Chapter 35
THIRTY-FIVE
DALLAS
It’s the end of practice, but I stay behind to make sure everything is picked up, just like I always do. Coach had to take off the second practice ended because he had some meeting to get to on the other side of town.
By the time I make it into the locker room, it’s a ghost town. No one showers quicker than a bunch of dudes who just had a three-hour practice and are ready to get the fuck out of here.
Within ten minutes, I’m showered, changed into clothes for my dinner date with Haven, and heading out of the eerily quiet facility.
When my phone vibrates in my pocket, I pull it out, expecting it to be Haven checking that I’m not running behind, but instead, it’s a random number that I don’t recognize.
My finger almost touches the Decline button displayed on the screen, but for whatever reason, I find myself answering it instead. Normally, I’d send it to voicemail, seeing as it’s likely a scam call anyway. Something in my gut, though, tells me not to.
“Hello?” I answer, expecting the line to be silent or for some automated message to begin.
“Dallas?” a female voice whispers. It’s vaguely familiar, but I can’t put a name to it.
“Yes?”
“This is Gigi,” rushes from her quickly, and even though she’s still whispering, I know right away that she’s upset, causing my heart to drop.
“I’m in the house. I just got back from a run and—” Her voice breaks.
“Tabor is upstairs with Haven. I think … I think he’s making her pack her bag.
I overheard him saying something about a bag. ”
I’m running now, pushing my legs and body to get me the fuck out of here and to The Nest. He’s not harmless, I know that much.
“Gigi,” I say, yanking my truck door open and slamming it shut.
“I need you to call 911, okay? I need you to call 911 and tell them everything you know.” I step on the gas pedal so hard my tires burn against the pavement before I speed out of the parking lot.
“I’ll be there as soon as I can. Please, just be as quiet as you can. ”
“Okay.” Her word comes out as a squeak before she ends the call.
My stomach feels sick, but my heart pounds, sending anger and fear through my veins. I can be there before the police, and I’m not waiting for them to arrive to save her.
I’ll do it myself, even if it means killing Tabor with my bare hands. I’ll do it to keep her safe.
I’d do anything to keep her safe.
I park at the end of Eagle Way, not wanting to pull into the driveway and set Tabor off to make him do something crazy.
To most, that probably sounds insane, but after what happened with my birth parents, I’ve seen firsthand that sometimes people just …
snap. And if there’s the slightest chance Tabor is going to, I need to be smart.
Running down the sidewalk, The Nest finally comes into view. I run around to the backyard, knowing that there’s a chance he could be looking out the window of Haven’s bedroom, overlooking the whole street out front.
My heart is pounding as I rush around the back of the house before circling back on the other side to the porch, hugging close to the house the entire time to make sure I’m not spotted.
I’m worried the sound of the door opening will send him into high alert. Then again, Gigi came inside, and he never heard her.
I feel sick to my stomach, thinking about the possibility that he hurt her before I could get here.
I’m just about to take the first step up the stairs when a bedroom door opens and I rush to the side, ducking as I hear footsteps coming down the steps.
“Don’t try anything stupid, baby.” Tabor’s voice makes my entire body shake with anger, and I wait the last few seconds to make sure I time this right.
“I won’t,” she whispers weakly, trying to keep her voice strong, but the fear in her tone crushes me.
When they get to the bottom of the stairwell, passing me as I hide against this wall, I’m just about to pounce forward, but that’s when I see it.
The gun. A fucking gun pressed into her back.
I know that I can’t let him leave this house with her.
If he gets her in a car, he could purposely crash it to hurt or kill them both.
I truly think he’s that far gone that he would.
But I also know I need to be careful, because if he sees me, he could fire the gun too.
And if he hears sirens coming the way they’re sure to be any minute now … hard to say what he’ll do to her.
They may have a protocol, but I can’t risk Haven getting hurt.
I push up quickly, moving faster than I’ve ever moved before in any stupid fucking game. As he hears something behind him and turns around, I punch him, forcing him to lose his footing in hopes that I can grab the gun from his hand.
“You motherfucker,” he spits, spinning around and throwing one arm around Haven while lifting the gun to the side of her head. “You just don’t know when to fucking quit.”
She screams when he tightens his grip on her, her tear-filled eyes looking huge, her lips quivering. The sound is something that will likely haunt me forever as it echoes in my brain.
What if I can’t save her?
I couldn’t save my mother. If anything, I was one of the reasons she died. I survived losing her, but I won’t survive this. If something happens to Haven, I’m done.
“Let her go, Tabor,” I say, holding my hands up slightly, showing him I have no weapon.
He sneers an evil, twisted smirk at me, keeping the gun snug against her head. I want to tell her it’s all going to be okay, but right now, to save her, I have to save him too.
“Fuck you, Rivers,” he says, keeping his back to the wall. “You already stole her from me once—convinced her to leave me. I’m not letting you get between us again.” He rubs his head against the side of her face, and she looks sick. “I don’t give a fuck how—she will be mine. Forever.”
Everything inside me wants to tackle this guy and beat him to death. I hate him with every fucking part of my being, but he has a gun, so I consider my course of action. Right now, I have to play by his rules.
I flash Haven the shortest look, not wanting him to see and get more upset, but looking at her right now fucking kills me. The fear in her eyes pulls my guts out, sending a pain right through my chest.
“I get it, man,” I say, keeping my voice as even as I can manage. “I get it.”
His eyes narrow, and he glares at me. “Don’t try to be the superhero here, Rivers. She and I could be almost off campus by now, and I would have never hurt her once we got away.”
“I get it,” I say, repeating myself. “You love her. And you think I fucked things up for you.” I keep my tone as soft as I can manage and my eyes off Haven’s because every time I look at her, I lose my composure more.
“I’m sorry for that.” I take in a breath, trying to slow my heartbeat because right now, I feel like I’m having a heart attack.
“But you’re scaring her, Timmons. And you don’t want that either, do you? ”
“Shut up!” he growls, smacking the gun against her head, bringing another cry from her perfect lips. “Shut the fuck up, Rivers! You don’t get to play hero here!”
I hold my hands up again. Even though my instinct is to help her, I can’t.
Sirens begin to scream, and his eyes grow wide.
“You called the police?” Now, it’s me the gun is pointed at as he waves it around angrily. “You really fucked up now.”
“No, I didn’t,” I say, shaking my head.
“Now she has to die,” he says, gritting his teeth. “We both do. It’s the only way!” I’ve always known there was something in his eyes that I didn’t trust, but right now, what lies inside his gaze is terrifying.
Black. Endless nothingness.
There’s not even a glimpse of a person inside of them right now. He’s gone.
“No, it’s not,” I tell him. “You can let her go. You can let her go, Tabor, and get the help you need.”
He steps forward, pressing the barrel of the gun into my forehead roughly, still squeezing her body with so much force that I’m sure she’ll be bruised.
Out the window, I see a police car pull in, followed by a few more.
Wherever in the house Gigi is now, I’m sure she can hear enough to fill the cops in on how bad of a situation it really is.
The distraction isn’t much, his eyes only straying from mine to peek outside for a split second, but it’s enough for what happens next.
I grab the gun that’s pressed into my head and aim it upward, and the movement alone has his finger pressing the trigger. As a shot is fired, Haven screams. Refusing to let her go gives him a disadvantage, because he can’t use both hands to fight back.
Tabor is one of the strongest guys that we had on the team this year, but behind my grip is rage fueled by fear. Fear that he’s going to hurt Haven. I don’t give a fuck about myself right now, but her? She has to get out of this.
The sound of an intercom with a police officer giving commands doesn’t seem to startle him, his only concern being to keep the gun in his hand. But after a short fight, I get the gun in my hand, and now, it’s Tabor who has a barrel pressed to his forehead.
“Hands behind your head, Timmons,” I say, pressing harder. “Let her go and do as I say.”
He doesn’t release his hold on her; instead, he moves his arm to her neck, putting her in a chokehold against him. It’s not enough to hurt her, but it’s his way of telling me he’s not giving up yet.
“Pull the trigger, Rivers,” he growls. “You don’t fucking dare to. You don’t have it in you.”
“Let. Her. Go,” I say, the ability to keep my tone even getting harder by the second.
I know the police are outside, following their protocol for a hostage situation.
And even though they could rush in and kill him now, I don’t want Haven to live with the same darkness I do.
Watching someone die this way … it sticks with you.
“I know you’re hurting,” I say, my voice lower now.
“And I know you think this will make it all better, but I’m telling you …
it won’t. Hurting someone else isn’t going to help you, Tabor.
” An image of my father with blood gushing from his body flashes through my brain.
“You need help.” My hand shakes slightly. “Haven wants you to get help.”
For the first time since I got here, I see a glimpse of humanity. It’s small, barely there, but that tiny bit of sadness tells me this is working.
“I do …” Her voice is weak, and the sound of her teeth chattering makes this almost impossible to do without wanting to just kill him. “This isn’t you, Tabor,” she whispers sadly. “We’ve spent enough time together for me to know that you …” She stops, sniffling. “Wouldn’t hurt anyone.”
For what seems like forever, he just stands there, keeping his hold on her body. But when a single tear floats down his cheek, his bottom lip trembles. “I didn’t want to hurt you,” his voice barely croaks. “I just wanted … to be together.”
“I know,” she whispers, nodding subtly. “Please, Tabor. Let them help you.”
I watch a twenty-one-year-old man revert back to a child as he looks down, his shoulders shaking while he falls apart. When he drops his hold from her neck, and her body crashes against mine, I feel like I take my first solid breath since getting the phone call from Gigi.
From the corner of my eye, I see Gigi peeking down the hallway.
“Go with Gigi,” I whisper to Haven, not wanting to let her go, but when Tabor walks outside, I don’t know what will happen.
As she rushes down the hall toward Gigi, and Gigi throws her arms around her and they both cry together, I slowly lower the gun, putting it in my pocket and keeping my eyes on Tabor’s.
“Just walk outside with your hands above your head and you’ll be fine,” I say as softly as I can manage. “Okay?”
He doesn’t say anything back, and his eyes are no longer looking at mine. I know not to take my gaze off him though as I reach for the door and open it.
With his hands above his head, step by step, he slowly walks to the doorway. Within seconds, a police officer has him handcuffed, and Haven and I run toward each other as she cries, burying her head in my hoodie.
“I was so scared,” she sobs, clawing at me. “I was so scared.”
My arms wrap around her, holding onto her tightly. “Me too,” I whisper honestly.
I’ve lived through some darkness, but nothing has ever had me as scared as I was today. Because I’ve never loved anyone else as much as I’ve loved Haven King.
“I’m right here, Short.” I rub her back, never wanting to let her go. “I’m right here.”
Noah and Coach rush through the door, but she doesn’t lift her head from my sweatshirt to see them, so instead, Noah kisses the top of her head, and Coach stands behind her, placing his hand on her back.
When Noah sees Gigi standing at the end of the hallway, crying by herself, he walks toward her, pulling her against his chest. She was here the entire time, and I know she must have been so scared too.
Coach walks toward the door when an officer enters, but I don’t drop my arms from Haven, and she shows no signs of moving either.
“I love you,” I murmur, kissing her hair.
Today isn’t going to be a day she simply gets over. It’s going to take time, that much is certain. But it could have ended very badly, and I know I’ll never take Haven for granted. Not for a single second.