Chapter Twenty-Eight
Gasping, I try to catch my breath. My heart races so fast I swear it’s trying to make its way out of my chest. I can feel my body shaking, and I blink, trying to get my vision to clear.
Oh god, am I dying? Is this how it ends?
I don’t even know how I got here. One minute, I am watching Mac and Evan fight, then the next, I am hyperventilating against the wall, my vision going blurry.
“Jane,” Mac growls.
His face comes into view above mine, and he looks down at me with concern.
“You with me, a mhuirnín?”
“Yeah,” I rasp.
“There you are,” he murmurs as he brushes my hair away from my face. “You can’t leave me. I need you too much.”
“I-is it over?” I stutter.
He looks down at me softly. “It’s over.”
“The cops and Smoke are two minutes out. If you need to do anything, now’s your chance,” Tank says.
I look over and see Evan sprawled out on the floor, knocked out. If I didn’t know better, I would think he was sleeping. Then again, maybe he is.
“Do you want to take your shot and hit him back?” Mac asks, pulling my attention back to him.
I shake my head. “No, the idea of kicking a sleeping person doesn’t appeal to me. I couldn’t even stand stabbing him. I just want him gone and out of our lives.”
The sound of approaching sirens in the distance makes me smile. This is almost all over. Soon they will make their way inside, they will see the evidence we have against Evan, and they will take him away for good—or I hope they will.
“Sit,” Mac says as he ushers me further away from a passed-out Evan and into a dining room chair.
“They’re here,” I murmur when I hear the knock on the door.
“I got it,” Tank says.
I watch as Smoke and two cops walk in.
As soon as Smoke sees me, his shoulders relax. “You good, Jane?”
“Yeah, I’m good,” I tell him before looking at the cop.
“I’m Detective Winman. I was told you might have something I would be interested in,” the detective says, his eyes bouncing between Mac and me.
“This is my girl, Jane. That’s her abusive ex on the floor. He broke in,” Mac tells him.
Winman’s eyes drift to Evan. “Do we need to get medical attention?”
Tank shakes his head. “No, he’s coming around.”
Winman nods and turns back to me. “Do you mind if I sit?”
“Go ahead,” I tell him as Smoke heads into the kitchen.
Winman pulls out his phone. “Do you mind if I record this conversation?”
“Please,” I say as I rub my arms.
Smoke comes back with two glasses of water and sets them in front of Winman and me.
“Thank you,” I tell him softly.
“You’re welcome.”
“Now, Jane, I need you to tell me everything,” Winman says as his buddy, with the help of Tank, drags Evan out of my home.
So I do. I tell him all about my relationship with Evan from the very beginning and up until the moment I left. Then I jump into the events that happened today. By the time I’m done speaking, my voice is hoarse, and I’m thankful for the water Smoke brought me.
Winman shakes his head. “Do you have any evidence of the abuse? Was there anyone back home who knew?” He raises his hand to cut off any backlash before it starts. “I’m not saying I don’t believe her, because I do. I’m only asking because it would help strengthen the case.”
“There was a lady, Denise. She’s the one who told me what to say to a trucker when you need help,” I tell him. “She took pictures a few times when I went to her for medical help. Evan never let me go to the hospital, but she works at the free clinic.”
“Out of curiosity, what was the saying?” he asks.
I shake my head. “I’m sorry, I won’t tell you. I won’t jeopardize other people’s safety.”
“Understood,” Winman says.
Mac clears his throat. “We got the events that happened today on recording. All of it.”
Winman’s eyes narrow. “Was this premeditated?”
“Not at all. Jane wanted to come home, but I had some things to do. I didn’t want her to feel like she was alone, so I left Tank with her and gave her the recording device, should anything happen.
Evan approached her at the police station, your police station, and harmed her.
She wanted some way to record what he had done,” Mac lies.
Winman frowns. “Well, all right then. Let me hear it.”
Mac looks at me. “Do you want to listen to this?”
“No,” I tell him.
“I’ll take her outside.” Tank offers.
The detective nods to me.
No one says anything as I get up. Tank and I head to the front porch. We wait in silence. His steady presence reminds me that I’m safe. For the first time in years, truly safe.
A few minutes later, Winman, Smoke, and Mac walk outside.
“I’ll talk to you soon,” Winman says before walking off.
Mac walks over to me and wraps his arms around me, pulling me into his chest.
“It’s over,” he murmurs.
“Promise?”
“I promise. Now come on. Let’s go get you cleaned up.”
He takes me by the hand and pulls me toward his place. I look over my shoulder and wave at his brothers as they get onto their bikes.
Mac leads me into his bedroom and then into his bathroom. I watch as he turns on the shower before turning toward me. With gentle hands, he removes my clothes and puts my hair up in a bun. I wait for him to get naked before we get into the shower.
Nothing about it is sexual. He just helps me wash the past off my skin.
When we get out, he dries me off before dressing me in one of his shirts and a pair of sweats that are too big and hang off my hips.
“Do you want to take a nap?” he asks as he slips on his shirt.
“No, I think I’m too anxious to sleep. Are the kids still safe?”
Mac nods and takes my hand. Wordlessly, he pulls me into the living room. He heads right to the couch and sits down, dragging me to his side.
“Cuddles?” I ask softly.
“They’re the best medicine,” he says, making me smile.
With the remote in hand, he turns on the TV. Before he can find something to watch, though, a breaking news bulletin comes across the screen. My throat goes dry as I listen to the news anchor report on Evan’s arrest as the camera shows him being marched into a police station.
Then an all too familiar video starts to play.
“Turn it off,” I plead.
Mac turns the channel without any hesitation. “You okay?”
“Yeah, I just really don’t want to ever hear the audio. Just the thought of hearing his voice.” I shiver.
Mac runs his hand up and down my arm. “You will never have to hear his voice again. I promise you, Jane, that man is no longer a threat to you or the kids, and if he gets any ideas, you’ll have his head on a spike. Understand?”
That’s not completely true. There will be a trial, and I will have to testify. The whole case likely rests on my shoulders, but I don’t spoil his gesture. Instead, I simply answer him.
“I understand.”
Mac leans down and kisses the top of my head. “Good. Now, do you want an action movie or a chick flick?”
I walk through the jail heading straight toward my target. The cheap uniform itches against my skin, making me want to get this over with as soon as possible.
No, I’m going to take my time.
It’s been four days. Four long ass days of him being locked up behind bars. Four days of reliving the nightmare of hearing him hurt my woman and not being able to do anything because I had to make sure we got enough of it on the recording. Four days since the recording of his abuse went viral.
There is no way a jury could be unbiased now. No way for his daddy to buy my girl’s silence and to bury the story. As tempting as it would be to let this play out, I won’t let it. My family doesn’t need to relive this over and over.
They deserve peace, which they will have soon.
I nod at one of the guards and slip the keys out of my pocket. I let myself into the holding area and make my way to the cell. The area is cleared, just like I had asked for it to be, and I know that the cameras are off thanks to Fox’s help.
The jingling of keys has Evan sitting up.
“About time. Did you bring me what I asked for?” he snaps.
“What did you ask for?” I ask, curious.
“A phone, you moron. I need to get out of here,” he growls.
I take off the ball cap that’s part of the uniform and toss it onto the floor.
“Yeah, that’s not going to happen,” I tell him as I let myself into his cell.
Evan’s eyes widen.
“You.”
“Me.”
“You stole my wife.”
I chuckle darkly. “Evan, you and I both know she’s not yours. She’s mine, and those kids are mine. They even have my last name. Did you know that?” I ask as I pull out a blade from my pocket.
Evan’s eyes drop to my hand before coming back up to my face.
“You won’t get away with this. This place is crawling with guards and cameras.”
“Typically, you would be right, but what you fail to realize is that we own the jail, and you are mine to do with as I please. Did you not wonder why you are here and not in the general population?”
Rage takes over his face, and like a dumbass, he lunges for me. I step to the side, tripping him, and he bangs his forehead into the bars of the cell.
I tsk my tongue. “Clumsy one, aren’t you?”
No. He thought he was getting special treatment because of who he is and who his daddy is. Not in my town.
He scrambles to his feet, but before he can get up any further than his knees, I kick him square in the face, making him fall back again.
Cupping his face, he groans, but otherwise he doesn’t move. I grab the sheet from his bed and, with the help of the knife, I tear it in half. Quickly, I stow the knife and tie Evan’s hands up to the crossbar.
When he starts to come back to it, he tries to scramble, only to realize he can’t go anywhere.
“What the fuck! Seriously? You’re going to tie me up? Afraid to fight me like a man?” he taunts, making me laugh.
“Evan, the only man in this room is me. Haven’t you figured that out already?”
“Help! Someone help me!” he screams.
I sigh, shaking my head. “Evan, you should know better than to scream.”
Reaching for my belt, I grab the stun gun I borrowed. I stun him right in the chest, making him tense. As he pisses himself, I trade the stun gun for the knife and step forward, kneeling between his spread legs. Wrenching his mouth open, I grab onto his tongue.
“Any last words?” I ask.
Evan mumbles, but it’s incoherent with his tongue hanging out. With no hesitation, I slice his tongue clean off. Evan cries, eyes wide.
“Did that hurt, or are you being a little bitch? My guess is a little bitch.”
He mumbles, making me shake my head.
“Haven’t you learned you should stay silent? Here, how about a gag?”
I force his jaw open and shove his tongue back into his mouth, making him choke on it.
“No spitting, Evan. Take it like a man,” I taunt as tears track down his face.
I stand and look down at him. Some fucked up part of me wants him to feel the level of fear that Jane felt every time he loomed over her and she knew that he was about to hurt her.
“You know, Evan, I thought about taking it easy on you. Making your death a quick one, but then I saw your face.” I shake my head.
“I thought about all the times you hurt my girl, and I remembered, you don’t deserve an easy death.
No, I want you begging for the reaper to take you by the time I’m done with you.
I want you to know the kind of pain that will follow you into the afterlife.
Then it hit me. I should inflict the kind of injuries on you that you did to my girl. ”
Evan’s face grows pale as I crouch and begin cutting his clothes off him. When I’m done, I pocket the knife and stand again.
“Ready?”
Evan shakes his head, but I don’t stop. Evan jerks his head to the side, right as my foot comes level for his face, and I kick him in the clavicle.
I can feel the bone give way under my boot.
Reaching down, I grab his leg and stretch him as far as I can.
I wedge his foot between the bars on his bed, elevating his leg.
I’ll give him credit. He tries to fight it, but there’s nowhere for him to go. Raising my foot, I bring it down, right on his leg, snapping it. Even with his tongue shoved in his mouth, he cries out.
“Such a little bitch, Evan. What? You can’t handle a little pain?” I sneer.
Evan passes out from the pain, making me sigh.
Son of a bitch.
It’s not fun when they aren’t present for their torture.
Even I know that when it’s not my thing.
While I wait for him to come back to, I remove his foot from the bars and prepare him for what’s next.
Cringing, I crouch next to him as I stare at his flaccid cock.
The last thing I want to do is touch it, but I will.
When he comes to, his dazed eyes widen when he sees me running the blade over his hardening cock.
“Anything gets you hard, huh?” I say conversationally. “That works for me.”
Quickly, I cut his dick. Once, twice, and finally on the third does it come off. I hold it up like it’s a fish and smile at Evan.
“Well, would you look at that!”
His eyes start to roll back in his head, so I slap him across his face with his dick.
“Hey, none of that. I want you awake,” I say as his blood pools around us.
He barely stirs, letting me know he’s fading fast. Well, shit.
What next?
I look down and see his dick and smile as an idea forms.
Quickly, I roll him over.
“This would be easier if you could present,” I mutter as I spread his cheeks. “Or if I had help.”
It takes longer than I would like, but I shove his cut off dick into his ass.
“Look, you’re stuffed like a turkey!” I say as I roll him over.
Reaching forward, I check his pulse and find that it’s weak and thready.
Well, damn. I grab my knife and stab him between the ribs, trying to help him out.
It won’t be long now.
Standing, I put the knife away. As I wait for him to take his last breath, I remove the bloody gloves from my hands. I grab a Ziplock bag from my cargo pocket and shove them inside to get rid of later. It takes five minutes for him to finally die, and as soon as he takes his last breath, I move.
I grab my ball cap and put it back on my head before I exit. No one pays me any attention as I walk through the jail. As I get on my bike, I pull out my phone and send my girl a text.
Me: I’ll be home soon, and heads up, I have a surprise.
Surprise. I chuckle. That’s one way to look at it. Hopefully, she likes my gift.