Chapter 20
twenty
CAL
The guard leads us into a room set up with a bunch of round metal tables. Round seats are attached to them. It seems like everything in this place is bolted to the floor. Which is good. It means Kai can’t throw anything at Brad.
“Remember, let myself or Belle do the talking. I’m not even sure the two of you should be in here,” Harrison says, giving a stern look to both Kai and me. I scoff while Kai glares. Like we’d let Belle in here without us. “Yeah, yeah. Overprotective macho men. Got it.”
Brad is led into the room by a female corrections officer. His blond hair is slicked back, and he’s smiling like the shithead he is.
“Are you allowed to have hair gel in prison?” I whisper to Kai.
“Seems like it,” he whispers back. Harrison hears us and shoots us a warning look.
“Thank you so much, Nikki,” Brad says, winking at the officer. She blushes and fucking giggles. I look at Kai and widen my eyes, making sure he saw the same thing I did. From the way he seems to be trying to make Brad explode with his eyes, I think he did.
“We have some questions, Mr. Foley,” Harrison says to the arrogant asshole that’s currently smirking at my sister. If I didn’t have my girls waiting for me at home, I’d wipe that smirk off his face.
My girls. Shit. I’ll need to figure out that thought later.
“You look really good, Bellamy. Fame is working for you.” The creep licks his lips as he looks directly at my sister’s chest.
Harlow can bring Cora to visit me in prison. She’ll understand.
“Funny, I was just thinking how good you look in orange,” Belle counters, not affected by his comments. Brad, however, suddenly looks murderous.
“Listen, you stupid bi?—”
“We’re here because you said you’d only speak to Belle. So speak,” Harrison says, controlling the situation. Sometimes I forget he used to be a cop.
Brad glares at him, still completely ignoring that Kai and I are sitting here too. Which is fine with me.
“My boss has a message for you,” Brad says, his cocky mask back in place.
“Oh? Which boss is that? Your mom? Or Senator Wolfe?” Belle asks. My head whips to her. We have no proof of that. I’m the only shocked one because Harrison and Kai haven’t reacted at all. Brad, though? Brad looks really pale suddenly.
Oh damn. Maybe he is involved.
“My boss,” Brad continues, like Belle didn’t speak, not confirming or denying what she said. I guess he doesn’t really need to. His reaction was enough for Harrison to want to keep digging into the senator, “wants you to know that as long as you keep digging up old dirt, they will end your career.” He’s smiling again, and it’s the most unsettling thing I’ve ever seen. “They will end your pathetic life.”
“So about Senator Wolfe,” Belle says. “How do you get in touch with him? What did he do to Ezra?” Brad keeps the smile on his face, but I can see how hard it is for him to keep it there.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Brad says.
“What’s it going to take? Money? I know your mom needs a care team. I could pay for that in exchange for information. I doubt the senator will continue to pay her bills now that you’re no use to him.” I watch my sister in awe. I’ve always said that she was the strongest person I know, but apparently, she’s also a badass.
I’ll high five her later when I’m not risking Harrison’s wrath. Fucker is scary when he wants to be.
Brad’s smile falters, like he’s just realizing he’s at the end of his usefulness. He opens his mouth to speak, but something whizzes past my ear. I watch in slow motion as a bullet pierces his forehead and the contents of his skull spray on the wall behind him.
“Under the table!” I barely register Harrison’s voice as the alarms sound and lights flash. I’m dragged under the table, but I make the mistake of looking up. The guard that brought Brad in puts her gun in her mouth and pulls the trigger.
I hear screaming, and I don’t know who it’s coming from. Might be me. I snap out of the shock long enough to see that my sister and Kai are under the table with me and seem unharmed. I look around and find Harrison a few feet away from us, banging on the locked door we came through to get here.
My ears are ringing. Something hot is dripping down my face. There’s a horrible smell that’s making my stomach turn. I crawl out from under the table and move away, where I immediately lose my lunch.
The muscles in my stomach ache from how violently I’m heaving. My face is sweaty, and I can’t catch my breath.
“Cal! Cal, look at me!” I barely hear a voice over the ringing in my ears and the alarms in the room.
I blink. Something is in my eyes. I swipe at it, trying to see who’s screaming at me.
Red. I see red in my vision. Red on my hands.
It’s blood. I heave again, but there’s nothing left to come up.
“It’s okay, Cal. It’s a graze. We’ll get you some stitches. Heads just bleed like a bitch.”
I look and see Harrison. I register the feel of his hands on my shoulders, keeping me standing. Looking over his shoulder, I see Belle cuddled into Kai. They’re both standing and I think my sister is crying, but no blood. I take a deep breath and then another.
“Sit down. They’re sending in the prison nurse to help you,” Harrison says. I nod and let him lead me to a seat close to the exit. He faces me away so I can’t see the bodies I know are behind me.
There’s a million people in this room. Some try to ask me questions, but Harrison is able to get them to talk to him instead.
Belle holds my hand as the nurse stitches my head. I barely notice the small pricks of the needle she used to numb it. There’s a weird pulling sensation as she stitches my skin back together. I try to focus on that.
I know I’m in shock. I know that’s what this weird state where I feel awake and asleep, in my body and not. Maybe if I focus on the sensation, I can snap out of it.
I somehow end up in the back of my car. I don’t remember walking there. I don’t remember getting in.
Turning my head, I see the base for Cora’s car seat. That’s what does it. It’s like someone suddenly took the world off mute. I can hear the music playing, Belle speaking, the GPS giving Kai directions to the hotel. I gasp and my body starts shaking.
Belle swings her head around at the sound. “Kai. Pull over,” she says. Once we’re on the side of the road, Belle scrambles into the back seat and pulls me into her arms. I have a full foot on her, and I’m much broader, but she holds me like I’m a small child.
And I don’t give a fuck.
I fall apart in my sister’s arms.
“Are you sure you don’t want me to stay in here with you?” Belle asks.
I smile as much as I can. “I’m good now, Belle. I promise.”
She nods. “We’re just in the next room.”
That makes me snort. “Belle. I’m good. I swear.”
“You should call Harlow. She’s probably freaking out.”
“What?” I jump up from the bed and fish my phone out of my pocket. I didn’t even feel it ringing in the state I was in. “Twenty-eight missed calls! Did you tell her what happened?”
“Uh, no. Someone saw us going into the prison and called the paps. They were there when the sirens went off. It’s all over social media and the news.”
“Belle! Did you tell her we’re fine?”
“Honestly, I just realized she’s probably freaking out because Willa has been calling me, and Mav has been blowing up Kai’s phone.”
“Go call them. I need to make sure my nanny isn’t on her way her with my daughter.”
She sighs but takes Kai’s hand and leaves the room.
Harlow answers on the first ring.
“Cal! What the fuck happened? Are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” I tell her.
“Fuck this. I’m FaceTiming you.”
I sigh, knowing I don’t have a choice and accept the call.
“What happened to your head?” Harlow yells, her eyes are wide with panic.
“I’m okay, Firecracker.”
“Like fuck you are. Don’t you lie to me, Callahan Elizabeth Griffin! You gave me a heart attack.”
I smile. It feels almost foreign on my face right now, but the way she clearly cares about me makes me happy.
“Stop smiling! This isn’t funny! I thought . . . I thought,” her voice cracks.
“I know. I’m so sorry. I just got back to the hotel. We weren’t allowed to have our phones in the room.”
“Cal! What happened? All I know is that you went into that prison and the fucking emergency sirens went off. That’s all anyone is reporting. My dad won’t tell me anything.”
I sigh and go to rub my face. Luckily, I stop in time. That would’ve fucking hurt.
“I’ll tell you when I get home tomorrow. I don’t think it should be discussed over the phone,” I tell her. She examines my face and gives me a quick nod.
“Your head, Cal,” she says. I can see how panicked she is. It makes me feel terrible.
“I’m sorry I made you worry, Firecracker,” I say softly. I can’t tell her what happened to my head without telling her everything else. She seems to pick up on that because she doesn’t push.
“Cal,” she says my name, and I can see she’s about to cry. My heart breaks right there. We’re past the point of no return already. There are too many feelings. We mean too much to each other. I can try to avoid her all I want, but it won’t amount to anything. Harlow has wormed her way in somehow.
“Tell me about your day. How is Cora?”
Harlow’s smile is watery, but she goes with my change of subject. “It was good. Cora really loves to stack things.” That makes me chuckle. Her favorite game is to stack her blocks and knock them back down. I wouldn’t be surprised if that’s what Harlow did all day.
“Is she sleeping?”
“Yeah. Once my dad called me and told me that you were all okay, your dad took her to rock her to sleep.”
“Fuck. My dad. I’m such an asshole. I should call him.”
Harlow laughs. “Well, considering he’s probably still rocking your daughter, I wouldn’t.”
“Right.”
“Cal?”
“Yeah?”
“I’m really glad you’re okay.” Harlow’s voice is a whisper.
“Me too, Firecracker.”
“When will you be home?”
“Early afternoon. Earlier if I can get Kai up in the morning.”
Harlow nods. She’s biting her lip like she’s nervous. “Make sure you shower before you come home.”
“Why?” I ask, confused.
“Your face is covered in blood, Cal,” she says, looking like she wants to cry again.
“I’ll go shower right now. You get some sleep. I promise we’ll head straight home.”
“Okay,” she says softly. If I could hug her right now, I would, and I don’t think I could let go.
“Goodnight, Firecracker.”
“Goodnight, Vocal Daddy.”
I laugh as she hangs up.
Only she could make me laugh after watching two brains splatter on walls. The reminder makes me nauseous again.
I carefully clean up in the bathroom and then lay on the bed. I know I won’t be able to sleep tonight.
So instead, I stare at the ceiling and think about the beautiful woman waiting for me at home.