Off-Limits, page 14
The car slammed to a stop so suddenly, both Josie and I jerked forward against the restraints of our seat belts, and Josie squealed in fright. Before I could even right myself or reach for her, Tony grabbed my phone out of my hand and tossed it out the window.
On instinct, I grasped Josie’s hand and reached for the door handle while we were still stopped, but the handle moved without opening. I barely had time to realize the child safety locks were engaged—which they hadn’t been when we’d gotten home earlier—before Tony was stomping on the gas. The tires burned rubber as he sped in the direction he’d been heading only moments before.
“Lyla, what’s happening?” Josie asked tearfully, fear shining out of her blue eyes like a beacon.
“I don’t know, baby girl,” I whispered, moving closer to her, shielding her from Tony and any other danger that might come our way. “But I won’t let anything happen to you. I promise.”
Howler
I was so engrossed in the plans I was working on that needed to be done before I could go home, that when my phone rang, I almost let it go to voice mail. But at the last second, I picked up, barely noticing it was Barrick calling.
“What’s up, man?”
“Hey, Mia is worried about Josie. Is she sick?”
I dropped my pencil, remembering the last time I’d gotten a call from one of Lyla’s cousins saying Mia was worried about my daughter. “Not that I know of. Why? Is she acting weird?”
“I wouldn’t know. Josie didn’t show up for class.”
My eyes dropped to the clock on my desk, and I cursed. It was already twenty minutes after the normal time for her class to start. “Lyla was supposed to drop her off. Let me call her, and I’ll call you back.”
“Sure. She didn’t answer when I tried to call her before you, but maybe she was just busy.”
“Lyla isn’t answering her phone?” My gut clenched with trepidation. “I’ll call you back,” I told him distractedly. I disconnected and started calling Lyla’s number. But it went straight to voice mail without even ringing once.
Muttering a curse, I called Judge. “Something’s wrong,” I told him as soon as he said hello. “Josie didn’t show up for dance, and Lyla isn’t answering her phone.”
“Maybe Josie just didn’t feel like going tonight,” he suggested. “Didn’t you say she was going to school an extra day this week? She’s probably just tired, brother.”
“No,” I snapped. “Not Josie. She would want to go to dance even if she were puking her guts out. She loves that class and her teacher. Call your driver. Find out what’s going on.”
“Yeah, okay. I’m on it, man. Give me a second, and I’ll call you back.”
I jerked to my feet and was already at my SUV before my phone rang again. “Well?” I demanded as I jumped into the driver’s seat and started the vehicle.
“He’s not fucking answering. I turned on the LoJack GPS on the car, and you’re going to blow a gasket when I tell you where the car is.”
“Just say it,” I roared, past the point of no return without even knowing what the hell was going on. All I wanted to know was where my girls were and how long it would take me to get to them.
“There’s one particular drug den Gwen has been frequenting lately, from what I could tell. The car is parked at that address.” Judge’s voice was laced with ice and steel, but I didn’t have time to ask what the hell else was wrong. I needed to get to Lyla and Josie.
“Where?” I snapped, and he read off the address. I knew roughly where that was and didn’t take the time to punch it into the GPS.
Without another word to my friend, I hung up and called Barrick back.
“Goddamn it!” Lyla’s cousin exploded. “I fucking told Judge not to hire outside people. All he had to do was ask me, and I could have gotten him an entire detail that he could trust.”
“You saying I can’t trust Tony?”
“I’m saying, unless they come from Seller, you can’t trust anyone. Give me the address. I’m on my way now.”
“Barrick…” I hesitated, knowing he would be the only person who could really answer me. “Lyla… Will she be okay?”
“Howler, man, you gotta trust her right now. She’s good at her job. You and Judge never wanted to believe that, but she is. My stepdad never would have given me the okay to hire her if she weren’t one of the best.”
His assurance did nothing to help ease any of my fear for her or Josie. Gwen had a gun. I pressed my foot harder on the gas, praying I got to them in time.
Chapter 22
Lyla
It was dark outside when the car came to a stop. There were no streetlights and only a few lights on in some of the houses we passed, making it hard to tell where we were, but I knew this part of town was not a place I would ever willingly take Josie.
The house Tony stopped in front of had a single light on in what I assumed was the living room. Even with the poor lighting, I could tell there were broken windows, and the porch looked like a stiff wind would send the thing crashing down.
Tony got out and opened Josie’s door, but when he reached in for her, it was to find her already on the other side of me, my body protecting her from him.
He gave me a grin that made me want to scratch up his face. “We can do this the easy way or the hard way, Lyla.”
I shot him a scathing look. “You touch her, and I promise you won’t live to breathe another day.”
He shrugged. “I won’t touch her. You can even carry the brat, for all I care.” He pulled something from behind him, and Josie screamed, her tiny fingers fisting in the material of my jacket when she saw the barrel of the gun he must have taken from a holster. “But if you don’t get out now, there won’t be anything but a lifeless body for you to carry. Feel me?”
I didn’t think he had the balls to pull the trigger on anyone, but I wasn’t about to test that theory. “Okay, okay,” I told him, keeping my voice calm so I didn’t scare Josie more than she already was. “Just back up, and we will get out.”
He moved two steps back but no more. I took what I was given and climbed out, pulling Josie by the hand along behind me until my feet were on the ground. Turning my back on Tony went against everything I’d ever been taught and my instincts were screaming to keep my eyes on him every second, but I needed to hold on to Josie.
Bending, I lifted her into my arms. Her limbs wrapped around me so tightly, it was hard to breathe for just a moment. I kissed her cheek and told her everything was going to be all right, and she eased up her hold enough for me to take in a deep breath.
As we walked toward the house, her little body trembled against me, and I tried to soothe her as much as I could.
“My mommy’s in there,” she whispered against my chest where she had her face buried.
“How do you know, Jo?” I asked quietly.
“Because she took me here before.”
“Of course she did,” I muttered, even more pissed at the thought of Gwen bringing my baby to this disgusting place. I could smell the dry rot in the wood of the rattrap of a porch, but something more stomach-turning was coming from the broken windows. It smelled like sour urine and raw sewage, making me wonder if there was actual plumbing in there or if people just popped a squat anywhere and used the bathroom wherever they chose.
The stairs protested loudly as I walked up them to the porch, just as the front door opened and Gwen stepped out of the weak lighting glowing behind her. I barely saw the outline of the gun in her hands as she staggered forward.
Thinking she meant to take Josie from me, I tightened my hold on her and sidestepped Gwen when she moved in our direction. Tony pushed me forward, and I stumbled several steps before I was able to right myself, causing Josie to scream and start sobbing.
“Shh, shh,” I hushed her. “It’s okay. I won’t let anything happen to you, sweetheart.”
“I don’t want them to hurt you,” she whispered so low I almost didn’t hear her. “Mommy hates you.”
I was no fan of hers either, but I kept that to myself as I continued to rub Josie’s back while taking in the layout of the house I’d just been pushed into. The smell was a hundred times worse inside than what was drifting out the broken windows. I wanted to gag, but I fought against it hard. Josie would probably vomit if I did, and who knew what either Gwen or Tony would do if that happened.
It was a single-story house with an open layout. From where I was standing in the living room, I could see the kitchen at the back of the house, and two doors were open, one of which was a bathroom, where the smell of excrement was the worst, and the other was a bedroom. I didn’t want to know what kind of bodily fluids were flowing around in there any more than I wanted an up close and personal tour of the bathroom.
I counted the doors, the possible exits, and the windows, mapping out in my head what I could see of the place and trying to decide the best escape plan while still carrying the extra weight of a little girl. Tony pushed me again, this time toward the couch that looked like it was infested with a lot worse than just bedbugs, and I was thankful I’d put Josie’s hair up in a bun before we left the house. Mine, however, was still hanging around my shoulders, and I dreaded sitting down but I did before Tony could start pushing me again.
“They’re here. Now what?” Tony demanded of Gwen, who was just standing beside him, glaring at me with dilated, bloodshot eyes.
Fuck, of course she was high. No doubt she stayed that way these days now that she didn’t have the responsibility of tending to a child. She’d even been high the night I’d kicked her skanky ass.
I glanced at her casted wrist. Her arms were covered with a long-sleeved shirt, but I could see the outline of the cast under it. She was holding her arm awkwardly, though, and I remembered the way she’d cradled it on the security video from the mall after she’d slashed Howler’s tires.
I was sure she’d broken it again, and I kept that in mind as I went back to mapping our escape.
“Now, we wait. Howler will come for them. And then I’ll take care of them all,” Gwen told him with a laugh before sniffing loudly.
My hands tightened around Josie without realizing, and she whined her protest because I was squeezing her too hard.
Gwen couldn’t hurt Howler. I wouldn’t let her hurt anyone I loved, but especially not Josie and Howler.
My mind started working furiously, trying to come up with something—fucking anything—that would get us out of this hellhole before Howler showed up and got himself killed trying to save us.
“You’re a twisted bitch, Gwen,” Tony told her, but there was a wicked grin on his face. “Wanting to off these two in front of Howler. You gonna kill him after?”
“Nope,” Gwen answered, amusement lacing her raspy voice. “Let the fucker live, knowing I took everything he loves away from him. It’s what he deserves for not loving me.”
Ah hell. She’d really lost her mind if she thought she could do that. But I didn’t tell her that. I kept my mouth shut, not giving either of them a reason to turn their attention on either Josie or me.
Instead, I kept glancing at the bathroom. I noticed a window open in there, but it was higher up. Josie would be able to fit through it, but she wouldn’t be able to climb up to it without help.
The bedroom was too dark to be able to see if the window was open in there or not, making it hard for me to decide where to send Josie if things got crazy before I could get her out myself.
“Josie.” I had my lips right up against her ear, pretending to kiss her and soothe her as I rocked her little body. “If you can hear me, nod, baby girl.” She nodded her head ever so slightly. “In a moment, I’m going to set you on your feet. When I do, I want you to go into the bedroom and shut the door. Lock it if you can. Then I want you to try the window. If it’s open, climb out and run. If it’s not, climb under the bed.”
“But…” she whispered, but I shushed her.
“I’ll be right behind you as quickly as I can. Just run, Jo. You understand?” Again, I got a nod, but I could feel her tears soaking my shirt.
Tony was the bigger threat of the two, so I waited until he started to relax his guard and turned his back to us. When he did, I moved fast, putting Josie on her feet while Gwen wasn’t paying attention and whispered for her to run. I jumped up and ran up behind Tony as quietly as I could.
But before I could reach him, he turned, his gun pointed right at my chest. Behind me, I heard the bedroom door shut, and the click of the lock made it easier to do what I had to do.
His finger moved to the trigger just as I lifted my hand to knock the gun out of his hold. He wasn’t expecting the power I put behind the hit, and he lost control of the weapon even as he was pulling the trigger.
I felt the bullet burn across my skin as it nicked my shoulder through my jacket, but I didn’t let myself think about it as I kicked him in the balls then the stomach and sent him crashing down to his knees. Using my knee, I busted his nose, then dropped my elbow down on the back of his head.
He fell flat on the dirty floor, groaning.
Praying Josie was able to get out the bedroom window, I turned just as Gwen lifted her own gun and pointed it right at my heart. Her hands shook, making the gun waver, and I walked toward her, pretending like I wasn’t scared of her.
“You never should have fucked with me, Gwen,” I told her as I got closer. Face devoid of color, she backed up farther and farther until the wall stopped her. “You never should have messed with what was mine. And you never, fucking never, should have touched Josie.”
One hand wrapped around the barrel of her gun, I snatched it from her hands before easily turning it on her. My hand was steady as I pointed it in her face, pressing the metal flush against the skin between her eyes. “Your daughter is mine now, and I’ll treasure her for the rest of my life, like you should have but were too selfish. You are nothing but trash, you junkie whore. I’ll personally make sure you never come near her again.”
“P-please,” Gwen stuttered, her wild eyes begging me not to hurt her. “Don’t kill me. Josie… Sh-she won’t ever forgive you if you kill me.”
“I’m not going to kill you, bitch,” I promised her. “Just make you wish you were dead.”
She furrowed her brows, trying to figure out what I could possibly mean by that, even as I drew back and punched her in the face so hard, her eyes rolled back in her head and she dropped at my feet.
Behind me, I heard Tony moving, and I turned when I heard his heavy footsteps. The moment he started toward me, an angry snarl on his face, I had the gun lifted and, out of instinct, pulled the trigger.
The impact of the bullet to his left shoulder had him jerking backward, blood squirting from the hole I’d just put in him, but it didn’t stop him. If anything, it only pissed him off more, and his speed increased.
I shot him again, this time dead center in the chest, and I knew before he even fell to his knees that I’d just taken his life.
Chapter 23
Howler
My tires screamed in protest when I came to a sudden stop right beside the town car. I jumped out of the SUV and started running toward the house.
“Daddy!”
Josie’s scream had me stopping in my tracks as my daughter came running from around the side of the house. The only light was coming from the living room, but I could still see the tears running down her face as she flung herself at me.
I scooped her up, holding her trembling little body against me and thanking God she was alive. “Daddy,” Josie sobbed. “Lyla is in there.”
“It’s okay, Jo. I’ll get her.” I rushed back to the vehicle and put her in the back seat. “Stay here. Uncle Judge and Uncle Barrick are on their way.”
“Daddy, I’m scared,” she cried. “Mommy is going to hurt Lyla.”
“No, she won’t, baby girl. I promise.” I tried to give her a reassuring smile, but just as I stepped back to close the door, I heard a gun going off.
Josie screamed, and I suddenly felt like I couldn’t breathe. I locked the door as I shut it and took off running. Before I could get to the steps, the sound of another shot echoed through the air, and I started shouting Lyla’s name.
“Lyla!” I roared as I kicked open the front door and ran inside.
My eyes found her first. She was standing in the middle of the living room, a gun still extended and pointed at the man who was now lying lifeless on the floor only feet away from her. Blood was gushing out of Tony, flooding the cheat carpet around him.
I quickly looked around, saw Gwen lying on the floor, and didn’t even care if she was dead or not. Making sure there were no other threats to my girl, I rushed her. She turned at the sound of my footsteps, and the gun turned with her.
Seeing it was me, she dropped the weapon at her feet and started to crumple. “Howler,” she sobbed. “I had to. I-I…I had to.”
I folded my arms around her, pulling her against me, and I began to tremble just as badly as Josie had been when I found her. “It’s okay, baby. I know. It’s not your fault.” I kissed her temple, her cheek, and then her lips, too thankful she was alive to fight back the tears of relief starting to fall. “I’ve got you, Lyla.”
Her arms went around me, and she buried her face in my chest. “I had to,” she whispered brokenly.
Behind me, I heard Barrick come in. “Told you she had this,” he muttered as he took stock of the room. He walked over to Gwen and crouched down to feel for a pulse. “She’s alive.”
“I-I only knocked her out,” Lyla told him shakily. “I didn’t mean to kill T-Tony.”
“Of course not, sweetheart,” her cousin told her soothingly as he walked over to embrace her. “It was self-defense.”
“Lyla!” Judge shouted as he stormed into the house. His face was white as a ghost as he rushed over and pulled her into his arms. “Are you okay?” He ran his hands over her, and she whimpered in pain when he touched her right shoulder.
