Chapter Forty
Reece
I am so fucked. I don’t know how many days it’s been since I left the trailer after Juni’s punishment.
But today I’ve called every hospital within a fifty-mile radius, and not a single one has a patient named Juniper Monroe.
To cover my ass, I even asked for a Juniper Davis…
still coming up short. My next step is to call the morgues.
I can’t call the cops; that would just get me arrested.
I’ve been hiding in this gutted grocery store since I left the trailer.
I ditched my truck and walked the rest of the way.
Squatting has become difficult. The weather is warming, making this place almost unbearable.
It’s dark and hot, with no electricity or running water.
Stepping out back, I pull a cigarette out of my pack and light it, leaning my back against the cool brick.
I take a deep exhale, the menthol burning its way to my lungs.
Suddenly, I hear sirens coming this way from a distance.
Panicking, I throw the half-lit cigarette on the ground and stomp it out with my heel.
The air suddenly smells like burning metal.
My panic slows as I realize that's the direction the sirens are headed.
I need to stop being so fucking jumpy, Juni is somewhere… and that stupid tattooed fuck thinks he scares me, he’s wrong. The tough-looking ones always end up being a bunch of little bitches. All I would have to do is hold my wife at gunpoint, and he would fold like the pussy he is.
Scoffing, I walk back inside. I jump as my cell rings, confusion crosses my face when I see Ricky’s name flash across the screen,
“Reece, where the fuck are you? Has anyone told you yet?”
“Told me what, Ricky? What are you talking about?”
“Your trailer is on fucking fire, the whole fucking thing is gone.”
I hang up and turn the phone off. Someone had to have set it on fire, but who? It’s not like I can just show up as if nothing happened; I’m on the run, for god's sake.
Fucking perfect. Now I'm on the run and homeless. I fucking blame Juni for all of this shit. After all, she is the reason I relapsed. I was doing well until her dumb ass broke her wrist and got those painkillers. They started tempting me, and now here we are, rock fucking bottom.
I don’t know how long I should camp out here. Someone is bound to find me. Until then, I need to make the best of it. I need a shower in the worst way; my dirty blond hair is sticking to my forehead from the constant sweating, and I just feel fucking disgusting.
On top of that, I’m starving. I have no food here, and even if I did, I don’t have a way to cook it. I decide to order fast food and had it delivered. Half the time, it’s a stupid young kid; they won’t question why they are delivering to an abandoned grocery store… always distracted by phones.
Once the order is placed, I remember a few weeks ago we brought in cases of water to have while we work.
I just don’t remember where we put them.
After a few minutes of searching, I found them.
Grabbing a few of them, I head into the bathroom.
I don’t have shampoo or body wash, but there is hand soap.
It’ll at least get the sweat and dirt off me; beggars can’t be choosers.
It took all five bottles of water, but I’m at least somewhat clean. My phone vibrates with a notification saying my food is arriving. I start making my way to the front of the store. As I reach the front, I see the delivery person retreating to their car, which worked out perfectly.
I finish the burger by the time I get back to the storage area. Being overwhelmed with thirst, I all but finished my drink. As I finish the last of the fries, the little hairs on the back of my neck stand up.
I feel like someone is watching me, but that can’t be because no one knows I’m here. And if someone were here, it would be Ricky, and he wouldn’t be hiding from me.
I think it’s just the paranoia. I don’t know if Juni is dead or alive, and if she’s alive… where the fuck is she? I need to finish what I started if she is. Because now she’s cost me every fucking thing.
I start pacing back and forth. Grabbing my hair, I pull as hard as I can. I’m trying to ground myself. But my mind keeps racing. I haven’t seen that tattooed fuck since that night I left the trailer. For all I know, he could have started fucking my wife.
That’s a big fucking mistake. I don’t know why he wants some washed-up whore anyway. She’s fucking boring, but she’s my boring. I don’t want another man to fucking touch her. I’ll cut his hands off before I just sit there and let that happen. I’m the only one allowed to cheat.
I’m pacing even faster now. I don’t know if it’s my subconscious fucking with me, but I swear I hear a faint noise on the other side of the shelving. I don’t know exactly what I hear, but it’s something. My pulse starts racing again.
My pacing stops abruptly, as pain explodes at the back of my head. My vision turns white, before the black takes over, I hear a threatening whisper as I’m getting taken to the ground.
“Ты моя, мать твою.” ‘You’re mine, Mother fucker.’
Reece
The weight of the darkness pressing down on my skull is excruciating. I don’t know how long the darkness lingers; eventually, the heaviness gives way to pain. A groan escapes my chapped, bloody lips. “What the fuck… happened?”
It takes a few tries for my eyes to crack open, causing the pain to intensify as soon as I’m met with bright lights that weren’t here before I went unconscious.
There is intense pain in both of my shoulder blades from being pulled tightly behind my back.
As panic starts to fill me, I try to move my feet, but I can’t; they are stuck together just like my arms.
I start looking left to right and stop when I’m met with the man who has been following me.
He’s sitting in a camp chair about ten feet away.
Judging by his posture, he’s been sitting there for some time.
He’s sitting still, leaning forward enough that he can rest his elbows on his knees with his fingers clasped together. His eyes never leave mine.
The look on his face is sending a prickling sensation down my spine. He’s too calm. I would prefer a furious look over this one made of pure ice.
His eyes are almost black. Just silently examining me, as if he’s debating what body part he wants to take first. Jaw locked tight, peppered with stubble. Still silent.
“What is your fucking problem, dude? And how did you know I was even here?” I say, glaring at him as he sits there. Not even attempting to respond. Ah, okay, the silent treatment returns, I guess.
“You know why I am here, Reece,” he says calmly.
“I don’t really, though… You have followed me, threatened me…. Broken my property…” I scoff in anger.
“I told you to stop…. And you know how I know you didn’t? I’ll just tell you since you're not leaving here anytime soon… I have your wife under my protection, and that's where she will stay moving forward.” A deadly smirk snakes across his face.
My eyes all but bulge out of their sockets. “Juni? You have her? And what do you mean by your protection?”
“Means, you’re not leaving here alive, you dumb fuck.”
Gavin
The color draining from his face is priceless.
A deep chuckle escapes me as I watch him start to panic.
So I do what any rational person would do: I stand to my full height.
I start walking until I’m only a foot away and crouch down to his level, resting my elbows on my knees with my hands folded. Smirking.
Somehow, he gathers the strength to upper-cut my jaw with his booted feet.
The metallic taste of blood fills my mouth from my busted lip.
A cheshire grin forms across my face, as my tongue sneaks out and licks away the blood dripping from my lip.
“You really are fucking dumb, Reece,” I say, gripping his hair on top of his head, and I send my fist into his face.
His nasal bones shatter from the impact.
“What, cat got your tongue? Or are you just scared?” I ask, wiping my lip again.
“Fuck you, you bastard! I don’t even know your name?”
“You don’t need to know my name, Reece. You're not going to live long enough for it to matter anyway, as soon as she gives me the go-ahead, you’ll be dead.”
“You think she’s worth this? I pity you, you must have never had any good pussy.”
“I pity you, since I was her wet dream to get through whatever you consider a good fuck.. With that little needle dick of yours.”
“What do you mean? You guys knew each other before?”
Sighing, “I’m the last guy she dated… I’m sure she’s talked about us to you.”
“Ohh, so you're the fuck that broke up with her after you got your little brother killed, right?”
“You’re lucky I don’t kill you now, but just for you, the wait will be worth it.
Maybe while you lie there bleeding out, I can demonstrate to you how well I can get your wife off.
Maybe make things interesting and fuck her doggy style just out of reach so you feel even more powerless as you die, that would be pretty fun, yeah? That sounds pretty fun to me.”
That must have gotten him going since he's violently shaking the chair back and forth, like that’s going to help break the zip ties keeping him from moving. “Fuck you, you fucking Russian prick.”
“Did I hit a nerve, bitch boy?” Sighing like I am bored with this conversation, I stand up. “Well, if you don’t mind, I need to get back to my soon-to-be wife. We will be back, though, don’t worry, you’ll be able to say your goodbyes.”
“Why don’t you untie me, then we can actually fight like men?”
“Fight like men? You don’t know the first thing about being a man; you’re a little bitch.
Only little bitches choose targets that can’t fight back.
Does it make you feel powerful? Feed your pathetic ego?
My god, you're such a piece of shit, it’s sad really, but you know what would be cool…
You're taking every single beating you gave her; that would be pretty sick. Since you like to beat targets three times smaller than you.”
“FUCK YOU,” He yells as he spits on my boot.
“Really? Are we spitting? What are you fucking five?”
“You have my arms and legs literally tied together, all while you stand there calling me a bitch.”
“What would you rather I refer to you as? Hm? From where I’m standing, that's what you look like to me.”
“You talk so big for someone who has to keep the other person detained. It’s like you're actually scared of me. Afraid that I might get my hand on Juniper and finish what I started?”
He doesn’t expect it as I smash my fist into his face, not once, but three times. Then I slam my boot into his chest, sending the chair crashing onto the ground.
“She will only be in the same room with you temporarily…. Letting her get her revenge out, and then when she gives me the go-ahead… again you’ll be dying here.” He doesn’t respond, so it's safe to say that his falling back in the chair took the air out of his lungs, good. Pussy.