Pulling my phone out, I tried calling her for the fifth time. As soon as I pressed send, I heard ringing. I looked around, scanning the room like a madman. My heart fell through my ass when I spotted Faith’s phone on the floor. My hand trembled as I reached down and picked it up. Something hit me, reminding me to listen to the voicemail Faith sent earlier.
I started the message on speaker and immediately heard Faith’s voice. She didn’t sound right. Who the hell was she talking to? The message wasn’t for me. There was a man’s voice, and he didn’t sound so happy either. Fucking Casper.
If he wasn’t already dead, he was about to wish he was. Turning in my tracks, I jogged outside before I realized that I didn’t know which house he lived in. I ran to the house next door and knocked like a maniac before a middle-aged woman came to the door.
“Does Casper live here?” I asked her impatiently. If mom thought she was going to stand in my way, I was going to knock her out too.
“Casper?” She frowned. Before I could expound to say a tall, skinny dude who needed to make sure his life insurance was up-to-date, realization hit her. “Oh, you mean Jasper. He’s one door down to the right. The left side is Miss Faith and her little girl.” Faith’s neighbor’s words hit my back as I turned and tore out running next door.
Tires screeched as Nicholas skidded to a stop in front of Jasper’s house. I didn’t have time to ask where he came from or how the hell he knew where I was. Since I barely remembered leaving Cashville, it was possible that I had called him. I heardshouting coming from inside the house followed by a loud crash. The slap that sounded nearly stopped my heart.
Hearing Faith cry out had me seeing red. Yeah, Casper was going to hell today. I moved down the hall to the first open door and spotted Faith in a fetal position against the far wall next to the bed.
“Stop fighting, bitch!” He barked as he dragged her to her feet and shoved her on the bed. “Do you fight that weak-ass nigga who you been flaunting in my face for the past few weeks?”
I rushed him, hitting him with my shoulder like a freight train, sending him flying into the wall. The impact of his body hitting the wall put a hole in it.
“Reed.” Faid sobbed.
Hearing her say my name almost took me off my square.I’m here, baby. I didn’t have time to console her. I had unfinished business. My inattention gave Casper time to stagger to his feet.
“You fuckin?—”
I swung, hitting him in the mouth before he could finish his statement. His head snapped back, and I followed up with another punch, then another. When he fell, I started to stomp him. He screamed in agony, but his cries fell on deaf ears. How many times had my baby screamed for help? How many times had he put his hands on her? Had he had his hands on her? Did he—I couldn’t even think about it. Reaching behind my back, I pulled out my gun and aimed for his head.
“Drop the gun!”
“Hands up! Drop the fucking gun!”
The voices were muffled, but I could make out what they were saying. None of that mattered right now.
“No! No! No! Don’t shoot him! He saved me.” That was Faith. Who was she talking to? “Reed, baby! Stop. Please don’t shoot him, baby.”
Blinking rapidly, I looked over at Faith, and she moved toward me with both hands up like she was afraid of me. Seeing the terror in her eyes made me drop the gun. Suddenly, my hands were snatched behind my back. I put up a fight, spinning around to find four uniformed police officers in the room. I had no idea when they got here or who called them. But obviously, they were here for me.
“No, no, no, he saved me. That man was trying to rape me. He came in and saved me!” Faith disclosed.
The men restraining me released me as they rushed over to administer assistance to Casper. I hoped he was dead, but seeing him moving to sit up shut that down. Since I couldn’t exactly finish him off in front of the cops, I turned my attention to my wife.
“I got you, baby. I got you,” I vowed, snatching her into my arms.
“You came.” Faith sobbed.
After kissing her face a thousand times, I pulled her back so I could look into her eyes. “Of course I came, baby. I’m always coming for you.”
It had been five days since I carried Faith out of Casper’s house, and neither of us had yet to leave the house other than to drop Jada off and pick her up from school. Even then, Faith insisted on me driving.
As a man who spent most of his time in a casino, I was used to being on the go all the time. Staying home with my babies felt so natural that I was thinking about setting up a home office like Nicholas. I checked my emails on my phone, while Faith laycurled up against my side. Jada was knocked out down the hall where she had been for the last couple of hours. As long as they were under this roof, they were safe.
“I’ll never stop thanking you for saving me, Reed,” Faith spoke, breaking the comfortable silence.
“You never have to thank me for taking care of you.”
“I still can’t believe you came. I left the voicemail running, hoping that you would hear it, but I never thought it would work.”
“Voicemail or not, I’m always coming for you. I was already at your house by the time I listened to it.”
“I didn’t know that,” she mumbled.
