Chapter 28
CHAPTER
TWENTY-EIGHT
The keys dangle from the ignition and my pickup door stands wide open in front of the Bluebell High gym. I focus on the location of the office, tucked into the back corner of the gym, a two-way glass window with flyers and banners taped all over it.
My jog becomes a full on run when a loud thud from inside the office rattles the window’s exterior.
There’s no lock on the door, not in this portion of the school. When it was built years ago, the idea of needing to barricade inside of a locked classroom to avoid a gunman was unfathomable. Only recently did the town vote to retrofit the high school classroom doors with locks and deadbolts. They haven’t finished yet, and as much as I want that safety precaution in place for my child at this school, right now I’m damn glad it ain’t locked.
I’d kick it in, but it would take time. Time I don’t wanna gamble.
As I get nearer, a blonde woman wearing a Bruisers polo and white cargo pants steps out from behind the bleachers, a phone pressed to her ear.
“I’m.. I don’t know what’s going on but… I called Ms. Mitchell and told her to come.” She licks her lips nervously. “I didn’t want to leave her but… I can’t get inside. Jolene called the police department, and took the girls behind the fieldhouse.”
Pride warms me for a moment, that Jo Jo, in all her defiance and attitude, listened to me. She got her team to safety, and called the police. “Does he have a weapon?”
She looks at the office window, then back to me. “I hope not, but I just... I can’t tell you. I didn’t see him go in, only saw him pop his head out and heard yelling.”
“Alright. Well you go on, and let me handle this. Thank you for standing by.”
The woman looks at the office window again, then makes for the door, beelining until she’s out front. I turn toward the office and take a deep breath.
At the door, I cup my hand up to my ear, listening. I don’t know if the window is covered, and if they know I’m here or not. I don’t know anything other than Riley is in danger, and I cannot under any circumstance let anything happen to her.
One swift push of my shoulder and hip into the door, and it pops open, bumping the wall behind it, sending a few framed photos clashing to the floor. In the back of the office, pressed against the wall by his arm at her throat, stands Riley, tears streaking her cheeks.
Michael turns, seeing me, and stands in front of Riley, his back to her face. He’s shielding her from me, but he’s the one that she needs to be shielded from. She brings her hands to her throat, feeling over the place where his arm pinched her airway as she coughs and cries.
“Ry, are you okay?” I ask while my eyes never leave his.
She nods, but I need to hear her voice.
“I need to hear your voice, Riley. I need to hear that he didn’t hurt you. But if he did, tell me now, tell me right this second what he did to you so I can tear him apart, limb from limb, right here, right now.” My pulse throbs in my neck and in my ears, and my stomach twists with nervous anticipation. I want to look at her, but I can’t take my eyes off Michael. Not now.
“I’m okay,” she whispers.
He laughs, sardonic and humorless. “Oh, isn't this perfect? You leave me for this guy? Some old cowboy? Jesus, Riley. This is what I’m saying. On your own, you make awful fucking choices. This is why you need to stop putting us all in pain. Stop being selfish and come back.”
Yeah, that’s just more than I wanna hear from this fuckface.
I rear back and deck him straight across the cheek. His eyes go wide, rolling back into his head. Michael stumbles a few times and faceplants on the filthy office floor. I walk around him and pull Riley into my arms, one slipping beneath her to carry her over him. I don’t put her down once we’re on the other side of that office door. I don’t even want to let go of her now .
“You’re okay,” I tell her as she clings to my shirt, burying her face, her breathing frantic. “C’mon now, take a deep breath in and exhale real slow,” I tell her, pressing my lips to her temple, then cheek, and along her jaw. I push her hair off of her face, exposing her tearful red eyes. With a trembling bottom lip, she finally speaks.
“He was mad about me seeing you,” she whispers, “he was just… mad.”
“He’s a fucking idiot,” I tell her, “and no longer anyone you need to worry about.”
Just then, the gym doors open, and the reflection of the setting sun against the glass casts a glare into our eyes. A moment later, through the sunlight, a police officer appears, one hand on his holster, the other on his radio. He eyes us closely.
“10-52 dispatch,” he says into the radio, releasing the button with a click. My eyes veer to his nametag. D. FOSTER. He nods toward the office. “The woman out front said he’s in the office.”
I nod and hold up my reddening, swollen fist. “He’s out. But yeah, he’s in there.”
Foster nods, his gaze sliding to Riley. “Are you okay, ma’am?”
Riley wiggles out of my grip, sliding down to her feet, smoothing her hands over her clothes. She wipes a few tears away and lifts her chin. “Yes, I’m okay. His name is Michael Rhodes. He is my ex-boyfriend. He is kind of stalking me at this point. He held his arm to my throat and touched me over my clothing, and I want to press all the charges there are to press, and I want a restraining order.”
Foster nods. “I got ya. Well, I have an ambulance coming and you look fine to me but to play it safe, you should probably get yourself checked out.” He pulls his cuffs from the back of his belt and readies them. “My partner is outside. He’ll take your statement, sir.” He treads toward the office but stops, looking back at me to say, “Your daughter did great calling in. Gave names, first and last, exact location, she did real good.”
I waffle my hand through Riley’s, and use my other hand to push silky strands of hair off her face. “I was so fucking scared something was gonna happen to you… I was scared I’d lose every last hope of a family that includes you.”
She licks her lips. “Yeah? You wanna fix it?”
I roll my eyes playfully. “Of course I wanna fix it. I’m an idiot who thought I couldn’t have a kid and have love.” The word slips, but I don’t try to reel it back. Instead, I let it float between us, because I know that’s where I’m headed. “Right now, I’m taking you back to our house because this asshole knows where you live, and I’m not letting you go back there, not until we know he’s locked up and not out on bond.”
She doesn’t argue and in fact, seems relieved to have someone make that choice for her. “Thank you, sir,” she whispers, the vulnerability in her tone causing me to cradle her tear-stained face in my hands and bring our mouths together. She tastes like her panicked tears from moments ago, but sweet, too, the way she did at my house just a few weeks back. “I’ve missed you,” I admit.
“I’ve missed you, too. And I’m not trying to kill the moment but… I’ve really missed Jo Jo, also.”
I love how she loves my girl. “I believe she’s missed you, too.”
At that moment, Jo Jo, leading the pack of other cheerleaders, appears in the gym doors.
“Miss Riley!”
“She’s okay!”
“Oh my God, Miss Riley’s okay! ”
Bombarded with hugs and well wishes, Jo Jo comes to stand in front of me. “You did good getting those girls out of here and calling the police. I’m proud of you.”
“Thanks,” she says, tangling her hands in the hem of her t-shirt nervously.
“That man knows where she lives because it’s her ex-boyfriend. I don’t want anything happening to Miss Rivers so I invited her to stay with us. She can stay in the guest room.”
I watch Jo Jo’s face to see hurt or irritation, even just a flash, but it doesn't come. Instead, she seems relieved, her shoulders relaxing as she quietly hides a sigh. “Good. That’s good.”
“You think the three of us could have a talk tonight? It’s okay if you’re not ready to say anything, but either way, I have things to say to both of you.”
Jo Jo and I stand there as the paramedics convince Riley to get a check up in the truck outside, and the girls go with her for moral support. Officer Foster drags a now-conscious Michael from the office in cuffs—Jo Jo and I ignore him as he passes by.
“I’d… like to talk, too.”
I put my arm around her shoulder, savoring the way she lets me keep it there as we leave the gym and head toward the ambulance.