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CHAPTER 17
I SCREAMED WITH EVERYTHING I HAD, thrashing against the hands that held me in the air. He set me down but detained me, thwarting my escape.
“Olivia!” exclaimed a familiar voice. He relaxed his grip and whirled me around. I blinked my eyes in disbelief as I realized it wasn’t Mark Alvarez’s arms that had captured me. “Olivia?” I was looking into David Dylan’s wide eyes. He reached out suddenly to yank down the hem of my skirt that was halfway up my thighs. “Olivia. What is it? I’ve been behind you since State.”
I was speechless with shock and confusion, furiously looking past his shoulders. He turned his head, but I could see with my own eyes that nothing was there. “Someone . . . I thought – Mark . . . He was following me,” I managed to get out between breaths. Oh, have I become completely paranoid?
“Stay here,” he commanded, retreating to Adams.
“No, David!” I called, still fighting my rational side. “It’s dangerous!”
I watched him exit the alley and struggled with whether or not to follow him despite his instruction. In the same moment that I heard a noise behind me, a coarse hand clamped over my mouth and the smell of alcohol burned my nostrils. I attempted to scream but the fingers dug into my face, and I reared back.
“You’re fast,” a low voice said into my ear.
“Let go!” I muffled into his hand and hurled my elbow into his ribs. He withdrew for a moment before throwing me angrily me onto the concrete ground. Standing over me, Mark Alvarez lifted his shirt to reveal the handle of a small gun.
“Don’t scream,” he hissed, glancing at it in warning. A car whizzed by, and he jerked his head over his shoulder.
I broke into a cold sweat as I realized that I needed to escape, and fast. It became clear that he was not going to let me go like last time. I clambered to get to my feet and seemingly without effort, he shoved me deeper into the alley. The brick wall connected hard and fast with my head, and I cried out in pain. I fought to remain upright as my body slid down the wall.
My courage mounted as I focused on escape, and I used the wall to push back onto my feet. When he came at me, I raised my fist, but he caught my arm and started laughing.
“Cute when you’re mad,” he slurred, tightening his grip. For a man only slightly taller than myself, he was wildly strong, and my knees threatened to give. I struggled to free my wrist from his grasp.
“I’m not afraid of you!” I yelled and spit a sorry wad that landed just below his collarbone.
The wicked grin slid from his face, and the look that replaced it was far more terrifying. He raised his arm and hit me swiftly across the cheek. “Just shut up,” he growled, releasing my arm.
I’d never been so much as slapped, and the sheer force of it shocked me into silence. I held my cheek gingerly, and shrank into the wall behind me. “You’re mine now, mami. Bill fucked with my family and now, he gonna suffer. Lou’s in jail ‘cause of him.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I pleaded. “Bill didn’t do anything!”
“No? Why Lou went away for ten years when we both in the same gang? Sell the same drugs?” He moved in closer, inches from my face. “Your husband fucked us. Yeah, we gonna have fun, you and me. And maybe if you act good, I let you go home to Bill after.”
“Bill’s not home,” I said stupidly.
“I didn’t say it would be tonight,” he said and reached out suddenly, causing me to flinch. A slow smile spread across his face as his fingers gently brushed a strand of hair from my forehead.
“I’ll go to the police,” I said defiantly.
“Baby, you think I’m some sorta rookie bitch? Those puto pigs can’t touch me, jamás.”
“Lou wasn’t so lucky though.”
His eyes fixated on me with menacing focus. He quickly grabbed my shoulders and in one movement, flipped me into the brick wall. He pushed me so my injured cheek was flush against it. “We gonna go down the street here,” he whispered in my ear, pressing his groin against my backside. “Act natural. Put up a fight, and you gonna regret it, I promise.”
He locked my arms behind me in an iron grip, and I whimpered. “Please, stop,” I pleaded, tears pricking my eyes. “I won’t go to the police, just let me go.”
“Relax, guapa. You gonna like it, I promise, I promise,” he hissed. “Soon you gonna be begging for it.” I shuddered at his hot breath on my neck. “But one wrong move and baby, you done. And then I find your bitch husband and - ”
He spun around at the sound of footsteps and relief flooded over me knowing David had returned. But as soon as the relief hit, it was gone and fear resurfaced, only this time it was for his safety.
I turned in time to see Mark fumble for the gun and David lunge at him. Mark fell backward as David tackled him, and I flushed against the wall, narrowly avoiding their entangled bodies. In the dark, David wrested Mark to the ground while I frantically searched for the gun. The clang of metal hitting the ground startled me into action. I scrambled for it and just as I was within reach, a hand shot out and snatched it from the ground.
CHAPTER 18
“GET BACK, OLIVIA.” David was on his feet in a flash. “Get back,” he said again, aiming the gun steadily at my attacker. The self-possessed David I knew had returned, his posture straight but at ease with the gun, as though he’d done this a million times before. His suit hung magically untouched, and the only thing that gave him away was his wayward hair and heavy breathing.
“Who the fuck are you?” Mark asked, struggling to his feet.
“David, please,” I implored with halted breath, suppressing my sobs. “Be careful!”
“Get back!” he yelled angrily. I moved obediently, never taking my eyes off the back of his head. Just then I heard the reassuring wail of police sirens in the distance.
Mark retreated toward the other end of the alley holding his hands up in surrender. “Hey, man,” he said to David, looking around nervously. “I don’t want any trouble. I promise to leave the bitch alone, just let me go before the cops get here.”
David took two massive steps toward him, backing him into the wall and wielding the gun assuredly. I gasped as he shoved it into Mark’s neck.
“You go near her again,” he hissed, “and you’re dead, you hear me?”
“I got deals with the cops,” Mark said, changing his tune. He stared David down much more confidently than someone at gunpoint should. I strained to catch their conversation over the noise. “I’ll be there for tonight, maybe. Then, I come back for both yous.” Even in the night, I could see the hatred radiating from his face, and I was relieved to hear the sirens howling down State.
The gun clicked when he cocked it and pushed it into the skin of Mark’s neck. Although I couldn’t see David’s face, his rage was palpable.
“David,” I said as calmly as I could manage. “Stop. The police are here.”
I saw his body relax and back away slightly. With his free hand, he grabbed Mark’s shoulder and turned him against the brick wall as I had just been. He stuck the gun in the waist of Mark’s pants and leaned his forearm across his back. He held him there while three policemen ran up, guns drawn. Following them was a heavyset man dressed in an ill-fitting suit.
My body slackened slightly, and I steadied myself against the wall as the immensity of what was happening washed over me. My cheek smarted and I winced as I touched it, surprised to find blood on my fingertips. The metallic smell rushed into my nose and my head thundered with the pounding of my heart. Blood.
“You good, David?” I heard someone ask. I felt behind me for something to hold on to while I tried to expel the smell from my nostrils.
“Yeah, Cooper,” he replied, releasing Mark to another cop. “He’s armed.” They exchanged hushed words briefly
until David started in my direction, loosening his tie.
“Well, well, Mark Alvarez!” the man called Cooper said gruffly. “Lou’s gonna love that you’re coming for a visit.” Four boisterous laughs filled the alley as one of them cuffed him.
“Are you hurt?” David asked, stopping mere inches from me. I stepped back automatically just as Cooper approached behind him, turning something over in his hand.
“Are you all right, miss?” he inquired, concern etched across his face.
“Yes, I’m fine,” I said mechanically. “Thank you for coming. How did you know?”
“I called him,” David said.
“Is this yours?” another cop called from the street, holding up my purse. My hand went instinctually to my side; I hadn’t even realized I’d dropped it. I thanked him as he passed it to David.
“Detective Cooper. What happened here?” he asked.
I blinked back tears, trying to decide where to start. “He chased me here from my office,” I said.
“Coop,” David said softly. “Can we do this another time?”
He bowed his head into a nod. “This is my card.” He handed it to me, and I struggled to read it in the dark. Detective Cooper, Chief of Detectives. I peered closer. Chicago Police Department, Organized Crime Division. I repeated it to myself, trying to think of why it sounded familiar. “I’ll need a statement so we can book this guy right away,” he continued. “However, it would be acceptable to do it tomorrow, if you’d like.”
“Is it necessary to do it at all?” David asked.
“Yes, I need a witness account. Otherwise I can’t detain him, and I’m sure neither of you want that. I’ll explain more tomorrow, though. I’m sorry, I didn’t get your name,” he said, turning to me.
“Oh, I’m so sorry. I’m Olivia.” I extended my hand.
“Olivia, can I give you a ride somewhere?”
“I’ll take care of it, Cooper,” David cut me off.
“I’m asking her,” Cooper growled.
