Page 67 of Keeping Her Under
But the bastard still fucking laughs.
Thirty-Four
I don’t kill Summer’s mom tonight. Now that I’m not committing suicide, I need to rush back to the hospital to tie up loose ends.
It’s only a matter of time before the bodyguard demands the surveillance tapes from the hospital. My face isn’t in them, but he’ll see an unknown man heading towards the ICU every time someone codes.
When he interrogates the floor staff, Ryan will become his prime suspect; the man’s oozing panic and anxiety out of every pore. Then it’s a simple trail to Summer, and if he hurts her...
Grabbing the burner phone, I text Ryan with my last request.
Ryan: I can’t do that!
I send him a voice recording of his mother. She’s screaming for mercy, begging to be saved as Asher rams his cock deep inside her pussy.
Ryan tries to call me, but I don’t answer. Asher chuckles beside me, but I don’t. Rape is a weapon, not an enjoyment. I thought my cousin knew that, but with what I’ve learned tonight…
My phone vibrates, cutting through my thoughts.
Ryan: Okay! Please. Just stop! I’ll do it.
Unknown Caller: Bring her out in three hours.
It’ll take us that long to get back to the hospital. We drive separately, but we don’t speed. My mind drifts as I drive. Going from Summer to Asher and back again.
They’re the two people I love the most, but what if they don’t get along? What if she wants me to kill him too because he’s a rapist without remorse?
My stomach churns as the miles pass beneath my wheels. By the time we’re back in my city of work, my skin is taut and my mind is spinning.
My entire world has shifted, my opinion about myself, my belief about what I knew. A part of me wants to deny it, to lock it all down and pretend Alina was wrong. That I didn’t rape Summer. That I have nothing to atone for.
But I promised Summer I would face my demons.
That I wouldn’t hide behind my trauma.
So I park my car a few blocks down from the hospital, and I wait for Asher to call me. The burner phone sits in my hand. As soon as it rings, I answer.
“Any police?” I ask.
A few hours ago, I never would’ve thought she’d turn me in, and I hate the feeling of uncertainty settling in the pit of my stomach. I remind myself that we’re fated to be together –I can still feel that truth in the entirety of my soul– but it doesn’t make my nerves settle.
“No,” Asher says, and I exhale strongly.
Only to catch my breath again.
This doesn’t mean she doesn’t want to turn me in. She might simply be too out of it for anyone to take her accusations seriously. The idea of her being dismissed makes my blood boil. Victims should be believed. They should be fought for. I make a note to ask her if she talked; I need to know how many more people I need to kill.
“I’m driving ov–”
“Meet me at the rendezvous.” He hangs up before I can tell him no. Gritting my teeth, I toss the phone at the passenger seat. If I drive over now, I could mess up whatever he has planned. If I knew what that was, it wouldn’t be a problem.
But what if the police have just arrived? Or what if Ryan has come out with Summer, but he’s being chased by hospital security?
Fuck!
I told Ryan to put a wheelchair in her room, then make another patient code before he went on break. He’d sneak back in while they were all preoccupied. He should have had ample time to wheel her out before the code blue team made it to the ICU.
If he fucks this up, I’m going to kill his mom by raping her with a blowtorch.
