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Chapter 24
Remy
Remy shook as her tears threatened to drown her. Mikel had become someone she didn’t recognize. Or maybe she’d just had her eyes opened to who he’d been the whole time. He had done things she had never imagined him doing. That woman was wrapped around him, and he’d let her. He was getting high after he had promised on his love for her that he wouldn’t. It was all a lie.
Now, she was pregnant and alone. Anger roiled in her stomach. She bent over and vomited. Wiping her mouth, she stood and climbed into his truck. How dare he. She’d given him everything she had and then some and he’d thrown it back in her face. I am done.
She clutched her phone. Mikel had left her no choice. As much as the heartbreak from losing him was tearing her up inside, as much as she wanted to smash his truck to smithereens, he needed help—even if she wasn’t the one who could do it anymore. This wasn’t the life she wanted for herself, or her child. She would have to do this alone.
The rumble of an engine came closer and she spotted Bently’s truck speeding around the corner. He parked in front of her before hopping out and eyeing her with concern.
Bently started shouting to someone. Remy turned. Mikel stood by the window, staring in at her. His face twisted with a vacant expression she hadn’t seen flashing in his eyes before. Betrayal. Hatred. Anger. Pain. So much regret.
Remy got out of the truck. She just needed to go home. Half of her didn’t even want to look at the man who had taken her heart. She’d given it so freely, just to have it ripped to shreds and stomped on. The other half still loved him and worried for him, and she hated herself for being so weak.
“What the fuck is this?” Bently snapped. She had never seen him so angry with Mikel before. “Are you high? What are you on?”
“Nothing, man. We just got in a fight.” Mikel hid his hands behind his back and eyed Remy as if he expected her to back him up in the facade.
No more.“It was something in a glass pipe,” she answered for him.
Bently glanced at her, and then back to Mikel. He reached behind Mikel and pulled out a set of keys that Mikel must have had in hand before tossing them to Remy. “Take his truck and get home safe, Remy. I’ll take care of this.”
She caught them and nodded, her heart pounding. There was so much she wanted to say, but all of it would be lost to deaf ears.
“Remy! Wait! I’m sorry, baby! Please, just wait. I promise I won’t do it again. I swear!” Mikel pleaded as she continued to walk to his truck. It was her turn to put some distance between them.
She whirled around to face him, anger seeping from every pore. “No! We’re done. Don’t call me. Don’t text me. Stay away from me. I’m done with your lies. I gave you everything and you—you fucking used me!” Her knees knocked and her body trembled, fueled with adrenaline and heartbreak. Confusion blurred her vision. Every breath hurt. Tiny remnants of her shattered heart pierced her rib cage.
“Baby, please,” he begged.
She climbed back into the truck, ignoring his cries as Bently pushed Mikel into the passenger side of his pickup. She took a deep breath and started the engine with her shaking hand before pulling out onto the road and heading towards the only place she felt safe. Home.
* * *
At the stop sign, she turned onto the empty country road. Bently’s car followed not too far behind. She focused on the pavement in front of her, a single car waiting at the next crossroad. She stopped and waited, but they waved her along. Pressing the gas pedal, she drove through the intersection the moment another car sped into her line of vision. It all happened in slow motion: the crash of bending metal and smash of broken glass as she surged forward. The air bag being deployed, and the breath-stealing force of the steering wheel striking her chest. Her lungs burned. Everything turned upside down as shattered glass rained across her skin. She was whipped around like a rag doll as the car screeched and tumbled upside down. Something hard hit her skull and then red filled her vision.
Only one thing captured her focus.
The baby!
* * *
Shouting and gunfire filled her ringing ears as she struggled to find the release for the seat belt that was keeping her hanging. Smoke and something sour filled the air as she pressed the button. Glass imbedded into her hands and knees as she protected her stomach as much as she could during the fall to the roof of the car, which was now below her.
She scrambled towards the broken window of the passenger’s side, as hers was too bent to crawl out of. She peered out, hesitating a moment as Bently crept around the truck before tackling a man she didn’t recognize who was firing his weapon towards her left. The gun flew to the ground in the struggle, and Remy dragged herself out of the crushed opening. Adrenaline numbed the pain, her child’s survival her only concern. Her leg caught and she started to panic. Trapped.
Bently had the man zip-tied as he glanced over to her, seemingly hesitating as he made a choice before he disappeared behind the car.
Where is he going? Help me!
Bently and Mikel came back into her line of vision, dragging a bloody zip-tied Joe.
Mikel dropped the man’s legs and ran over to her.
“Remy! Baby! Oh my god. What have I done?” he screamed, pulling at his hair like a madman.
“Help me,” she croaked.
Mikel climbed in the window as much as he could, his hands moving her leg around. Her sneaker loosened and she pulled her leg out, freeing herself. She wrapped her arms around her body as pain ached and throbbed in her abdomen. Tears streamed down her face as panic surged.
“The baby. The baby.”
