17. Max
Max
“ I ’m okay. It’s okay. But there are police— lots of police, actually, I don’t know why, and they have him in handcuffs?—”
“Tell me what happened, Max,” Draven said firmly. “Dom’s already driving me down there. Talk to me .”
I was surrounded by blue and red flashing lights. The night air was a little foggy, and the flickering blue and red filled the mist around the police cars, tinting the whole parking lot in each flash of color.
My own voice was so shaky as I held the phone by my ear.
I was resting against the cool brick exterior of the hard Spot now, as multiple police officers surrounded me, writing down notes, taking photos, and occasionally talking into their radios.
Kane was in and out of the bar, checking on me and making sure the rest of the people inside the bar had gotten out through a safe exit, quickly and easily.
Nothing had happened inside.
But apparently people had heard the gunshot.
And that doesn’t exactly make for a fun night out at the bar.
“It happened fast,” I told Draven on the phone. “I was walking outside to take out a box of recycling, and—and there was a guy, and he shot a fucking gun .”
“Tell me you are not hurt,” Draven barked.
“Not at all,” I said. “He… he didn’t even shoot at me, it was like he was just trying to scare me, shooting over toward a wall?—”
“I never should have left,” Draven said.
“Danny Robinson just fucking happened to be walking down Laurel Ave, and he heard the shot, and I’m so lucky.”
“Who is Danny?”
“Oh. Right. He’s a police officer. Was in the same school year as Lily, actually, and it’s pretty weird, it’s like, I know Danny, but now he’s a police officer, and he was with one of his officer friends, too—they came running over.
Man , Draven, even as I saw them running, I was worried about them slipping on a patch of grass instead of worrying about the fucking man with a gun ? — ”
My voice broke off as I realized I was rambling about things that didn’t even remotely matter right now.
My heart was still beating like a drum inside my chest. Everything seemed surreal, like I was in a movie instead of living my real life.
How had any of this happened?
How could it be this bad?
“I’m on my way,” Draven repeated. “You’re safe, Max?”
“I’m safe.”
“I’m going to stay on the line, but you don’t need to say anything. Just breathe, baby. Just breathe, in and out.”
I listened to him, because right now I fucking needed guidance, of any kind. I pulled in slow, even breaths, letting them out through my mouth.
The police had the man handcuffed minutes ago, but now, he was in one of their cruisers, being pulled away.
The next few minutes were a blur of police questioning.
I kept my phone by my side even as the police came over and asked me to go over every detail of what I’d seen—I was outside, I saw the man, he stared right at me and fired his warning shots, and then Danny had run over and taken him to the ground.
When Draven finally arrived, the officers were informing me that the gun had actually been shooting blanks, meant to sound real, but not actual bullets.
I expected Draven to do what everyone else did—stay on the outer edges, surrounding me, but not interrupting my conversation with the cops.
I should have known better.
Draven made his own rules, and he pushed past the others, coming straight to my side and wrapping his arms around me in a tight hug.
“I’m here,” he said, with an urgency in his voice.
“You’re here,” I said, finally feeling some semblance of normalcy. “Draven, they weren’t real. They were blanks! I knew it was weird that he wasn’t shooting at me, anyway?—”
“Fuck,” Draven said, furrowing his brow. He pulled back, but stayed right next to me.
He didn’t seem relieved. Not even slightly.
“They weren’t real bullets,” I repeated. “He wasn’t trying to kill me.”
“That isn’t good,” he said. “Because it means he faces less risk of criminal repercussions, now, but his intent was still to scare you. Threaten you.”
I answered a few more questions for the police. Draven and Dominic both walked around, scanning the area as if they needed information more than the police did.
Slowly, the red and blue flashing lights started to pull away, one by one. Once the police had assessed the situation, Kane found me and gave me a hug.
“I didn’t know your stalker problem was actually this bad,” Kane said.
I pulled in a deep breath. “I didn’t, either. I thought… I thought Draven was just worrying too much about me. He said my innocence can attract a certain kind of person .”
“Well, it’s certainly not your fault,” Kane said.
I nodded. “That’s what Draven said, too.”
“He really cares about you,” Kane told me, glancing over at Draven now, who was on the edge of the police line, surveying the area still like he was a detective trying to look for clues.
I swallowed. “I guess he does.”
Dominic walked over, nodding at us both. Earlier, I’d been a little intimidated by Dominic, because meeting one of Draven’s real friends was an unexpected part of my day.
I noticed his eyes were a little bloodshot, now, as he walked up to me.
He goes back to Draven’s house, only for about an hour, then returns with bloodshot eyes?
I didn’t have the time or mental energy to question it right now, but it still formed questions in my mind that I didn’t necessarily want to know the answers to. I was pretty sure Draven didn’t do any strange illegal drugs, but was it possible his friends did?
Dominic nodded at me now, though, and he definitely didn’t seem intoxicated. He seemed sad, almost.
“I’m sorry you had to experience that,” he told me. “Are you doing okay, Max?”
I nodded. “As good as I can be.”
Dominic gave me a hard stare. His blond hair shined with blue and red as the final cop car pulled away. He really was like Draven—cold, calculating, but also had a way of making you feel like you had a guard dog by your side.
“I never should have pulled Draven away from you tonight,” Dominic said. “I regret it. And I’m sorry.”
“Oh,” I said, blinking. “It’s fine. Didn’t exactly think I’d be shot at.”
“But Draven was worried. I could tell he didn’t want to leave you alone yet, and he only did it because of my presence. It won’t happen again.”
Goddamn .
Dominic had seemed a little snooty, maybe even judgmental, earlier in the diner, but I was surprised to see this earnest side of him now. He didn’t seem like an asshole at all.
“I, uh, need to go back in and finish cleaning the taps?—”
“Max, I closed down the bar the moment we heard the shot,” Kane said.
“Right. Right,” I said, shaking my head.
My brain was so foggy I could barely keep track of time, now. Draven came back over, placing a hand at the small of my back.
“You’re safe,” he reminded me. Like he knew what I needed to hear.
My heart ached, like it was being pulled by a string in his control. He fucking always knew what I needed to hear.
“I think I should go home. Try to lie down,” I said.
“You’re not going home,” he said.
“Draven is right,” Kane said. “I’m going to go lock up the bar for the night and head back, but you should stay with him.”
Kane gave me another hug and went on his way.
I turned to Draven. My default was to protest when he tried to help me, and it came out, almost automatically.
“Draven, they got the guy. He’s with the police.”
“And what about the other one?” Draven said. “Reggie Sandlefield is still out there, and I’m tired of worrying about him.”
“Who?”
His expression darkened. “ Rex67 . The one with priors. Max, it doesn’t matter right now. You’re coming with us.”
It was another relief to hear that, honestly. For so long I’d thought Draven’s precautions were overkill, but right now, my world felt like it was shattered.
It had happened here.
Right here.
I knew bad things could happen everywhere. I knew that in the big cities in Tennessee, worse crimes happened every day.
But in Bestens?
My Bestens?
I felt a tear break off down my cheek as finally, emotion cracked through me as the adrenaline slowly started to fade away.
“I didn’t think it could happen. I don’t want to feel unsafe here. This is my home .”
Draven wiped away my tear with his thumb, cradling my head in his hands for a moment. “This should never have happened to you,” he said softly.
He leaned in, pressing a kiss to my cheek.
His lips were so warm. So soft. I wasn’t sure I’d ever been kissed so tenderly, and it was only on my cheek.
I pulled in a shaky breath, swallowing. “I’m not even scared, deep down,” I told him. “I just feel… violated.”
“Exactly,” he said. “One of the worst things a person can feel.”
Draven knew it all too well. My heart was heavy, not just for myself, for my town, but for realizing just how much he must have felt this, too. Every time his trust or his safety was violated.
It wasn’t fucking fair.
“I don’t know what to do,” I said.
He squeezed my waist, then motioned toward Dominic’s car. “You’re coming with us.”
“Have you ever flown first class?” Dominic asked me as the flight attendants at the gate started the boarding process for the plane.
I puffed out a feeble laugh. “I’ve never flown before.”
He tried to hide his surprise, but I could tell he was shocked. “This should be an easy flight,” he told me. “We snagged the seats where you can lie down all the way. It’ll only be a few hours.”
Why the fuck are we leaving Tennessee at all?
When we’d first gotten in the car and they told me we were heading for the airport, it seemed like a good idea.
I wanted a distraction after the awful night I’d had.
And Draven had said that he needed to take care of some things back home anyway, and that it was a perfect opportunity to get me out of the state while he made a quick visit home.
He claimed there was no danger of him being detained once we were back in Montana, because there was still no threat of him being thrown in jail yet.
He and Dominic assured me that “circumstances had changed” back in his hometown.