24. Emerson
Emerson
Iawoke with a pounding in my head. I had to blink a few times to get rid of the dark spots that covered my vision, but even then I could barely make out what was in front of me.
I could hear voices in the distance, but it sounded like everything was underwater. They must've hit me pretty hard. It was hard to control my body, like lead was weighing me down, pinning me to the cold floor.
I knew my father was fucking crazy. I had felt his painful fists more than once. But he’d never gone as far as to knock me out before.
He means business this time.
Escape should have been the first thing on my mind, but there was no chance of that.
Pearl.
Let’s see who’s faster, hm?
I needed to get to her. I didn’t know how long I’d been out, but by how stiff my body was, it had to have been more than a few minutes for sure.
What if her stalker had already found her, and I wasn’t there?
I can’t believe he fucking did all of this.
The father I’d grown up with wasn’t calculating. He ran off his emotions, much like I did. Maybe that was why I had grown up the way I was. Everything turned into anger, and the anger piled up until we couldn’t hold it back anymore.
Only I would never hit my child or anyone I loved or, in his case, was supposed to love. He’d never given a damn about me.
This time, instead of the fiery rage, he had gone cold. I could almost imagine him sitting in his cell and scheming his way to this very moment.
I thought recruiting Jax’s company would get me ahead, and after meeting Dahlia, I thought I’d hit the jackpot. All this time I thought he was two steps behind, and that once I met him, I would be able to end it there and then.
I’d been wrong.
He had taken his cruelty to a whole new level, and I had a feeling that this was just the beginning. He was truly going to make both of us pay for his sentence, and if I didn't work fast, I might lose Pearl forever.
“Finally awake, huh? It’s about time,” my father's voice said from somewhere behind me. We were likely in a large empty space from the way it echoed—maybe some sort of warehouse? There was a slight musky scent to the air, and since it hadn't rained in a bit, we were probably near water.
I counted three different sets of footsteps approaching, including his.
Stay still.
I forced my body not to move, even though I was desperate to. I wanted to run. To try my luck. But realistically, I knew that they would catch me or put a bullet in me before I took three steps.
Slowly, I could start to feel my body coming back online. The pain intensified, but at least I could feel again. It was like my body was slowly thawing—not fast enough, especially with the weight of their eyes on me.
But I needed to play smart.
My fingers and toes twitched.
He pushed me over onto my back with a swift kick of his boot, and I couldn't stop the pained groan. So much for playing dead.
When his face appeared above me, a sinister smile spread across it. I never wanted to punch him more than that moment. Or kill him.
Deep down, part of me was unsure if I could actually kill a man. But the longer I looked at him, the more I knew I'd be able to see it through.
I hated him. Hated him because he’d made Mom leave us. I might have been too young to know what their relationship was like, but knowing him, I knew it was his fault.
I hated him for all the insults he’d hurled at me. For how much he beat me up, making me feel like I was nothing.
I hated him for turning me into an angry person who had no idea how to show their love.
But he hadn’t taken away my ability to feel it. Which only led me back to worrying about Pearl.
“It would seem you were a little too slow,” he said. “I just got confirmation that our little friend has already made it to Pearl's house.”
No. Where were the bodyguards? Did he get past them? Did he see them?
Horror grabbed hold of me. I tried to push away thoughts of Pearl getting ambushed at her own home, unaware of what was going to happen. Of what he would do to her. But I couldn't. Everything my mind conjured up was horrible, and it was playing in my head like a movie.
He leaned closer.
“What? Not so cocky now, huh?” He stood and motioned for one of his men to come closer. “So this is what's gonna happen. We're gonna let him have a little fun with Pearl, and then he's gonna bring her here. And then we're gonna have a grand old time together.”
I heard sounds of chains and other metal tools clinking in the distance. Are they going to torture us or some shit?
And all of this just because he got sent to jail. Like he didn’t actually deserve it, when even without the child abuse charges, he would've gone away for a long time.
He was just a bitter old man with nowhere to focus his anger and nothing to lose. Which made him dangerous.
I needed to be smart about this.
Wait for it.
My father leaned closer, obviously confused as to why I wasn't saying anything or fighting back.
“Did you paralyze her or something?”
“I didn’t hit her that—”
My eyes fell to the gun that my father now had on his belt. Quick as lightning, I grabbed it and rolled away so I could put some distance between us. I raised it, but not at my father.
One shot went into the man on the left, who was holding the chains. I got him right in the head.
I wasn't as lucky with the second, and instead of getting the other guy’s head, I got his chest. It was good enough.
My father was stuck there, frozen. A frown on his face. Not at all worried about losing two of his men.
“Are you really that stupid, Emerson?”
I heard it before I saw it. The loud pop that echoed throughout the room.
A blinding pain ran up my side. Black spots appeared in my vision. I gritted my teeth, trying to stop the scream that wanted to rip itself from my throat. I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction.
I fell to the ground in a heap, unable to stop myself from groaning as the burning sensation got worse. I pushed my hand to the wound, trying to stop the bleeding, but as I looked down, I saw that my upper thigh was already slick with blood.
Fuck. Fuck.
The gun was kicked out of my hand, and only then did I realize there were five people in here, not three. The other two had stuck to the shadows, unmoving, which was why I hadn't heard them even as my vision had been too fucked from the blow to make them out.
The pain was worse than anything I had experienced before. It clouded everything and allowed the men to come closer unhurriedly, one of them tangling his hand in my hair and forcing me to look up at my father.
“You know, those two men were pricey. The people who loaned them out to me are not gonna be happy about losing them.”
I gathered my saliva in my mouth and spat it at him.
It landed right on his face.
He wiped it off angrily and sent a punch straight to my cheek, but the pain was dull in comparison to the one on my thigh. Child’s play, really.
“Fuck you,” I hissed. “Just you wait. I’m going to kill you.”
He stood up and looked around. “I'm waiting, but it looks like you’re just stuck there. Bleeding out.” He sent me a smile. “Maybe it’s time to wonder if you’re too confident for your own good?”
Because I only hired Jax’s company for Pearl. Not for myself. I foolishly thought I had it handled.
I was here all alone. But it would be okay as long as they saved Pearl. I didn’t want to go through life if she was gone.
When I was younger, I used to wonder if there would be a day when he’d go too far and finally kill me. But I thought it would be when he lost it while he was teaching me not to talk back to him or something. When he finally hit my head somewhere and I’d just be gone.
If I was being honest, sometimes I think I even welcomed it. Like I wanted him to.
Not anymore. I wasn’t going to make this easy for him.
“You’re seriously pathetic,” I said, forcing a smile to my face.
“Do you think you’re some criminal mastermind plotting your revenge like in a movie?
You had this huge plan to escape jail, switching yourself out with a duplicate—and don’t tell me that’s not a movie moment—all for what?
Come kill me and my girlfriend? Was that all?
He sent me a smile. “Oh, so she's your girlfriend now?”
Damn it.
“You could do anything. Go anywhere while they don’t find out what happened. All you’re doing is wasting your time.”
“And all you’re doing is biding yours.”
He looked around the warehouse, and a man came from behind me to stand by my father and show him something on his phone.
My heart dropped into my stomach when I saw the look on his face. Pure satisfaction.
“Looks like Pearl’s stalker is having a bit of fun, but they’ll be here soon.”
No. No. No. No.
Images of her at her apartment, cornered. Nowhere to run. Him on top of her. Her screaming for help, but no one hearing her or coming to help her.
His knife in her chest. His hands around her throat.
Stop. Stop. STOP.
I jerked against the men holding me. Pain flashed through me, but I couldn’t be bothered to give a damn.
“Don’t you fucking hurt her!”
My father just looked at me like I was a child throwing a tantrum.
“Too late for that. But don't worry, I told him to keep her alive for you.”