Authors: P.A. Jones
Tristan
Adrenaline in my body was at high. My breath was controlled and my heart was pumping the blood to my legs. We were running behind him. He was almost within. My fingers closed in a fist; he was going to get what he was due. Surprisingly, Gavin was closer to him. He was a runner, after all. In one moment, Gavin jumped on him, extending his hands to grab his shoulders. The next moment, he hit the ground hard and Gavin landed on him perfectly. That was a nice jump.
I stopped; my chest was moving up and down fast. The air surrounding me was heated. A drop of sweat was frozen on my nose, before it dropped on the ground. I grabbed his jacket and flipped his mouth.
It was the face of evil for me and Nikki. He’d made Nikki suffer a lot. My hand moved automatically and went straight to his face as a punch, crushing his nose on the way. I could feel the hot blood touching my skin. But that was nothing; I was going to kill him right there.
Peterson pulled me off of him.
“Don’t be stupid, Tristan. I know you are angry, but have some patience and let me ask him some questions first.” Gavin frowned at me.
I scowled at that bastard, Gerome. I wanted to kill him, but knowing the whereabouts of the money was essential, too. I closed my eyes for a second.
It had been a busy day. The moment we’d stepped out in Philadelphia, we had been searching for this bastard. Place after place, we searched for him. The contact of Gavin gave us his current whereabouts, but when we reached that place he was already gone. It had happened three times in a row, but this time we found him.
But when we found him, going inside a hotel, he saw us and started running. We had to chase him and give him the beating of his life. He ran fast, but he couldn’t outrun three of us.
I looked at him; he was panting with a bleeding nose. The nose wasn’t enough. I wanted to see his face covered in blood, completely.
“Why did you do that?” I jumped on him, catching his collar. Peterson again pulled me back.
“Tristan, wait for a moment. We don’t want to get any cops here. We will take him to a hotel room and then we will see where the money is.” Gavin said.
“There is no money. Everything was spent for my daughter’s operation,” Gerome replied, his voice was shaking.
“What the fuck? Your so-called son is getting taken away from his mother and you are telling about a dau…” I realized what he was saying. I turned to face him. With my grip on his neck, I said, “What do you mean by daughter? What did you do with that money, jerk?” I was losing it. The more I was away from knowing about the money, the more he was driving me insane, it never happened with me, but thinking about Nikki’s face when she lost Stephen drove me nuts.
“The money, Tristan. I’m sorry, but I had’ to do it with Nikki. Otherwise, he would have killed my daughter. My daughter is getting operated on for a heart transplant and she needed that money.” Tears fell down his cheeks. Seeing a man crying was painful.
“What daughter? You only have one son, and that's also in danger.” I squeezed his jaw in my hand. “Do you even know how much pain your wife is in? Do you even care?”
“The two years I was gone, I’d married a pretty Mexican woman. I have’ a daughter with her, and she is sick, very sick. She needed a heart transplant. I had’ no money. Everything Nikki’s dad gave me had vanished and I couldn’t ask him for more money. I was doomed.” He started sobbing, his words gone awry. “And then he came up with a proposal.” His chin jutted up.
I looked in his green eyes. I saw something moving there.
“Gavin, can you pull some strings and get the complete info on this jerk?” I asked Gavin.
He nodded and walked away.
“Tell me about everything. Who came and what proposal? Why did you come back in her life when you had married another woman?” It was all confusing. I was on the brink of losing my calm again. Because of this jerk, I was apart from my love. The woman who could change my life was pushed away because of this man’s lie. And now he was telling another lie.
“Mr. Shaun. The lawyer Nikki is facing against.”
My hands dropped his chin. It was a shocker for me. I couldn’t believe that could be true. Why would Shaun contact Gerome and how did he know him in the first place?
“Tell me, Gerome, what really happened back there? What did he ask you? And how did he know you?” I asked.
“He came to me one day with lots of cash and promised to give more if I worked for him. He wanted me to get back with, Nikki. And make sure she couldn’t get the company back on the track.”
“But why would he want that? Why would he want to keep Stephen away from Nikki.” I still couldn’t understand the motive behind this all.
“He wants the power.” Gerome wiped the blood from his nose. “He wants to control the whole Jordan industries, and he can do that only when Stephen is under his influence.”
It made sense; Shaun would completely control the Jordan empire if he is the custodian of Stephen.
“And then you made sure that Nikki ’didn't take the company uphill’.” I completed his plan.
“Yes, but then you came and you made sure that she got the money. I even gave money to the players on our team to make sure we lose,” Gerome said.
“You jerk. I should kill you for this.”
“I deserve it, Tristan, but I can’t get your money back. It’s gone. When you won the tournament, Shaun threatened me that he wouldn’t give me any money. And I had’ no choice but to run with the money to save my daughter. You would have done the same if you were in my place, Tristan. You would have done the same for Stephen," he cried.
“And now I’m going to kill you.” I tightened my grip on his neck.
“Tristan, come on. Let's wait for Gavin to get back with info on him.” Peterson pulled me back.
“Let’s take him to the hotel room.” I grabbed Gerome’s arm and dragged him along with me. I was going to take every penny out of his pocket. I was going to make sure Stephen stayed with Nikki.
***
Gavin entered the hotel room. We didn’t plan to stay so we booked only one suite.
“Did you find anything?” I asked him.
His eyes darted to Gerome and then back to me. “He is telling the truth. He'd transferred all the money to a Mexican account and that belongs to a hospital. I checked it in detail and apparently he is having a life there with someone named Paula. I’m sorry, bro, we can’t get that money back. It’s gone out of the country.”
“Fuck, fuck.” I lost all my hope. The money was gone and there was no way to get it back. I'd failed Nikki big time. I looked back at Gerome. I wanted to kill him right there only, but I lost my interest. Nothing was going to change things for Nikki and Stephen.
I walked out of the room onto the balcony. The traffic was flowing on the roads, but I’d lost all my hope. Everything was on the verge of being lost and I couldn’t do anything to save it.
Nikki
“We will run with him. Can't we do that?” I asked, wiping my tears away. I’d wiped them again and again, but still there was plenty of water left in my body to continue crying for hours.
My eyes darted to the little kid playing with the toy. He didn’t even know he was going away from me. How would he live without me? Who would he call his mother? Who would take care of him when he is sick?
“Jesus, please save my child from these bastards.” I looked up, but no help was coming from him anywhere. God must be angry at me. He must be punishing me for the sins I'd done in previous life. But why would he punish that little kid too?’
How could I let them take away piece of my heart? How could that bastard Shaun do that to me?“If he wants the money, the power, let him take that. But for God’s sake, please don’t take me away from him. I’ll die without him, Tristan.” I begged him.
He just hugged me tightly. After returning from Philadelphia, he had been like this, quiet and lost in his own thoughts. He was helpless, like me. I knew he loved Stephen as much I did, but he couldn’t save him from legal things.
“I wish I could do that, Nikki. I’m so sorry, dear,” Tristan answered in a low voice. “But don’t worry, babe. I’ll fight till my last breath and get him back for you. I’ll do anything, even if I’ve to steal him from that jerk.”
“I want him with me, Tristan.” I picked him up and hugged him to my heart. He started crying because of the force I squeezed him with.
Tristan took him away from me. For the first time I saw tears in his eyes. “I’m sorry, Nikki. I couldn’t do anything for you. I failed you.” A lone tear fell down. He kept saying he’d failed me. Actually, he was the reason I was still standing. If it wasn’t for him standing with me, I would have taken the drugs again. I couldn’t tell him how many times I felt like going back on that path when he wasn’t with me. But he had shown me the way life could be and I clung to those memories and kept myself sane.
“No, Tristan. I’m the fool who believed in Gerome again. And I’m getting punished for that foolishness now. If I never had gone on that path, I would have been with you and Stephen.”
“No, Nikki, you had gone through a lot already and I hadn’t been there for you when you needed me.”
“Promise me you won’t go away from me. I’ll die if I lose you as well.” I was afraid that he would go somewhere, leaving me alone.
“No, babe.” He wrapped me in his arms and brushed his lips on my forehead.“I won’t leave you in my lifetime.”
“Thanks, Tristan.” My arms wrapped around his back in a tight hug.
***
Tristan
I watched her walking like a zombie, her shoulders down, eyes scratching the ground, neck bent like it was broken. But I couldn’t do anything. Her son, our son was going away from us. It was the fourth day of the hearing and the judge was hell-bent on giving custody to the Shaun’s firm. Peterson tried hard; he showed profound pictures of Nikki and Stephen’s love and how much Stephen needed his mom. But nothing worked against the argument of Shaun when he opened the case file where Nikki went to jail for drug addiction. That single file grew past our all defense and the case collapsed on us.
Today was the last day of the case and everybody knew what the result would be.
She opened the door and I followed her. The courtroom was small; only a few people were allowed in. It was a special hearing and Shaun had made sure that press wasn’t there. Maybe he was trying to hide everything.
“Good evening, Nikki Jordan.” Shaun came forward and greeted her.
“I know what you did with the help of Gerome. Now don’t act like you did nothing.” Nikki frowned at him.
He smirked at her. “It doesn’t matter if you can’t prove anything, Nikki. At the end of the day, the money is in my hands.”
“Don’t forget Stephen will get that money when he turns eighteen and you can’t stop her meeting him wherever he is.” I stormed in to save Nikki’s sanity. If that person spoke a word more, Nikki would have slapped him. And that would put our side in more trouble.
“We will see about that. Sixteen years, Nikki, Stephen will be in my custody. If I can make your company lose everything and wind up like this, I can put a restraining order on you anytime.” He laughed like a wicked man.
The money and power was at the bottom of all of this. But the complete Jordan business was so big that I could never think of offering that kind of money to Shaun. In other words, I'd failed her. I'd failed her big time.
“Gentleman, let’s sit down for the hearing.” Peterson came from the other side. Even he looked hopeless.
The judge came in and everybody stood. Though I wanted to walk out of there, I stood up. Because I wanted to be with Nikki and support her in every downfall, every bad time. I had’ to make sure she got out fine from this.
“The defense may proceed, "the judge declared.
“Your honor, before you give your judgment, I want you to look at Nikki first. Look at her blue eyes, which haven’t stopped crying from the day this case was put on. I want you to look at the face of that kid, which has been so confused from the day he was put under the court’s custody. Look at them once more, sir, and then take your decision.” Peterson sat down.
“I don’t have anything to add, but before looking at them, look at the case file, sir. This lady was addicted to drugs and who knows she will start taking drugs again…”
“I won’t take drugs anymore. But for God's sake, don’t take my son away.” Nikki screamed in the court. She couldn’t hold it in anymore.
Shaun looked at her for a moment.”“What if she sells the stocks of the company for drugs? What if she sells the kid for drugs? Please make your decision based on these points, your honor.” Shaun sat back on his chair. His lips held a faint smile. I knew he was happy for destroying Nikki. I wished I’d had a knife. I would have cut his throat right there.
The judge looked at everyone . “Please be seated…”
“Your honor, if you allow me. I would like to say something here…” A sound came from behind us.
Everybody turned their eyes to that person. It was Gerome.
“And who are you?”the judge asked.
“I’m the father of Stephen, "he replied.