I stared at the ceiling, recognizing the watermarks in the corners. The bathroom where he repeatedly beat me. Where he tried to kill me. Where he destroyed my spirit.
“You’re not done yet, Kennedy.” He wrapped a hand around my neck and squeezed. “You haven’t given me what I want.”
I refused to say a word, even though I knew what he wanted. Wouldn’t give him anything more than an expressionless face to take out his anger on. I wouldn’t say the words. He didn’t even deserve the lie, no matter what my hallucination of Cassie said.
His pale face appeared right above mine in a macabre imitation of the way Linc offered his comfort.
“I’m going to kill you, Kennedy. And when I do, there won’t be anyone to put me in prison. There won’t be anyone to stop me from doing this to your sister. To Parker.”
I laughed, despite myself, as I my fingers and toes started to tingle with the drugs wearing off.
“You’re going to prison, Royal. And you’re going to die there.” The exclamation burst from my lungs, from the dark and twisted part of my soul that Royal created every single time he raised his hand against me.
“Shut up!” He slapped me with the palm of his hand, just like he used to.
While it stung, just like every other time he hit me, it didn’t hurt nearly as much as it used to.
He wouldn’t break me.
I heard Cassie, right there beside me, laughing like she used to do when we were kids.
“Don’t let him win, Kenny. Buy some time. You know what to do. You’re not alone.”
Royal raised his hand to strike again, and I laughed at him. Intensely, humorlessly, and begging for a fight.
“Go ahead, Royal. Hit me. But you’re too late. I gave the police everything.”
He froze, his hand in midair, and panic lit up his face like the Fourth of July.
“What?” He tried to sound intimidating, but failed.
“You heard me.” I pushed myself up off the floor, taking every inch that I could. “You’re going to lose. Recordings, my clothes, everything you touched that was covered in my blood. From the night you went too far, Royal. They’ve got it all.”
When he hit me again harder, and with his fist, my head hit the side of the tub and an audible crack filled the air.
“If I’m going down, I’m going to take your lifeless body with me, Kennedy.”
“Good luck with that.” My words were slurred, but there was no doubt he heard them.
The kick to my spine was proof of that.
Maybe when I woke up again, I’d be able to move my hands and feet enough to get away.
To get the machete.
26
Linc
“Ready. Set. Go!” Remy waved his hands through the air like a crazy person, and we were off across the bullpen.
Dom had his chair tilted forward, using his feet to try and go faster that way.
But I was smarter.
I turned around with my back to them and pushed in smooth, long motions.
“Damn it!” Dom called out loudly. “Get back here.”
I waggled my fingers at him, only too happy to take the win. “Suck it, loser.”
Except I hit the wall and went down, and Dom was right there on top of me. The weight of my chair hit me in the chest, knocking the air out of my lungs, only to be compounded when Dom dropped on top of me.
Laughter filled the room, and Remy held his phone out to get video proof. “Shit, man. Parker’s gonna love this.”
“Speak for yourself,” Carter said from the other side of the bullpen. “Avery’s gonna want to show her class this. It’s awesome.”
I turned my head to see him standing on top of one of the counters, using his phone to get the entire scene in front of us.
The entire time, Dom didn’t move. He just wheezed while lying there, and I wanted to punch him in the throat, but I couldn’t get close enough. There was an entire chair blocking the way.
I grunted under the weight of the other man and both of the office chairs. “Not again.” I groaned. “Move, already. This is embarrassing.”
“Hey.” Dom laughed as he got up and offered me a hand. “At least it wasn’t your balls in my hand this time.”
“Get out of here before I kill you.” I shoved him in the shoulder once I got up and we righted the chairs, but he laughed it off.
Neither chair was broken, which I guess was a good thing since we still had to use them to work in.
“Okay, our turn.” Carter hopped off the counter and grabbed his chair.
Remy practically sprinted across the room to grab his.
“You guys wanna tell me why you’re not out on patrol?” Carter looked between us while he took his spot on the other side of the room, at the de facto starting line.
“Chief benched all three of us, put on desk duty, so we don’t interfere with arresting Royal Prince.” Remy scooted next to him. “Probably a good thing.”
Carter nodded. “Yeah, Avery said she wouldn’t blame any of us if we had to put a bullet in that guy’s head. She went to school with Mallory and said that lady was crazy. But no one deserves what happened to her.”
They were ready to go, starting their metaphorical engines, when Teri stuck her head out of dispatch, frantic and upset. “Linc, you need to come up here.”
When I didn’t move fast enough for her, she snapped, “Now, Linc.”
I ran the length of the hall, and I wouldn’t be ashamed to admit it if asked about it later. When dispatch panicked, patrol panicked. That’s just the way it went.
Henley Moore was in the lobby, pacing back and forth while worrying his hair. The last time I’d seen him was the night of Kennedy’s accident, and I hadn’t really gotten a good look at him. The kid looked like he should be out playing football or something, not standing in our lobby having a panic attack.
“Officer Hayes.” He rushed to the window as soon as he saw me behind Teri. “There’s something wrong.”
“Henley.” I leaned forward, curious what would have him upset like he was. “What’s going on, kid?”
He turned around, checking over his shoulder for something, before turning back to me with wild eyes. “I’m going to sound absolutely crazy. I know that. But I need you to listen to me. I think there’s something wrong. My girlfriend, Lexi, the girl I was with the night of the accident. She lives next door to this guy. He’s creepy. Always watching her. He gives me the creeps. I was dropping Lexi off after school and I saw him going up to his house.”
My gut started to churn. “What happened, Henley? Focus.”
He nodded and took a deep breath. “Yes, sir.” He took another breath, more to calm himself than anything. “Sir, I think he was carrying Kennedy.” He swallowed down something, and I felt like throwing up while I waited for him to go on. “He had a girlfriend, sir. A blond one. We used to see them fight. But then, she colored her hair red. So at first, I thought I must have been seeing her and thought it was Kennedy instead. But I got in my car and started heading to work, and my gut told me that it was her. That something was really wrong. So I came here instead.”
Behind me, I heard Remy and Dom muttering. Remy cursed. “She’s not answering,” Remy hissed.