Chapter 26
Chapter Twenty-Six
Krew
I didn’t hear a word Decker said before he took off around the front of the house.
I couldn’t—not when my ears were still ringing from Regina’s confession, the terrible truth she’d been holding onto all this time. The day we got arrested… Teke had raped her. Now the truth was rotting in my chest, heavy and foul.
All this time, I had thought she was safe, away from the cops, away from the danger my brother had put us in.
This cold, dead weight where my heart used to be was rage that burned bright.
I let out another roar of fury and dropped to the ground.
All I saw was red and I began pummeling the dirt.
The small bits of stone in the dirt cut into my knuckles, adding to the bloody mess.
I wished the entire time I was punching Teke’s face.
“Hey-hey.” Decker was on his knees beside me, and he caught me mid-punch. He took my face into both hands. “Stop.”
“Regi?” I was hoping Decker stopped her from leaving.
“She’s gone. And she took my damn truck.”
“It’s all my fault.” I wrenched my face away from his touch. I didn’t deserve his affection or his solace. “If we hadn’t gotten into that car—Teke—if I had only said no…” I barely got out the words before I pushed Decker out of my way and I started punching the ground again.
“Stop, damn it.” Decker got in my face, his hands gripped my neck and he pressed his forehead against mine. “Take a breath,” he demanded.
I sucked in a breath, but I wanted to rail at the injustice of what happened to Regina—to Decker—to me.
He pulled back and peered into my eyes, his glare steely and exuding strength—everything I wasn’t in this moment. “Hear me. It’s not your fault, K. It’s Teke’s for stealing that car—it’s Teke who hurt our girl—not you,” he lectured, but his words weren’t penetrating the shield I put up.
As I stared into his beautiful blue eyes, my vision blurred, as if I were viewing them through a layer of guilt. “If I had known Teke was going to follow Regi, I would have gone after her. Protected her.”
“Me, too,” he growled. “But we didn’t know.
We were kids, Krew. I never thought Teke had it in him to…
” His frown deepened; I swore his face would crack.
Then his scowl disappeared and resignation stiffened his jaw.
“Teke’s fucking dead. I don’t care if he’s your brother, K. Do you understand that?” he barked.
“Damn. Family drama.” A man’s voice cut into the tension.
Decker and I swiveled our heads to the man who was standing several feet from us. “Who are you?” I glowered at the stranger, my eyes riveted on the gun in his hand.
He shrugged, tucking the weapon behind him. “I’m Bonner Kelly. You can call me Boom. I wasn’t one of the guys who tried to kill you or who shot up the house. I came to help.” He smirked, like what he said was a joke.
My watery eyes widened and I turned to Decker for answers.
“Merrick called in reinforcements. And he didn’t shoot at us—or so he says. Well, you and Regina, or the house.” Decker grimaced as he looked down at his thigh.
“We need to look at your wound,” I said, finally getting up from the ground. “Then we have to go after her.”
“We will.” Decker stood and glanced at my shoulder.
“I have honor, you know,” Bonner boasted, but I had no idea what the hell the guy was spouting about. “Most of the time of time anyway.” He looked back at the house. “Shit, Merrick’s going to lose it. You’ll tell him it wasn’t me. Right?”
Decker turned back to me, ignoring Bonner—Boom—whoever this guy was. “Let’s clean up.”
“Alright,” I admitted, my attention dropping to my bloody knuckles.
“Do you have a clue where she’s running to?” Decker asked.
“I don’t,” I replied, though the weight of Regina’s words still lay heavy around my neck like a chained noose.
“Jesus Christ,” Bonner murmured as he pinched the bridge of his nose.
“What?” Decker snapped, but his eyes remained on me.
“You can track your girlfriend by her cell phone—I mean if she has one. Or do you have a tracker on your truck?”
“What?” Decker and I said in unison, our attention on the man who now looked perturbed.
Bonner shook his head, before he narrowed his eyes on Decker. “Jesus, I thought I was working with a professional. Like the one you should put on your truck in case someone steals your vehicle.”
“No, I don’t.” Decker clenched his teeth before turning to me. “I’ll call Sabrina.”
“You will call Merrick first…” Bonner’s words trailed off as Decker glared at him. “Fine. You can call Merrick after.”
Decker studied Bonner before he finally grumped out, “I will.” He then turned toward the house.
“Alright. You go do that while I bury the bodies,” I heard Bonner say as I followed Decker to the house. “Oh, by the way, I’m taking the ATV over there. I parked my vehicle way too far and I don’t feel like walking.”
I glanced over my shoulder and watched the strange man—who was a killer like Decker, climb onto the ATV and drive away, disappearing into the adjacent woods, before I put him out of my mind.
We took the stairs slowly up to the destroyed bathroom. I washed up while Decker grabbed the first aid case. I followed him to the bedroom where we’d made love to Regina. As I sat on the edge of the bed, pain was finally leaching all my energy.
Decker cleaned and bandaged my shoulder and his leg, then grabbed his phone. “I’m calling Sabrina,” he said and handed me the first aid kit.
As I bandaged my hands, the words Regina confessed to me were on repeat in my head. She was raped. Teke raped her. Teke—my brother couldn’t get away with this atrocity. He had to pay.
“Yo, Bossman.” Sabrina’s voice pulled me out of my spiraling thoughts. “I take it Boom was there,” she announced over the speaker.
“Yeah, Kelly was here. Listen, I want you to track Regi’s cell phone. Can you?—”
“Give me a sec,” Sabrina said, as tapping sounds echoed off the phone. “So… How’s Boom doing?”
“Who cares—he left.” Decker glared at the phone.
“What about the tracker on the truck?” I mouthed, thinking it was easier than tracking her cell phone. But what did I know.
Decker tapped the mute button, glanced at me and shrugged. “There’s no tracker. I checked my truck yesterday and there wasn’t any. I doubt Jay and that other dead idiot would have tagged it.”
I nodded in understanding and then offered, “I’m sorry about your friend.”
“He wasn’t my friend,” Decker said with indifference, then unmuted the phone.
“You know muting your phone doesn’t do anything. I can still hear what you’re saying,” Sabrina said with a chuckle, her fingers still tapping away.
My eyes widened, but Decker rolled his eyes. “If I wanted you to listen in on our conversation, I wouldn’t have pressed mute. If you do that again?—”
“Got it, bossman. Now, I, have,” a few more taps, “got her. She’s heading along Route 87. Her Waze app is marked for Elida, Ohio.”
“How do you know that?” I blurted out.
“It doesn’t matter,” Decker said. “Sabrina, can you get a rental car out here as fast as you can? Something non-descript.”
“Can’t Boom give us a ride?” I asked, but Decker glowered at me. I guessed that was a no.
“No worries. I got you, boo,” she snarked. The rapid sound of keys being tapped drowned out her chuckling.
“Why is she heading to Elida?” I questioned.
“I don’t know,” he hissed, limping away. “We will soon find out.”
Out of all the places Regina would run to, why back home? She had made it clear that she would never step foot in that town again.
“Krew.” Decker’s voice cracked like a whip—sharp and commanding.
I froze. My fists clenched tight before I even turned. I wasn’t some dog he could order me around. Baring my teeth, I spun to face him. “I know you’re pissed, but don’t take it out on me.”
“I’m sorry,” Decker said with a hint of remorse. “I’m fucking riled up and worried that Regi is going to do something stupid, and we won’t get there in time to safe her ass.”
The glimpse of the tired man in the doorway and I recognized the fear on his face. I strode up to him, leaned my forehead to his, and pulled him into me. “I know we have to get to our girl before she does something reckless. But babe, don’t bark at me again.”
“I’m sorry.” He kissed me, and we held each other for a little while.
Knowing Regina, she was going to confront Teke. And that was the last thing either of us wanted for her. Regina would lose, especially to my monster of a brother.
It took almost an hour before the rental car showed. It was a black 8 Series BMW Alpina Gran Coupe.
I whistled. “That’s not keeping it on the down low.”
“Fucking Christ. Sabrina,” Decker hissed before getting into the driver’s seat. “Get in, K. We’ve wasted enough time.”
I got in, and Decker took off like the proverbial bat out of hell. I just hoped that we got to Elida in time—before Regina set the town and Teke on fire.
And from the last messages I had with Teke, he was on a hair trigger. It wouldn’t take much to make him explode, and Regina would be the casualty.