Kristel

 

“Andre!” I wrench at the door handles and jam down on the electric window buttons, but nothing moves. Even though the doors are unlocked from the outside, the child locks prevent me from getting any doors open from the inside. My mother is in the front passenger seat, and only she has access to those child locks. Each time I try to reach around her, she squishes herself against them. She may be a small woman, but she defends that lock too well for me to get to it.

 

“Kristel, stop it! He’s not good for you or that baby, and you know it.” She snorts. “And a motorcycle gang? What good would any of it do for you or your child? You both belong with your father and me. It’s safer."

 

“Shut up, Mom, I don’t want to hear it anymore!”

 

“Howdare you speak to me like that, young lady! You have no right."

 

“And you have no right to tell me what to do! I’m not your little girl anymore, so let me out! You and Dad are both crazy!”

 

“We have a right to-”

 

Once again, my mother doesn’t get to finish, but not because I interrupt her. A gunshot rings out, followed by a second one. As I suck in a gasp, I sit up and stare out the window of the car. The man on the bike, who has to be Andre, jerks back as my father opens fire. Before my father can get another shot off, a second round is fired, but not from the biker. It comes from somewhere behind us.

 

It’s like slow motion as my father’s arms reach out for support, his back arching away from the bullet that slams into him. He drops down to his knees, and I can’t see him anymore because there are too many cars in the way. People start to scream and scramble from their cars; they run up toward us, but my wide eyes are riveted on the space where my father just was moments ago.

 

My mother screams as though she’s been shot herself and flips the child lock switch off. She wrenches the door open and runs out onto the road. I watch in horror, torn between shock and relief. Before I can truly process what has just happened, the door next to me opens and familiar arms wrap around my shoulders.

 

“Andre?!” I know it’s him just from how he holds me. My hands grip his shoulders as I turn to stare at him. Confusion grips me, and my heart clenches in my chest. “But… the man on the bike…”

 

“No time, let’s go!” He half pulls me from the car, and I scramble out onto the road. As I run with him toward a nearby alley, I can’t help but look back toward the man on the bike. My father is still nowhere to be seen.

 

As we round the corner into the alley, Andre’s hand firmly in mine, the color drains from my face. I see Debbie there, laying over the top of a car with a rifle in her hands; I have no evidence, but from what I can see, she’s the one who shot my father. Once again, I have no idea how to feel, and numbness overcomes me as I slide into the back of the car. My fingers clench themselves together, and I look over my shoulder toward the road constantly. When Andre slides in next to me, though, I am involuntarily drawn to him. My arms wrap around his waist, and when he kisses me, everything feels right in the world again.

 

“You came…”

 

“Of course. I always do, don’t I?” The wink he gives me makes me roll my eyes, but I still can’t fully comprehend what is happening.

 

“The man on the bike… I swore that was you. And my dad…”

 

“That was Grant posing as me. Debbie took your dad out. She had to, Kristel, I’m sorry. But she really did.” He takes my face in his hands, and I look at him. My whole body feels tight as I hold back the tears. “Your dad beat the fuckingshit out of me at the station. He threw me in a cell after he caught me at my hotel, and then he showed up and he punched me. When I tried to defend myself, he went completely mental. He only stopped kicking the hell out of me because my boys showed up and broke me out.”

 

“Are you being serious? Why did… why were you even in jail in the first place? What did he arrest you for?”

 

He shrugs as he holds me closer to him. “Probably something Will said to him. I’m betting that asshole tipped him off about where I’d be. Will was always good at staying a few steps ahead of everyone. That’s one of the reasons I valued him so much, not to mention he was my best friend. Who the hell can you trust if you can’t even trust someone who’s practically your brother?”

 

I still can’t process any of this, but instead of dwelling on it, I cup his face in my hands and brush my lips across his. “It’ll be okay. Dad is gone, and everyone will be focused on that until we can figure things out.” There’s a chill to my voice as I talk about my father. My father forced me to choose between him and Andre. For that, I will never be able to forgive him, but the pain that comes with losing a loved one is still there, a heavy pang in my chest. I feel a slow wave of nausea and pull away from Andre with a hard swallow.

 

“Is there any…. Okay, Hailey, pull over. I’m gonna barf all over this car.” My voice is strained as my gut rolls and grows tighter. I’ve barely eaten anything, but I can still feel and taste whatever’s coming up my esophagus.

 

“No can do. Find a bag. Or vomit in your boyfriend’s lap.” Hailey and Debbie share a giggle.

 

“You guys, I’m…" Before I can say another word, I slam my fingers on the electronic window button to lower it, and lean out of the car. The sensation of puke as it rolls from my throat and out my mouth is unbelievably disgusting, but it also gives me hope. Maybe the baby is okay.

 

I gasp for air as I drop back into the seat. Andre grimaces and hands me a paper towel so that I can wipe my mouth. My body shudders, that taste still in my mouth. “Gross,” I whisper. “So nasty…”

 

He rubs a hand across my back while shooting a glare at Debbie. “We’re supposed to watch out for each other.”

 

“Says the overprotective daddy. Relax, we got her and she’s safe. Barfing is all part and parcel of being pregnant. If you can’t handle a little throw up, what are you going to do when the baby arrives? Poop, piss, vomit, and a bunch of…"

 

“Yeah, yeah, I get it.” He lets out a huff and offers me a bottle of water.

 

“I can’t believe the leader of the Black Knights is squeamish.” I can’t help but grin at him as I sip the water.

 

“Okay, lovebirds, we’re here.”

 

As Hailey speaks, I look up and see the safe house. It’s not one I’ve ever been to before. All humor washes from me, and I swallow hard. We’re really here, and I have no idea what’s happened to my mother. My father is most likely dead. As much as it hurts, I don’t intend on going home. I want to make it work with Andre and the rest of the crew.

 

“Come on, let’s go.” Andre touches my arm and leaves the car. I follow him as quickly as I can, my stomach still in knots. My hand grips his hard as we run for the safe house doors. When we get inside, I’m greeted with enough contraband to make me feel nauseated all over again. There are shelves upon shelves of it, right there inside the door. I can’t imagine what the rooms are filled with.

 

“Holy shit, Andre. Are you sure this is the safest place to be right now?”

 

“Yeah.” His hand grips mine even harder, and he practically drags me down the hall and into another room. The lights are motion sensitive and flicker on as soon as we step inside. I have no idea what he plans on doing, but my stomach still doesn’t feel right and my brain is whirling like a top. I grip his shoulder as soon as he stops, and the door slams next to my face.

 

“Andre…”

 

I can’t say another word before his mouth is on mine. He kisses me with a kind of passion I have never felt before, and it makes me withdraw.

 

“Andre.” My voice is firm enough this time that he doesn’t try to kiss me again. “Andre… please, just give me a second.” I draw in a deep breath and square my shoulders. “I barely know what happened out there. I was at home, I ended up in the car, we were driving to the airport, then… I thought I saw you, but it wasn’t. You came and got me out and….” I swallow hard and look up at him.

 

“Your dad. I know.” He takes my face in his hands. “But he was going to take you away from me. You and the baby. We both know he never would have let us see each other. He probably would have killed me, given the chance.”

 

I step away from him and slide my hands back through my hair. How am I supposed to feel right now? On the drive here I felt very little, but now that the danger is over I know that I will never see my father again. That reality hits me like a boot in the gut, and I feel a wave of nausea hit me again. I draw in long, slow breaths. When I see him walk toward me out of the corner of my eye, I hold up a hand to stop him and shake my head.

 

He stays back for a few moments, but comes over to me despite my hand. His fingers close around my own, and even though I try to push him away, he wraps his other arm around my shoulders and pulls me close. The tears flow even though I don’t want them to, the events of the last several hours seared into my mind. I feel like I’m going to vomit again, but I manage to hold it back.

 

“He’s dead… I saw him go down. He’s dead.”

 

“Kristel. She had to. He could have –”

 

“I know! Just leave me alone!” I shove at his chest and untangle my fingers from his hand and rush to the opposite end of the room. Panic grips me, but I have no idea why. My parents have always been in my life, even when I didn’t want them there. I want to feel nothing, and logic tells me Andre is right, but it doesn’t feel right. The only thing that feels right is the loss inside me and the trauma of the unknown that comes with it.

 

Even though it hasn’t been confirmed, I know in my heart that Robert Bryce is dead. Debbie never misses.