Taken: Against My Will (9 page)

“Who the hell are you?” Ian demanded, “What were you doing in there with my god damn wife?” his voice was like a snake spitting venom and Vicky felt his hateful eyes glance at her before staring at Tristen.
“I have been giving Vicky everything you never could.” Tristen’s voice was calm and flat as he grabbed a towel of the counter beside the bath and wrapped it around his hips.
             “You bastard!” Ian’s voice was shrill as he threw himself toward Tristen, grabbing for his throat as though he wanted to strangle him. Vicky remained motionless, unable to move for fear of coming into his grip.
“I’m going to kill you with my bare hands.” Ian yelled just as Tristen grabbed hold of his wrists, quick enough to stop him grabbing hold of him.
“No, there is no need for such violence,” Tristen laughed as he gripped Ian’s wrist and twisted it in a very uncomfortable direction. Ian’s face turned red with pain and anger as he tried to pull his arm away. Tristen had a strong grip on him and he couldn’t get free.
“Give Vicky what she wants and then you will never see us again.” Tristen explained.
“What might that be?” Ian asked. As though Tristen thought Ian was finally talking sense he threw his wrist away like it was a worthless object he didn’t need anymore. Ian held his wrist with his opposite hand, rubbing the red marks where Tristen’s fingers had been.
“What is it you want sweetheart?” Tristen asked, turning to look at Vicky.
“Don’t you dare call her that!” Ian yelled but he did not try to attack Tristen again. Vicky could see the fear hidden behind the anger in Ian’s eyes.
        Vicky remained silent for a few moments. Her throat felt as though it was closing up and she almost couldn’t breathe. As she began to feel braver, seeing Tristen looing down expectantly at her she admitted,
“I want the divorce I asked you for last year.” Ian’s eyes flashed with hurt. Vicky reached past Tristen and grabbed a towel to cover herself before standing up.
“You can’t be serious?” Ian demanded. He looked angry again, “I’ve given you everything you’ve ever wanted.”
“And the cuts and bruises to go along with it.” Vicky felt hatred welling up inside her. The fact that she no longer faced him alone lent courage to her fragile state of mind.
“I never meant to hurt you, Vicky,” Ian’s voice sounded pleading, “You can’t leave me.”
“In her heart she already has.” Tristen said as he held out his hand to Vicky. She took his hand willingly and allowed him to lead her out of the bathroom.
            Just as she passed over the threshold of the door she felt hands on her hips. They pulled her backward, back into the bathroom. Vicky screamed as her hand was wretched free of Tristen’s.
“Get off me!” Vicky screamed.
“I am not letting you leave here with him.” Ian hissed into her ear as he pulled her back against him and snapped his arms closed around her.
“I suggest you get your filthy hands off her.” Tristen demanded as he appeared in the doorway again.
“If you think my hands are filthy then you should look at your own. You are the one who has been fornicating with another man’s wife.” Ian growled at him as though he was an animal who would rip his throat out if he tried to come near him. Seizing all her strength Vicky pulled away from Ian and turned to look at him. She quickly raised her hand and slapped him across the face.
“I will never be your wife ever again. I am leaving with or without a divorce and you will not stop me.” Vicky hissed at him. She no longer had a scared bone in her body. She was too angry at being made to feel like a possession. She could take it no longer. All she wanted to do was run from the apartment with Tristen by her side but she knew that no matter what she did Ian would try to stop her. He thought of her as his. He also thought that because she had his ring on her finger it meant that she was his forever. To her it meant nothing.
             Raising both her hands so that he could clearly see what she was doing, she grabbed hold of her wedding ring and yanked it from her finger. Ian stared in horror as she threw it at his feet.
“You mean nothing to me.” She yelled at him before stepping back into Tristen’s arms. She turned and kissed him purposefully on the lips knowing that it would kill the last of Ian’s spirit.
           Tristen swept her through the doorway and into the bedroom where he threw her down onto the bed just as Ian appeared from the bathroom. His eyes were alight with pure anger and hatred as he grabbed something from the side table. With sick horror Vicky watched as he brought the silver candle stick toward Tristen’s face. She was relieved as Tristen managed to duck out of the way just in time for the candle stick to slam into the wall making a huge dent and a loud crashing noise. Vicky held her breath as Tristen charged at Ian, tackling him to the floor. He straddled him as he grabbed hold of the candle stick and pried it from the man’s hand.
“You’ll have to kill me if you want to take her from this apartment alive.” Ian screamed in Tristen’s face. Vicky felt a sick feeling in her stomach as she watched Tristen shrug.
“Then I guess it’s in the name of love.” Tristen laughed as he slammed the candlestick down across Ian’s head that turned at the last minute. Tristen slammed the candle stick repeatedly into Ian’s head until Vicky reached forward and pulled him away.
              “Tristen that’s enough.” She screamed. He had pulled the candle stick back over his head ready to strike again when she pulled it from his hands. He turned to look at her with an angry expression that soon turned to one of horror. His face was splattered with blood and his eyes were alight with fear.
“What have I done?” he asked almost to himself as he looked back down at Ian’s broken head. Vicky scrambled off the bed and pressed her fingers to her husband’s throat, trying to feel a pulse. Her hands were shaking so hard that she could barely keep them in position. She was almost completely sure that she could feel nothing beating against her fingertips. A wave of nausea washed over her as she realized what it meant.
“He’s dead.” Came the choked exclamation from Vicky’s throat. Her eyes widened as the room spun. She was filled with a sense of both horror and relief; the horror at what had just happened and the relief that she was now free. Ian could no longer hurt her and that was all thanks to the man who could have killed her himself.          
               When Vicky looked up Tristen was staring at his hands that had caught the worst of the blood splatters. His eyes were wide with horror and his bottom lip quivered. Vicky had only ever seen someone in such a state once before. Her mother had had the same look on her face when she had had to tell Vicky that her father was dead. She remembered it like it was only yesterday but she shook the thought away as she realized she needed to sort Tristen out before he did something he was going to regret.
“Tristen look at me.” Vicky ordered as she took his chin in her hands and forced him to look into her face.
“Vicky, what have I done? I’ve killed him. I’m going to go to jail forever. How can you even stand to touch me?” he demanded. He tried to pull his face away from her hands but she only gripped him tighter.
“I can touch you because I love you.” Vicky told him. She leaned forward and planted a kiss on his lips, ignoring the blood that smeared her face.
“But I’ve killed him.” Tristen protested.
“He deserved it. Look at what he did to me!” Vicky told him. There was no way she could let him feel guilty about saving her life and killing a scumbag who didn’t deserve life.
            A look of realization flashed across Tristen’s eyes then and he nodded. Pushing himself up off the body, he moved away and pressed the palms of his hands to his temples.
“What do we do now?” Tristen asked.
“We tidy up and we leave him here for someone to find. The police will be keeping a close eye on him after what he’s done to me.” Vicky explained.
“What if they think you killed him?” Tristen demanded, “I can’t go to prison if you’re going to end up there too.”
“Don’t worry about that. It won’t happen.” Vicky assured him, “Now help me tidy up.”

Chapter Eleven
After doing their best to tidy up and make it look like Ian had been alone Vicky suddenly had an idea.
“It looks like he hit his head.” She said to herself as she examined the wound on her husband’s head. She then added in a louder voice, “Tristen come and help me.” Tristen looked suspicious as he walked over to join her.
           His eyes widened as she leaned down and began to lift Ian’s body.
“Vicky what the hell are you doing?” he demanded as he stared at her as though he thought she had gone crazy.
“I’m going to move him into the shower and turn it on.” Vicky explained, “Given what he’s done the police might just rule it as a slip in the shower.” Tristen’s eyes lit as though he couldn’t quite believe what he was hearing though he didn’t protest again. Instead he helped her to hoist the body up and carry it through the door and into the bathroom. They carefully placed Ian in the bathtub and turned on the shower, pulling the curtain in front of his body as much as possible.
             After doing so Vicky sat down on the toilet lid and took a few deep breaths to calm herself. She couldn’t let Tristen see how much she just wanted to fall apart. Instead she waited a moment before speaking in a calm voice,
“Now, let’s get ready and leave,” she explained, “We’ll climb out the window and go down the fire exit to make sure nobody has seen us.” Tristen nodded his agreement and then looked down at his hands.
“I should probably get rid of this blood.” He told her. Vicky nodded before replying,
“I’ll leave you to it.”
              She left the room and closed the door behind her. Sitting down on the edge of the bed she placed her head in her hands and the tears began to stream from her face. In all the years she had been with Ian she never thought it would end. Now she had just helped a known criminal to disguise a murder and she wasn’t even sure she was upset about it. Her tears were for her career. She wasn’t sure if she would ever be able to go back to work knowing what she had done and what she was about to do. She was about to lie to everyone she had ever known when she took Tristen in and played the hero while inside she was desperately wanting him to walk free. Her torn emotions fought inside her as she climbed off the bed and forced herself to dress.
             It wasn’t long before Tristen joined her and threw on his own clothes. Vicky grabbed her hand cuffs from the top draw of the desk then as she realized what she was about to do. After doing so they headed out to the living room and to the window. Tristen was quick to pull up the sticky windowpane and climb out. Vicky on the other hand remained where she was for a long moment looking around the apartment that had been her home for so long she couldn’t remember how long it had been. One thing she did know was that she couldn’t return. She couldn’t live in the same apartment where she had been beaten and abused by the man who now lay dead in the bathtub.
“Come on before someone sees us.” Tristen hissed in a hushed voice. Vicky shook her head to try and clear it before climbing out of the window using Tristen’s hand for support.
              They began to descend the fire exit quite slowly at first but began to grow faster as the city began to buzz with activity. People were waking from their beds ready for their days at work. The sound of two cats fighting came from further down the alleyway and Vicky heard a fox call out as the last of night was soaked away by the dawn light.
                As they reached the alleyway below, Tristen grabbed hold of Vicky and turned him toward her. He looked deep into her eyes and asked,
“After everything that’s happened tonight are you still sure you want me to do this?” Vicky wanted to say that she didn’t want him to go to prison. She wanted to keep him from the police at all costs and keep him with her so that she could protect him. She knew why he did the things he had done and why he wanted to protect her so badly from the people who wanted to hurt her. It was all because he had been hurt so many times by his step mother; all because one woman wanted to smack around a young child. Vicky knew she had to do the right thing though. She knew that he had to pay for his crimes or he would continue doing them if she wasn’t strong enough to keep him under control.
“You have to take the punishment for your actions.” She explained unable to look him in the eye.
“Vicky, look at me,” Tristen demanded, “I have something to say.” Vicky took a long, deep breath before finally looking up at him.
           Tristen seemed to take a deep breath of his own before explaining,
“Vicky, you are the best thing that has ever happened to me. I haven’t committed any crime since the night I took you to my apartment,” he explained before leaning forward and placing a kiss on her forehead, “Thank you. You saved me.” Vicky felt a tear run down her face but she quickly placed her head on Tristen’s chest so that he couldn’t see her crying. She wasn’t sure just how strong she could be in front of the police when she finally took him in. She was determined not to let him down though and even worse, she couldn’t let herself down. Her whole life would be over if the police realized what she had done and what she was going to continue to do.
           “Promise me?” Tristen whispered suddenly, making Vicky look up. She stared into his eyes feeling a little confused.
“Promise you what?” she asked as she waited for him to explain.
“Promise me that you will wait for me? If you don’t wish to ever see me again I might as well own up to the murder I just committed and get life in prison.” Tristen explained. Vicky felt sick at the thought of never seeing him again. She quickly shook her head and vowed,
“Tristen, I promise I will wait for you as long as it takes.”
“One last kiss to seal that promise?” Tristen asked with a cheeky smile. He leaned down and kissed her passionately on the lips. Vicky wrapped her arms around his neck, holding the kiss for as long as she could before she had to take a breath.
They reached the police station not long after 8am after walking all the way from the apartment. Vicky didn’t want to take her car because Paul would know she had been at the apartment building she did.
           As they came to an alleyway around the corner from the station Vicky took her handcuffs from her pocket.
“Are you ready to do this?” Vicky asked as she held the handcuffs up to him. Tristen took a gulping, deep breath before finally nodding. Vicky motioned with her finger for him to turn around and then pulled his arms behind his back. Clicking the handcuffs shut around his wrists Vicky found herself feeling a little strange. It had been a while since she’d made an arrest but this definitely didn’t feel like a real one.
           She took hold of Tristen’s elbow and began to walk him out of the alleyway.
“Aren’t you going to read me my rights?” Tristen laughed jokingly as she led him toward the station.
“Stay quiet. Don’t talk to me.” Vicky hissed under her breath as they neared the steps of the station. She felt her heart pounding and her hands were sweaty with nerves.
“Well here we go.” She whispered to herself as she led Tristen up the steps of the station and through the doors. Heads turned as she walked through the lobby and down the corridor toward her office. There was murmuring coming from left and right as people realized who it was she had hold of. Tristen gave daring smiles to every last one of them and Vicky couldn’t help but admire how well he played the role of an annoyed criminal who had just been picked up of the street.
              As they reached the door to the group office where her team worked, Vicky stopped. She couldn’t help wondering if she was doing the right thing. As she thought about it she realized it was too late. Too many people had seen them and there was no way of backing out of it now. She had to go through with it. She had to watch the only man she’d ever truly loved be carted away to prison. She didn’t even know how long she would be waiting for him to get out. With a jolt she realized that she might not even be able to wait as long as he needed. Taking a deep breath, Vicky reached for the door knob and walked through the door.
            Heads raised from their computers and paperwork as Vicky and Tristen entered. Paul who was sat closest to their boss’s office door jumped up from his desk and disappeared inside with a hurried knock on the glass. The commotion was bigger than even Vicky had expected. People began to cheer as though they thought she had just run some great marathon and won. In a way she felt like she had. She had set out to capture Tristen and she had in more ways than one. Not only had she brought him in to the station she had also captured his heart. She could tell by the way he glanced at her with love in his eyes. It was something she had never seen in anyone else’s eyes before. As soon as she had seen it for the first time she knew what it was. She knew he could see the same emotions reflected in her eyes. It was something that would connect them both forever no matter where they were or what was happening to them. It would always be there. Vicky knew it was true.
            Paul and their boss appeared from his office. His face dropped with a look of utter astonishment and surprise as though he hadn’t believed what Paul had told him when he fetched him. He gestured for two of the other police officers to seize Tristen before gesturing Vicky to follow him. Vicky forced herself not to look back over her shoulder as she moved away from Tristen and followed her boss into his office.
           The same moment she closed the door behind her he asked, “How did you do it?” Vicky couldn’t help but smile as she thought of what had happened to her in the last few days. It was their little secret and there was no way she was going to tell anyone about it.
“I was out for a jog this morning when he tried to grab me again. Luckily I had my cuffs on me.” Vicky explained. She kept her story short. There was no way she wanted to give her boss any reason to suspect foul play. She knew the result if she did. She would lose her job and probably be unemployed for the rest of her miserable life while she waited for Tristen to get out of prison. She might even end up in prison herself if her boss saw fit.
            He didn’t look suspicious though as he told her, “You should go back to Paul’s and get some rest. You’ve had a rough time of it lately. I want you recovered and back here as soon as possible.”
“Of course sir. I can’t wait to come back and throw myself back into my work.” Vicky lied. The truth was she wasn’t sure she could even do her work anymore. How could she go around arresting criminals when she would always wonder what if they were like Tristen? What if they did the things they did because of the hurt that had been inflicted on them as children? It was a thought that made her feel sick as she realized just how many people might have been abused as a child. It could be the reason for every criminal in the world.

***

Tristen was forced to remove his belt, shoe laces and hoodie before he was thrown into the cell where he would for them to decide what would happen to him next. The police officers sneered and cursed him under their breaths as they went about their jobs. Tristen gritted his teeth against the taunts. There was no way he was going to do anything to make things worse for himself. He had to do everything he could to ensure he got back to Vicky as soon as possible.
            As the police officers removed his handcuffs and shoved him into the cell, closing the huge metal door behind him all he could think about was Vicky. He thought of her beautiful face as she slept and how she looked when she had been soaking under the shower head the night before. He remembered how her body had reacted to his the first time they’d touched. He remembered how her eyes had lit up when she’d seen him in the hospital. It was at that moment that he knew what would get him through his long and dangerous time in prison. He would get by on knowing that the woman he loved was waiting for him when he finally got out.
           He collapsed down onto the hard bench and placed his head on the flattened pillow. His thoughts remained on Vicky as he closed his eyes and willed himself to sleep. It had been a long night and he would need all his strength for the coming days if he was going to get through all the questioning and the torment he was going to suffer at the hands of the police officers who were determined to send him down for good. He was glad that at least one of them was on his side even if her co-workers didn’t know it.

***

Vicky headed back to Paul’s house not long after speaking with her boss. Many of her co-workers had questions which she was quick to answer. All she wanted to do was curl up and sleep. She was so tired that she thought she might collapse on the walk back to the house.
          As she walked all her thoughts were on Tristen and how he would be in his cell by now. She imagined him pacing up and down the cell wondering what to do with himself. She also imagined what would happen at his trial. A number of different scenarios went through her mind. He could get a few years. He could get 10 years. He could get life. The last one was unbearable. She couldn’t stand the thought of never seeing him again. Instead of thinking about it she shook her head clean and took out the spare key Paul had given her the day before she’d left the hospital.
             She reached the house just as Joan was leaving for work. The dark haired woman looked up from where she was about to lock the door and smiled at Vicky.
“Where have you been?” she asked softly, “Paul was worried when he didn’t see you at breakfast.”
“I went for a run to clear my head. I’ve seen him though.” Vicky told her. Joan looked relieved as she moved out of the way of the front door to let Vicky inside.
        “Have a nice day at work.” Vicky called to her as she headed toward her car at the end of the driveway. Opening the door, Vicky headed inside and locked it behind her. Even though she had seen Ian die, she was still terrified that he would somehow rise from the dead and come back to have another go at her. She was glad to know that it would never happen. She knew that if Tristen hadn’t been there the night before, Ian would have killed her for sure. His beatings had gotten worse and worse and she could tell by how much the force increased every time that her time was running out. It seemed to be a miracle that her path had crossed with Tristen’s. He had saved her life and proven to her that not all criminals were as they seemed. She knew it was going to be a long wait.