AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“You gonna face me, Cade?” Redix keeps shouting at my window like the asshole he can certainly act like. He’s buying me time. “You gonna man up and face me?”
“Dominquez. Two ten. En route.”
That’s Penny. Thank God she’s back from maternity leave.
“Bryant.” She calls on the radio. “Advise status.”
“I’m outside the home. Going back in. Suspect inside. Possibly armed.”
“Bryant, wait for backup.”
That’s protocol.
That’s not happening.
“I’ll leave the front door unlocked,” I answer. “Going radio silent.”
I turn it off, shove it under my waistband, and pull my T-shirt over to hide the radio and my gun. Grabbing my pocketknife from my duty belt, I slide it into my back pocket while Redix keeps priming me with his taunts.
“You just gonna sit there, Cade? And treat me like a fucking idiot?”
“Fine!” I jump back out of my car. “You think I’m the fucking idiot? What’s in your bedroom? Or on your phone?” I push past him in his driveway and storm up his front steps. “You think I don’t know about all the others, Redix? How many have you fucked by now?”
“You wanna see?” He charges in behind me. “I got nothing to hide.”
We stand in the foyer. Our voices raised. Our act still going, but our eyes dart, looking for our next move.
“Nothing to hide?” I have an idea. “What about your family? Your mama? Does she know about him?”
That cracks his veneer. Redix can act mad at me, but bring up Silas? “Yeah, she knows. I’m proud that I love him. At least we don’t fight.”
“Yeah? What about your sister?” I need to draw Derek out. To sound like I’m seconds from turning toward that door and raiding his hideout. “Why don’t I tell her that all this time, you’ve been with me, you’ve been with him too? Whose side do you think she’ll take?”
“She’ll take my side.” Redix towers over me. He’s leaning in and getting into this, and he turns, so I turn, following his performance. “Because he fucking listens. He asks what I need. He doesn’t hurt me like you do. He chooses me. He only loves me back, and I love him too.”
This is too much.
This is his truth, and we’re not acting. His words stab my heart, yanking my breath away, and it hurts so bad the tears are instant.
“You love him more than me, don’t you?”
“I—”
His face twists with the words rising from his heart, with his truth about to fire from his mouth, but his eyes dart up, looking over my shoulder.
And it happens too fast…
Redix shoves past me, knocking me aside. He charges forward, blocking me while his huge body rushes his target.
I reach for my gun.
“Redix, stop!”
I can’t see who he’s lurching for… but it’s Derek.
“Redix!”
My shout and a gunshot blast the air. I don’t scream. I hold aim while I watch his body fall forward on top of Derek.
