Chapter 6 Brynn #2
“I know it doesn’t seem like it, but I’m glad to have you back in my arms, princess.”
My jaw quivered as my father pressed yet another kiss into my forehead.
I closed my eyes and let the crickets chirping outside fill my bedroom.
I knew I was an oddball. A weird one. While most daughters were mocking their fathers for wearing sweater vests and being out of touch, I was holding my father’s hand and walking through a mall.
I wanted him chaperoning dances and football games instead of staying as far away as he could get.
I was proud of the man my father was. I was proud of the life we led together.
It never bothered me one bit to show him affection. Even now.
Even at twenty seven years old.
“I love you, Daddy.”
Tears spilled from my cheeks as his arm tightened around me.
“Love you too, princess.”
After our heart to heart, my father got a call from one of the guys in the club.
He apologized and said that he had some stuff he needed to take care of and he headed downstairs.
Before he did though, he made me promise that I wouldn’t leave the house without him.
I sighed feeling like a trapped teenager, but finally agreed to calm him down.
Once he headed downstairs, I laid back in my bed and let my mind wander.
How was I going to prove to my father that there was nothing to worry about?
Going directly to Rex myself was probably a stupid idea.
Rex still thought I was dead, and showing up and trying to talk sense into him wouldn’t get me anywhere.
I agreed with my father and Diesel that he was dangerous. Hell, he was apparently out on bail for a murder charge. But I wasn’t so sure that I truly mattered so much to him as they all thought.
It had been ten years since I left. Ten years since Rex thought I died. Rex had to have forgotten about me by now. Or at least forgotten his obsession he had with me. I felt my body shudder as I thought back to the day of the shooting.
I had been turning down Rex for months. We went to the same high school.
I was a year older than him, but every chance he got, he would try and get my attention.
At first, I brushed it off, thinking he was just some silly kid but he got to be more aggressive.
So, I avoided him as much as I could. But that only seemed to anger him.
I started to notice him following me home from school.
I refused to tell my father about it for weeks because I didn’t want him to worry.
I could handle myself with a stupid fucking kid.
I grabbed my pillow on my bed and curled my body around it as I prepared myself for the memories that haunted me every day.
I pushed open the doors from the gym and walked out into the parking lot.
My hair was still wet and I felt a slight chill in the air.
My body was tired from doing laps back and forth in the pool, but I wanted to make sure I was ready for my swim meet that weekend.
I looked down at my watch and noticed that tt was after six.
I looked out at the parking lot and realized it was practically empty.
I stayed a lot later than I meant to. I needed to get home, before my father started to worry about me.
As I walked up to my car, I heard footsteps behind me. Thinking nothing of it at first, I continued to walk. But as the footsteps grew closer to me I gripped my keys with my pepper spray attached in my hand as I started to walk faster to my car.
“Where you going so quickly, Brynn?” a voice said behind me. I felt a knot form in my stomach. I knew who it was without even turning around.
“I’m just freezing and ready to get home Rex,” I said as I continued walking to my car. I hoped he would give up and walk away. But just as I was about to reach my car, his hand gripped my wrist and turned me to face him.
“Well, I’m sure I could warm you up,” Rex said as he pulled my body close to his.
I could smell the alcohol on his breath and noticed his bloodshot eyes.
I tried to pull my wrist away but he gripped it tighter.
With his other hand he yanked my keys from my hand.
He unlocked my car and then shoved the keys in his back pocket.
“Stop it Rex,” I said firmly hoping he would just give up and let me go. But instead he just smiled as he backed me up towards my car.
“Rex, I’m serious. Leave me alone,” I said again as I tried to move away from him. But his arm was wrapped around my body pulling me up against him.
“Aw come on Brynn,” Rex said. He pushed my body back toward the car again and I felt my back hit the cold metal of the door.
I quickly shifted my eyes around looking for anyone else in the parking lot.
But I saw no one. Panic coursed through my veins and tried move away from him.
With my free hand I pushed against his chest, but he wouldn’t budge. Instead, he just let out a cold laugh.
I moved my hand and tried to smack his face or scratch him but he quickly brought out a gun and held it to my head. My whole body froze.
“Get in the car,” he growled.
He pressed the barrel of the gun to my temple and I let out a slight whimper. Rex had been slightly aggressive over the past few weeks, but this was the first time I had ever seen him violent like this.
“Get in the fucking car,” he yelled.
I slowly turned around and started to open the driver’s side door with shaking hands. Then I felt the gun press into the back of my head.
“Not the front. Get in the back.”
I quickly shut the front door, and opened up the back. I racked my brain on how I could get away. Could I rush out the other side before he realized what I was doing? What about his gun? I could hear him unbuckle his belt behind me and I gulped.
Just as I was about to get into the backseat I heard motorcycles in the distance. I prayed that it was my father or Diesel. That somehow, they sensed that I was in trouble.
“Get the fuck in the car!” Rex yelled.
My eyes quickly shot up past my car and saw my father pulling into the school parking lot.
Rex must have saw him too because he quickly shoved me into the back seat.
When my hands hit the leather, my adrenaline kicked into high gear.
I kicked Rex as hard as I could with my foot.
I heard an audible groan as I scrambled for the door on the other side.
Hoping my kick distracted him enough, I opened the door and pushed myself out of the backseat and screamed as loudly as I could.
My father’s eyes shot to mine and he quickly stopped his bike and pulled out his gun.
“He has a gun!” I screamed as I ran as fast as my legs would carry me.
Gun shots rang around me as I heard Rex yelling behind me.
I was so close to my father. I just needed to keep running.
My legs burned as I ran towards him. I was inches away from my father’s bike when I felt a sharp pain in my torso.
I stumbled slightly but I somehow kept moving.
I reached my father and he grabbed me and pulled me onto his bike as he shot at Rex.
I looked down at my torso and saw nothing but blood.
Noticing the blood made the pain start to kick in and I screamed in agony.
Black spots began to poke at the sides of my vision and I quickly succumbed to the darkness as I felt my father’s bike speed away.
I wiped my eyes from the fresh tears that ran down my cheeks.
I don’t remember much after I passed out on my father’s bike.
I remember bits and pieces, but not everything that happened.
The next thing I truly remembered was waking up in the hospital.
My father explained what had happened. He tried to get me to the hospital but Rex followed him and kept shooting.
I was shot a second time in my leg and my father had no choice but to go to the lodge for backup.
My father rushed me inside and handed me off to one of the guys to get me to the hospital, while he stalled Rex.
The rest of the guys helped my father but it apparently turned into a large shootout.
Rex and his small gang were completely outnumbered by my father and the Black Hornets. So, he eventually gave up and ran.
While I was in surgery the whole plan of my death hand be formed.
I hated it, but I had agreed with my father that it was better for Rex to think I was gone.
I didn’t want to leave Redding. I fought with my father for days while I was healing to let me stay somehow.
But in the end, he was right. The only way to make my death believable was for me to leave.
I just wished I could have told Diesel goodbye. I wished that I could have explained to him what had truly happened.
A fresh round of tears fell down my cheeks and I quickly wiped them away. I settled my racing heart and conjured D’s face in my mind.
It wasn’t the idea of marrying him that pissed me off. It was the idea that he could never love me the way I loved him.
Especially after how I left.