Redeemed: Bad Blooded Rebel Series #4 (7 page)

While
we waited for her test results, I held her hand as she lay quietly on the bed.
“You know I love you so much, right?” I said, giving her hand a squeeze.

She
turned her eyes toward mine and offered a sad smile. “I love you too, rock
star. When I think of how close I came to losing you tonight…” she trailed off,
fresh tears rolling down her cheeks.

“Hey,
you never came close to losing me, gorgeous. We will always find each other no
matter what the world throws at us. We’ve got this, baby,” I said, leaning in
and kissing her hand.

“I
wish I could believe that. I’m so afraid I will go to jail for killing him,”
she cried.

“I
told you I won’t let that happen. Officer Tanner won’t let it happen either. We
all will make sure that justice is really served here.”

“I’m
not so much scared of being in jail,” she said.

“Then
what are you scared of, Evie?”

Taking
a deep unsteady breath, she said, “I’m scared of being away from you. The most
terrifying part of this whole thing was not being near you and thinking you
were dead. You are my everything, Ryder, and when you aren’t around even for a
few minutes I feel like half of me is missing.”

I
choked down my emotions because I needed to be strong for her in that moment,
but her words touched me on such a deep level. Since we made it to the hospital
I had decided to stow my emotions as best as I could, because as distraught as
I was, I needed to be her rock. Hearing her say I was her everything was the
one bright spot in this hellacious night, and I had to force back happy tears
for the first time all evening.

“Everleigh,”
I said, standing up and leaning close to her face, “you will
never
have
to worry about that because you won’t be away from me for even one second from
here on out. You are my everything too, gorgeous, and nothing is going to keep
us apart ever again. I love you so, so, so much,” I said, my voice barely above
a whisper.

She
leaned up and kissed my lips lightly. “I love you too,” she said as another
tear rolled down her cheek.

There
was a knock on the door and Everleigh said “Come in,” as I wiped the tear from
her cheek.

We
both turned, assuming it was the doctor, but instead it was Danni, Jessie,
Sadie, Kris, Beau, Jude, and John. For the first time since this nightmare with
Scott began Everleigh looked calm and happy. “Hey family,” she said.

As
usual, Sadie did her best to stow her emotions and remained strong but Danni
and Jessie were sobbing messes as they made their way to Everleigh’s hospital
bed. I squeezed her hand and let go so she could have a moment with her
friends. As the girls collapsed onto her and they all shared an embrace, I felt
a strong arm around my shoulders. “How is she, man?” asked Jude, a worried and
sad expression on his face. His hazel eyes almost looked gray, like there were
gloomy storm clouds in them to match his mood.

“Physically
she seems okay. We are just waiting on the results of the CT scan to come back.
She hit her head pretty hard in the struggle,” I said and all of the guys
frowned. “Mentally on the other hand…”

“I
know this has to be rough on her,” Beau said. “I can’t believe she had to kill
that sick fucker. Poor girl,” he said.

“I
know,” I said. “She’s terrified that they will arrest her and that we will be
apart again.”

“Hey,”
Kris said, “she knows that there is no way in hell we will ever let that
happen, right? She’s our sister and we love her. We will protect her too.”

I
nodded and all of us huddled together in a group hug. “I know you will. Thank
you all so much for being here,” I said.

“We’re
brothers, Ryder, and this is a family. Try and keep us away,” Jude said and I
lifted the corner of my mouth in a smile.

There
was another knock on the door and someone, I’m not sure who, muttered for
whoever it was to come in. The guys and I backed away from the door as the
doctor walked in.

His
eyes widened at the sight of all of us crammed into the small room. The guys
backed farther away as I made my way over to Everleigh’s bed. She grasped for
my hand as Danni, Jessie, and Sadie fell to the sides of the bed. “Hello
Everleigh,” he said.

“Hi,
Dr. Eller,” Everleigh said.

He
looked around at everyone crammed into the room and he furrowed his bushy
eyebrows. “Uh, I’m sorry, but everyone will have clear out now. This room is
for family only,” he said, not even phased by the fact that he was being glared
at by four large tattooed rockers and a hulk of a bodyguard.

Everleigh
looked point blank at him and said, “They
are
family. They stay,” she
insisted. “Do you have my test results?”

Dr.
Eller snorted out a laugh and shook his head. “Yes, and everything came back
normal. You don’t have a concussion and your scan looked clear. Looks like you
were very lucky, young lady,” he said.

I
let out a sigh of relief as Everleigh said, “Well, that’s one hurdle I’ve
jumped tonight. Thank you, doctor.”

Dr.
Eller nodded and said “I will have the nurse start your discharge papers, but I
did want to let you know that there are two police officers waiting outside to
talk to you. If your
family
won’t wait outside for me they
will
have to wait outside for them,” he said and before I could call him a mother
fucker or a douche bag or anything he left the room in a huff.

Everleigh’s
eyes were as wide as quarters as I wrapped a protective arm around her.
“Ryder,” she whimpered, looking like a scared little girl.

“It
will be okay, Evie, I promise.”

There
was a quick tap on the door and it opened before anyone could say anything.
“Everleigh? It’s Officer Tanner. Can we come in?” Officer Tanner came into the
room followed by another man, obviously a detective or something, and he was
surprisingly wearing jeans and a leather jacket. Neither of these guys looked
like cops to me at all and they seemed laid back. I instantly felt a little
more at ease.

“Um,
y-yes,” she said. I felt her hand grip mine for dear life.

Sadie
moved over to Beau, who instantly pulled his little sister into a one armed
hug. “We will be right outside if you need us, okay girl?” she said.

“Okay.
Thanks Sadie,” she said.

“Come
on everyone,” she said, her hand noticeably landing on Jude’s bicep. She
quickly let go but kept her eyes on him for a second longer than I think she
meant to. She reached out her fist to me and we bumped them together for a
moment. Then she half-smiled at me before she walked toward the door.

Everyone
started to pour out into the hallway and before he left, Jude looked back at us
and said, “Love you, sis.” Then he winked at her before he walked out and
closed the door.

Officer
Tanner approached the bed and said, “Everleigh, this is Officer Nick Ramirez
and he’s my partner in homicide.”

Everleigh
reached out her hand and offered it to the detective. “Nice to meet you,” she
said, sounding nervous.

“Nice
to meet you too, Everleigh. I know that tonight has been very traumatic for
you, but we need to ask you some questions. Is that okay?”

She
nodded and said, “Yes, but only if Ryder can be with me. I can’t do this
without him.”

Officer
Ramirez smiled at her. “Of course he can. Is it okay if I sit?” he asked,
motioning to a chair in the corner.

Nodding
again, she said, “Sure.”

He
pulled the chair close to the bed and took out a pen and a pad of paper. “All
right, Everleigh, why don’t we start at the beginning of this evening and go
from there? We already have reviewed the files we had sent from the Muncie
Police Department and we know about your history with Scott Adams, including
the attempted sexual assault and the murder of Trisha Cramer. Can you just tell
us about what happened tonight?”

Officer
Tanner noticed Everleigh start to tear up and he walked over to the bed. Gently
placing his hand on her shoulder, he said, “It’s okay, Everleigh. Take your
time.”

She
swiped away a few tears and after taking a deep breath she began to tell them
all about what happened starting with our night out at the club and how Scott
attacked me from behind while I was taking a piss.

She
told him all about being abducted at knifepoint, about how she’d luckily given
into my concern and tucked the gun I’d registered in her name into her boot
just in case there was trouble. She told him about how Scott told her that he’d
killed me, how he’d punched and slapped her face, how she’d pretended to give
into him, and how she’d pulled out the gun in an effort to scare him off of her
long enough to call for help.

She
told him about what he threatened to do to her…
everything
he threatened.
My stomach churned and my blood boiled as I heard Everleigh, the love of my
life, tell the police about how he threatened to beat her within an inch of her
life, rape her violently, and then slit her throat before he set out to do the
same to Danni, Sadie, and Jessie.

She
told them she begged him to stop and that she didn’t want to hurt him, which I
believed with my whole heart. Everleigh had such a pure aura around her and
there was no way she would ever hurt anyone on purpose.

After
she was finished giving her statement, she looked drained and emotionally
spent. As Officer Ramirez was finishing writing down her statement, she asked
the question that had us both worried. “So are you going to arrest me now?”

He
looked up from his paper and asked, “Why would I do that?”

“Because,”
she asked, pausing to take a breath, “because I killed him. I didn’t mean to
and I wish to God it didn’t happen, but it did. No matter what the facts are
and that it was self defense that doesn’t change the fact that I killed someone
that I used to care about,” she said, and suddenly she was breathing heavily
and I was afraid she would start to hyperventilate.

I
rubbed her arm and tried to soothe her. “Evie, baby, calm down. It’s okay,” I
said, kissing her on the forehead.

Officer
Tanner said, “Everleigh, we just came tonight to get your statement. You will
not be facing charges in the death of Scott Adams. He was stalking you, he
murdered your friend, he had a violent history with you, and we have scores of
witnesses that will corroborate everything that has happened. That plus the DNA
we collected from the scene…this is pretty open and shut. You were protecting
yourself, Everleigh, and this was self defense in its most basic form.”

“So,
I’m not going to jail?” she asked, a tremble of hope in her voice.

Officer
Tanner smiled at her and said, “No, sweetheart, you aren’t going to jail.
Because of your bravery you, and from what I hear your friends too, are safe
tonight. Ryder, you are free to take her home.”

I
smiled and held her tightly against me as she shed tears of relief. “I told
you, baby, that this would all be okay. It’s finally over.”

“Finally
over,” she cried as I rocked her back and forth.

As
the officers stood to leave, I told them both, “Thank you.”

Officer
Ramirez just nodded and Officer Tanner said, “You’re welcome. Make sure she
takes it easy. Oh yeah, and by the way,” he said, “my wife Rory and I are huge
Bad Blooded Rebel fans. It was great to meet you and your band mates in person.
Maybe next time it can be under better circumstances.”

I
smiled at him and said, “For sure. You and your wife have two front row tickets
and back stage passes in the mail to our next show in New York, my friend. I’ll
have them sent to the precinct.”

“Thanks,
man. If this doesn’t make me husband of the year I don’t know what will.
Goodbye you two,” he said, and with a wave he left the room.

It
really was finally over. I could take Everleigh home and we could be free to
live our lives without anyone trying to stop us. “So, are you ready to go
home?” I asked her.

She
smiled weakly at me and shrugged. “Where is home exactly?”

My
brows furrowed. “It’s wherever you want it to be. The album is finished but we
can stay in New York-”

“No,”
she said quickly. “I…I don’t want to stay here anymore. Too many bad memories.”

I
nodded in understanding. “I agree. I’ll call the realtor and put the penthouse
up for sale first thing.”

“Okay,”
she answered, sighing.

“Well
do you want to go back to Muncie? That is technically still your home. You grew
up there, your job is there, and Pizza King is there,” I said, and she huffed
out a laugh.

She
thought about going back to her hometown for a long moment and then let out a
deep breath. “I don’t think I want to go back there either. I love Muncie and I
will miss Deuce but I can’t live in my house anymore knowing that Trish was
staying there for me and was attacked there protecting me. I won’t be able to
face people in that town after they find out about what happened to Scott.”

“Everleigh,
he killed Trish and he tried to kill you! You acted in self defense.”