MY PHONE RANG as my cab pulled up to the house. I paid the driver as I answered.
“Hello?”
“Roar.”
“Calder.”
“So, we saw the news and the interview.”
“Yeah, things are looking up.”
I unlocked the front door and unset the alarm.
“They drop the charges against Max?”
I headed upstairs to my room. “The police have dropped the charges, we have reinstated Max, and I was made temporary GM.”
“Look at you, climbing that corporate ladder.”
I pulled a duffle bag from out of my closet. “So, what’s up?”
“Kat’s worried.”
I paused. “About what?”
“She thinks you hate her.”
I laughed. “Past tense.”
“Really? Because she’s been stressing all evening about how things will go for her at her job.”
“Calder, be serious.”
“I am. And when she’s stressed, she’s not in the mood for anything fun.”
I pulled clothes out of my walk-in closet. “Stop. My ears are burning.”
“Help a guy out.”
“With what?”
“Is she going to get fired?”
I bent down to find my black heels. “Katrina and I have had our differences, but she’s great at her job.”
“So, you’re not going to fire her?”
“No one is getting fired.”
“So, she’s good.”
“Unless she tries to burn the place down, her career with the Wolves is safe. She did some horrible things to Max but she was under the influence of Stockholm Syndrome with Baxter, so all is forgiven.”
“You’re all right, you know that, right?”
I moved to my bathroom and dumped toiletries into a bag. “Tell her to kill Hockey Gurl.”
“What do you mean?”
“The tweets? About me?”
He cleared his throat. “That wasn’t her.”
I frowned. “Are you sure?”
“A hundred percent. I thought it was Kat at first, but she showed me her phone to prove it.”
I tossed my toiletries into my duffle bag. “Okay, I believe you.”
“You’re not going to hold that against her, because I swear, Roar, it wasn’t her.”
I swung the duffle bag over my shoulder. “I promise, I won’t hold it against her.”
“You believe me?”
I jogged down the stairs. “I believe you.”
“So, are you and your boy toy going to celebrate tonight?”
“He’s my boyfriend now.” My inner thirteen-year-old bragged.
“Oh, yeah. You making it official?”
“We are no longer hiding our relationship.”
I needed water. I dropped my duffle bag and headed for the kitchen.
“You want to double date?”
I gave a little snort of laughter, but stopped short when I saw Baxter, standing in the kitchen. He held a large, shiny black gun. Baxter motioned for me to put my phone down.
“I need to go.”
A beat from Calder. “Yeah, okay.”
“Talk soon?”
“Sure.”
I hung up the phone.
“Put it on the island,” Baxter motioned with the gun. I set the phone on the large marble island.
“Slide it over.”
I pushed it and watched as my only chance of a lifeline slid across the island towards him.
“What are you doing, Baxter?”
“Shut up and sit down.” He pulled a chair close.
I tried to even my breath. I moved towards the chair. His hand shoved my shoulder, pushing me to sit.
He tossed me two cable ties. “Put them on your ankles. And don’t try any funny shit. If they are too loose, you will experience what a pistol whip feels like.”
I bent down and secured each ankle to a chair leg.
“Hands behind your back.”
I winced when he yanked my hands together and secured me to one of the back rungs of the chair. I tested my bondage. I couldn’t move any of my limbs.
“What are you doing, Baxter?”
“Shut the fuck up,” he raised the gun, in a threat to hit me. “God, I’m so fucking tired of your voice. Grating on my nerves. Talking back to me.”
My entire body trembled, but I worked to keep my breath even and my spine straight. I was a fucking Ashford. We don’t do fear.
I watched him as he paced the length of the kitchen.
One.
Two.
Three.
Four.
Back and forth he moved, like some deranged manic who had taken himself off his meds. His eyes lifted to mine and then he strode towards me.
I winced when he cocked the gun and butted it against my forehead. The metal felt cold against my skin.
Would you rather be on a burning plane that is crashing or have a lunatic point a gun at your head?
Max was on the plane, so my choice is definitely plane crash.
“You ruined everything, you know that?”
I forced my voice to stay strong. Insolent even. “What is your end game, Baxter? Are you going to kill me? Is that your big plan?”
“Shut up!’ His scream reverberated through the house.
He pressed the gun harder to my head and for one horrible moment, I thought I might piss myself.
People talk about being so scared they piss their pants, but this is the first time I understand that statement.
He uncocked the gun and returned to pacing.
“I tried to scare you off, you know? With my tweets, but you’re so fucking stubborn.”
“You’re hockey gurl?”
This time, when he looked at me, I dropped my gaze.
He laughed a scary, messed up laugh that made my blood run cold. “You learn fast, don’t you?”
I kept my eyes down.
“You know, you remind me of my wife. When I first met her, she was so feisty. God, she had a temper and a backbone.”
I couldn’t reconcile the sad sack woman in the baggy cardigans with anyone that had ever had a backbone. “What happened to her?”
He leaned down so close that his stinky breath blew in my face. “I broke her.”
Our eyes met. He smiled, and for a moment, he reminded me of the Baxter I knew. “I enjoyed it. Just like I would enjoy breaking you.”
Keep him talking. When he runs out of stuff to say, bad things will happen.
“How did you do that?”
“How did I do what?”
“How did you break your wife?”
He smiled again. “When I first dated her, she was a bossy bitch. I let her think that she was in charge. I bought her flowers and treated her like a queen. Until she agreed to marry me.”
Our eyes met. I could smell my fear. It was a mixture of sweat and something sour.
“So, she married you, what happened?”
He crossed his arms, indifferent to the fact that he held a 9 mm in one hand. “I waited until she made the slightest infraction against me. It was nothing. She tipped the doorman of our hotel room. And I slapped her so hard for that, for disrespecting me, she hit the floor. She spent the night in the bathroom crying. In the morning, I pretended nothing had happened.”
He leaned down so his face was in front of mine. “And you know what?”
“What?”
“So did she. She wanted to pretend that it hadn’t happened at all.”
I nodded. “Yeah.”
“She was wary at first. Watching me. Careful around me. But I made sure she got comfortable again before I hit her a second time.”
“What happened?”
“She cried and threatened to leave me. She went through all the motions, but I knew she wouldn’t leave.”
How long could I keep him talking? How long before Max realized I wasn’t coming? How long before he called?
“How did you know that?”
He scratched his head with the butt of the gun. “Because she stayed the first time.”
“That’s how you knew?”
He shrugged, bored with the conversation. “I thought she had more moxie in her. I thought she’d run.”
“But she stayed.”
“Yup, and it was more of the same.”
“What about Katrina?”
His eyes sharpened. “What about her?”
“I heard you were dating?”
He rolled his eyes. “Hardly. She was a dumb piece of ass that waited around for me to come and bone her.”
“She left her marriage for you.”
“Yeah,” he shrugged. “I don’t give a fuck.”
“Weren’t you planning on leaving your wife for her?”
“Fuck that.”
“Oh.”
“She was just someone to fuck, you know? Don’t you ever just want to fuck? Without strings?”
Don’t answer that.
My phone vibrated on the island. We both turned towards it.
“Where were you going anyway?”
“To see a friend.”
“Which friend?”
“You don’t know him.”
My phone buzzed, moving of its own accord across the island.
“Someone wants to talk real bad.”
“It might be my mom.”
“Or it might be your friend.”
I remained silent.
The phone began again. This time Baxter picked it up. “Well this is interesting. It’s our friend, Mr. Logan.”
I swallowed.
He brought the phone to me. “Get rid of him.”
I watched as he swiped the phone and then he bent down so he could also hear while he pressed the phone to my ear. With his other hand, he pressed the nozzle of the gun against the back of my head.
“Hey, Max.”
“Where you at?” his sexy drawl brought tears to my eyes.
“You know, I’m not feeling good. I think it’s a lack of sleep and food. I think I’m going to stay in tonight. Can I take a raincheck?”
Please fucking understand. Please don’t come here.
“Are you sure? I’m good at nursing cuties back to health.”
I forced a laugh. “I’m so sure. I’m half asleep already. I’m going to crawl into bed. Is that okay?”
There was a long pause. Please say yes. Please say yes. “Sure, gorgeous. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Brilliant. Maybe we can get lunch after practice.”
“Yeah, sure.”
“Okay, night!”
“Night.”
Tears leaked down my cheeks as Baxter swiped my phone off.
“I’m impressed, Rory. You’re quite the little actress.”
I didn’t raise my head. That might be the last time I ever talked to Max. Defeat made my shoulders slump.
“What are you going to do with me?”
Baxter’s smile sent chills down my spine. “I can think of a few things.”
“Will I live?”
He drew the butt of the gun down my cheek. “Doubtful.”
“You think you’re going to get your job back?”
He laughed. “You’re so naïve.”
“What?”
“This isn’t about getting anything back. This is old testament.”
“What does that mean?”
“Eye for an eye. Your Dad and Max stole something from me. Now I will steal something away from them that will make them regret those decisions every day of their lives.”
The doorbell rang.
We both turned towards the hall as the chimes rang through the house.
“Are you expecting someone?”
I shook my head. “No.”
He put the gun against my cheek. “Don’t lie to me.”
“I swear to god.”
He walked to the island and opened and shut drawers. He pulled out a knife. I whimpered, but he only used the knife to slice the cables.
My shoulders were so numb I almost couldn’t use my hands. He yanked me to my feet.
“You’re going to get rid of them.”
He pushed me towards the front door. “And if you don’t, they will die and it’ll be your fault.”
The door chimed again.
He pushed the gun up against my chin. “I’ll be right here behind you. So play this smart.”
I wiped the tears off my cheeks and then Baxter, who hid himself behind the door, opened it.
A guy stood there with a pizza box. “Got your delivery.”
“There must be a mistake. I didn’t order a pizza.”
“Is this 2435 Beach Road?”
I swallowed. “That is my address, but I didn’t order a pizza.”
The man frowned. “Damn, that is the second time they’ve gotten the address mixed up. We have a new girl working the phones and I swear she’s dyslexic.”
“That’s okay,” I stepped back to shut the door. “Have a good night.”
“Wait, could you do me a favor? My cell phone died. Could you call them and confirm where this pizza is supposed to go?”
“I’m busy right now.”
“It won’t take a minute. Please? Could you do me a solid?”
Baxter stepped into view. “My wife said she’s busy. So, piss off before I call your shop and make a complaint to the owner.”
“Well, do you guys want a pizza?” The guy smiled with a shrug. “By the time I get back it’ll be cold and they’ll just toss it. So, you can have it for free.”
Baxter stared at the box. “What kind is it?”
The guy lifted the box lid and pulled out a gun which he pointed at Baxter’s forehead. “It’s called get the fuck on your knees, motherfucker.”
“What the hell?” Baxter staggered back, letting go of me.
Complete pandemonium broke out. Men in black SWAT uniforms came from all directions of the house. From the kitchen, the living room, down the stairs. They screamed and pointed huge guns at Baxter. More men in black ducked in and out of rooms, pointing their big guns, shouting back and forth to each other.
“Clear.”
“Clear.”
“Clear.”
I watched as they flipped Baxter over onto his stomach. The pizza guy knelt on his back and patted him down, removing the gun from his waistband.
“I didn’t do nothing,” Baxter screamed. “She begged me for a date. She’s been begging me to fuck her since the day she met me.”
“Shut up, asshole,” one of the scary guys in black kicked him.
Baxter yelped with pain. “This is police brutality. I didn’t do nothing.”
Pizza guy stood up. “Get this piece of garbage out of here.”
Only when they had hauled Baxter to his feet and shoved him out the front door did anyone pay attention to me.
“Ma’am,” the pizza dude spoke. “Are you Rory Ashford?”
I nodded, fighting tears.
I heard a different voice shouting from outside. “Let me inside. Let me see her.”
Max!
Pizza guy smiled. “There’s some big as fuck hockey player claiming to be your boyfriend. You want me to let him in?”
I nodded again, working overtime to keep my shit together.
I hung on until he pushed through the front door, looking wildly around until he saw me. Big strong arms came around me. Protecting me. Holding me. I clung to him and at that moment I felt safe enough to cry. Except I didn’t. With his arms around me, and his big hand stroking my hair, I no longer felt like crying.
I stared up at his face, unable to speak.
“Rory.” He crushed me in his arms. “Rory.”
FOR THREE HOURS, Max didn’t let go of me.
His arm was around me while the two detectives interviewed me.
He held my hand when I walked through the house, explaining what happened.
His hand was on the back of my neck when I phoned my mom to assure her I was all right. Promising that I’d explain everything tomorrow.
And he pulled me into his lap and wrapped his arms around me when the forensic team worked in the kitchen to dust for prints. They lit up the kitchen with their high density flashes.
“How did the police know to come?” I buried my face in Max’s warm neck.
He rubbed my back. “Calder called me.”
I lifted my head. “He did?”
“He told me that something was wrong. I arrived here the same time Calder got here. He recognized Baxter’s car down the street.”
“What did you do?”
He grimaced. “I climbed up to your deck.”
“You did what?”
“I saw Baxter with the gun and I lost my mind. We called the police.”
“Oh my god. If he had seen you, he’d have killed you.”
“The police and the SWAT team arrived within minutes. They had a sniper on your neighbor’s roof, but they couldn’t get a clear shot.”
“Holy shit.”
“So, they entered the house from upstairs and the garage and then they sent in the guy with the pizza box.”
“You saved my life.”
“Calder saved your life.”
I wrapped my arms around his neck. “Can you get me out of here, please?”
