46. Can I Say Goodbye?
Can I Say Goodbye?
Bree
T oday was amazing.
After the trauma of last night, meeting Arlo’s team at the shop was the best medicine. They were all so fun and welcoming, and they clearly adored Arlo. When Calista told me that every single person working there had served time in prison and Arlo gave them all, including her, a fresh start, I was so proud of him. When they asked what I did for a living, I looked to Arlo a little awkwardly, and he answered on my behalf; Bree’s a police chief , he’d said, holding my gaze with his as though he was so proud of me for achieving what I always wanted to, but it hit me that I didn’t feel proud at that moment. I didn’t feel anything. I had wanted to be a cop for as long as I could remember, but now, I just felt so disconnected from that dream and from the job.
We decided we would stay at his place for another night. Jenna texted that she’d secured Arlo’s house, but we needed to talk as soon I was home. Then, questions started to flood in from my family about what had happened and where we were. I told my mom that I was okay. I was in the city with Arlo, and then I turned off my cell. I didn’t have the headspace for their questions right now, and even if I did, I didn’t have any answers that I could give them. So, I just wouldn’t think about it right now. Arlo and I had some stuff to figure out tonight, and we were going to deal with one thing at a time.
First, the brand-new air mattress that we bought this afternoon needed pumping up.
‘Did we need to get the biggest one they had?’ I ask, breathless from my turn at pumping, and Arlo laughs.
‘You’ve seen me, right?’ He steps forward to push me aside, and I swat at him.
‘No, I’ll pump. You fix us something to eat, and a beer would be good after this workout.’
‘ Fuck .’ I turn to him as he tips his head back and groans. ‘I left the groceries in the office, and Cali has the keys.’
‘Oh.’ I frowned. We’d headed straight back to the shop after picking up some things as he’d bought lunch for the team.
‘I’ll call her.’ He pulls out his cell, and I shake my head.
‘No, she said she has a family thing tonight. Just go pick us up some take-out and six-pack.’
‘I’ll order in.’
‘Arlo, there are at least seven different food places on this block. Just go. I will finish this and make it cozy.’
He looks torn, like he can’t decide what’s the right thing to do, so I head over to him, pressing my hands against the hard muscles of his stomach and coming up onto my tiptoes to press a kiss to his mouth.
‘Go, baby. Your woman needs feeding.’
A low growl of possessiveness rumbles out of him, and he turns for the door.
‘Any requests?’ he says before he leaves, and I shake my head.
‘Surprise me.’
Arlo leaves, and I look at Beans, asleep on the sofa. He had a busy day getting all the attention from the team and customers in the shop.
‘Well, at least one of us has somewhere to sleep,’ I say softly as I raise my foot onto the pump and take a breath, ‘back to it.’
After five or so minutes, the bed is almost pumped when I hear the sound of footsteps on the stairwell and look at the door. I see Arlo’s keys still on the hook next to it and smile. He forgot his keys in his reluctance to leave, so I wait for the knock at the door before heading over with a smile and pulling open the door.
‘You forgo…’
Sucking in a breath, I freeze as my blood runs cold, and my eyes meet the ones smiling down at me.
‘Hey, princess.’
Stumbling backward, I exhale as Nolan steps forward into Arlo’s apartment, and I hear Beans start to growl.
‘Bree,’ Nolan pulls out a gun, and my breath comes hard and fast as I try not to panic. I try desperately to find what my training tells me I need to do right now, but there’s nothing. ‘Call off your dog before I put a bullet in his head.’
‘ No , Nolan, please.’
Beans approaches, fierce growls and raised hackles telling me he’s getting ready to attack, but I can’t risk him getting hurt.
‘Beans,’ I call out loud enough to get through his alert state of mind. ‘Bed.’ He doesn’t stop, and I turn to stand in front of him. He backs down immediately and looks up at me, a worried expression in his beautiful eyes, and I know he’s confused. He senses that this stranger in his home isn’t welcome, but I’m sending him away. ‘Bed, Beans, now.’
Turning, he slinks away and tucks himself into the space between the sofa and armchair, a silent protest against my order to choose the floor over the bed he was sent to, but I don’t care. He’s safe.
‘Good,’ Nolan says brightly, and my stomach churns.
‘Arlo will be back any minute.’
‘No, he won’t. He chose Indian food. I watched where he went. It's a block away and has terrible wait times.’ He rolls his eyes at the inconvenience. ‘Let’s go.’ He nods toward the door, and I take a step back.
‘What?’
He holds up a syringe with a large needle attached.
‘Well, princess, you have a choice. Either I sedate you, then kill your dog, wait for that monster you’ve been associating with to come home, and kill him, too, then take you. Or, you come willingly, and they keep breathing.’
The tears come now. There’s nothing I can do to stop them. Come on, Arlo. Please, come home.
‘Clocks ticking, Bree, option two fades with every passing second.’
I have to go, I think. I can’t let him hurt them.
‘Can I say goodbye?’ I gesture to Beans, and Nolan checks his watch.
‘Thirty seconds.’
Rushing over to Beans, I drop to the floor and press kisses to his head.
‘Stay there, okay. Stay put and wait for your daddy. I love you. Stay there, Beans.’
Then, without a second thought, I walk toward the man who has made my life hell for months and follow him out of Arlo’s building. Looking around in the parking lot, I silently pray to see the man I love barreling toward me just in time, but he isn’t there, and before I know it, Nolan is holding open the back door of a blacked-out SUV for me to climb in.
‘Don’t worry, princess,’ he says as he leans across my body to buckle me in. ‘I’m going to take good care of you.’ He smiles, then, without warning, slams the needle into my thigh, and before I can protest, everything goes black.