Page 43 of Rescued By My Best Friend's Brother

Bradley falls to his knees. He coughs, blood tainting his lips. I step back as he falls forward.

Jasper looks at me, seeing what is in my hands. He steps towards me, his hands outstretched towards the gun. “Elena, give me the gun.”

I gasp, as if I have been holding my breath this entire time. I nod, the tears pouring out now, and take my finger away from the trigger. He grabs it and dispenses the clip. He then opens the chamber, a bullet dropping from it. He throws the now useless gun onto the couch.

My legs feel weak, as if they are going to buckle under me. Jasper jumps forward, catching me in his strong arms. I begin to bawl, my arms wrapping tight around him. Everything I have kept bottled up inside, kept to myself, comes pouring out.

“I’m so sorry, I’m so sorry, I’m so sorry” I plead for his forgiveness for putting Lily and Josie in danger.

“Shush,” he whispers in my ear. “It’s okay, Elena. You’re safe. You’re safe with me. I’m here.” He holds me at arm’s length, interrupting my cries. “Where is Lily?” he asks.

“Lily!” I glance around, recalling that Lily was forced to come with me. “She’s hiding in one of the rooms down the hall.”

He nods and takes off, screaming Lily’s name. I hear him say her name one more time before she responds.

I stare at the lifeless body in front of me. Bradley won’t be bothering me anymore. It is strange to see someone dead in front of me. It’s so final. And even though the weight of his death should have brought me down, become this burden of guilt, the first thing I feel is relief. Relief that he will never return to bother me, to haunt me, that I won’t have to look over my shoulder every single day, wondering if he is going to do something like this again. I glance around thinking Lily can’t walk in and see this. I stand to my feet and run over to the linen closet at the entrance of the hallway and grab a large dark blanket. I walk over to Bradley and cover his lifeless body.

I hear sirens in the distance, gradually getting louder and louder. I am not sure if it is the sirens or the fact I can hear Lily crying in the other room with her father, but the tears start coming stronger. Everything that has happened up until this point, everything that I have been holding in for so long, finally comes out. I no longer can hold it back, put on a brave face. Emotions I thought I had buried away long ago, rush to the surface. The resentment towards my mother, the sadness I felt after she died, the fear and anguish Bradley caused, the neglect of my family, the neglect of my foster parents, the neglect from my foster brothers and sisters. Everything that I shrugged off and told myself wasn’t that big of a deal, comes falling out in a tidal wave. And I let it. I let it continue until the police arrive and Jasper has to help me outside. The tears continue to fall as the police try to ask me questions about what happened.

Although everyone around me, including Jasper, sees me at my breaking point, I feel like this is just me washing away everything that has been a burden for so long. I feel lighter than I have in years. I feel free. I feel safe.

Chapter Twenty-Six

Jasper

Iwrapmyarmaround Elena’s shoulders and hold Lily on my hip as she holds a tight grip around my neck. Both had spent thirty minutes just trying to calm down. Thankfully, Detective Pierce updated the police on the current situation. This made things go a little more smoothly.

Elena leans into me as I answer a few questions from the police. The male officer nods, taking in what I have to say.

“Thank you. We’ll call you if we have any more questions,” the officer informs us.

“Oh, excuse me,” Elena speaks up, causing the officer to stay. “What about my friend Josie? She was tied up at the house.”

“We already got her statement,” the officer informs us before walking away to talk to the other officers.

I turn to Elena, realizing I hadn’t updated her on Josie or how I came to find her. “We found Josie first. Detective Pierce stayed behind with her and waited for the cops to show up. She told us that Bradley had taken the both of you.”

Her brows furrow in confusion. “So, I didn’t send my location out in time?”

“Yes and no. It was working for a minute, but then it disappeared. So, both of us headed straight to the guest house, and that’s when we found Josie.”

My sister’s wide eyes and disheveled appearance flash across my mind. She could barely spit the words out when I finally got the duct tape off her. When she told me Bradley not only kidnapped Elena, but Lily as well, I felt like I could tear the whole world asunder searching for them. I really wanted to rip Bradley to shreds.

“Lily wears a tag on her shoes. I put it there after Caty—” I shake my head, realizing this is not the place or time for that story. “Anyways. The tag is gps enabled and it showed me Lily’s location, and so, I headed straight here.”

Josie has access to her tag as well. Now that I think of it, I didn’t tell anyone I was leaving. I wasn’t thinking clearly and just followed the dot here. Josie must have realized this at some point and directed the police where to go as well.

Lily turns around, hiding her face in my shirt. “Can we go home, Daddy?” Her voice is smothered and quiet.

I pat her head while pulling Elena closer to me. “Yes, baby girl. We can go home.”

The entire ride home, Elena and Lily are silent. I don’t try to push or ask about what happened. I already heard most of it from what they told the police. I know they are probably tired and just want to forget about it, even for a second. I reach down and grab Elena’s hand. At first, she pulls away, but as I reach again, she allows me to hold her hand. She glances back at Lily, who is peering out the window, paying us no attention.

I give her hand a squeeze. She gives a squeeze back and returns to looking out the window. What can you say after something like this? I know she isn’t really okay. She just killed her ex-boyfriend. No talking or words of encouragement can really help with the trauma that will linger after what they just experienced. I know that this one small gesture at least reassures her that I am here for her.

When we pull in the driveway, there is a cop car still sitting there with its lights on. We get out and walk inside to find Josie still talking to a female police officer. The officer announces her departure and leaves us to ourselves.

Lily immediately runs to her aunt, crying. Josie wraps her arms around Lily but is looking at me and Elena. “The cops wouldn’t tell me much about what happened. Are you guys okay?”

---