Tonight, it ends.
I pull up in front of Colby’s place, a run-down piece of shit in Hope Falls. It’s falling apart and not worth a damn thing, making it even easier to shove my boot through the front door and watch as it goes flying off its hinges.
I storm into the small three-bedroom home, my nose turned up at the state of things. There are dirty dishes left all over the place and it looks as though it hasn’t been cared for in years. A pungent smell lingers in the air, but I put it to the back of my head as I storm through the house, heading for the bedrooms at the end of the narrow hall.
Gripping the handle of the first room, I turn it and shove my shoulder into it, letting the door fly open and smash into the wall behind it. Peering into the room, I find what looks to be a teenage girl’s room that hasn’t been touched in years, and I realize this must belong to Colby's sister, the single worst mistake of my life.
I hear movement in the room furthest down the hall and quickly make my way to door number two, my anger spurring me on. The door is locked and I waste no time shoving my foot against it and splintering the wood. The door breaks off its hinges and falls to the door, and I race in, roaring with frustration as I find the room just as empty as the last.
“Leave now and we won’t call the police,” I hear, coming from an older man in the hallway behind me. I move out of Colby’s room and stare at the man standing protectively in front of his wife. He looks just like Colby, only thirty years older and wasting his life away on booze and McDonalds.
I slam my hand against Colby’s bedroom door. “Where is he?”
“What do you want with Colby?”
“I’m going to ask you one more fucking time,” I say, letting the rage pour out in my tone, not giving a shit if I’m scaring him or his wife. They fucking deserve it for raising such a piece of shit. “WHERE THE FUCK IS HE?”
“I don’t know,” Colby’s father rushes out, throwing his hands up and making me realize I’ve begun stalking toward them. “He hasn’t been home in two weeks.”
“FUCK.”
Colby’s mom grabs her husband’s arm and moves it out of her way before stepping toward me, raising her chin and showing a type of bravery that I wasn’t expecting. “What did my son do to you?”
I stare her down, letting her receive the full intensity of my rage. “Six weeks ago, he fed my little sister a cocktail of drugs during a party and then attacked and raped her while she screamed for him to stop. She had a seizure, and instead of getting help, he left her naked and broken on the ground. She’s been a in a coma ever since.”
Her gaze shifts from my eyes, her stare hardening as if already knowing every damn word I just spoke is true. “No, there must be a mistake,” she murmurs, looking guilty as shit, absolutely no conviction in her tone.
“No. Ramming Brielle’s car into a tree, strangling her, and breaking her rib was his mistake,” I tell her, my harsh tone forcing her stare back to mine. “But showing up in my sister’s hospital room tonight and tearing her breathing tube out of her throat to ensure her silence, was nothing but a death wish. Mark my words, your son is not going to prison, he’s going to the fucking grave.”
Her husband pulls her back behind him, his hard stare locked on mine. “That’s enough,” he spits as she crumbles to the ground, knowing every word I speak is the truth. “Leave my house and never come back. We don’t have what you need here.”
I hold his stare for a moment longer, the fury overwhelming me, and as Colby’s mom sobs on the ground, I back away from them before tearing off into the night, my Mustang screeching against the road.
Chapter 35
BRIELLE
My phone blares on my bedside table and I groan as I reach across to silence it, my ribs screaming at me to stay still. It must only be two or three in the morning and the painkillers are making my head foggy.
Gripping my phone, I quickly press the button on the side to get it to shut up, not wanting to wake Tanner. I take an extra second, squinting into the bright light of the phone to see that Riley was calling me and make a mental note to kick his ass whenever I see him next.
He was at Tanner’s place last night and knows damn well that something is growing between us. If he’s looking for a booty call, then he’s calling the wrong girl, and I’m sure Tanner will have something to say when he finds out.
Yawning, I roll back over and reach across the bed, searching for Tanner. “Sorry,” I murmur, my eyes already closed, only when I don’t feel him across the bed, they fly open again.
Where the fuck is he?
My phone rings again and this time, I sit up and accept the call. “Bri,” Riley yells into the phone, not allowing me the chance to even wake up properly. “You gotta get down here, girl. Tanner’s out of control and we can’t help him. We thought maybe you could work whatever pussy magic you’ve got going on and see if you can calm him down.”
“What the hell are you talking about? Where is he?”
“At the track, babe. Just get down here.”
Riley ends the call before I can ask any more questions and frustration overwhelms me. “FUCK,” I yell, throwing my blankets back and reaching for the lamp on my bedside table.
Dim light fills my room and I pull myself out of bed while gripping my side, my ribs aching with every slight movement. I can barely get myself around. How the hell does Riley expect me to drive out to the track in the middle of the night? Besides, it’s not as though I have a car anymore. Colby made sure of that.
Despite it being early fall, I grab a coat and shove my arms into it before finding a pair of sweatpants and hating every minute as I try to yank them up my legs. I shove my phone into my pocket before jamming another few painkillers down my throat and rushing out of my room.
My fists pound against Jensen’s door. “GET UP.”
I knock again and then knock some more, only stopping when I finally hear movement from within his room. The door opens and Jensen hovers in front of me, a pissed-off scowl stretching across his face. “What the fuck do you want? It’s 3:30 in the morning.”
“You need to drive me to the track, and you need to do it right fucking now. Consider it a peace offering for being such a jerk over the last few weeks.”
“What?” he grunts, his face scrunching with frustration. “Absolutely not.”
“Stop being an ass for just two seconds and grab your keys. Either you drive me there or I’m taking your car. Take your pick?”
“FUCCCCK,” he groans, pushing away from his bedroom door and diving into his room to find a shirt, shoes, and his keys. He returns a moment later and barges past me, clearly not a morning person.
I hurry to keep up with him and he takes pity on me on the stairs, even stopping to offer me a hand. We hurry to the bottom and rush out the door, his stupid little sports car roaring to life.
By the time I get in and close the door, Jensen is already taking off. The bumps and turns of the road bring flashes of Colby’s black Charger to mind as it races toward me, but I swallow it down, terrified of what I’m about to find at the track.
Neither of us say a word until Jensen is pulling onto the dirt road leading toward the track. “What is this all about?” he asks. “If I’m driving you any further, I better not get in there to find some fucking sacrificial witch ceremony.”