Page 34 of What Happens in Vegas..
“Shut up!” The woman I’ve come to know as Donna kicks her and rage seethes through me. I want to shoot her dead, but we need her alive so that the cops can arrest her for the crime she tried and failed to pin on Carissa.
Mary sobs as Jenkins nears them. “Please help us!”
One of the men pulls out a gun and points it at me. “Get the fuck out of here! I’ll fucking kill you!” His black eyes narrow at me.
I have no idea if this is Richard or someone else, but I don’t care. With all the gasoline and the lamps, I don’t want to shoot at him and have him fire his gun, miss, and start a fire with the sparks from it if it hits the ground. The last thing I want to do is something that could hurt Carissa or Mary.
“Jenkins, get the girls free!” I shoot the other man in the leg and he falls to the ground. He doesn’t seem to have a weapon on him from what I can tell. I run at the man with the gun and put all my body into it as I slam him to the concrete wall behind him. He drops the gun. He tries to hit me in the kidney, but I don’t feel it as I pull him back by the chains around his neck and slam the back of his skull into the wall. His eyes roll to the back of his head and he instantly crumples to the floor. I check his pulse. He’s still breathing.
“Dick!” Donna shouts. I point my gun at her and she freezes.
The other man screams in pain from the floor as Jenkin cuts the ties on the girls. Carissa stands in an instant and runs toward me. I wrap an arm around her and put her behind me. If this woman has a gun, I want me to be between the bullet and Carissa.
I keep my gun trained on Donna. She doesn’t move an inch. I don’t need her trying to go for one of the lamps and knocking it over.
Jenkin helps Mary up who seems weak in the legs. He steadies her on the pillar and then goes to Donna, pulling out his bounty hunter handcuffs. He restrains her and looks at me. The man on the floor starts to try and half crawl over to a lamp near him. Before I can shoot him again, Mary limps over to him and kicks him in the face with her boot, making him pass out.
I’ll give it to the little blonde, she’s definitely someone good to have around. I can see why Carissa likes her. With the two men out and Donna secured I put my gun away and pull Carissa round so I can look at her. There’s a gash on her forehead, and dried blood is crusted around her nose. I want to kill all three of these motherfuckers, but it’s better if the cops take them in at this point. I can’t kill Donna, and she would snitch the second she was in custody if I killed the other two. I don’t even know if either of them did this to her. Donna had been the one to kick her.
I cup her face and have her look at me in the eye. “Are you okay, sweetheart? I’m so sorry it took me so long to find you.”
Fat tears gather in her eyes and she sobs as she pulls me into a hug. “I was so scared. Thank you for saving me, again!”
I hold her tight and kiss the top of her head. “You’re safe now. They can’t hurt you and I’m going to make sure that fucking bitch gets the maximum sentence she can for all her crimes. Let’s get you out of here. I need to call the cops to get these douchebags out of here.”
“Already on the phone with my contact. They should be here in twenty,” Jenkins says as he shoves Donna up the stairs, a Bluetooth in his ear.
We move to follow him. Carissa reaches out for Mary who runs toward her. She lets go of me so they can hug and sob their way up the stairs. I hurry to put out the lanterns. The last thing we need is accidental homicide because of these and the gasoline. Neither of these bastards will be waking up soon.
Once they’re out, I head upstairs and outside to Carissa. I wrap my arms around her and kiss her deeply. Her arms go around my neck and she kisses me back with such desperation to be near me that it makes my heart ache.
I need to stay to talk to the cops and a paramedic needs to look over the girls, but as soon as that’s done, I’m taking her back to my place and never letting her go again.
Chapter Seventeen
Carissa
After two hoursin the ER to make sure Mary and I didn’t have concussions, we were turned away for people with more serious wounds. Knox’s sports car could only fit the two of us, so his friend Lex Jenkins is following behind us with Mary.
I feel so bad. I was the one to introduce that horrible woman into our lives and invite her over to hang out one night with us a few months ago. I’d considered her a friend. If it wasn’t for me, she would’ve never known where I lived. She would’ve never brought the men to kidnap us, and Mary wouldn’t have been put in the situation she was tonight. It was all my fault.
My head still spins. I don’t think it’s slowed down for a single second. Things like this happen to other people. My life has been hard with a rough upbringing, but I’ve never had a week like this one in my life. Knox shifts gears and reaches over to take my hand again. He’s been holding me in some fashion since we got out of that house. My heart hammers and I’m starting to think it won’t stop. The brief consultation with the ER doctor said it was shock mixed with adrenaline and that I should calm down within the next couple of hours.
I don’t know what we’re going to do. Add more locks to the door? I always thought we were safe with a chain lock and deadbolt, along with the fact we live toward the middle of the strip. Crime is low, but not non-existent. I’m not sure I’ll ever feel safe in that apartment again.
I glance in the side mirror to make sure Lex is still following behind us in his car. He is. I feel so bad. To everyone.
I stroke my thumb over his knuckles “I’m sorry.” I’ve had to have said that at least a thousand times since we were saved.
He stops at a light and shifts gears again. “Don’t be sorry, sweetheart. You don’t have to keep apologizing. I’ve already told you, none of this is your fault. You didn’t choose to hire that woman at the casino. You thought she was your friend. You could’ve never predicted how unstable she was. I’m livid you’re hurt at all. I should’ve stayed with you this afternoon. I’m sorry this happened. I’m going to make sure all three of them go to prison for a very long time and that you never have to worry about them. Okay?”
I look over at him as he starts to drive again. The lights from the city dance over his handsome face. Tears enter my eyes. It feels like I’ve known him for a lifetime, not days. If it weren’t for him, I have no idea where I’d be at this very moment. They were going to burn down the house with Mary in the basement. They were talking crazy things about what they were going to do to me, to make sure I never said a word about how it was them who stole the chips.
It was clear to me they were on some kind of drug, whether it was meth or something else, I don’t know, but no part of them was thinking with any kind of logic. If Knox hadn’t shown up with Lex, we’d either both be dead, or I’d be wishing I was dead.
My ribs hurt, but the doctor says they aren’t broken. Even if they were, there’s not much they could do for me. He looks over at me as we hit another light. Lifting his hand, he cups my cheeks and wipes away my tears. “We’re almost home. I’m calling maintenance to add another lock to your door as soon as we get there. They can’t say no to me, not with how much I pay there. And I’ve helped the corporation that owns it with some legal matters. Once Mary feels safe, you’re going to come up with me and stay with me.”
I look back to the side passenger mirror. Mary still had her phone on her, the bastards didn’t think to look in her bra for it, but she hadn’t been able to get to it with how they had us tied together. She texted Tyler as soon as she was good to see if he would come to stay with her again tonight. The Happy Bean is closed at this point.
