The Price We Pay (15 page)

“You fucking moron!”

I had a black belt in Karate, knew Krav Maga, and more self-defense training than anyone I’d ever met. I pushed my arm up harder against his Adam's apple, pushing his head back against the concrete wall. “If anything happens to her,” I drew in a shaky breath, my voice sounding sinister to my own ears, “I swear to God I’ll end you.”

“Kennedy, man,” Jaxon said at my side. “Let the asshat go.”

I slowly slid my arm down. “He lost Sofia.’

“We’ll find her.” He grabbed my arm, “Come on. Latch and Marvey are looking for her also.”

“I need to call Gabe back.”

“Fuck!” I roared, walked back down the hallway. I busted through the entrance and there were still kids lingering around. I eyed them all, looking for anyone suspicious but they were laughing and chatting with each other.

No yellow dress.

I pulled my phone out and put it to my ear. “I’ve got two men coming to you,” Gabe answered.

“They took her right in front of me!” I yelled so loud that some of the students glanced my way, then decided to leave.

“Professionals,” Gabe suggested.

“She’s gone.” I ran my free hand over my head and saw Marvey walk towards me with Latch.

“We didn’t find her,” she said putting her hands on her hips.

“You should have stayed in the van,” Latch told her.

“I’m not going to sit around and
not
look for my best friend!” she snapped at him and turned around to hide her emotions.

“Fuck. Fuck. Fuck,” I muttered under my breath.

“We’ll find her,” Gabe said into my ear. “I’ve sent two of my guys your way.”

“What the fuck is going on?” I asked trying to keep myself from doing something stupid. My stomach was in knots, and the pain from the surgery was piercing my stomach, getting worse with every passing second. I had dissolvable inside stitches and I hoped I hadn’t torn one.

“I told you yesterday, start thinking of anyone you’ve pissed off. Business deals gone wrong. Employees that have been fired recently.”

“I’m working on it.”

“Work harder,” he snapped. “You were shot, almost died, and now they have Sofia. They took her right in front of you, man.”

“Don’t fucking remind me!”

I hung up and shoved the phone in my back pocket.

“I called my uncle,” Latch said.

I heard a vehicle slam on their breaks and we all turned towards the black SUV and watched two men jump out. The passenger guy shook my hand and so did the driver after rounding the front of the vehicle. They were twins. Tall, lean, white, short black hair, and matching brown eyes.

“Chris,” the passenger introduced himself, “and that’s Cain.”

“Let’s get to work,” Cain said.

Latch joined after a few minutes and we went over every detail from the moment we woke up to the moment of they arrived on campus. Latch filled in the details prior to me meeting up with them at the condo, which I felt was helpful, and I gave them my every move since waking up this morning. We went over the grounds together. They were already trying to get the video feeds from campus security, so in the meantime, we discussed all the possibilities of how they could have taken her and which route they might have used. I needed to find out who would do this to her. To us.

Sofia was my life, my best friend, and soulmate.

The one thing I had that was real.

I had to find her.

I saw Harper walking towards me in a pair of short shorts, which were actually a pair of men’s boxer shorts. I doubt they were Jaxon’s, but it was fucking hot today and I didn’t blame her for not wanting to wear the sweat pants they had.

We were both up early and talked the entire time we made and ate breakfast. For some reason, from the first night we had our Tequila party, I was closer to Harper than the other two women. I’m sure it had to do with the fact that she was hell bent on finding her brother’s killer and I, along with Jaxon, was trying to talk her out of it. We had more one on one conversations and even though she didn’t smoke, she’d follow me outside sometimes to chat.

I shut the blade off and turned the lawnmower around to meet her halfway. I took the glass of water first, drank it all, then she handed me the sandwich.

“This is good,” I mumbled with a mouthful.

“Just a sandwich,” she replied, looking around the yard. Latch had acres upon acres, but I only took care of the grass up until the start of the trees. I’ve never ventured out there. As far as I knew, it was just a lush piece of forestry with nothing but trees for miles.

“You want another one?” she asked wiping the sweat off her forehead. Her hair was pulled up into a bun on the top of her head, yet a few strands escaped and clung to her skin.

“It’d be appreciated, Harp.”

She gave me her,
I like being called Harp but won’t admit it
smile and started her trek back to the house. I had no clue what time it was, didn’t care or need to wear a watch, not that I owed one but it did feel like she’d been gone a lot longer than it would have taken her to make another sandwich. I finished the area I had been working on and decided to call it a day. The sun had started it's slow descent so I figured it had to be after four or five in the afternoon. It took forever for the lawnmower to make it back to the shed, but I put it back where it belonged and headed towards the house to see what happened to Harper.

I came around the front of the house, saw the truck and instantly started to panic. I ran up the stairs, through the door and came to a stop in the living room.

Sweet, adorable Harper was on her knees in the middle of the living room, silently crying. Her hair was messed up, letting me know she probably struggled with her attacker.

The voice I hadn’t heard for a year decided to speak. “Thought you’d be out there all day.” He was standing behind Harper, hands in his black slacks. He was wearing the matching suit jacket but without a shirt. His standard look because he thought he was a God.

Arsen Wells thought he was a God, acted like one, and tried to look like one. He’s never changed his look. He was half Mexican, half white and his skin was flawless and tan all year round. People bowed down to him. No one said no to him.

He wasn’t one of the bad guys, he was
the
bad guy.

“Let her go,” I ground out.

“Her?” he asked, at the same time lifting his foot and shoving it into her back, pushing her forward so she was on her hands and knees. I moved towards her only to hear a click of a gun on my right. I didn’t have to look, I knew it was his right-hand man, Shane.

“Thought I’d come alone?” he asked reading my mind while Harper tried to sit back up.

“Stay,” he shouted and Harper stopped moving and started crying more. “A woman’s place is on her hands and knees.”

“Don’t you fucking touch her!”

“Randy, Randy Randy…” He shook his head and ran his ugly green snakeskin boot over Harper’s ass. “Don’t pull this holier-than-thou shit on me, Randy. Don’t you remember all the shit we did?
You
did?”

I said nothing and I couldn’t even look at Harper if I wanted to. Her head was bowed down and I couldn’t imagine what thoughts were running through her mind. I knew what we had done in the past, what I had done, and I had no time to hash that out nor did I want to.

The gun Latch left me with was in my room, empty. I took the bullets out when the girls moved in, just to be on the safe side.

“How did you find me?”

His sinister laugh filled the room and he dropped his foot back to the floor. Shane hadn’t moved and I could feel the gun still pointed at my head. It wasn’t the first time I’ve felt cold metal on my head.

“You should know Randy; I always get what I want.”

I did know that.

“I found you a long time ago,” he informed me. “I thought I’d let you get comfortable, enjoy your time out here in the country, think you were
safe
.”

I should have known.

“It was fun, wasn’t it?” he asked sarcastically. “Enjoying your
freedom
.”

The idea of changing my name and making my way to some private island was what I should have done in the first place, but the prosecutor told me this was the best thing to do. They promised me with only a few people knowing my location that I’d be safe.

I should have known the sick bastard would do this.

Lost fucking promises.

Then again, I didn’t deserve the life I thought I did. Half of me knew this would happen but sometimes I hoped it wouldn’t.

Harper deserved her life, though.

“You can have me.”

“Been there,” he waved his hand in the air, “done that.” He smirked.

Fucking asshole.

“Just let her go, Arsen. You don’t like blondes anyway.”

“Hmmm,” he walked around Harper like she was one of his whores and said, “you’re right about that.”

“I’m right about a lot of things,” I reminded him. “Let’s go. Without her.” I tried to move and the gun made contact with my head. No one said anything, but Arsen pulled out his cell, hit a few buttons, and then slipped it back into his front pocket.

“Well, this was fun, Randy,” he said walking towards the front door which surprised me a bit, but the phone call must have been important. Shane was still next to me until Arsen whistled and he went running like the dog he was. I was standing sideways, afraid to move and Harper did the same, staying on the floor with her head still down.

Something wasn’t right.

It wasn’t over.

It’s never over this quick.

“Randy,” Arsen called my name from the doorway and I slowly turned around. “You were one of my favorites.”

I had heard that more than once and to the Old Randy, that was a big deal. It was a big deal to anyone who heard it, and everyone who hung out with Arsen wanted to be his favorite.

I slowly turned to face him, trying to prepare myself for what was to come.

His arm was hanging at his side, with his hand gripping his shiny gold magnum 45. He was never without it. It was the one and only gun he’s ever shot. He rarely shot someone himself, but when he did, it was his and it meant something to him. “You remember the kill shot, Randy?”

I could never forget, but said nothing. It was a game he loved to play, and all his favorites played it with him. Preparing to die was a lot harder than I thought it would be. I prepared for it the best I could this past year but now that it’s actually happening, well, it was worse. We both knew if he ever found me and had the opportunity to kill me, he would do it.

“I wish I had time to stick around Randy, see how long it takes for you to bleed out. Make a bet on your life.” He raised his arm and aimed the gun. “But I don’t have the time.”

The shot rang out and the bullet pierced my stomach exactly where it was supposed to. I knew he hit an artery, he never missed. I grabbed the couch and slid myself down until I hit the floor. I heard the faint click of Arsen’s boots as he left, he didn’t stick around to watch me fall to the floor, he knew he hit his mark. My life didn’t flash before my eyes and that was probably for the best. I didn’t need a reminder of all the fucked up things I’ve done.

“I don’t know what to do,” Harper said, falling to her knees at my side.

“There’s nothing to do, Harp.”

“I’ll get some towels.” She tried to stand and I pulled her back down.

“Don’t,” I grunted feeling my heart beating the life out of me.

“Randy,” she whispered, caressing my cheek, “please don’t leave me.”

“That was a kill shot, honey.”

“My brother just died. I just can’t lose you. It’s not right.”

I tried to ignore the pain and the blood soaking my clothes. “Can you do me a favor?”

“Anything,” she promised.

“Tell Latch something for me.”

She nodded quickly and scooted closer to me.

“I owed him one.”

“One what?” she asked.

“He saved my life. A life not worth saving.”

She slapped my arm. “Don’t talk like that.”

I smiled. “I owe him my life and now I can’t save his.”

“My sweet Randy, you deserve to live. You just have to hang on, don’t give up.”

“This is the price I have to pay,” I told her what I truly believed.

“What do you mean?”

“I was a bad person Harp; this is what I deserve. I’m paying the ultimate price with my life. It was always supposed to end this way.” I chuckled and ignored the blood flowing freely from my stomach and into my clothes settling on the hardwood floor. “I’m surprised I lasted this long.”

“Stop being so negative,” she cried.

“I’m dying, woman, let me be fucking negative.”

She cradled me in her arms and got us as comfortable as possible. “Harp honey, you have to stop looking for him,” I begged staring into those sad blue eyes.

I didn’t have to say who ‘him’ was. She knew, and I knew she knew by the look in her glossy eyes. “Those men are just like Arsen.”

She could only nod.

“Promise me you’ll stop, Harp.”

I started to get lightheaded, the room was spinning, and I tried very hard to focus on her. When Arsen played, The Killshot Game, he’d make us all take bets on who’d live the longest. Some would bleed out faster than others, some would take hours.

I would not last for hours.

Harp was crying hard, trying to keep it together.

“I know your sweet on Jaxon, but I don’t care.” I found every single piece of energy and power within me to sit up and press a small kiss to her lips. “Every dying man deserves a kiss before they meet their maker.”

She nodded agreeing with me, and I continued to say at much as I could say before I wasn’t able to. “Promise me, Harp. I have to hear the words.”

She nodded her head again and very softly said, “I promise.” As my body fell back into her arms.

“Cremate my ass and bury me in the woods.”

She chuckled through her tears and kissed me gently on the forehead. “I love you, Randy.”