“I told you. The car’s too old. It doesn’t even have that feature.” She sighs. “We’re going to have to wait until they pop the trunk themselves.”
Yeah, but what do they plan on doing when they open the trunk themselves? “How long have we been driving?” I ask her.
“Not sure. A couple of minutes. Maybe ten?”
Ten minutes. I try to think of everything around the JRU campus. The shipyard was just a few minutes out. The hospital was down the street, but I highly doubt they were being Good Samaritans. Huntington Beach was close by. Shit—were they planning on dumping us in the ocean?
My nerves go into overdrive as I feel the car stop, park. “Nic,” I say, breathless. “Nic, I’m going to get us out of here. I promise.”
I hear Nic sniffle as the trunk pops open. Liam’s hands come flying down at me as he yanks me out of the trunk, throws me on the ground. Tyler grabs hold of Nic, but his approach with her is gentler. My eyes scan around the area. A bike trail in the distance, skirting along rows of trees. A field perfect for throwing frisbees—or peewee football practice. They brought us to Deer Park. The same spot where Javon and I found Nic’s phone. The same spot where they buried Kenny.
I swallow, try to push my heart back down. “What are you going to do with us?” I demand.
“Get up and start walking,” Liam says.
I climb to my feet. “Why don’t we just solve this man to man?” I try. “You take me down, all good and well. I take you down? You have to let me and my sister go.”
“Jay. No,” Nic pleads.
Liam and the nameless lackey chuckle. Tyler just keeps ahold of Nic’s arm, looks down at the ground.
“Seems like your sister knows what’s best for you, homeboy,” Liam says. He spits out that last word like tobacco. Like it wasn’t even a good enough term to use for the likes of me. My blood is on fire. “Now turn around and walk. Don’t even think about running.” He yanks Nic away from Tyler and pushes her toward me.
I use my bound hands to make sure she’s steady, then reluctantly begin walking deeper into the park. Nic right next to me. My eyes dart everywhere, searching for my next move. I knew this park so well when I was a kid. There has to be some place where Nic and I can shake these guys. Some path that we scurry down, hide out until morning when visitors might arrive. Maybe we could even sneak out to the convenience store about two miles away and get hold of a phone.
“Stop right here,” Liam orders, interrupting my escape planning. “And drop to your knees.”
Nic and I freeze in our tracks. I spot a trail that leads right into the trees maybe a few feet in front of us, but Liam steps forward and eclipses my view.
“Drop to your knees. Now!”
Nic whimpers and falls to her knees. But my knees won’t buckle. I already let Nic down before. I can’t do it again.
“I said, drop to—”
I launch forward, slam my entire body into Liam’s. A grunt oozes out of his mouth as he tumbles to the ground. I collapse right on top of him.
“Nic, run!” I cry out just as Liam pushes me off him. I’m on my back and he crawls over to me, lifts his fist to show me what’s what. I take my bound hands and deck him on the side of his head. Scurry away from him enough to climb back on my feet. Nic and Tyler watch me in horror, their eyes as round as clocks.
“Run, Nic!” I demand again.
Nic snaps out of it before Tyler does. She darts toward the trail I scoped out earlier. Just as I take off after her, I’m tackled from behind. The air puffs out of me as my chin smacks against the ground. Again. At this point, that scar will never go away. I’m flipped over and Nameless Lackey’s over me, punches me right in the mouth before I can dodge it. My tooth pokes into my upper lip but I can’t scream. I have to survive.
I hitch my knee up and collide it right in between this asshole’s legs. He cries out, grabs his crotch. Frees his face. I smack my forehead against his to get him off me. Damn if I don’t see stars, but it works. It fickin’ works.
I scramble onto one foot just as Liam cuts through the night and sends his shoe right to my face. I fall back again. So much ringing in my ears that I almost think about answering my phone. Where the hell is my phone?
I don’t get to feel for it because Liam’s shoe comes at me over and over again. I shield my arms over my head as much as I can, but his foot rams against my chest. My stomach. I cough up something sour as another shoe rams against my shoulder.
“Stop! Stop, please!” Nic screams from somewhere behind me. She didn’t get away. All of this and she still didn’t get away.
The kicks keep coming and I roll to my side. Curl up in a fetal position. Try to find some comfort until this ends the way it’s supposed to end.
“Enough, guys—enough!” Tyler. I think.
The kicks finally stop and I attempt to pull in a breath, but my ribs feel like they’ve been in a blender. I hear someone coughing up something thick and wrong, and then a wad of something wet plops right on my cheek. I let out a yell that sounds just like a growl. My body may be broken, but dammit, they’ll feel my rage.
Liam grabs me by the shoulders and drags me next to Nic, who’s back on her knees right in front of Tyler. She reaches for me, but Liam smacks her hand away.
“Don’t you fuckin’ touch him!” he demands. Then kicks hard at the ground as if he’s imagining my ribs again. He balls his fists and shouts into the sky. This dude is losing it and I’m the cause. Good. At least I can own that.
The nameless lackey walks over and passes Liam a bat. Nic whimpers. Inches closer to me.
“Wait,” I strain. My tongue even hurts at this point. “You don’t have to do this. We won’t say anything!”
Liam scoffs at me and shakes his head.
“Maybe he’s right.” Tyler steps forward and holds up both hands to his friend. “You said so yourself, this chick’s nothing but a blisshead. Who the hell would believe her? And then him?” He juts a thumb at me. “You think a cop is going to take his word over ours?”
Liam shakes his head again. “I told you already. They know too much. And if we would’ve gotten rid of this bitch when I wanted to, he wouldn’t even be a problem. This is the only way. Now back off!”
“But Liam . . .”
The other frat guy pushes Tyler away from Liam. Liam must have this guy’s balls all up in his hand. Nicole cries again and looks down at the ground. I look over at her, hang my head in defeat.
“I’m so sorry, Nic,” I say again. I want those to be the last words she hears. The last thing she remembers. Not her brother trying and failing to set her free. I need her to look at me and be okay and know that I did all this because I love her. “I tried. I really tried. I’m sorry.” The final words hiccup out of me.
Nic shakes her head at me and forces out a smile. “You and me against the world, right?”
A tear falls from my eye. Me and her against the world. Even ’til the end. This is the period, the finality, I’ve been searching for. Liam lifts his bat, ready to do damage. I inch ahead of Nic. Close my eyes and hope he strikes me first. I wait for the pain to come. Hope it’s quick and that I won’t feel anything soon. I just wish MiMi knew about the money. Knew how much I love her. Hope she tells Mom how much I tried to put her family back together.