Chapter 26
Chapter Twenty-Six
“I have to go to the bathroom,” Ty said as they approached San Diego.
“Hold it,” Marlon said.
“I’ve been holding it. I had to go when we left.”
The quiver in his voice broke Carson’s heart.
“Let me pull over to let him go.”
“Keep driving.”
“Why would you want your child to suffer?”
“Let me worry about my kid. He’s none of your business.”
“He’s more Carson’s business than he’s ever been yours,” Cresley said.
Marlon spun around to face Cresley. “I told you to shut the fuck up.” He pressed the gun to Carson’s temple. “The next time you say a word to me, your fuck boy is dead, you got me?”
“You can take the car,” Carson said as the gun dug into his temple. “You don’t need us anymore. You can move faster without us.”
Marlon considered that for a charged moment before he withdrew the weapon. “Not yet. Get me south of San Diego. Hurry up about it.”
Carson glanced at Cresley and saw tears in her eyes. He hoped she could see how determined he was to get them through this. His body was on fire from sitting in the same position for so long as he struggled to stay awake and alert.
By now, Julian would’ve discovered they were missing. Anthony would know that Marlon hadn’t been caught. They’d be sounding the alarm.
He hoped.
When the traffic let up, he pressed the accelerator to the floor, hoping to attract the attention of law enforcement by exceeding the speed limit. Plus, the faster he drove, the sooner this might be over.
“If you get stopped by a cop, you’re dead,” Marlon said on a growl.
“That would make you a sitting duck,” Carson said. “Your best bet is for me to keep moving and get you as far south as possible before they catch up to us.”
“Before who catches up to us?”
“Law enforcement knows by now that we’re missing.”
“How would they know that?”
Was he really this stupid? “My brother was on his way to the house when you showed up. When he sees our phones there and us gone, he’ll alert the police.
” Carson stretched his neck to look up at the sky.
“I’m sure they’ll figure out that we’re heading for Mexico.
We’ll probably see a police helicopter any minute. Plus, we’re almost out of gas.”
“Take this exit,” Marlon said, waving the gun to point the way.
Carson brought the vehicle to a stop at a red light at the bottom of the hill. “Now what?”
“Go to a gas station.” A sign had logos for gas companies with arrows and the distance to each one.
Carson chose a Mobil that was the closest one to the highway and hung a left when the light turned green.
He glanced at Cresley in the mirror and hoped he’d get the chance to tell her how much she and Ty had come to mean to him.
They pulled into the parking lot.
“Ty, come with me,” Marlon said.
“No!” Cresley said. “He stays with me.”
“He’s coming with me. Let’s go.”
“I’ll be fine, Mom. Don’t worry.”
“Get some gas.”
“With what?” Carson asked. “My good looks?”
Marlon threw a credit card at Carson’s head, pulled the back door open and grabbed Ty’s arm, roughly dragging him from the car.
“Please!” Cresley screamed. “Don’t take him!”
The door was slammed in her face. “Carson! What do we do?”
He looked down at the bloodstains soaking his T-shirt. “Come here.”
She got out and opened the driver’s door, gasping when she spotted the blood. “Oh God, Carson…”
“I can’t drive for much longer. You might have to take it from here. Go around to the passenger side and use this key to open the glove box. Hurry.”
Cresley did as he directed and had the box open in a matter of seconds even as her hands trembled wildly. She glanced over her shoulder, looking for Ty, who’d disappeared into the store with Marlon. Hopefully, he was letting the boy use the bathroom.
“Give me the gun and the phone.”
She handed the items to him.
Carson fired up the phone and called 911. “This is Carson Remington. I believe you might be looking for me, as well as Cresley and Ty Dane. We were kidnapped by Marlon Beckett, who’s wanted for attempted murder.” He gave their location and the address of the gas station.
“We’re dispatching units, sir. Please stand by.”
After Carson ended the call, he silenced the phone and stashed it in the door compartment.
“He’s got my son,” she said on a whimper. “I need to go in there.”
“Stay right here. He won’t do anything in front of people and cameras.”
“What will he do when he sees police coming for him?”
“When he comes outside, go right to Ty. Don’t worry about anything else. I’ll take care of Marlon.”
“Carson… You’re bleeding.”
“I’m okay.”
“You’re not okay!”
“I will be. I promise. Do you trust me?”
She bit her lip and nodded, keeping her gaze trained on the store.
“Focus on Ty. Nothing else, all right? Get him out of here.”
“What about you?”
“I’ll be right behind you. Here they come.” Carson got out of the vehicle and moved toward the back end while Cresley rushed toward Ty, wrapping her arms around him and taking off before Marlon even saw her coming.
Carson pulled the gun on Marlon, ignoring the pain that ripped through his entire body after sitting for so long. “One more step, and you’re a dead man. Put down your gun.”
“Fuck you.”
“If you think I won’t take you out, try me.”
“I’m not going to prison because of that bitch.” He took off in the opposite direction from where Cresley had taken Ty, shooting at Carson over his shoulder. Luckily, he missed by a mile, and Carson heard the bullet connect with something metal above him.
Carson aimed and fired, hitting him in the ass.
Marlon collapsed in a heap, shrieking like a banshee.
Carson made his way toward him and relieved Marlon of the weapon that was still in his hand as he continued to wail. “Don’t be such a baby.”
“You fucking shot me.”
“You fucking stabbed and kidnapped me. This almost makes us even.”
Carson’s vision was blurry, and he was sweating profusely. Blinking, he struggled to stay alert until the police arrived. He could hear the sirens. Any minute now.
“I saw you shoot that guy,” a woman said from behind him.
“Did you see him kidnap me and two other people and hold a gun on us for two hours? Did you see him stab me last week? If not, fuck off and mind your own business.”
Two patrol cars came in hot with lights and sirens.
As two officers ran toward him, Carson dropped to his knees. “He’s the one you want,” he managed to say before he lost consciousness.
The sound of the single gunshot had stopped Cresley’s heart as she huddled with Ty on the far side of the building, listening to the cops get closer.
Was Carson dead? Was Marlon?
“Mom. You’re squeezing me too hard.”
She relaxed her hold on Ty, wondering how she’d ever again let him out of her sight after this surreal experience.
“I think the police are here,” Ty said. “It might be safe to go out there.”
Cresley wanted to wait for Carson, but what if he was the one who’d been shot? Torn by indecision, she waited another minute before she looked around the side of the building in time to see the police handcuffing Marlon.
Carson was on the ground.
Oh no. No, no, no.
She grabbed Ty’s hand and ran toward Carson, powered by sheer terror.
If he was dead…
He could not be dead.
“Carson!”
She dropped to her knees as she frantically looked for a wound, screaming his name until his eyes fluttered open.
“Hey, baby, I’m here.”
“Were you shot?”
“Nah, I shot him. Police have him.” He blinked and seemed to realize he was on the ground. “Must’ve fainted.”
“We’ve called for ambulances,” one of the police officers told her. “They’re on the way.”
Carson took her hand while Ty hovered over them. “I’m okay. We’re all okay. That’s what matters.”
Cresley dropped her head to Carson’s chest and sobbed.
When the EMTs arrived, Cresley quickly updated them on the stab wounds and how he’d been released from the hospital only that morning.
Was this really the same day he’d been released?
“Can we go with him?” she asked as they loaded him onto a gurney.
“Follow in my car,” he said. “We’ll need a way home.”
“Our crime scene officers will want to process the vehicle,” one of the cops said.
“Do it at the hospital. Cresley and Ty’s DNA is already in there.”
“I guess that’s okay, then.”
“Tell them to come to the hospital to do what they need to do before we head home,” Carson said to the officer.
“I’ll pass that on.”
“We’ll be right behind you.” She and Ty ran for the SUV.
“Buckle up, buddy.” She drove out of the parking lot right behind the ambulance.
Every inch of her body quivered violently from the shock of the last half hour.
Seeing Marlon walk away with Ty had nearly sent her over the edge, but the gunshot had stopped her heart.
That sound would echo through her mind for an eternity.
Thank God Carson was still there, although would this be the incident that made him say enough of the drama that seemed to surround her lately? Who could blame him for running for the hills the second he was able to after all the chaos she’d brought into his life?
Carson’s spare phone rang, jangling her already-frazzled nerves as she juggled driving and reaching for the phone.
“Hello?”
“Cresley! It’s Julian. Where are you guys?”
“San Diego. We’re on the way to the hospital. Carson…”
“What? What happened to him?”
“He saved our lives and helped the police capture Marlon. He was bleeding again, and he fainted, so they’re taking him to be checked out.”
“What hospital?”
“I don’t know yet, but I’ll call you back when I find out.”
“We’re on the way to you. Just tell me where to go.”
“I will. Julian… I was so scared that he was going to kill us all.”
“He’ll get what’s coming to him now. We’ll make sure of that.”
“Carson was amazing. He drove for hours when he could barely sit up and… he shot Marlon to keep him from escaping.”
“My brother, the badass. We’re coming, Cres. Stay strong.”
“I’m trying.”
Somehow, she managed to drive them safely to the hospital and find a parking space in the emergency lot. She texted Julian with the hospital information and then ran with Ty toward the entrance.
“Our friend was just brought in,” she told the nurse at reception. “Carson Remington. He’d want us with him.”
“Give me a minute to check. I’ll be right back.”
“Thank you.”
“Hey, you’re Cresley Dane,” a woman said. “Everyone is looking for you.”
“Here I am.”
“Thank goodness you’re all right.”
Cresley nodded as she held on to Ty and tried not to lose her shit while she waited for the nurse to come back.
Five minutes passed before she returned, waving to Cresley to follow her. “I’m so glad you and your little boy are safe,” the nurse said quietly. “It’s been all over the news that you were missing.”
“Thank you. Our friend Carson saved us.”
“That’s what I heard. He’s raising hell asking for you two.”
For the first time in hours, Cresley smiled because she could hear him demanding that his “family” be let in.
“Here they are,” the nurse said. “Calm yourself before you pop your staples, young man.”
Carson visibly settled at the sight of them.
Cresley took the left side of the bed while Ty went to the right.
He held out his hands to them. “There you are.”
“Here we are,” Ty said.
“Are you okay?” Carson asked, his gaze darting between them.
“We are if you are,” Cresley said.
He looked at Ty as he said, “I’m sorry I had to shoot him. I didn’t want to do that.”
“Better him than us,” Ty said.
“Buddy, you shouldn’t have had to… He said a lot of things…”
“I’m all right, Carson. I promise.”
“You were very brave,” Carson told him.
“So were you. I knew you’d get us out of it somehow.”
“You did?”
Ty nodded. “I could tell you were thinking the whole time.”
“I was. I wished I was strong enough to push him out of the car, but I couldn’t risk messing that up. And I didn’t want to kill your dad right in front of you.”
“He’s not my dad. He was never my dad.”
“That’s right,” Cresley said, reaching across the bed for Ty’s free hand.
“What will happen to him now?” Ty asked.
“He’ll be charged for all of it—the stalking, the car incident, the stabbing, the armed kidnapping,” Carson said.
“And they won’t let him out?” Ty asked.
“Doubtful, as he’s proven to be a flight risk.”
“What does that mean?”
“He was on the way to Mexico when they caught him, which means he intended to run from the law. They’ll probably deny him bail because of that and hold him in jail until his trial.”
“Oh, well, that’s good, then.”
“It’s very good. That’s where he belongs after what he’s done.”
“I’m sorry that he hurt you again.”
“I’m fine,” Carson said. “Don’t worry about me. All I care about is that you and your mommy are safe.”
“We care that you’re safe, too.”
“Thanks, buddy.”
The doctor came in a few minutes later, apologizing for keeping them waiting. He checked Carson’s healing incisions and cleaned up the seeping blood. “Good news that your staples are holding. How’s the pain?”
“Not great, but I can handle it.”
“We can give you something for that.”
“I can’t take narcotics.”
“Tylenol? Ibuprofen?”
“Yeah, sure. Tylenol would be good.”
“I’d like to keep an eye on you for a couple of hours just to be safe. Would that be all right?”
“That’s fine,” Cresley said. “We’ll stay as long as it takes to make sure Carson is good to go.”
“And you and your son are uninjured?”
“We’re fine,” Ty said for both of them.
“Other than our nerves being a bit rattled,” Cresley added.
“All right, then. I’ll ask the nurse to bring you some Tylenol, and how about something to eat, too?”
“I’m starving,” Ty said.
“That would be great,” Carson said. “Thank you.”
“Sure thing. We’re glad you’re all safe.”
“Come up here with me, you two,” Carson said.
Cresley straightened Carson’s hair and smoothed it back from his forehead. “We don’t want to hurt you.”
“It’ll hurt me more if you don’t.”
They moved carefully to join him on the bed.
He put an arm around each of them. “Everything is okay now. Take a deep breath and try to relax.”
“Not sure I’ll ever relax again,” Cresley said.
“Yes, you will. You don’t have to worry about him anymore. He’s out of your lives for good.”
“I’ll never get over him hurting you—twice.”
“I’m fine. You’re fine. Ty’s fine.”
“I’m great,” Ty said.
“Ty’s great,” Carson said, smiling.
When the nurse brought the Tylenol, he worked around them to take the pills and chase them with a cup of water.
“A police officer is here to speak to you,” the nurse said. “Do you feel up to that?”
“Yeah, sure. That’s fine.”