I watched Derek carefully to see if he’d take Russ’ bait and turn me loose to fight him, hoping he would, knowing I could easily take him. Instead, he left the bar, coming around to stand in between Russ and Cami. “You know what? It’s getting awful chatty in here. I think we have one too many players in this game. It’s time to start the elimination round.”
“Well, I don’t know about Cami and Dylan, but I’m definitely voting you off the island,” Russ grumbled; only to receive the barrel of the gun smashed up against his temple.
Derek glanced at me. “You get to speak without repercussions. Which one lives and which one dies? The choice is yours. But make it fast, because if you don’t choose, they both die. Name the person who dies right now.”
Everything inside me stopped—my heart, my breath, my life, as my mind screamed at the injustice of this. How could he do this? How could he make me choose between them? I loved them both!
Moving the gun away from Russ, he pressed it against Cami. Poor Cami, the love of my life, who was so severely beaten she was probably near death anyway. It would be a blessing for her to die at this point. Who knew how many other ways he could torture her? He’d already made lewd comments regarding her. I wouldn’t be able to stand seeing her violated in other ways, too. Could I be selfless enough to remove her from this horror—even if death was the only way to do it?
My gaze switched to Russ, my friend who’d been beside me through thick and thin. My friend who’d taken the fall when Clay tried to poison me. My friend who’d made sure Cami was safe when I was dealing with Ripper. He was my brother-in-arms in the fire department. Hell, my brother from another mother.
“Who’s it going to be?” Derek shouted, growing angrier by the second. He turned the gun back on Russ. Who was it going to be? Russ stared at me, awake and whole. Cami was oblivious. She’d never know what hit her.
I couldn’t do this. “Shoot me!” I hollered, every muscle in my body shaking with rage. “If you want someone so badly, then take me! That’s what you want anyway! So just do it!”
“Make your choice or they both die right now!” Derek screamed, growing even more irate, pushing the gun so hard against Russ’ head that he was practically leaning sideways.
A sob caught in my throat as I stared at Russ. He held very still looking straight at me and slightly nodded his head. “Russ!” I cried out, my heart breaking. “I choose Russ!” My vision swam with tears, guilt swamping me.
Derek smiled wickedly. “That’s what I thought.” He cocked the gun against Russ’s head but then whirled it around to point at Cami.
“Wait! What are you doing? I said Cami lives!” Straining against my bonds, I was so fearful I felt like I might actually be able to snap them.
Derek stared at me with a smug look on his face. “I just wanted to know which one you wanted the most.” He slowly applied pressure to the trigger and a sob escaped me. “No!” I screamed, rage flooding my system. Unable to stand it I tried lunging at him with the chair still attached to me, succeeding only in tipping myself over.
Bam! The shot echoed through the room and I flinched, vomit rising in my throat as the reality of what had happened hit me full force in the stomach. “Cami!” I hollered as grief wracked my body in the most excruciating form I’d ever felt—worse than any agony I’d ever experienced.
But it was Derek who fell on the floor beside me, blood spraying rapidly from the gaping wound in his head. Eyes wide, I turned to see Chris standing in the doorway, holding a smoking gun. More officers ran into the room, checking every corner before rushing to our aide.
Panting as if I’d run miles, I stared at him, thinking I’d never seen a more beautiful sight in my life. “How’d you know?” I choked out, my voice raspy.
He moved beside me, crouching to help remove the ties that bound me. “Ballistics came back with a match on the serial number of the gun. It’s registered to Derek’s father. I knew then that someone else was involved. When Wilson called to say Russ had never come out of the house and the garage door was open, I realized something was going down. I alerted the S.W.A.T. Team and came as fast as I could.”
I looked at Russ, tears forming in my eyes. “You lied. You told him you were here alone.”
“Well, I sure as hell wasn’t dragging Wilson into this. He was our only hope.”
Wilson entered the room at that moment, helping to carry a gurney and Russ stared at him.
“Hey, dude. Not to be pissy or anything, but you sure took your damn time. I’ve been in here getting the crap beat out of me.”
Wilson shrugged. “Sorry. I was texting my mom. It took me a while to realize something was wrong when I couldn’t reach you on the radio.”
Russ rolled his eyes. “Tell your mom she owes me cake or something.”
“Will do, bro.”
As soon as I was released, I turned to the medical crew working on securing Cami to a backboard. “He gave her meth, too. And then he beat her. She was tripping pretty badly. I only hope it staved off some of the pain for her.” I couldn’t stop shaking.
“We’ll take good care of her,” Wilson said and I relaxed a little, knowing I trusted him with my own life on a daily basis.
Another officer released Russ and I went to him, grabbing him in a giant bear hug. “Russ.” I could hardly swallow, as my feelings for him seemed to form a knot in my throat. “I understand if you can’t be my friend after this. I don’t know how to make this up to you. I’m so sorry.” I’d marked him for death. Who could overcome something like that?
“Hey,” Russ grabbed me by the shoulders and pushed me back. “Dylan, look at me. Look at me, man.” I stared into his eyes seeing no blame there. “In my mind, there was no choice. It was always Cami. You will always choose Cami. And that’s the way it should be.” He draped an arm loosely around my shoulders. “I don’t want you to sweat it, at all. However, have the two of you ever considered moving away from here? You know, to a place where people aren’t trying to kill you?”
I knew he was trying to deflect the attention from himself, but I was okay with that. Staring at Cami, who was being attached to all sorts of IVs and tubing—again, I made up my mind right then and there. “As far as I’m concerned, as soon as she’s better, the two of us will be on the next plane out of here. There’s no way I’m staying.”
“Well, if you don’t mind, count me in, because I’m getting a little sick of all this, too,” Russ said.
“You’d come with us?” I asked surprised, figuring it would be a relief for him.
“Hell, yeah. You and Cami are my family. I do anything for you two.” He smiled.
“You’ve already proved that, Russ.” I patted him on the shoulder. “But if you want to help me out right now, you’ll have someone check you out. You’re looking pretty rough, buddy.”
“Shoot, you mean this?” He scoffed. “These are just battle scars. Chicks will dig them.”
I shook my head and guided him toward the stairs, signaling for one of the medics. “Take care of him, would you?” I asked before turning back to him. “Treatment now—jokes later, when I know you’re okay.” I watched as the medic guided him up the stairs before turning back to Cami. She’d been moved to the gurney and was being strapped down so they could take her outside. I was afraid to touch her, worried that I’d hurt her, so I bent down by her ear.
“I love you, Goody,” I whispered. “And on my life, I swear, no one will ever touch you, again.”
Epilogue
Cami-
One year later
Smiling, I laughed as I watched Dylan and Russ tossing a Frisbee between them in the park on the Battery. Never in a million years would I have thought the three of us would end up moving to Charleston, South Carolina—let alone together. I’d never even been to this side of the country in my whole life, but it was turning out to be a good experience for us. I loved all the history and enjoyed learning more about it.
Dylan had gone crazy, buying one of the original
southern mansions that faced the water. The house was humongous, but beautiful, even though it was in need of a lot of renovations. I thought it was a good project for all of us and the more we got done, the more excited I became about it.
Russ had pitched in a bit of his own money, not that Dylan wanted him to, but he’d wanted to move in with us. Ever since our ordeal together, Dylan denied him nothing—which I thought was sweet. I loved having Russ around, occupying the third floor and renovating it to be his own place.
I laughed to myself as I continued watching them with our pretty yellow Lab, Sophie, barking energetically as she raced between them. It was obvious they were all having a good time. I was pretty sure Russ and Dylan would be friends forever, seeing that they both still worked in the emergency services together. They were almost always together, cooking up new adventures and things to do. But my favorite moments were still the ones Dylan and I shared alone, together, with only each other. No matter where we lived, or who we were with, there was only one place that I truly called home—and that was in Dylan’s arms. Even though we’d all been through lots of therapy to help overcome our ordeal, he was still my safe place.
Lifting my hand, I lightly rubbed the small bump in my nose where Derek had broken it. Thankfully, I didn’t remember a whole lot about that day, and I didn’t want to. I simply wanted to move on and put the scars of the past behind us. Dwelling on them would only ruin our future.
“Are you sure you don’t want to play, Cami?” Dylan called to me.
I shook my head. “No. I’m okay. I’m having fun watching the two of you.”
The two of them shared a glance, one that said they weren’t falling for it. Dylan held the Frisbee out, allowing Sophie to take it in her mouth. “Take that over to Momma and tell her to come play with us.”
Sophie dutifully ran over to me, dropping the disc in my lap, panting and wagging her tail. I pet her, rubbing her head sweetly. “You want me to play?” I asked; and she barked. I laughed. “Not today, okay? Maybe next time.”
“What’s the matter?” Dylan said, coming up to me, his face a mask of concern. “Are you not feeling good? You’ve seemed kind of out of it, today.”
Glancing up at him, I smiled. “I’m okay. I just found out I’m pregnant.”
I laughed as his whoop of glee made everyone in the park turn to look at us. Dragging me to my feet, he twirled me around, spinning me until I was dizzy.
“Dylan, you’re making me sick!” He lowered me instantly, staring into my eyes, all the love in the world reflecting back out of them.
“You’re sure?” he asked smiling.
“I’m sure.”
Pulling me into his arms, he nuzzled his face into my hair. “Cami, I love you. I swear I’m the happiest man on the planet right now.”
I laughed. “We still have a problem we need to address.”
“What’s that?”
“You got me pregnant while I was on birth control . . . again.”
He laughed heartily, squeezing me even harder. “Good thing we bought a damn big house, isn’t it?”
The End
Coming Soon:
The companion to the CRUSH series:
SMOLDER
Russ’s Story
About the Author:
Lacey Weatherford is the bestselling author of the popular young adult paranormal romance series, Of Witches and Warlocks, and contemporary series, Chasing Nikki, Crush, and Tell Me Why. She has always had a love of books and wanted to become a writer ever since reading her first Nancy Drew novel at the age of eight.
Lacey resides in the beautiful White Mountains of Arizona. She lives with her wonderful husband and children along with their dog, Talley, and cat, Minx. When she’s not out supporting one of her kids at their sporting/music events, she spends her time reading, writing, blogging, and visiting with her readers on her social media accounts.
Visit Lacey’s Official Website:
http://www.laceyweatherfordbooks.com
Follow on Twitter:
LMWeatherford
Or Facebook:
Lacey Weatherford
Other books by Lacey Weatherford
Of Witches and Warlocks series:
The Trouble with Spells
The Demon Kiss
Blood of the White Witch
The Dark Rising
Possession of Souls
Book of Shadows series:
Fire & Ice
Chasing Nikki series:
Chasing Nikki
Finding Chase
Crush Series:
Crush
Smitten
Love
A Fringe Novel:
Tell Me Why
Anthology:
A Midsummer Night’s Fling
Faery Kissed
Novellas:
Over the River and Through the Woods
Lacey Weatherford, Love
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