Wild Renegade (18 page)

She
grabs a roll of duct tape off the table and forces me to sit in the
recliner.
 
She then proceeds to duct
tape me to the chair. She makes me cross my arms over my chest and then wraps
the duct tape around me from my shoulders to my stomach. If she didn't look
like she is ready to fucking snap, I might have fought back. But I don't want
her to do anything to Ace while he's knocked out.

After
she secures me, she goes over to Ace and duct tapes his hands behind his back.
She tapes his ankles together, and then hog-ties him. Fuck, he has no way to
protect himself. She turns him so he's on his side, facing me. Next, she grabs
a small little white pill looking thing off the counter and snaps it before
placing it under Ace's nose. I realize that it's smelling salts when Ace comes
awake with a start. He groans and tries to move, but quickly realizes that he's
unable to do so.

He
looks around and sees me. His eyes widen in alarm. "What the fuck?"

"Hello,
Ace," Hillary drawls as she moves into his line of sight.

"Hillary?
Are you fucking insane? What the hell are you doing?" he squawks and
struggles against the duct tape.

"I
told you that you haven't seen the last of me. Since my little hit and run didn't
work, I had to make new plans," she says flippantly.

~Ace~

This
chick has lost her ever-loving mind! I yank at the tape holding me, but she did
a good job and I don't think that I can get out of this. I have no idea what she
is going to do. She's obviously unstable. My only hope is that Dennis makes it
back in time before she does something drastic. My head is pounding, I'm sure
there's got to be a lump on the back of my head. Hillary taps the flat side of
the large fillet knife against her chin.

"Who
should I start with?" she asks herself. She turns towards Nicole.
"Maybe I should slice some skin off that pretty face of yours."

Nicole
blanches and her eyes flash with terror. She jerkily shakes her head. "No,
Hillary, please don't," she croaks.

"With
a knife like this, I could easily remove your eyebrows or lips," she
cackles.

My
stomach rolls. Holy fuck, she's definitely lost her fucking mind. "Hillary,
leave her alone!" I bark, hoping to divert her attention.

It
works; she whirls around to glare at me. "You shut up! You are supposed to
be with me! Not this stupid whore! Maybe if I take her away, then you will have
no choice but to be with me!"

"Hillary,
do you really think that you're going to get away with this? Even if you kill
both of us, the police are still looking for you and they will find you,"
I say.

"No
they won't! As soon as I'm done here, I'm hopping on a plane out of this
fucking country, they will never find me!" she screams.

I
shake my head. "You'll never make it out of the country."

"Shut
your fucking mouth!" she bellows and kicks me hard in the jaw.

Pain
explodes through my head. I close my eyes against the stars bursting in front
of me. Nicole screams my name. I taste blood and realize that I bit the inside
of my cheek pretty damn good. My head is swimming and the room starts to spin.
I'm pretty sure that I have a concussion. I try to open my eyes but the
spinning only gets worse so I squeeze them shut. I can feel the blood starting
to pool in my mouth and it's making me nauseous so I spit it out. I hear Nicole
gasp.

"Ace!"
she cries again.

"I'm
alright, baby...I'm alright," I try to assure her, knowing that he
probably won't believe me anyway.

"Aw,
poor Ace," Hillary sneers. "See what happens when you chose someone
else over me? We were supposed to be together. We were perfect for each
other!"

I
drag my eyes open and look for Nicole. She's sitting in the recliner, tears
streaming down her face. Hillary has her back to her so Nicole starts to mouth
to me. I blink and try to figure out what she is saying. Finally, it hits me.
Nicole is telling me to agree with her. I give her a subtle nod, letting her
know that I understand.

"You
know, Hillary, you're absolutely right," I say evenly. "I don't know
what I was thinking."

Hillary
stares at me for a moment before she smiles and hums. She turns and looks at
Nicole for a moment before whirling back around to me and kicking me hard in
the ribs. "Do you really think I'm that stupid? Like I would believe that
you just all of a sudden changed your mind!"

I
cry out before gritting my teeth against the pain radiating from my abused
ribs.

"Stop
hurting him!" Nicole shouts.

"Would
you rather I hurt you instead?" Hillary snaps, storming over to Nicole
with the knife.

Nicole
fervently shakes her head. "I don't want you to hurt either of us!"

"Tough
shit!" Hillary barks. "You deserve everything that's coming to
you!"

Oh
god, how long will it take Dennis to get back here? How long was I unconscious?
I don't even know. We could be in some serious trouble if we don't get some
help soon. I try to work my hands out of the duct tape, but she really taped me
up good. I can't see this ending without either Nicole or me getting seriously
injured. I'd rather it be me, though.

~Nicole~

I
can see Ace struggling to get out of his restraints behind Hillary's back.
Hillary is stalking toward me with the knife and I'm honestly scared for my
life. She's unstable and I have no idea what she's going to do or what she's
capable of. My breathing has picked up and I'm fighting not to hyperventilate
because that will so not help me right now. The look in Hillary's eyes is pure
hatred as she glares at me.

"Maybe
I should cut all your hair off," she says, but more to herself than me.

Shit,
that's better than “Maybe I should slit your throat.”
 
I watch her with wide eyes as she makes
her way closer. She starts to walk around toward the back of the recliner, but
as she starts to pass me, she lets the hand with the knife drop so that the tip
of the blade drags up my thigh. I whimper as the scraps up my jeans but
doesn't
cut through since she's not really putting any
pressure. I'm sure if my leg was bare, though, I would have needed stitches.

Just
as she rounds the recliner, there is a knock on the door. Ace and I freeze, our
eyes darting to each other. I give him a subtle nod. We need to call for help.
His eyes flick to Hillary, who I can no longer see because she's behind me.
Another knock.

"Ace?"
comes Dennis' voice through the door.

"Dennis!
Help! Hillary is here and has a knife!" Ace yells and continues to
struggle.

Suddenly,
my hair is yanked hard, pulling my head back as a knife is pressed against my
throat. "Big mistake," Hillary hisses at Ace.

I
can feel the knife cutting into my skin and I know that if I so much as twitch
she could cut my throat wide open. Blood trickles down my neck, tickling me. I
hear a crash as Dennis kicks the door open. I can barely see him with my head
angled back, but from what I can see, the Marine is in full combat mode with
his gun out and pointed straight at Hillary.

"Come
any closer and I will slit her throat!" Hillary screams frantically.

The
hand holding the knife is trembling, which is not good for me. Dennis moves
slightly, looking like he's trying to get a clear shot of her. He's smiling,
but holy fucking shit, does he look scary. It is not a nice smile. It's the
smile from a person who has no qualms about killing another human being. It's
the smile of someone with a dark past and a cold heart. It's vicious and
unforgiving and it's frightening as all hell. No wonder Hillary is trembling.

"Drop
the knife so I don't have to kill you," Dennis says, his tone hard as
granite.

"I'll
slit her open first!" Hillary threatens.

Dennis'
eyes flash, as if he's looking forward to putting a bullet between her eyes.
"My aim and bullet is faster than your knife, you won't even have a
chance, sweetheart," Dennis drawls, his tone belittling.

Hillary
starts dragging the knife and I gasp as I feel it cut into my skin even more.
Ace shouts frantically at her to stop and then a loud boom has my ears ringing.
Hillary's hands go slack and fall away from me. The knife clatters to the
ground. I'm frozen in place. I stare in shock as Dennis shoves his gun back into
his holster and pulls out a pocketknife. He flips it open and quickly frees
Ace. Ace scrambles to his feet, shrugging out of his jacket and yanking his
shirt over his head as he practically trips over himself running over to me. He
balls his shirt up and presses it against my throat. Dennis comes over and cuts
away the duct tape that is holding me to the chair. I blink up at Ace.

"Is
it bad?" I ask him.

He
knows I'm talking about my neck.

"I
don't think so, but you are bleeding," he chokes, his eyes shining with
unshed tears.

As
soon as Dennis has me free of the tape, he gets on his phone and calls 911.

"Ace,
is she dead?" I whisper.

Ace
nods. "Yeah, baby. He shot her in the forehead," he replies quietly.

I
swallow hard. "Good."

"He's
one hell of a shot," Ace says in awe.

"Thank
god he carries a gun," I add.

"Fuck
yes," he breathes out in relief.

Within
minutes, Ace's condo is packed with police and EMTs. We are both carted away in
an ambulance to the hospital. I need stitches for the gash Hillary put across
my neck. The EMT says it is deep enough and long enough to need stitches but it
"probably" wouldn't have killed me. So reassuring. And Ace also needs
stitches in his mouth, he almost bit through his cheek. Plus, they want a
doctor to check him out for a concussion. So away we go to the hospital. At
least they let us ride together.

Once
we get there, Ace insists on staying with me while they stitch up my neck, which
I am grateful for because I've never gotten stitches in my life. Ace holds my
hand as the plastic surgeon does his best so that I will have the smallest scar
possible. After he's finished, the doctor covers it with gauze and tells me how
to care for it. The nurse then takes Ace into the next room so that he can get
checked out while they get my release papers together. No need for me to stay.
Yeah, I lost some blood, but it wasn't enough to keep me in the hospital. The
doctor said I might feel a bit weak for the next couple of days so I have to
take it easy.

After
I sign the release papers, I go into the next room to be with Ace. He's already
been stitched up and checked for a concussion. I guess when you're famous, you are
their top priority and get the fastest treatment. The doctor told Ace that he
has a mild concussion, nothing really to worry about unless he starts throwing
up and becomes lethargic. The doctor leaves to go write up Ace's release
papers. They are probably trying to get us out of here as soon as possible to
avoid the media getting wind of us being here. I don't blame them, the hospital
will be crawling with paparazzi disguised as nurses if they find out that we
are here. I sit down next to Ace on the bed. He wraps his arm around my
shoulders.

"What
a night," I groan.

"Yeah,
that was a crazy couple of hours right there," Ace agrees.

"I'm
glad you're okay," I murmur and drop my head gently to his shoulder.

"Shit,
I'm glad you're okay, too.
 
I was
scared there for a moment that I would lose you," he rasps.

"I
love you," I whisper.

Ace
kisses the top of my head. "I love you, too."

Chapter Eleven

~Ace~

I
can't believe how close I came to losing Nicole forever. The raw terror I felt
when I saw that knife being dragged across her throat was like nothing I've
ever felt before, not even the fear of when I thought she was going to get hit
by the car. The blood started flowing down her neck and I thought that she was
going to bleed out right in front of me. Thank fucking god for Dennis. I owe
that man everything. Everything!

Nicole
is curled against me as we wait in the hospital bed for the nurse to return
with my discharge papers. She needed about thirty stitches to close the slash
on her neck. Damn, that was too friggin' close. I can't even close my eyes
without seeing the knife dragging and the blood running. A knock on the
doorframe brings me out of my thoughts. I look up to see Detective Brice
entering the room.

His
expression is grim as he comes over to the bed and shakes my hand then Nicole's
hand. "Ace, Nicole, how are you doing?"

"Glad
to be alive," I reply wearily.

He
nods. "I'm sure. Listen, I hate to do this to you tonight, but I'd like to
take both of you down to the station to get your accounts on what
happened."

"Okay,"
Nicole replies. "Dennis isn't in trouble, right? I mean, he saved my
life."

"As
of right now, no. But we need everyone's statement before we can make a
decision on whether or not to charge him," Brice says. "Dennis is
already at the station giving his right now."

"As
soon as I get released, we can go," I say.

Detective
Brice nods. "I'll drive you."

We
only have to wait about fifteen minutes before the nurse comes in with the
papers. Security escorts us out to the detective's car just to be safe. So far,
the paparazzi haven’t found out, but it's only a matter of time before this
shit blows up the headlines. When we get to the station, Detective Brice
separates Nicole and me, placing us in different interrogation rooms.

I'm
sitting at the table, my hands folded in my lap, my head down. I'm exhausted and
can barely keep my eyes open. I've been sitting here alone for who knows how
long. My guess is that they are talking to Nicole first. I drift asleep and am
hit with flashes of blood and a headless Nicole. The door squeaks open and I
start so hard that I have to grab the edge of the table so that I don't fall
out of my chair. Detective Brice frowns at me.

"You
okay?" he asks.

"Fuck,"
I gasp. "I fell asleep and was having a nightmare."

I
rub my face hard then wince when I end up irritating the stitches in my mouth.
I rub my eyes and rake my hand through my hair. I look up just as Brice places
a cup of coffee in front of me.

"Nicole
asked me to bring this to you," he says with a small smile.

I
give him a grateful smile. "Thanks."

He
takes a seat in the chair across from me and sets a file down on the table. His
light brown eyes meet mine. "So, I talked to Nicole. She told me her side,
but I'd like to hear your side of the events that occurred. Start with your
visit to Mr. DeGrassi this morning."

I
recapped our visit with Alex, and then told him how Dennis dropped us at my
place after picking up Nicole's things from the hotel. I told him how Dennis
needed to go pick up his things from his place. Then I told him everything that
happened after I came to. Detective Brice takes notes and asks me questions
throughout the story; just things like, did I ever feel like we had been
followed, or did she have a key to my place, etc...

"...And
here I am, talking to you," I finish.

Brice
finishes whatever he is writing and snaps his little notebook closed. He stands
and extends his hand toward me. I shake it.

"Thanks,
Ace, sounds like everything checks out, I think Dennis is in the clear,"
he says.

"That's
great to hear," I reply gratefully.

"I'll
get you back to Nicole and Dennis. Do you have somewhere to stay tonight?"

"I'm
sure I can find someone to take us in." I chuckle.

He
smirks. "Good."

He
leads me down a couple of hallways then through a door that leads to a waiting
room. Nicole, Dennis, Beau, and Lizette are in there. They all look over as I
walk in. Beau races to me, crashing into me and pulling me into a big bear hug.

"Fuck,
I'm so glad you're okay," he murmurs.

I
pat him on the back. "Me, too, bud." I grunt.

Beau
quickly releases me. "Shit, sorry, your ribs hurt." He grimaces.

I
clap him on the shoulder. "It's okay, man."

Lizette
is next to give me a hug. Dennis is hanging back with Nicole, so I go to him. I
grab him and pull him into a fierce hug, fuck my ribs. Dennis grunts in
surprise but hugs me back.

"I'm
sorry that I ever doubted your ability. You saved our lives and I don't know
how I will ever repay you," I whisper to him.

I
feel Dennis nod but he doesn't say anything. I pat the back of his head before
letting him go. Dennis gives me a tight smile. I can see that he's a little
choked up, so I decide to lighten the mood.

"You
totally owe me for the cost of cleanup, though." I snicker.

Dennis
grins and shrugs. "I'll have to work it off because I don't have that kind
of money," he teases.

"Deal."
I chuckle.

"You
are all free to go," Detective Brice says.

I
didn't even know he was still standing there. I go and shake his hand one more
time and thank him, as does Nicole and Dennis. Beau and Lizette insist that we
stay with them, and I'm too tired to argue, so we all pile into Beau's car.
First stop is to drop Dennis off at his condo, and then we go to Beau and
Lizette's place. Lizette rescheduled the next two concert stops, tacking them
onto the end of the tour instead, so we have about a week before we have to get
back on the road, giving us some time to recover.

As
soon as we walk into the condo, Lizette's phone starts blowing up. She answers
call after call. She gives us an apologetic look before walking down the hall
and shutting herself in the office. Beau goes into the kitchen and opens the
fridge.

"You
guys have to be starving," he says and starts rattling off what they have
to eat.

I
opt for a sandwich while Nicole just wants to go lie down. Beau shows her to
the guest room then comes back and pulls out everything to make a sandwich. I
sit at the island counter, head resting against my fist, and watch him make me
a turkey and cheese sandwich.

"You
doing okay?" Beau asks quietly.

"I
guess." I sigh.

Beau
eyes flick to mine. "You don't look okay. You look like you're about to
lose your shit."

"The
past couple of days have been the worst I've ever had," I croak. Damn,
Beau, why did he have to go and say something like that?

"Who
knew being in love with a woman would be so hard," he mutters, shaking his
head.

I
try to swallow past the lump in my throat. He could say that again. I never had
these kinds of problems when I was single. I stare at the ring on Beau's left
hand. They haven't gotten married yet, but it's all planned for when we have
our break between the U.S. and European tours. Nicole's father would never
approve of us getting married. I don't give a shit about that, though. I want
to marry her and I will, with or without his blessing.

Beau
slides the plate with my sandwich across the table. I lift the sandwich and
take a bite, forgetting about the stitches in my mouth. I grunt and groan and
force the food onto the good side of my mouth. It still hurts to chew, though.

"Ugh...sandwich
was a bad idea," I grunt in pain, placing a hand over my bad cheek.

Beau
winces. "Shit, I forgot. Let me see if we got some canned soup or
something," he says, turning to look through some cabinets for soup.

He
found some Campbell's chicken noodle, so he heats that up for me and takes the
sandwich for himself. I thank him. The soup is much easier to eat. We eat in comfortable
silence. As Beau is cleaning up, someone pounds on the front door. Beau moves
to get it, but I stop him.

"I
got it," I say.

Beau
nods and goes back to cleaning up. I shuffle to the door and take a look out
the peep hole. It's a frantic looking Dean so I open the door. He sees me and
immediately sags in relief, then wraps me up in his arms. I can feel his body
trembling.

"Jesus
Christ, man, there are all kinds of rumors going around. I thought you were
fucking dead," he breathes.

"I'm
okay," I whisper.

He
lets me go after a moment, but only to grab my shoulders and look me over.
"How's Nicole?"

"She's
okay." I nod.

He
frowns hard. "I heard something about her throat getting slit, please tell
me that's not true," he croaks.

I
motion for him to come inside, and then I shut the door behind him. Dean is
staring at me, waiting anxiously for an answer. I know he has a soft spot for
Nicole, as they have become really good friends, so I know he's going to freak
out over this.

"It's
true," I say.

Dean
visibly pales. "Where is she? Can I see her?"

"I
think she's sleeping."

He
nods fervently. "Okay, okay, I don't want to disturb her. Was it
bad?"

I
walk over to the couch and sit down. Dean follows, sitting down next to me.
"She needed thirty stitches."

"Fuck,"
Dean breathes as he leans forward and drops his face into his hands.

Beau
joins us. He sits on the love seat adjacent to us.

"I
can't believe this happened. Is Hillary really dead? I heard Dennis shot
her," Dean asks, looking at me over his shoulder.

I
nod. "Yes, Dennis shot and killed her."

His
lip curls in disgust. "Good. That bitch deserved it," he snarls.

"Agreed,"
Beau chimes in.

Dean
looks at Beau. "Where's Lizette?"

"Her
phone won't stop ringing."

Dean
snorts. "I'm sure. This shit is running rampant all over every news
station."

I
drop my head to the back of the couch. "Fan-fucking-tastic," I groan.
"I wish I had a smoke right about now."

"You
couldn't smoke anyway with stitches in your mouth," Beau offers, like
that's supposed to make me feel better.

I
close my eyes and immediately see red. Dammit, I need to go lie with Nicole,
hold her in my arms. I stand and look back at Dean. "Sorry man, I gotta go
lie down, too.
 
I'm exhausted."

"No,
don't be sorry. Do what you gotta do. I'll be here when you get up," Dean
says.

"Okay,"
I murmur and head for the bedroom.

I
walk in as quietly as possible in case Nicole is sleeping. It's still fairly
light in the room because
it's
only five pm. Nicole is
lying on her back with the covers up to her chest. Her dark hair is spread out
on the pillow that's under her head and one hand is resting next to her head.
For a moment, I think that she's sleeping, but her eyes open and she looks at
me as I climb into the bed.

"Did
I wake you?" I ask quietly.

I
lie down on my back and she immediately drapes herself over my body.
"No," she says, her voice sounding like a frightened little girl.

I
wrap my arms around her. "Shit, Nikki, why didn't you come get me?"