandon our location. I hope he isn’t dumb enough to come alone. I hope
he brings the whole damn police force with him.
The man spins around and glides down the slick-floored
hallway, and I know we are expected to follow. He turns left, right, and left
again. This warehouse is more like a maze, and I feel like the little rat
scurrying around inside. I can see why they chose it as a place to set up their
little operation or whatever it was. I only hope Cooper is okay.
Had they kidnapped him? Why?
When we turn another corner, my whole world
slams to a halt, like someone has pressed a giant STOP button on my life. Then everything
continues forward again in slow motion.
Lilly Brewer, walking toward us in
leather riding pants and her signature red leather jacket, flips her long brown
hair over one shoulder. Her eyes meet mine, and one corner of her lips turn
upward; the ghost of a smirk crossing her pixie-like face. As we pass, she shakes
her head slightly at us. My eyes narrow, and I set my mouth in a grim line.
She’s in this up to her skinny little
neck, and it doesn’t surprise me at all.
Dara elbows me in the ribs after Lilly
passes, and I nod to let her know I saw Lilly, and I know what it means.
I need to see my boyfriend.
Now.
The sick feeling in the pit of my stomach
is only getting worse, and I think I might pass out from the fear. Not fear for
myself. The overwhelming fear ‘I’m suddenly letting myself feel is for Cooper.
Cooper
I pace the room that has become my prison
while my father watches.
“What is it with you and this girl?” my
father presses the tips of his fingers together and leans forward in his chair.
I halt, my eyes raking over him. “It
doesn’t matter. I’m not talking to you about her. But if you touch her, I’ll
kill you.”
Why do I have to keep saying that to
people lately?
He sits back, still studying me. “Now
that sounds like the son I was looking forward to meeting.”
“I’m glad I made you proud, Dad,” I snap.
“Really, though, Cooper. Do you think you
have a future with this girl? Lilly told me you were dating her and I’ve
checked her out thoroughly. I thought you were just sowing your oats. But a
relationship? With the likes of her?”
I do see red then, and a blaze of fury so
hot it nearly burns me rips through my insides. I am across the room in one
stride and my hands grab the crisp collar of my father’s button-down shirt.
“I don’t care what research you’ve done,”
I say with deadly calm. “You don’t know her. I don’t want you to know her. You
don’t get to say anything about her, because you. Don’t. Know.”
The door bursts open and two armed men are
on top of me, wrestling me to the hard, cold ground.
“Enough,” my father says, his voice cool
and even. Unruffled. “He’s got a temper, but I don’t need you now. Get out.”
The two gorillas holding me to the ground
are gone in seconds, and the door closes behind them.
I get up, dusting myself off, and glare
at my father.
When the door opens again, my mother
walks in. The blazing fury races through me again, but I would never attack her
like I had my father. She earns a look of disgust from me, but that’s all.
“Why?” I ask her.
Glaring at me, she shakes her head
impatiently. “You know why. It’s been explained, Cooper. Now put on your big
boy pants, and face up to your responsibilities. Your father’s come all this
way. It’s time you come back home with us to begin the life you’ve been robbed
of all this time.”
“Face my responsibilities? Are you really
saying that to me right now? Did you face up to your responsibilities to me as
your son my whole life? I have no responsibility to this man,” I say. “And none
to you, either. Not anymore. I will never forgive you for this. Ever.”
She scoffs. “Please don’t be so dramatic.
Everything I’ve done, I’ve done for our family. Period. I won’t apologize for
any of it.”
“Really? The abusive marriages? The
drugs? All for our family, huh? How much does
he
know about all of that?”
“Enough.” My father’s strong voice which
hasn’t wavered yet, sounds strained.
The door opens once again, and the face
I’ve been anxiously waiting to see appears. My eyes shoot to the man behind
her, shoving her forward into the room, and I almost lose my mind.
“Cooper!” she breathes, relief flowing
into her beautiful face.
Her voice is the only thing that stops me
from breaking the goon’s arm that pushed her into the room.
Dara follows behind her and the fear in
her blue eyes almost beaks my heart. How did I get them dragged into this?
I open my arms, and Camryn rushes into
them. I hold her away from me with both hands and look into her face.
“Baby, what are you doing here?” I cradle
her face with my hands, needing to touch her.
Tears stream down her cheeks and I try to
wipe them away. There are too many to catch, and my gut wrenches at the sight
of them.
“We were supposed to meet today.”
I close my eyes briefly, remembering the
date I’d planned and cursing myself for not being able to protect her from any
of this.
“Lilly came instead of you, and I started
to panic when I didn’t hear from you. I didn’t know what was going on. Dara and
I went to your aunt’s, and then I followed your mom’s car here.”
Her words tumble out in a garbled rush,
and I have to concentrate to understand her.
I crush her to my chest. I close my eyes
tightly, wishing with everything inside me that I could change this, so that
she doesn’t have to see or know about any of it.
I can’t see ahead or I’d have known that
it doesn’t matter how hard I wish.
Chapter
26
Slow
Motion
Camryn
Cooper doesn’t look hurt, thank God. But
I don’t understand any of this. I look around the room and notice his mother
standing next to a tall man who is the spitting image of Cooper. My eyes widen
when I see him.
It can’t be.
My eyes find Cooper again; I’m stricken
and he reads my expression. He nods, and that’s all I need to know that I’m
looking at Cooper’s father.
It doesn’t look like a warm and friendly
reunion.
The tension in the room is palpable. Every
muscle in Cooper’s face strains with anger and frustration, and I need to know
what has made him feel that way.
“Well, now that his girlfriend is here,
what are we going to do with her?” His mother glares at me.
His father studies me, and the look on
his face holds no warmth or concern of any kind.
I’m suddenly afraid for myself as well as
Cooper. Dara and I don’t know any of these people. Something very wrong is
happening here, and whatever it is, we have no business being a part of it. In
their eyes, we are intruders.
Cooper nearly shouts. “You’re not doing
anything with her. She’s leaving. She has nothing to do with this. Camryn and
her friend are leaving, now.”
“It’s very much in your nature, son, to
try and command the situation. It’s exactly what I would do. But you’re not in
charge here. I am. So stop trying to call the shots. You haven’t earned your
stripes yet.”
Cooper trembles next to me. The rage is
evident on his face, and in the erect way he holds his body. The arm holding me
is stiff and fraught with tension.
“I’m not trying to earn anything from
you!” he says, his voice as steely as the door that had shut so forcibly behind
us.
“I’m done with this. I’m taking Camryn
and Dara, and we’re leaving. Don’t try to contact me. Don’t even think about
sending your watch- dog Lilly after me again. I’m not having it. This is it.”
He tugs me closer to him and grabs Dara’s
hand. He turns to walk away, but pauses when his father speaks again from
behind us.
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you, son.
I’m not letting you walk out of here. Don’t be absurd. After I’ve tried this
hard to bring you back to me? You’re not going anywhere. This little girlfriend
who seems to have wrapped you in a chokehold isn’t leaving, either. This ends
here.”
Cooper turns around slowly, and my heart is
beating so fast I’m sure everyone can see the pulse through my shirt. He pushes
me behind him, and I push Dara behind me.
Then Cooper does something I never expect
him to do.
His movement is so fast it’s nearly a
blur, but in my line of vision everything seems to slow down.
He rushes his father, grabbing him around
his middle in a football-like tackle. His father literally flies backward and
hit the ground hard with Cooper falling on top of him.
Cooper’s mother screams, and I think Dara
does, too. I can’t move or think, so the scream frozen on my lips never finds
its voice.
The door behind us crashes open and two men
in black muscle shirts raise their arms, brandishing guns.
Guns
.
The sight of them forces me into action,
and I scream Cooper’s name as loudly as I can. I’ll never forget how my voice
sounded, so shrill and high-pitched. Not at all like myself.
Two shots ring out, and all I can think
as I drop to the ground is
please, God.
Please let Cooper be alright.
I roll when I hit the floor, onto my
back. I stare up at the industrial ceiling for a full second, mentally ticking
off body parts to make sure I’m not shot. Then I turn my head to the right and
see Dara lying flat on her stomach.
She’s shaking all over, which I take to
be a good sign. I reach out and grab her hand. She squeezes it tight, and I know
she’s okay.
In the next second, a rush of many booted
feet pound in the hallway, and a loud booming voice shouts.
“Freeze!”
I look up at the door, and see two police
officers standing there, guns drawn. A female officer rushes in and grabs Dara
and I, pulling us out of the now-congested room.
“Stop!” I scratch wildly at her arms as
she pulls me.
“Stop it! I need to get to Cooper!”
“Stop fighting,” she hisses. “I’m getting
you to safety.”
I go limp in her arms as she drags us
down the hall. The lights overhead pass quickly before my eyes, and I watch
them without really seeing them. My body begins to go numb with shock, and I welcome
the feeling. I don’t want to feel anymore. I want Cooper, though. The panic and
worry are pressing into my consciousness, not letting me pass out from the
trauma of being shot at.
When we suddenly surge into the sunlight,
Dara screams and runs into Brandon’s waiting arms. He rains kisses all over her
face, and tears are streaming down his.
“You came,” she sobs. Mascara is running
down her cheeks and she is clinging to his arms as he crushes her to him.
“Oh, baby,” he answers. “Always. I’ll
always come for you. I got your text. What the hell happened in there? We heard
gunshots, and we thought…God, Dara.”
He buries his face in her hair.
I’m getting ready to slump to the ground
when strong arms wrap around my waist, holding me up. I fall back onto Luka’s
chest, and he picks me up because I am no longer able to stand.
“Cooper,” I mumble. “Where’s Cooper?”
“
Shhh
,” Luka
whispers, stroking my hair. “Are you okay, Cam? Are you hurt?”
“Doesn’t matter!” I snap. “I need to see
Cooper, now. His father…guns…Lilly…”
I’m not making any sense. The words are
spewing out of me and I can’t stop them or make them intelligible.
“Bring her over here,” a voice commands,
and Luka shifts me in his arms. He follows a paramedic across the asphalt-paved
parking lot over to an ambulance and I begin fighting wildly again. The red
flashing lights of the vehicle hurts my eyes, and I wince.
“No!” I scream. “No! I will not leave
Cooper. Put me down, Luka. Now!”
Luka ignores me and continues carrying me
toward the ambulance.
“
Shhh
. Relax, Princess.
They just want to check you out, make sure you’re okay,” he soothes.
He sits me on the edge of the open gate
of the ambulance, and paramedics ask me questions about whether I have any
injuries. I shake my head numbly at all of them. Long, nimble fingers poke and
prod my limbs, my neck, my head. I try to sit patiently throughout the exam,
but I am growing more and more irritated and anxious. A woman with long brown
hair attaches a large square bandage to my head where I apparently injured
myself when I slammed to the floor. Then they finally leave me alone.
Luka stands next to my legs, watching me,
arms crossed over his broad chest. His chocolaty eyes study me, never leaving
my face.
“Cam,” he says hesitantly. “What
happened?”
The worry and pain in his eyes would have
been heartbreaking, if I was in any state to notice it was there.
I check out the scene around me,
bewildered. The parking lot is littered with police cruisers, and officers are
rushing around in all directions.
They are setting up bright yellow crime
scene tape and muttering into walkie-talkies. The darkening sky grows steadily
blacker, and stars begin to litter the landscape above the trauma. I look back
toward the warehouse and officers are exiting the building with men dressed in
black, their wrists handcuffed behind them.
I blink twice and sigh. “I don’t even
know. Dara and I wanted to find Cooper, so we followed his mother here. These
huge thugs dressed all in black brought us inside and took us straight to the
room where they were holding Cooper. He was holed up in this back room with his
father. They were all gangsters or something. When his father talked, it
sounded like he had been watching Cooper for awhile. He wanted Cooper to come
with him, but Cooper refused.”
A police officer marches over to me then,
and I have to repeat my story for him. He asks questions about Cooper’s mother,
and about his father. He wants to know how long I have known the family, and I
try to explain that I don’t know them at all. Only Cooper. He takes copious
notes on an
iPad
and orders me to stay put.
“You’ll have to come down to the station
later, and give an official statement,” he says. His business like manner makes
me want to shove his
iPad
down his throat.
“I’m not going anywhere,” I tell him
indignantly. “Not until I see my boyfriend.” I look back toward the warehouse. The
minutes tick by and I still don’t see Cooper; my stomach sinks further and
further toward the ground.
Luka sits with me, not saying anything,
and I am so grateful. He knows I am worried about Cooper, and he can tell I’m all
out of words.
And tears.
As I stare at the warehouse doors, time stands
still once more as a paramedic backs out of the building, pulling something in
her hands.
A stretcher eases slowly out of the
doors, followed by another paramedic carrying the other end. I am out of the
ambulance before Luka can help me, and running for the warehouse doors.
When I reach the paramedics holding the
stretcher my world breaks into pieces all around me, and I lose my footing for
the second time that hour.
I stay upright though, because Cooper’s
ashen face looks up at me from the stretcher. He is unconscious, and the white
button-down shirt he’s wearing is slick with his blood.