“You’re dead, you’re fucking dead.” Asher rushed at my ex, tackling him to the ground, the two of them a blur of limbs.
“Asher, no!” The words tore from my throat as I watched the guy I love rain fire and fury down on the guy I’d once loved. Jermaine didn’t fight back. He just lay there, letting Asher beat him to a bloody pulp until the blood on his hands swirled with Jermaine’s blood.
“Do something,” I cried, barely aware that Jason was holding me up.
A couple of officers arrived, dragging Asher off Jermaine. He fought against them, thrashing and yelling, tears streaming down his face. It wasn’t until the EMTs arrived and started working on Mrs. Bennet, that he finally calmed down.
“I need to go to him,” I whispered, pain coiled so tightly around my heart I could barely breathe.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea. Let me go talk to him.” Jason handed me off to Felicity who I hadn’t even realized was there.
“Ssh,” she hugged me, “it’s going to be okay.”
But nothing was okay.
Mrs. Bennet was bleeding out on the ground while her son sat motionless, his eyes completely devoid of emotion, his hands and face and clothes caked in blood. His mom’s. Jermaine’s.
His own.
“This is my fault,” I sobbed into my friend’s shoulder, clutching her arm like it was the only thing anchoring me to Earth.
“Don’t say that, you couldn’t have known he would do this.”
But she was wrong.
I should have known Jermaine wouldn’t just let me walk away.
I’d been too blinded by love though. Gotten too comfortable being in Rixon, with Asher and my new friends. I’d foolishly let myself believe things could be different, that I deserved more from life.
The EMTs got Mrs. Bennet secured onto the stretcher, and I tore from Flick’s hold, hurrying over to them. “I’m sorry.” I reached for her. “I’m so, so sorry.”
“I hope you’re happy,” Mr. Bennet said coldly. “None of this would have happened if it wasn’t for you.”
“I didn’t… I wasn’t…” The lame excuses dried on my tongue, a garbled sound escaping my throat, as every whisper and rumor about me came true.
“Mom.” The pain in Asher’s voice made my legs buckle, the sheer force of his agony hitting me like a tsunami. Felicity caught me as father and son walked beside Mrs. Bennet’s lifeless body.
“We need to move out,” one of the EMTs said, motioning for everyone to give them room.
Jason came over to us and I grabbed his hand. “What did he say?”
The small shake of his head told me everything I needed to know, and a fresh wave of tears rushed to the surface.
“Asher,” I yelled, my voice cutting the air like a knife. He slowed down, moving aside to let the medics load his mom inside the ambulance. His eyes found mine, but it wasn’t my Asher staring back at me.
“Oh God,” I choked out, hardly able to breathe through the tears.
“She’ll be okay,” Felicity said, unable to disguise the quiver in her voice. “They’ll save her.”
“I should go with him, he needs me.” I tried to break free, but Jason hooked his arm around my waist, tucking me into his body.
“Let him be,” he whispered. “Right now, he needs to be with his family.”
“Miss Hernandez?” A deep voice said, and I peeked out the comfort of Jason’s big body to find an officer staring at me with sympathy. “I’m going to need you to come with me.”
“Go with you?” Flick stepped in front of me, shielding me. “Go where?”
“We’d like Miss Hernandez to come down to the station and answer a few questions.”
“She can give you her statement here. She’s in no state to go anywhere right now.”
“It’s okay,” I said, untangling myself from my friends.
“Mya, you don’t have to do this. Not right this second.”
My gaze flicked to where the ambulance was backing out of the Bennets’ driveway, a strange numbness seeping through me.
“Miss Hernandez, this way please.” The officer took my arm, leading me toward the cop car.
“Jason,” I heard Flick hiss, “do something.”
“Hang tight, Mya, we’ll figure all this out,” Jason called after me.
But it was too late.
The damage was done.
Mrs. Bennet was leaving the scene in an ambulance and I was leaving in a police cruiser.
And my past… my past had finally caught up with me.
“Thank God you’re okay.” Felicity ignored the officer at the desk and slung her arms around me.
“Hey,” I croaked. “Thanks for waiting.”
“Are you kidding me? They led you away like you’re somehow responsible for all this. It’s not right.”
I hugged her again, feeling a rush of emotion. “How is he?” My voice was cracked, my throat raw from all the tears. From reliving what had happened at the Bennets’.
“Mrs. Bennet is still in surgery; they don’t know anything yet.”
My eyes shuttered as I sucked in a harsh breath. “But how is he?”
Flick pressed her lips together, shaking her head a little. “He’s… broken. Jase and Cam are with him right now.”
“Will you take me there?”
“Mya, listen…” she hesitated. “I’m not sure that’s a good idea. Mr. Bennet is—”
“I need to see him, Felicity, please.”
“Okay. Let me make a quick call. I’ll meet you outside.” She hurried away before I could argue. I knew she was calling Jason to see how things were at the hospital, and I also knew I didn’t care. I had to see Asher.
It had been the longest, haziest ninety minutes of my life. The officers had arrested Jermaine and wanted my statement. But I hadn’t anticipated how hard it would be to recall everything.
After I was debriefed and given the card for the presiding officer in the case, I went in search of Felicity. She was on the phone, pacing in front of her car. “She has a right to be there,” I heard her say. “No, Jason, I… okay, okay. I have to go.” She noticed me standing there. “Love you too, bye.”
“Any news?” I wrapped my arms around myself, a chill working its way up my spine.
“Not yet. Listen, why don’t I take you home? It’s been a traumatic night for everyone and I’m sure your aunt will—”
“I know you’re only looking out for me, but I have to see him, Felicity. Put yourself in my shoes.”
“Okay,” she said weakly. “I’ll give you a ride.”
“Thank you.”
“You should probably know the story already broke on local news channels,” she said, as we climbed into her sunshine yellow Beetle. The car had always made me smile, but not tonight.
“I can only imagine what they’re saying.” I pressed my head against the window as the town I’d come to call home rolled by.
“Pay no attention.”
“Easy for you to say. It wasn’t your gangbanger ex who shot the wife of one of the town’s most respected businessmen.” Bile clawed its way up my throat and I retched.