Page 92 of Fate Forever and Always

I knew I needed to handle this soon…I think I was stalling because of fear. If there are no hard copies, it's over…if there are…well, I'm screwed. I honestly wasn’t one hundred percent sure I was ready to find out the truth yet.

As I got out of the car, my phone rang. My heart dropped when I saw it was Sara. We agreed on no calls, so I thought it was weird.

“Sara, what’s—”

“I need you to come get me. Now.” Her voice sounded scared, like she was whispering, so I didn’t ask questions.

“On my way.”

I took the keys from Nick, got in the car, and left without even saying anything. I didn’t know why I had to go get her, but she sounded scared, and that was all I needed to kick my ass into high gear.

When I arrived at my old house, Sara was waiting outside with a few bags in her hands. I got out and helped her put them in the trunk. I noticed one of her eyes was red, and she had fresh bruises on her arm and neck. When I reached out to touch the side of her face, she pushed me away.

“Just get me out of here.” She looked at me with tired eyes. “Please.”

I nodded and helped her into the car. When we pulled away from the house, I noticed a cop car sitting a few houses down. The moment I pulled away, so did they, but they were going in the opposite direction.

I drove her back to Nick’s house. She still hadn’t looked at me once by the time we got there. Her gaze was fixed on looking out the window. When we pulled up, she began to sob uncontrollably. The moment she tried to step out of the car, her legs gave out. I tried to help her, but she was pushing me away.

Nick was waiting at the door. He had worry written all over his face. He came running out the door when he saw me struggling to help Sara.

“I got her. Can you grab all her bags, please?”

He nodded, making sure I really had her before fully letting go of her arm. Once he brought all the bags inside, I made her some tea before hesitantly sitting beside her on the couch. Nick kept his distance by sitting at the kitchen island.

“He is in jail for tonight, so I had to get out.” She looked up at me from her cup.

“What happened?” I asked.

“It happened last night, but I didn’t have the balls to call the cops until today when he left to check on a job site,” Sara said, looking back into her cup like she was searching for the answers to all her problems. She let out a big sigh. “I never thought he would actually do it.”

I saw Nick’s body straighten from the corner of my eye, but he stayed put.

“Sara, did he—”

“He hit me.” She looked at me with tear-filled eyes. “We were watching a show on T.V., and he was looking at something on his computer. He started swearing and then threw it across the room at me. He was yelling and asking what the fuck I did to his stuff. He said some other things I can't remember because he came at me fast. The computer missed me,” she reached up to touch her eye, “but his fist didn’t.”

“Sara, I am so sorry. You didn’t have to do anything yet. I told you to wait and—”

She sat up a little straighter. “Wait, Callie, I didn't do anything.” She gave me an unsettled look. “I thought you did. He said all the files were removed from the computer. He checked his phone right after, too, and he kept asking how I did it. I obviously had no idea what he was talking about, so I told him the truth. He grabbed my phone and read our texts. Before I could explain, he started wailing on me. Once he left, I called the cops, gave them my statement down at the station, and then went home and packed what I could. Then I called you when the cop who escorted me home told me his bail had already been paid and he would be let out in the morning. I knew I had to get the hell out of there.”

“Fuck,” I heard Nick whisper. He took out his phone and started dialing.

I stood up and tilted my head at him in question. “Are you okay?”

He waved me off. “Hold on a sec.”

He held the phone to his ear. And before he could speak, I heard a loud, billowing voice coming from the phone. I couldn’t exactly hear who it was, but the voice wasn’t very familiar.

“You didn’t do it yet, right? I told you to wait.”

I obviously couldn’t hear what was being said on the other end, but Nick looked aggravated.

“Dude… I mean, thanks, but I told you to fucking wait till the girls were safe and I gave you the green light. He…he fucking hurt her.”

That piqued my interest more than a little bit.

“What the fuck is going on?” I asked, louder than before.

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