Page 97 of Reckless

My steps are slow and measured as I creep down the hall, but my breathing is erratic, and my heart is like a damn jackhammer in my chest.

As we get closer, I can faintly make out the voices of two men, but I don’t hear Jamie, and I start to worry we’re too late. We stop outside the door, and I strain to hear what they are saying and how many people are in there.

“We need to get the fuck out of here, Marcus. The police are going to be here any minute, and besides, what do you think Garcia is going to say when he—”

“I don’t give a fucking shit what Garcia says, Travis. If it weren’t for me, he’d still be scrambling for a connection here, so he can kiss my fucking arse.”

I hear a weak cry from inside the room, and my whole fucking body tenses at the sound. I’m about ready to burst in there when I hear Marcus’ voice again.

“Dom’s dead, Jamie, and now you are going to watch as I take everything from you. Everything that should have been mine to begin with. I’m going to destroy you, and when I’m done, I’ll feed you to the wolves to fight over the scraps.”

“You can do your fucking worst, but Seb will hunt you down to the ends of the earth and rip you apart,” I hear Jamie reply, and then a slap before the sounds of a struggle break out.

Knowing this is our chance, I look to Rick, and mouth ‘on three’, and he nods. I begin the count down, but before I reach one, the door bursts open and out steps Travis. He spots me straight away, but I give him a quick shove, directly into the arms of Rick, who wasn’t quite expecting it.

I leave Rick to focus on Travis and move into the room, where I’m not in the least surprised to find Marcus waiting for me and holding a gun to Jamie’s head and arm wrapped around her neck, holding her. A sight that I’m getting fucking tired of tonight. I don’t look at Jamie. I can’t because if I do and he’s hurt her any more than she already has been, I’ll lose my fucking shit.

“Stay the fuck there, or I’ll put a bullet in her pretty little head.”

I hold my hands out to the side, gun still clasped in my left. What I’m about to say is not going to go down well for Jamie, but I need Marcus on the back foot.

“Killing your own daughter makes you a special kind of arsehole,” I say, and Jamie gasps, sucking in air, and I know if I look at her now… The pain from my words will wreak me, so I keep my eyes on Marcus.

“How did you know?” Marcus asks, and I can see he thought he was clever and underestimated us.

“You’d be surprised what we know, Marcus.”

He scoffs. “You’re just bluffing. You don’t know fucking shit about me.” He squeezes the arm around Jamie’s neck, and she sucks in a breath as he pushes the gun harder to her temple.

I grit my teeth, ignoring the pounding of my heart and the thought that Jamie could end up dead if I push him too far. “I know about your childhood, and how your mum would pimp you out. A young boy forced to do unthinkable things all so his mum could get her next fix. How you met Louise first and fell in love with her, but she was already in love with Dom.”

“Shut the fuck up. You don’t know what you’re talking about. Louise loves me. I know she does.”

“That’s where your wrong, Marcus,” comes a voice from behind me, and I curse under my breath as Louise steps into view.

“Mum,” Jamie calls out, anguish clear in her voice. How the fuck did she get in here? Where the hell is Rick?

“I never loved you, Marcus, it was always Dominic and always will be.” Marcus laughs, and I watch as confusion crosses his face when he realises that Louise’s words mean Dom is still alive.

“No. I fucking shot the cunt. You’re lying because you don’t want our daughter to know the truth. But I’m not sitting back in the fucking shadows anymore. I’ve spent my whole fucking life there in the shadow of Dominic fucking Morgan. Watching him play happy families with my family. My fucking family!” he shouts, agitated and getting more and more worked up.

What the fuck is Louise up to? She’ll get us all fucking killed at this rate. She moves further into the room as she begins speaking again, and it’s only now that I see she’s holding a gun.

“When I first met you, I wanted to help. I guess I felt sorry for you. But then, after a while, you showed your true colours, and I kept your secret, Marcus. I never told another soul, and when you left two years ago, I felt relieved that I didn’t have to pretend anymore. Dom was devastated that his best friend could have been involved in something so heinous and disgusting, but I wasn’t surprised. After all, for a man that can rape a woman, it’s not a surprise at all.”

Holy fucking shit. This is what he had over her. All this time, and she never said a word to anyone. I risk a glance at Jamie, and my heart aches to go to her as I see tears falling down her cheeks.

“Rape? I didn’t fucking rape you, Louise. You wanted it. I could tell by the way you looked at me, and how our hands would touch when we were close to each other.” He turns the gun on Louise, and now I understand what she’s doing.

“No, Marcus. I cared about you as a friend and nothing more. I told you to stop, but you wouldn’t listen, and afterwards you held me like it was the most natural thing in the world as I lay bruised and bleeding.”

I see Jamie closing her eyes, and pain, so much fucking pain on her face as she listens to her mum’s words. With Marcus’ attention solely on Louise, I begin to edge to the side of the room, closer to Marcus with every step. Louise keeps talking, and I keep moving closer to Marcus. I can’t imagine how hard this must be for Jamie to hear, but I get why she’s doing it, and she has my utmost respect.

“Let our daughter go, Marcus. She doesn’t deserve any of this. Let her go, and I’ll leave with you now. You can take me to Mexico with you. You always said you wanted to take me there, so let’s do it.”

“Mum, no. What are you doing?”

“Shhh, it’s okay, Jamie. I know what I’m doing, and it’s something I should have done a long time ago.”

I watch as Marcus begins to waiver. Obviously, torn between getting what he’s always wanted and his revenge.

“You mean it, Lou? You’ll come with me?” he asks, voice low and childlike. Louise nods, and he slowly begins to loosen his grip on Jamie. I see her looking at her mum, shaking her head and pleading with her eyes for her not to do this.

“It’s okay, sweetie. I need to do this, but just remember I love you.” Louise nods her head before looking back up at Marcus. She offers him a small smile, and he lets Jamie go.

The instant he does, I’m close enough to snatch her away from him. As she falls into my arms, she turns, letting out a cry as Louise raises her gun and shoots Marcus in the chest.

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