Chapter 32 Ryker #2
‘I’m going to enjoy snuffing the life out of you. You’ve been nothing but a pain in my ass since college. You broke my hand. And you took everything I wanted.’ He grits his teeth. ‘Those scouts should’ve seen me play. It should’ve been me.’
Surges of black lick at the edges of my vision. Erik smacks the gun against my cheekbone, and my face throbs with pain. I give everything I have to work against him and gravity and manage to roll onto my back. But then he shoves down on top of me, pressing his knee into my jugular.
‘It should’ve been me.’ His repeated words come out even more frantic, his eyes wide.
I grab for the gun, but he shoots. Pain slices through my left arm. Then he digs his fingers into the fresh bullet wound on my left shoulder, and the air vacates my lungs in a silent scream. He keeps pressing his knee hard against my throat and cuts off my air supply.
From the corner of my eye, I see Renny and Tyler attempt to rush over, but Erik fires off the gun, shooting aimless rounds into the air. ‘Stay the fuck back!’
‘Do what he says,’ I wheeze out.
Erik laughs. ‘You took everything from me! Everything!’ He doubles down, choking off the little air I have. ‘I’ll make sure you have nothing fucking left.’
It takes a second to make sense of his words. Then I realise I’ve had the exact thought about him. I’ve thought about how to make Erik pay in a hundred different ways. How I’ve wanted him to have nothing, to be nothing. He stole Jace’s life from us and I wanted to steal anything I could from him.
We’re the fucking same.
‘I’ll haunt you in this life and then see you in hell.’ My words are strangled, and true.
A laugh bubbles from his throat and he flashes a bloodied smile. ‘Pity,’ he sneers, spittle flying out of his mouth. ‘I wanted to see your face when I kill the Brooks girl.’
Gianna.
No.
I can hear Jace in my head, telling me to look after her. I promised.
He digs his knee harder into my neck. I try to suck in a breath but can’t. My heart surges into my throat, I try to continue fighting … but I can’t.
No.
My limbs grow heavy as I go limp beneath him.
Gianna. I want to look for her. Gianna. I’m flat on the ground and I can only see Erik’s mass on top of me and the dark sky behind him.
I can hear the waves raging against the rocks below us.
Blackness soaks into my vision, the haze polluting my insides with a volatile mix of rage and shame.
I promised I’d keep her safe … I promised …
There’s the faint growl of a motor. Everything sounds as if I’m underwater, and then I feel the vibration.
Erik’s Civic races toward us. I close my eyes, ready to accept the hit.
It doesn’t come.
The pressure on my neck has been lifted, and when I open my eyes, there’s blackness. For a moment, I think I’m dead. Then my vision clears and my lungs recover from the lack of air. I realise my nose is brushing the filthy undercarriage of an import.
Erik’s been hit right off me.
I shuffle out slowly from underneath the vehicle and stagger to my feet. The Civic is stopped right by the edge of the cliff. I stumble to the precipice, looking down into the ocean. Renny and Tyler are soon by my side, scanning for anything at all, but there’s nothing other than chaotic waves.
I blow out a breath, searching for something to feel. Something I should be feeling. Anything. But I don’t know if I’m relieved or pissed that Erik got such an easy way out.
I open the Civic’s driver-side door, finding Gianna wide-eyed and unseeing while her hands grip the steering wheel tight.
‘I had to,’ she says quietly, almost to herself. ‘I … I had to do it.’
‘Come here, Gianna,’ I whisper as I pull her out of the car. I don’t think she even realises she’s trembling.
‘Ryker,’ she murmurs.
Dellenty groans before struggling to his feet, still clutching at his side with blood-stained fingers. His partner remains unconscious.
Dellenty gingerly makes his way over to me. I gulp down the lump in my throat. Everyone here is a witness to her murdering Erik Lasso.
‘I’ll take responsibility,’ I nod.
‘Ryker—’ Gianna starts, but I shake my head at her.
‘I’ll take it,’ I say again.
Dellenty stares long and hard, before he sighs.
‘You saved my life, didn’t you?’ he muses. ‘Quite a predicament you’ve put me in. A damn dilemma. So, what is it I should do?’
I stay silent, not sure where this is going.
He looks past me, locking eyes with Gianna. ‘You don’t want to go through a murder trial, do you, Gianna?’
A sound of anguish tumbles past Gianna’s lips as her knees buckle. I steel my spine, gripping Dellenty’s wrist.
‘It was self-defence,’ I say. ‘And I said I’ll take the fall.’
Dellenty shakes his head; it’s slight, but I see it.
He twists free from my grip and turns back to Gianna.
Her eyes are red-rimmed and puffy. ‘Your brother was a good kid. And I get it … I do. Putting you through a long trial won’t do anyone any good.
’ He sighs, rubbing his temples before shrugging and turning to me.
‘Detective Rourke’s been following you kids for a while.
She nearly caught Erik in a foot chase near the vet, but he got away.
She thought you lot might have actually been working with him …
but when you lost your money in a drift race, it’s clear you were a target.
‘It was Hayley in the Silvia at Erik’s race,’ Gianna whispers.
Dellenty nods. ‘With her evidence about Erik and his dealings at Midnight Spares and Erik’s confession, I can close this case. An arrest gone wrong. Now, get out of here, Edwards. I’ll clean this up.’
I hear the words, but I can’t get my body to work. And I’m wondering if Erik pulled the trigger against my temple after all.
‘Go. Now,’ Dellenty repeats. ‘Before I change my mind.’
I nod, turning with Gianna in my arms, holding her close. I wrap my hands around her trembling ones.
She’s safe.
And I’ll set the whole world ablaze to make sure it stays that way.
‘Edwards!’ Dellenty calls and I pause. ‘I’ll make sure the officers who took the bribes get what they deserve.’
I shelter Gianna in my arms until we reach my truck and I whip open the passenger door. I lift her inside and click the seatbelt in place before pressing my lips to her forehead.
‘No one will ever hurt you again,’ I whisper against her skin.
I bury my face in her hair. Feeling the claws retract from my skin.
It’s over.