Unstoppable (17 page)

The room got so quiet you could have heard a pin drop, “What—did you just say?” I looked up at her. 

“Ms. Russell was approximately nine to ten weeks pregnant.  Did you not know this?”

“She…that can’t be right.  She hasn’t missed a period.”  I would have known because that time of the month for Harley turned her into a raging hormonal man hater. 
The only thing men do right is make chocolate and give us chocolate this time of month
. 

“I’m one hundred percent positive, and I’m sorry.”  Kathryn squeezed my shoulder.  “She’s being given medication for the pain so she’s sleeping.  You will be allowed to go in and see her two at a time.  Before she fell asleep she asked me to pass a message along to you.  She said to tell you she’s sorry and whispered what sounded like the name Hunter.”

I tried to open my eyes but they wouldn’t open all the way. I could only see tiny slivers of light.  My first thought was I was having some kind of allergic reaction to something at supper with Ryder and Sarah.  Or that we had been in some kind of accident.  Panic started to course through my body, I tried to lift my hand to wipe my eyes but searing pain shot throughout my body causing me to cry out.  My throat was so raw and sore I couldn’t even talk, I needed Ryder to take me to the hospital.  Something was obviously wrong.  I licked my lips; the copper taste of blood covered my tongue.  “Ryder help!” I strangled out a whisper and hoped he would hear me and wake up.  “Ryder help me.” My own voice sounded strangled and weak. 

“Harley baby,” there was Ryder.  He would see me and know something was wrong.  I thought I heard him say something about getting the nurse.  “Baby I’m right here.” His hand on my sent pain up my arm. 

“She’s waking up!  Harley honey…” was that my mom? 

“Baby girl can you hear us?  Squeeze Ryder’s hand if you can.  The doctor will be in here in just a second.”  That was dad.  I tried again to speak but my mouth and throat were so dry it hurt.  I gently squeezed Ryder’s hand.  A warm cloth swept across my face and lips. 

“Harley, I’m your nurse, Faith.  Can you try to open your eyes for me sweetie?”  the warm soft cloth swept across my eyes again.  It took a few tries before I was finally able to open them.  The light from the room was so bright my eyes started to water, which actually helped me. 

I could faintly see Ryder standing to my right, my eyes watered more so I blinked a few times to clear up my vision.  I tried to say his name again but couldn’t. 

“Harley I know you’re mouth and throat hurt, if you can open your mouth just a little I can let you suck some water off of this little straw that has a small sponge full of water on the end.”  Faith said.  My head ached when I turned to look at the nurse, “Hi pretty girl.” She smiled and held out the little straw thingy.  “Open.”  I groaned in pain but managed to open my mouth enough for her to insert the small water soaked sponge in my mouth.  “Do this a couple more times then I’ll gently raise your bed up and we’ll see if you can sip some from a straw.”  The water she had given me lubricated my tongue enough that it didn’t feel so swollen and dry. 

“Careful baby girl.” Dad said, he was standing at the foot of my bed as the nurse pressed the button on the bed to put me in a more upright position.  After taking a few sips of the cool water I was able to finally speak although my voice was still raw.

“Why am I here?”  I whispered not even sure they could hear me.

“You were involved in an accident last night.  The doctor is here to talk to you.” Mom said with tears in her eyes. 

I looked around the room, Cade was holding Sydney close as she cried, dad’s arms were wrapped around mom, and Sarah was clutching Ryder’s other hand.  If we had been involved in a wreck I must have been the only one injured because Ryder and Sarah looked fine.  I, on the other hand, felt like I had been hit by a train.  “I’m going to put some eye drops in your eyes, okay Harley?” Faith asked.

“Okay.”  I watched as she moved slowly with a small eye dropper.  After blinking several times my vision cleared up and most of the cloudiness was gone but I could tell that my eyes were still swollen. 

A lady with long beautiful dark hair and hazel eyes stepped up to my bed, “I’m Doctor Kathryn Valley.  Harley do you remember what happened to you last night?”

“N—no”

The doctor grabbed my hand and sat down in the chair beside my bed, “You were sexually assaulted outside of the night club last night,” she paused, “You have a concussion that’s why your head probably feels so heavy and hurts…”

I didn’t’ black out I zoned out when suddenly, just like in the movies, memories of what happened started to come to me.  Me walking to the restroom, Chloe the other R/A hugged me and told me she had missed seeing me around the campus.  With the music being so loud and the club being so hot we went out the exit door so we could talk.  She pulled a cigarette out of her small purse and lit it, “I didn’t know you smoked.” I told her.

“Only when I’m drinking and get stressed out,” she laughed lightly, “Both of which I am tonight.” a swirl of smoke drifted between us.  Then a gloved hand covered my mouth and a strong arm wrapped around my waist and pulled me roughly away from her.  She inhaled from her cigarette again then flicked it into the alley a look of panic flashed across her face but she didn’t try to help me instead she hurried and went back inside the club.  I screamed as loud as I could but the large hand covering my mouth muffled it.  I tried to stomp down on my attacker’s foot but missed and lost one of my high heels, then I was released and thrown against a brick wall.  My vision blurred, I scraped at the brick wall trying to grab on to something so I wouldn’t fall.  My scalp burned when my hair was gripped tightly and yanked back, I stumbled and fell forward.  Dirt and small rocks bit into my skin, my face was being pushed down harder, I tried to scream again but an iron fist punched me. 

“
Shut the fuck up bitch
.”

I recognized that voice, it was Hunter.  I could feel myself getting closer to passing out but I fought as hard as I could as he ripped my dress and used some of it to wrap around my face, the fabric cutting the corners of my mouth after he tied it.  When he ripped my panties off I felt his hardness enter me, he held my face down, the asphalt grated at my skin.  When he entered me I screamed again before my world went black. 

“Harley!  Harley!” Ryder was frantically saying my name.  “Fucking give her something!” His voice cracked.

Again my world fell dark, but this time I went into the darkness with Ryder’s hand holding onto me tightly.  “Unstoppable.” I whispered. 

I could tell the very second that Harley remembered what had happened.  Her hand went clammy in mine and she started shaking.  I looked up at the doctor, “Did you have to fucking tell her right when she woke up?”

“They all want to know what happened, this is completely normal I assure you.” 

Harley’s hand relaxed in mine and the last word she said, set my blood on fire.  I was going to find Hunter and kill the mother fucker.  Now it was me that was shaking, with pure fucking rage and anger. 

“Ryder the detectives would like to talk to you and Sarah.” My dad’s hand on my shoulder made me look up.  “Come on let’s go out in the hallway.”  He said.  I didn’t want to leave Harley but I had to. 

Mom and Theresa stayed in the room, Sarah, me, Dad, and Bryan walked out with the two detectives. They introduced themselves to us but I could have cared less about their names. 

“I’m going to tell you right fucking now, I will find the mother fucker that did this to her.  Give me your card and I’ll call you when I find him.  Make sure you bring a body bag because that’s the only god damn way you’re taking him away.”

“That’s a pretty big threat Mr. McAllister.  You need to let us do our job.” The short balding detective said. 

“Fuck you and fuck doing your job.” I pointed a finger in his face.  Neither dad nor Bryan tried to shut me up.  “Do you want to know what
I
know happened?  Is that why you’re here?  I’ll tell you what I know fucking happened last night.  My girlfriend was brutally fucking raped and assaulted by her ex-boyfriend.  Now if you’ll excuse me I have somebody I need to go talk to.”

“Think about your consequences before you act young man.” The talk skinny detective said. 

I looked at dad and Bryan, “I’ll keep that in mind.” I shouldered past them both and walked away. 

Sarah caught up with me, “Where are you going?”

“To the dorm.”  I walked through the automatic doors, that’s when I realized I didn’t have a vehicle. 

“We’ll take you.  Those detectives won’t be an issue unless we call them.” Bryan walked past me to his black Ford 4x4 pickup.

The drive to campus was silent except for the music that was faintly filling the silence. 

“Tell me what you’re going to do son.” My dad said.

“I’m going to beat down the door to every fucking room until somebody can tell me how the hell this happened.”

“We’ll start with the R/A’s they can easily bring all the girls out of their rooms to meet with us.”  Sarah told me. 

Sarah beat on the R/A’s door, after the chain lock was released and the handle unlocked, a very hung over Chloe answered.  It wasn’t the same one that had talked to us after we found out that Hunter had somehow managed to get in Harley’s dorm. 

“Chloe we need to talk to you and Liv, can you go over the intercom system and advice all the residents in this building to meet us in the lounge area please?” Sarah asked politely. 

Chloe looked at her then at me, when she looked at me her eyes widened for a second and she tried to close the door.  I pushed it open, she stumbled back a step before catching herself on the entry way table.  “You…You walked through the side door as Sarah went into the bathroom to look for Harley.”

Chloe started shaking, then shook her head, “You’ve got me confused with somebody else.”

“Bullshit!” I wrapped my hand around her throat and held her against the wall. 

“You’re going to tell me what the fuck happened and how you know Hunter.  I saw you leaving his house a while back.”

“Let her go so she can talk Ryder.” My dad ordered. 

I stared down at her, “I’ll break your fucking neck right here if you don’t tell us the truth. I’m going to let go and you’re going to go sit on the couch and tell us everything.”

She nodded at me so I released my grip on her throat, quickly she scurried into the living room and sat down.  “I…I started seeing Hunter shortly after Harley called it quits between them.  He wasn’t one of my professors so I didn’t feel threatened by the college that we would ever get caught.  At first I thought that he really liked me and that we had something good between us.  One night during sex he called me Harley, it hurt to hear him say that but I figured it was just an honest slip up.  I left my purse at his house on accident and he took my keys to the hardware store and made a copy, that’s how he got into their dorm that night.  I didn’t even know he was on campus, I walked out into the hallway to go hang with some of the girls upstairs and caught him walking out of Harley’s dorm.  I should have turned him in but before I could he was pushing me back inside threatening me that if I told anybody he would tell the dean about our relationship.  We stopped seeing each other for a while because I didn’t want to be involved with somebody that still had feelings for another woman.  I knew that Harley had you and it pissed me off that she still had Hunter but didn’t want him, if that makes sense.  Can—can I get some water real quick please?” She asked.  I nodded and watched her walk on shaky legs into her kitchen.

When she sat back down, “I want to know how the fuck everything happened last night.  How did he know she was even there?”

Chloe’s eyes filled with tears, “When Hunter and I were seeing each other we made a video,” she looked at me I just stared back, “A…um sex DVD.  Anyways, he wouldn’t give me the DVD.  I had even told the dean about Hunter, but, Hunter had already resigned.  The dean said that he would contact me if they did find Hunter but I never heard back.  Last night, after not hearing from him for months he called me and wanted to give me the DVD and told me to meet him in the alley of the club.  When I got there he was watching the people walk in and spotted you guys getting out of the taxi.  He said the only way he would give me the DVD was if I could get Harley to come outside so he could see her and talk to her.  If I didn’t get her to come outside he was going to publish the video on social media sites, email a copy to my parents, and email it to the school website so it would be published.  So when Harley was walking to the bathroom I used the excuse that I wanted her to come stand outside with me while I got some fresh and smoked a cigarette.  Hunter was dressed in all black so she didn’t see him standing in the shadows.” Tears were rolling down her face.  “I went inside after he grabbed her, when you and Sarah walked by me I went to the bartender and told him to call 911 because there was a lady being attacked in the alley.  He couldn’t hear me over the music and people were swarming the bar so bad that I got pushed back and pushed down.  When I finally managed to get up I pushed my way through the crowd and tried to open the exit door but it was jammed.  I hurried through the crowd and out the front doors until I reached the alley. By then the cops were there and the ambulance was putting Harley inside.”

“Do you know anything about Hunter?  Because the name Hastings isn’t his real name.  We’ve been looking for him for months.” Dad asked her

“After he sold his house he confessed to me that he was married and had a kid on the way and that he was moving back in with them.  Other than that he never told me anything about his personal life or family.  I didn’t talk to him again until he called me about the DVD.”

I scrubbed my hands down my face, “I don’t care about the fucking DVD, I want to know where to find him.  Do you have anything at all that will help?”

Chloe shook her head and wiped her tears away, “I can’t think of anything.  I’m so sorry, I should have…I’m selfish I guess and didn’t want the video shared.”

“You said he was going to share the video on social media.  Does he have a Facebook and Twitter?” Bryan asked.  I knew that Bryan only appeared calm on the outside.  On the inside I knew that he wanted to find Hunter just as bad as I wanted to. 

“Yes!” Chloe run out of the room and reappeared carrying her laptop.  After logging in she clicked on Hunter’s profile.  “He doesn’t have very many pictures.” She handed Bryan her laptop. 

“What about after he sold his house and went back to his wife did he email you anything?”

She thought for a few seconds, “I’ll have to look because I honestly can’t remember.” 

Bryan scrolled through the pictures on his social media page before handing the laptop back to her.  Chloe chewed on her pinky fingernail as she scrolled through her emails.  “I think this might be after.  I’m pretty sure it is.”

It was a simple email from Hunter that said:
I’m sorry I lied to you
.  Dad took the laptop and clicked on the email info.  He pulled his phone out of his pocket and left the room.  Not even five minutes later he walked back in, “It has to be his current residence because it’s a condo, in Leach that’s an hour away from here.”  He looked at Chloe, “You best not tell him we were here or you’ll be getting another visit from us as well as a letter from the dean.”

She nodded her head frantically, “I hope—that Harley will be okay Ryder.”

“She will be she’s stronger than any woman I know.  By the way this is her dad.  Remember that face because he’ll be the one coming for you if you call Hunter.”

She walked us to the front door, but before Sarah started to walk down the hallway she turned back toward Chloe.  A loud thwack noise penetrated the hallway, “And that’s for being such a cunt!” Sarah yelled. 

“Hell of a right hook you got there.” Dad grinned and wrapped his arm around her shoulders.  We went back to her dorm, showered then sat down to make a plan of how we were going to approach Hunter. 

Lucifer was on speaker phone since he hadn’t been feeling well he wasn’t able to come be with us.  “These god damn meds make me tired!  Anyways here’s what you three are going to do.  Go to the condo, if he’s home I’d torture the mother fucker right there in front of his wife.  If the wife is the only one home you tell her exactly what he’s done and wait for the bastard to come home.  If the kid is there you help her take it to a family member or neighbor.  This is one hundred times worse than what happened to Syd, let Bryan decide if the son of a bitch dies or not.  It killed me to see Syd like she was, it’s been a long hard road for her—it’s going to be even harder on Harley.”

Bryan lowered his head, his shoulders shook as he let the anger flow through him.  His fists were balled up so tight his knuckles were white.  “I want him dead, Prez.” He said.  “If you could see my baby girl you’d want the same thing.  I can’t let him live, I just can’t.  Kid or no kid.  He’s a monster that treats women like shit.”

“You’ll do the right thing.  I’ve spoken with the detectives, they uh, they know now that Ryder meant what he said.  Keep me posted and if needed call in the Devils.”

“Got it.” Dad said and ended the call. 

“Bryan, I’m sorry this happened.  You can be pissed at me you can beat the shit out of me.  I shouldn’t have relaxed so much.  If I would have been a little bit faster I probably could have caught him in the act.”  I told him.

He shook his head, “It’s not your fault, I’ve been hard as hell on you because I thought you’d end up breaking her heart over some chic.  I know you love her Ryder, I just hope that you’re strong enough to stick with her through the recovery.  It’s not going to be fast and it’s not going to be easy.”

“I will be there for her two hundred percent.”

He nodded his head, “Sarah you’ll have to go back to the hospital you can’t go with us for this.”

“Well that sucks I was ready to go all GI Jane on his ass.  But…I’m sure I’d only be in the way.  Please be safe you guys.”

Dad snorted, “Leave it to you to make some wise crack and lighten the mood.”

“I hate that this happened to her, I just want you guys to know she’s like a sister to me.  My own sisters have never made me feel as good about myself and as loved as Harley has.”  She stood and hugged all of us then left. 

“We need to hit the road.”  Dad said and we followed him out to Bryan’s pickup. 

Dad drove so Bryan could talk to Theresa on the way to Leach.  Harley had woken up for about twenty minutes but the pain was getting to her more so she requested more meds.  When Bryan hung up he stared out the side window, “Cade I don’t think you should leave it up to me.  Every fiber in my body says to kill him.”

“If it were my kid Bryan, I’d probably do the same.  Lucifer is going to call us with the condo number when we get there we’ll send one of the Devil Rider’s up to see if they are there.  If it’s just the wife we’ll do like he said, we’ll wait.”