Addiction (44 page)

“You really think you saved me, don’t you?” She laughs again. “Did you ever stop and think about why you found me beat that night? It was legit, don’t get me wrong, but it was my idea.”

“What are you talking about?” Brecken demands.

Her eyes look at me, and she slowly looks me up and down. “It’s no secret that I like a man’s hands on me.” She smirks. “And you can’t lie, Case. The way you would wrap your hand around my neck as you would shove your cock …”

“Stop!” I growl.

“What?” She licks her lips. “Don’t want your new whore to know how you fucked me?” She arches a black eyebrow. “As if you don’t fuck her the same way? We all know you have needs, Case.”

Taylor starts to run toward her from behind me, and my left arms shoots out to stop her. “You bitch …” Taylor snaps.

“Oh, honey.” She makes a tsking noise with her tongue and teeth. “You should welcome competition. Men like a woman willing to fight for her man. Tell me, what would you do in order to keep him?”

“I’d kill you …” Taylor spits out.

Rachel laughs at that. “You couldn’t touch me …”

“Enough!” Brecken barks. “Rachel, start explaining yourself now, or I will make you.”

She looks over at him and sighs as if this is putting her out. “It was a setup. The first time you two met me. We had heard you two were going to be at the party. You two were the newest dealers on the block. They wanted an inside man. Someone who could tell them every little secret you guys had. But I knew a woman had to do it.” She pulls her shoulders back with pride. “I offered myself up as bait. So two men beat the fuck out of me and then I worked my charm. It was a bonus that you were hot.” She smiles up at me. “All men like a damsel in distress. And of course, take a man who has lost his sister …”

Brecken takes the five steps that separate them and backhands her across the face. It’s the first time I’ve ever seen him lay his hands on her. Taylor gasps beside me as Rachel goes flying off her feet and lands on her side. “You fucking bitch,” he growls. His entire body shakes, and his muscles are tight. “Don’t you dare fucking mention Nicole again,” he screams down at her.

I turn to face Taylor. “Go out the back.” I need her out of here. Shit is getting out of hand, and I don’t want her involved.

“I’m not leaving you,” she says in defiance.

I huff. “Do you still have my phone?” She nods. “Go to the back and call Jones. Tell him to get his ass up here.” I shove her backward, and her eyes widen as she stumbles but doesn’t fall. She takes one last look over at Rachel and then takes off.

Rachel looks up at Brecken from the ground and blood drips from her lip. “Doesn’t that feel good?” she asks smiling. “Doesn’t that make you feel like a man?”

He leans down and yanks her to stand by her hair. She cries out as she lifts her hands to his hand that has a grip on her bright red hair. Her chest rises and falls quickly as she breathes heavily. “Why did you do it?” he demands in her face.

“Why not?” she says through gritted teeth. “I was their edge. I knew every move you guys made. Every person you were after. I made a shitload of money to keep Cricket safe.” He lets go of her hair, and she falls to the floor once again. “I did what I had to do in order to stay alive,” she grinds out. “I was his fucking bitch who needed my hands on his endless supply.”

“Why didn’t you ever tell us?” I growl. “Why didn’t you come to us with the truth? We could have helped you,” I snap.

She gives a little chuckle. “You couldn’t have saved me from him. He would have killed me.”

“You think I won’t kill you?” Brecken reaches behind his back and pulls his gun out. He points it down at her, and she doesn’t even blink.

“Brecken. Put it away,” I say softly.

They both turn to look at me. “Why do you have your gun out?” Rachel asks looking down to mine in my right hand. “You say you want to save me. You want to help me, yet you have a gun ready in hand to shoot me.”

“I won’t shoot you because of what you’ve done. I’d rather know your ass is rotting in jail where you belong. But if you try to harm Taylor again … let’s just say, this time it will be you I kill.”

She smiles softly up at me. “I told them to make her happy. To put a smile on her face. I wanted them to show her that you weren’t the only one who could satisfy her.”

My hand tightens on the gun. I knew what their intentions were when I saw that they had cut her corset off, but until this very moment, I didn't understand just how depraved they could be.

“Come on, Case. They wouldn’t have fucked her any rougher than you have.” She laughs. “You may love her, but I know you. You don’t make love to her.”

“You know nothing!” I hiss.

She tilts her head to the side as blood continues to slowly run down her chin from where Brecken slapped her. “I know everything, Case. Everything.” She says it very slow, drawing out the word.

“For fuck’s sake, just shut up!” Brecken orders. “I’ve had enough of your shit, Rachel.”

She narrows her eyes up at him. “Maybe I’ve had enough of your shit!” she fires back. “Do you have any idea how exhausting it was to keep you two happy? All the coke I had to snort in order to let you place your hands on me.”

Brecken leans over and grabs her arm; he hauls her to her feet and then shoves her back against the bar. He presses his body into hers as he wraps his free hand around her neck. Her eyes close and her body thrashes as she tries to get away, but it’s not possible. He has a hold of her as he takes her air away. “You gonna tell me this doesn’t make you fucking wet? You gonna tell me that you faked it the last four years? I find that hard to believe.” He lets go of her, and she bends at the waist sucking in a ragged breath.

“You are one very vindictive bitch,” I say. “I mean that with the utmost respect.” I gotta give it to her.

She sucks a deep breath as she looks up at me. “I learned from the best, Case.” She swallows. “You and Brecken …” She shakes her head. “The way you use this fucking town with your lies and deceit.” She reaches up and rubs her neck as she straightens her back. “Did you ever think Taylor could end up with the same fate as Nicole?”

I feel my blood run cold as my entire body stiffens. “They prefer a little younger than Taylor, but she would still bring in money.” My teeth hurt from grinding them together. “It’s easy really. The selling of women.” She smiles.

“You have no clue what you’re talking about,” Brecken growls

She looks over at him. “You think Cricket only moves drugs?” she asks.

Brecken starts to shake his head. “I don’t believe a word you say.”

She crosses her arms over her chest, and she gives us both a smile. One that I used to think made her look halfway normal, but now that I know her real colors, it makes her look psychotic. “That’s your choice.” She looks at me. “But is that a chance you’re willing to take?”

“Cricket,” I snap, changing the subject. “He knows we’re undercover cops?” He has to. She had to have told him what we really do. “Why hasn’t he come for us?”

She takes a long, deep breath. “He doesn’t know.”

“Quit lying,” Brecken yells.

“I’m not. I swear I never told them who you really are.”

“Why not?” I demand. “Why not tell them the truth?” I can’t help but believe her. If Cricket knew who we really were, they would have killed us years ago.

“Do you have any idea what they would do to me if they knew I was sleeping with not just one but two undercover cops?” She laughs. “They would have killed me.” She looks over at me. “I allowed you to fuck me for six months before I even knew you were an undercover cop. If I had gone to them and told them that …” She shakes her head at herself. “It would have made myself look like an idiot.” She hangs her head. “Plus by that time I had fallen in love with both of you. I wouldn’t allow Cricket to kill you guys.”

“Then why are you trying to kill us now?” I demand.

Her head snaps up to look at me. Her dark brown eyes narrow on me and her lips thin. “Because of that bitch.” She growls. “She came in and ruined everything. You felt you could just throw me to the side in order to save her. I was no longer important,” she yells. “I had kept your fucking secret for four years just for you to throw me away.” Her body shakes as she fists her hands down by her side. “It was time I put you both in your place.”

“Jones is on his way.”

We all turn to look over at Taylor as she joins us once again. “You need to leave,” I snap.

She looks up at me. “I’m not leaving you.”

“Oh, but you are.” I look back over at Rachel, and she’s straightening her back as she pulls a gun out of her right boot. She used the distraction of Taylor walking into the room to reach down and pull her weapon. Even though the bitch came here thinking I was gonna make up with her, she had still planned to kill me. “I hate to break up the party, but I need to go,” she announces as she lifts the gun and points it straight at me. “And I can’t leave any of you alive.”

I lift my right arm that holds my gun and go to fire off a shot, but I’m too slow. She was already ready. I pull my trigger just as I turn my body and leap toward Taylor to get her out of the way of Rachel’s bullet. I collide with her and we hit the floor with a hard thud as the sound of the guns being fired ricochet off the club walls.

I look up toward Rachel and raise my gun to her again as another loud bang goes off. Before I can even pull my trigger back, I see her fall to her knees as blood runs from her chest. Her and Brecken stand facing one another, both guns were raised, but hers falls to the floor with her. He stands breathing heavy and a look of hatred on his face as he watches her die before us. She had gone to shoot him next, but he was faster. He shot her.

He stands over her with his gun still trained on her, and I look down at Taylor, knowing Rachel is no longer a problem.

“Sorry, babe. You okay?” I ask breathing heavy and heart pounding. I push her hair away from her face and see her eyes are closed. Another loud bang goes off, but it barely registers in my mind. Did I knock Taylor out? We hit the concrete floor pretty hard.

“Taylor?” I place my hand on her stomach to shake her. My heart stops when I feel wetness. I look down to where my hand and see it’s covered in blood. “Taylor?” I demand again as I reach up and check for a pulse. “TAYLOR!” I scream out her name when I don’t feel one.

Brecken is sliding on the floor as he drops to his knees next to us. “She has no pulse.” My voice shakes as much as my hand does when I reach up to feel her neck again. Maybe I was wrong; I feel nothing.

He places his ear down to her parted lips and his dark eyes look up at me. The look he gives me would take my breath away if I wasn’t already breathless. “Case,” he says sitting up. I watch him lean over her and rip off her tank top. “Case!” he shouts now removing his own shirt.

My heart pounds in my chest, and my limbs feel heavy. I can’t move, let alone breathe at the moment. She’s dead. The woman I fell in love with is lying dead in front of me, and I can’t move to help her. Tears sting my eyes and a knot forms in my throat. My chest tightens to the point it feels like it’s suffocating me.

“Case!” I hear Brecken yell and then the side of my face stings. I blink a few times and shake my head. “We’re gonna save her, but I need you to help me,” he growls. “Are you gonna help me or not?”

I look down at her and I can see the bullet wound now that he removed her shirt. It’s on the left side of her abdomen and the pool of blood we’re sitting in is getting bigger by the second. My face stings once again and my head snaps up to look at Brecken. “Pull it together, Tyler!” he demands using my first name.

I suck in a deep breath and my lungs burn. I blink rapidly and the tears that stung my eyes run down my face. He positions himself across from me and reaches over her as he applies his shirt to the gunshot wound and I place my hands on her chest, ready to give her compressions. My heart rips in my chest as I press down on hers. I feel a crack and then a snap as I start to perform CPR on her. My heart tells me to stop, that I’m hurting her. I’m breaking her ribs, but my mind tells me to keep going—her bones will heal. “Come on, baby,” I grind out as I push on her chest again ignoring the cracking this time. “Come on, Taylor,” I demand as the terror of not having her threatens to take hold.

Save her! I have to save her!

I push harder, needing to bring her back to me. It’s crazy how this beautiful woman came into my life. She walked into this club and changed it for the better. I refuse to lose her in this very building.

CASE

I stand in front of the gray concrete wall that holds the people who have passed away. It’s been a week since Taylor left me, called me in the middle of the night, and came up with her plan to show us who was behind trying to kill us. I wish I could go back to that moment. I would do it all so differently. I would take her seriously. I wouldn’t get mad at her or yell. I would have gotten to her faster and made her leave in order to keep her safe. But that’s not how life works.

Instead, Brecken and I stand here as we say our good-bye to Rachel. Today, Brecken and I buried Rachel. Well, we chose to place her in a mausoleum. I let him decide what he wanted to do with her. Rachel meant a lot to us at one point, but it didn’t matter in the end. Brecken had to take her life, and I feel bad that he will have to carry that burden for the rest of his. A part of him really did love her.