Chapter Thirty
Waverly
How do I make sure he doesn’t hurt Sadie and Neve? Will he keep his focus on me? If I can get to the hidden room, I might have a chance to grab a weapon. Or do the job for him since there’s mostly guns in that room and I don't have a clue what I'm doing.
I raise my hands and take a sidestep away from the door. Hopefully he won’t shoot me if he thinks I’m not going to run. Yet.
“Wh…what are you doing here?”
“What am I doing here?” He says it in falsetto making fun of me. “You know exactly why I’m here. Don’t try to pretend you don’t.”
I have no idea why he’s here or why he’s waving a gun at me.
“Your memory came back and you sent Wrath for my two accomplices.”
Oh! Fuck!
“You…”
“Yeah. Me. It’s not like Edgar and Daryl could come up with the kidnapping plan. They’re idiots. But they don’t mind getting their hands dirty either.”
“Why? Why come up with the plot in the first place?”
He laughs, and I must say his bad guy laugh is on point. It does send chills down a person’s back, I can confirm.
“Because I’ve spent eight years watching snot-nosed brats like Wrath move up the line. Eight years of kissing ass to a man beneath me just because this stupid town likes him. Eight years of getting paid jack shit for putting up with all I put up with.”
“Why not just go to another town, another precinct? Why take someone who is innocent?”
“Innocent! Innocent! You really are as dumb as I first thought you were.” Hurtful. “Money, honey!”
There are just no redeeming qualities about this man.
He’s pulling out all the things that signify douchebagery.
Next, he’ll call me woman the way they all do.
It’s always irked me how some men can say woman and make it sound like it’s something they scraped off a shoe.
Yeah, I’m pretty sure I could pull the trigger if I got to the guns.
“I wanted my share of the profits from his daddy’s little criminal empire.
Six years I’ve been turning the other cheek, smoothing the way for the soft-handed little weasel.
It was time he gave me more than just a payoff.
I wanted out, and I wasn’t walking away with chump change this time while he yachted around Europe and had bitches blowing him any time he wanted it. ”
I can’t help snurling my nose up at him. That's worse than woman.
“Don’t act so righteous. You can't understand what I’ve endured, what I’ve had to go through being the whipping boy for these rich fucks.”
Wallen is seriously messed up. It’s not just greed and anger that have him standing here.
He’s been eaten alive by jealousy -of everyone around him having what he thinks he deserves.
Memphis, the Chief, the kidnapped kid’s dad.
There is no talking sense into him, no trying to reason with him.
There’s nothing inside of him but a boiling pot of hate and envy.
“I was going to get my money and kill the little brat before killing Daryl and Edgar. I might have left you alive…if you hadn’t started remembering.”
“But I didn’t see you. I never would have known you were involved.”
“Maybe, and maybe what happened with the raid Wrath pulled off was going to happen all along. Maybe I couldn’t have got to them before they talked. But I could have been fucking gone. On a plane or a boat where no one could touch me.”
“So…why are you here?”
“Because your boyfriend kept me from getting my money!”
Oh shit! I don’t think it’s healthy to turn that color red. It’s almost a fucking purple color.
“Stop moving, you little bitch! There’s no way you’re getting away from me! I’m not Dumb and Dumber. When I try to kill you, you die!”
The door swings open and I hear Neve before I see her, “What’s taking so long, Waverlyyyy? Oh, God!”
I don’t have time to think things through or make fucking flow charts about what I should or shouldn’t do. I just act.
“Run!!!!” I yell it as loud as I can while picking up the stand mixer and yanking it out of the wall. I’m hurling it at his head before the gun is even halfway up.
Out of the corner of my eye, I see Neve take off running like I told her to and take off myself. I don’t make it very far before Wallen is hitting me with all his bulk and taking us both down to the ground.
He rears back over me and I know he’s going to try to knock me out. There is no fucking way I am going to make it to the hidden room, no way I can defend myself, no way I make it another hour.
But I’m not going to make hitting me easy for him. I’m going to make him work for every blow.
He raises his arm, and I shove my cast in his belly as hard as I can. I succeed in knocking the air out of him, but it doesn’t really slow him down. It just makes him angrier.
I prepare myself for the blow when the door busts open again and the body on top of me jerks and falls to the side. I lay where I am for a good while as I take in the fact I just witnessed a guy being shot, and I think his brain turned to mist. My stomach rolls.
Hands are on me, lifting me up, as my face is covered in kisses. It occurs to me just what happened in that second. Memphis is pulling me on his lap and turning my head so I don’t have to look any more than I already have.
“It’s alright, baby. It’s okay. I’ve got you now.”
“You…you didn’t break your promise.” It’s stupid to say but it’s a big deal to me. I come from a background where the person who is supposed to love and care for you most always breaks promises. And he didn’t.
“I told you I would always keep you safe.”
“And you did.” It comes out between tears and sobs. “You saved my life. Again.”
We share kisses with both of us holding on tight to each other.
“I love you, Waverly. I love you. I think I’ve loved you from the moment I spotted you with my sister walking to the library.”
A gasp falls out of me. After all the shit I’ve seen today and all the shit I’ve been through. This is the most shocking thing that’s happened to me.
I pull back and stare down at him.
“You…you remember that.”
“You were in a green top that made your eyes pop and black pants that hugged your little ass like it should've been my hand. You had on little ankle boots that made you taller. They had a glittery band on them.”
“Oh my fucking God! You do remember.” I don’t even remember what I was freaking wearing that day.
“I shouldn’t have thought about you, watch you. You were my sister’s friend and way too young for me to mess with…”
“I was legal.” I interrupt.
“But I couldn’t help it. And when I found you that night, when you opened your eyes and looked at me, I knew…you were mine and I wasn’t letting you go. Ever.”
“I want to be yours. I want you to be mine. I love you.”
Our lips meet, and for a moment the world stops and there is only Memphis. When he pulls back, the sound of sirens finally pierces the fog I’m in. Back up is coming. Not that we need them very much now.
“Wait…how did you…? How the hell…?”
“I didn’t. The Chief realized something was off with Wallen when he just kept asking where I was.
When he couldn’t find me, he showed up at my mom and dad’s place demanding answers.
My dad doesn’t do well with demands. Between the two of them, they started looking into Wallen’s background and financials.
They thought it was funny that his bank account had some discrepancies.
It didn’t help that he put a tail on your two brothers to find out where they went.
When we went in, Chief went right to the two bozos.
They flipped on him faster than a hungry cat eats their dead owner. "
I find myself laughing at his description. It takes someone really special to make you laugh in a dark moment, and I’m so thankful I have someone who can.
“Let’s get the hell out of here and let everyone know it's not a hostage situation.”
He picks me up and carries me out of the cabin with my face pressed tightly into the crook of his neck so I 'don’t have to see anything else’.
As soon as we make it outside, a cacophony of sound and lights hits us, and my two best friends come running out of all of it.
Tears are running down both of their faces as they check me over with their own eyes to make sure I’m okay.
It hits me hard that I am surrounded by people who love me. People who I can lean on and depend on. People who care. After a time, where we just hug and cry, Memphis sweeps me back in his arms.
“If you’ll excuse me, ladies. I’m taking my girl somewhere safe where she can rest.”
“Go ahead, man. We’ll take care of everything here.” Boston tells his brother, but Fennec is right beside him, nodding.
“Thanks, man. You did good today. You might want to consider joining the force. It’s in your blood after all.”
Boston gives his brother a smirk but doesn’t say no.
I think a lot of things became clearer today, not just for me but for a number of us.
Fennec seems to not be running away either, so maybe he’s found something he wants to stick around for.
Maybe Memphis and I aren’t the only ones who had our eyes opened.