Blowback (22 page)

“What do you want from me?” I asked, standing my ground. Fear was the last thing I wanted to show him even if I did feel like I could shit my pants at any second.

“Let’s go inside and talk, shall we?” he asked as he strolled up to my front stoop.

“I don’t know who you think I am, but I think you might have the wrong person,” I said, trying to keep my cool.

“You’re exactly who I think you are, and if I had to guess, I’d say you know exactly who I am, too. Now let’s not prolong this. I’d hate for a neighbor to see. I’d have to kill them, and that would only turn into a headache and a mess I don’t need right now. Jet will be along shortly. I can promise you that. Now, move your ass inside before I slit your fucking throat right here,” he said and produced a knife from the inside of his jacket. “I don’t think that’s what Jet would want to see first thing, do you?”

I turned to open the door, my body trembling when he pressed himself against me. His arm went around my waist, preventing me from going inside and slamming the door in his face before he could enter. That’d been my first plan, but I’d have to come up with another one quick.

“Is anyone inside?”

“Just my dog and my cat. Please, just listen to me,” I said, unlocking the door and pushing it open. “I left Jet. I don’t want anything more to do with him. We aren’t right together.”

“Shut up, or you’re dead before he gets here,” he said and pushed me inside. “I want him to see everything I’m going to do to you.”

I fell forward, landing hard on my knees. The palms of my hands skidded across the carpet, burning my skin. I immediately flipped over to my butt and looked up at him. The whites of his eyes turned red with rage as a vein in his forehead bulged. He took a step toward me as I scooted backward on my butt.

A dark brindled, growling mass came charging from the dining room toward Niall. My one-hundred-and-fifty-pound Mastiff rushed him, knocking him to the ground as she snarled and bit at his arms, torso, and neck.

She’d given me the only opportunity I might have to save myself, so I took it and scrambled to my feet. He blocked the way for me to get out through the door. I did the next best thing and darted up the stairs to my bedroom. In an instant, my dog was off him and following close behind me. Entering the bedroom, I slammed the door shut behind us and clicked the lock. I nearly tripped over my own feet trying to get around to the other side of the bed. As I dropped down to the floor, a loud crack startled me as he slammed into my door. A scream caught in my throat as I looked over at my dog, Buffy.

He slammed into the door again, causing her to growl and the hair to prick up along her spine.

“I’m going to kill that fucking dog,” he screamed. “Then I’m going to stick this goddamn knife in you and gut you, you fucking cunt! I’m going to cut you from your whore mouth to your fucking pussy. You’ll be a puddle of blood and guts on the floor by the time Jet gets here.”

His body slammed against the door again, causing the wood to split. A few more seconds and he’d be inside. I scooted against the closet door and opened it.

“Buffy, get inside,” I commanded. She did as she was told, and I closed the door. She would attack him again, but he’d be ready for her this time. It was better to barricade her in than to risk him killing her.

Another loud thwack and a fist came through the door.

Finding my footing, I carefully stood, grasping the only thing I could get ahold of to defend myself.

The door burst open. A second later, Niall marched in, his eyes bulging out of his head as the vein in his forehead doubled in size. He still clutched the knife, but he now had a gun in his other hand.

I raised my weapon and pulled the trigger before he could take another step. An explosion so loud I nearly went deaf for a second echoed throughout the room. He fell to the ground in an instant. Blood gushed from all the places the buckshot from my shotgun had made contact.

A blood-curdling scream erupted from me. My mouth hung agape as I gasped for air. I stepped out from the side of the bed and fell to the floor, never taking my eyes off him. Blood gurgled in his throat. His head lolled to one side. Darkness settled over his eyes as he struggled to breathe. I kept ahold of the shotgun, just in case he miraculously recovered and got up.

“Evie,” a familiar voice screamed from downstairs, but I couldn’t tell if I’d really heard it or if I was losing my mind.

Buffy clawed and scratched at the bottom of the closet door. Her weight pressing against it, causing it to bow. I reached up and opened the door, letting Buffy out. She flopped down at my side, panting loudly. My hand instinctively went to her back as I stared at the dead man lying on my floor. I set my shotgun down on the floor and tried to find my breath.

A moment later, the face of the man I loved appeared in the room. Jet’s brows furrowed as he assessed the scene.

Looking down at Niall and over to me, he settled his eyes on Buffy. Her ears perked up and her body stiffened. She began to stand.

He stood still, not making any sudden movements.

“Evie,” he said in a low, smooth tone. “I need you to calm down. Call your dog off.”

A gulp of air managed to find my lungs as I looked over at her. “Sh-sh-sh,” I managed to stutter while patting her back, and with that, she laid back down.

He knelt over Niall’s body, pressing his fingers to his neck.

Standing, he approached me cautiously. My whole body shook violently and my stomach churned.

“I sh-sh-shot… I shot him,” I cried. “He’s dead. He’s dead… He’s dead,” I whispered, rocking myself back and forth as I wrapped my arms around myself. Jet took me in his arms, pulling me to him. “Am I going to go to prison?” No matter how many gulps of air I took, I couldn’t seem to get enough oxygen. My heart pounded so loudly in my ears that it almost drowned out Jet’s words.

“No, baby. You’re not going to prison. He came after you. You acted in self-defense… Now, take a deep breath for me and hold it. Can you do that?” he asked and pulled himself away from me. Taking my face in his hands, he searched my eyes. “Breathe in.”

I nodded and pulled air into my lungs, sucking in slowly through my mouth. My nose was no use. It was completely clogged up and runny from all the crying and screaming.

The distant sound of sirens grew louder and louder before finally pulling up outside my house.

“They’re here,” I said. “Don’t let them take me away,” I begged, gripping Jet’s arms. “I don’t want to go to prison. Please, don’t let them take me.”

“No one is taking you away. I promise you that. You might have to go in for some questioning, but don’t worry about that. If it comes to it, I’ll confess to killing him.”

“But you didn’t.”

“Police,” a deep voice from downstairs shouted. “We got a call about a gunshot. Is anyone on the premises?”

“Two of us upstairs,” Jet yelled. “Someone broke in and threatened to kill the woman living here. He’s been shot and is dead.”

“Where’s the gun now?”

“On the floor,” he answered.

“I’m coming up. I’m gonna need you to put your hands up and keep them there. Understood?”

“Yes,” Jet yelled.

“I’m going to need to hear confirmation from both of you.”

“I understand,” I squeaked out.

“There’s a very large dog up here as well, just so you know,” Jet said. “I don’t think she’ll do anything to you, but I just wanted to make you aware.”

“I’m coming up now.”

Jet kissed me quickly on the lips, and whispered, “You’re going to be okay.”

The officer made his way up the steps. I saw his hands, holding his gun, enter the room before the rest of him. My arms ached to drop to my sides, but I kept them up.

“Need both of you to stand up and step away from the weapon.”

We did as we were told, though I wasn’t sure how I managed. My body was ice cold and still trembling.

“Another officer is going to join me. Stay where you are.”

The two cops—the man who’d come in first and a woman—inched their way forward, eyeballing anything and everything they could.

The female cop patted me down.

“I’ve got a gun in my waistband… in the back,” Jet said.

The male cop listened and removed it, placing it on the bed.

“Is there a reason you had a gun, son?”

“I always carry it, but I had it because I had reason to believe she was in danger. The man lying dead over there is my father.”

“Why didn’t you call us if you thought she was in danger?”

By this time, the female cop let me lower my arms and placed her arm around my shoulders, assuring me that I was okay.

“With all due respect, sir, all I could do was focus on getting to her to make sure she was okay.”

“I’ve got to call this in. I want both of you downstairs until a detective can get here to question you. Ma’am, we’re going to have to collect some evidence, so you cannot come back in here until after they finish.”

I nodded, not able to find any words to express myself.

The next few hours went by in such a blur. So many strangers traipsed through my home, looking for clues as to what went down and asking Jet and me questions. I recalled everything I could to the best of my abilities, but my words didn’t feel like my own. I couldn’t really be telling the police that I’d shot a man and killed him. I knew Jet wanted to take the blame, but the evidence would point to me. There was no use in trying to cover it up. The whole situation was too unreal.

But the sad truth was, I
was
a murderer. How could I ever come back from that?

CHAPTER 30 – JET

The police finally left, but not before Niall’s body was loaded up, and we were told there wouldn’t be any charges pressed at that time. They’d determined he’d come into her house uninvited and intent on killing her. Officially, their investigation would continue, but we were given no reason to believe she’d ever be arrested. I’d already decided I’d confess to killing him if it came down to it. She didn’t deserve to go to prison, but maybe I did.

I packed some things into an overnight bag, taking her and her dog and loading them into her car. I’d come back with Big to retrieve my bike some other day, but in the meantime, I had to get her out of there. Would’ve taken the cat, too, but I never could find him. I’m guessed he hid somewhere and wouldn’t come out until long after everyone had left.

She was silent in the car, only shaking her head when I asked her if she wanted to go to the hospital. Her knees and hands were pretty skinned up but nothing major, so I didn’t press the issue.

I couldn’t even focus on the fact that this was our ticket to freedom. No way could I be happy about something that had devastated Evie so badly.

Taking her to my house maybe wasn’t the best idea, but I needed her close. I needed to make sure she was okay. And Niall was no longer alive to threaten us again.

“Where are we?” she asked, peering out the window.

“My house.”

“His house?”

“Yeah.”

“Oh my God,” she said and sobbed. “Is Georgia here?”

“She’s at a friend’s house.”

“I killed her father,” she whispered.

“You defended yourself from a man determined to kill you. It was you or him, darlin’. You have to see that.”

She didn’t answer. Kill or be killed was a lesson I’d come to terms with long ago, but she couldn’t comprehend it or accept it then. If she hadn’t defended herself, neither of us would’ve been alive, because Niall very likely would’ve killed me as soon as I walked in the door.

We got out of the car, taking her dog along, and entered the house.

“Will she be okay in the backyard? It’s fenced in. If not, she can stay inside. She might like it better out there though since she’s never been here before.”

She nodded, and I took the dog, guiding her to the back door. Once I got her settled, I returned to Evie and took her hand. Bringing it to my mouth, I pressed my lips against her soft skin.

“You’re gonna be okay,” I said and picked her up, carrying her to my room. Once Big had left the night before, I’d gone to work clearing out the cameras Niall had placed around the house. They blended in well, but once I knew what I was looking for, they weren’t hard to find. At least I didn’t have to worry about anyone else watching us in Niall’s absence.

I placed her gently on the bed and went to the bathroom where I ran her a hot bath. She hadn’t moved at all in the short time since I’d left her. Undressing her quickly, I scooped her into my arms again and carried her to the tub, placing her into the water.

“I hope it’s not too hot.”

“It’s fine,” she said with no emotion, though a tear drop slid down her cheek and dripped into the water.

“Scoot up.”

Stripping off my clothes, I got into the tub behind her and held her tight. She cried off and on as I washed the events of the day from her body, taking extra care with her wounded skin. I remembered how gentle she was the day she’d patched me up when Niall cut me. I wished I didn’t have to do the same for her now.

Pushing her hair aside, I kissed her shoulder and said, “Please say something… Anything.”

“I just want to sleep.”

Standing, I got her up, dried us both off, and dressed her in a nightshirt before I slid into a pair of boxer briefs. I tucked her into my bed shortly after. Just as I was about to turn off the light and leave her to sleep, she said, “Stay with me.”

So, I did. We stayed there until the next morning, and I never let her go all through the night. Sleep eluded me for the most part. She tossed and turned, but I didn’t mind. I used the time to think about what everything meant now and how I should’ve been there to make sure this didn’t happen in the first place. I blamed myself for everything.

She nuzzled into my chest as I wondered what was next for us.

“Please tell me that was all a really bad dream,” she said softly placing her hand on her forehead, partially covering one eye.

Pulling her tight, I said, “I wish I could.”

“I guess I have no room to judge you now.”

I sighed to myself. She hadn’t changed her mind at all about me since the last time we discussed it.