“Actually…” Del started.
“Leave him…” I said, patting his chest. “It seems not everyone involved has arrived as yet, am I right,Dad?” I spat out in disgust. “Tye, I know you're here – you bastard – come out and show your face.”
I heard his feet step through the puddles before I actually caught a glimpse of his face. He actually looked like he hadn’t slept in days and his usual strong, confident aura he loved to project seemed to have disappeared. Was he actually feeling guilty? The hell he was. I knew the bastard too well; it was all just a pathetic act to try and gain some sympathy from me. Well, he could fuck that.
“Dawson, Del… Everleigh,” Tye said as he looked at the three of us. My jaw started to tick as Everleigh grabbed my hand and wrapped her fingers in mine, laying it down at her hip. “This is nice…”
“Don't,” I sneered as Del took a step forward, his eyes blazing as he noticed the fire burning fiercely in Tye's eyes suddenly. Gone was the drawn-out sorrow and now came retaliation. “You don't get to talk to her, not after what you did to her.”
“What are you going to do?” Stone piped up. “If he wants to talk to her, you won’t stop him,” he snarled. “Are you going to cry at the window and plead for Mummy or let your bitch get down on her knees and plead? I bet she's good at that, what do you say, Tye?” he countered with venom in his voice.
“How dare the fucker speak to me this way…” I instantly let go of Everleigh’s hand, moving her to Del for protection as I marched forward. I caught Del’s eye and we both nodded. My breathing evened out, knowing that no matter what, Del had her and she was protected. I knew Del wouldn’t allow any harm to come to her. I took a deep breath to deal with the devil. “You know what Stone, you’re not worth it. You talk the big talk, act like you’re the king but even when we obliged your blackmail attempt, you still came after us both. Even daring to assault my girl. Well, that was a mistake you’ll regret for the rest of your life. It didn’t have to be this way. Remember, this is all on you.”
“The king, that's right, but you wouldn't listen. So, I had to up my game. Take matters into my own hands.” He joked. “Sometimes it's the only way, I couldn't help the bitch survived the push. Pity someone came in moments after, or I'd have finished the job.” His eyes glistened in merriment at that statement. He clearly loved the idea of hurting her. “She clearly didn’t listen to the warning I gave her in the hospital. All women have a fucking death wish.”
“Do they?” I questioned.
“Yeah, that bitch of a mother of yours too. She didn't know when enough was enough…” He smiled a wide grin as he gazed up at the stars and blew a kiss.
“What did you do? Did you fucking kill my mother?” I asked, my heart pounding in my chest. Could everything I thought I knew be a lie? I shouldn’t be surprised but this was my mother. The woman I thought left me and I’d held a grudge against for leaving when it may have been all for nothing.
“She was going to leave me, after finding out about a few deals that weren’t quite legitimate and nobody leaves me, boy. Do you hear me? No-fucking-body leaves me. So, I made sure she went away, buried her in the back fucking yard of our old family home.” He smiled with not one look of remorse as I struggled to hold in my emotions. “Anyway, it’s the past, boy. Who fucking cares?”
“It’s never the past…” Everleigh stated, coming forward to take my hand in hers and giving me the strength I desperately craved. “The past always catches up to you one day, Stone. And lucky for you, today’s the day. Just take a look behind you…”
Stone and Tye turned their heads, looking over their shoulders to see car lights turn on and officers stood, waiting to approach.
Stone shouted into the air, “You have no proof! I didn’t do anything…”
“Well,” I said after composing myself after the news he’d killed my mother. “We actually have plenty… Tye didn’t do a good job at all in covering his tracks, and Everleigh took photos of all the insider trading you’ve both been taking part in. I guess it gave you the capital to try and steal my business from under me.” I looked closely at my best friend and business partner. “Tye, your mistake was telling me about someone buying our shares. You shouldn’t have given me a heads up. I get you needed a way to get me here but, wrong move mate, totally wrong move. I got Del on it immediately, and between his and Everleigh’s information, we had it all.”
Tye looked torn now. “Mate, you have to listen to me. Stone, he had photos of me at a party taking drugs, he blackmailed me. I hated myself for it, but I had no choice,” he rambled, trying to save the skin off his own back.
“You should have told me and we’d have fixed it, but you took the wrong road to travel, Tye. You chose to get into bed with the devil,” I said calmly and slowly in an even tone whilst the relief washed over me at finally having my say.
Everleigh had been quiet but said, “Why involve me, Tye? I don’t get it.” The hurt in her voice was evident.
Tye shook his head emphatically. “No Everleigh, you weren’t ever a part of this, I swear. I didn’t know until Dawson told me he met you again. I’d never use you that way. It started as a bit of fun, and I know you said all fun and no feelings, but I fell for you. I fell in love and broke our agreement,” he admitted, wincing when he took one look at me.
One nod of the head from Everleigh and the subject ended. The officers had started to move towards us, clearly having heard enough incriminating evidence to arrest Tye and Stone.
“You bitch,” Stone hissed, jumping in his car to escape. The policemen ran back to their squad cars, anticipating a chase. We heard him scream, “I warned you, you’d pay,” as he slammed the car door shut and revved the engine.
He hit the accelerator as the police gave chase. Everything from then on happened in slow motion. Instead of leaving the area, he steered the car around so it was aiming directly at us. I knew there would be no distracting him. He had us in his sights, so we ran. We ran as fast as we could. Del ran left, whilst Everleigh and I hand in hand ran right. I’d seen the steely glaze in his eyes, and it reeked of one thing: pure hate. He had one goal in mind…. to destroy us both.
We ran around the building, through the puddles on the ground with our hearts beating out of our chests. Sweat seeped from my hands and I almost lost grip on Everleigh, but I managed to hold on.
I glanced behind, seeing Tye running toward us shouting, “Don’t fucking stop, man…” just as I saw the car swing around the corner closing in on us. We took a right and shit… it was a dead end. We were trapped and the car kept coming.
“Love you, always,” I screamed to Everleigh, looking directly into her eyes and bracing for the impact that would end our lives.
She screamed at the same time I felt my body being shoved into Everleigh and out of the car’s path. I heard a thud and the crunch of metal on metal. We were knocked to the ground, the gravel shredding our clothing. I had landed over Everleigh, so her landing to the solid ground was hard and she wasn’t moving. I dragged us away from what I now saw was the Bugatti crashed into the metal doors of one of the warehouses.
I felt pain all over but my only concern as I dragged my body off her was Everleigh. She wasn’t moving. I noticed a large gash on her forehead and the blood pouring from the wound. Shit, shit, shit, I couldn’t lose her. Not now, not ever.
“Everleigh, baby can you hear me, answer me. Everleigh, please…” I begged, sobbing the words out. Her eyes flickered open, and I let out the huge breath I’d taken moments earlier and held her close as she collapsed onto my chest. “It’s okay, baby… I’ve got you,” I said as I looked around at the carnage surrounding us.
Cars swarmed the area, police lights flashing, seemingly coming from everywhere. My head was full of questions. How the hell did we end up here alive? We should have been hit, Stone couldn’t have missed us. How the fuck did he not hit us? Then my eyes focused on what was in front of us, and it all came flooding back; hands pushing us out the way of imminent death. My stomach heaved at the sight before me.