Chapter Twenty-Nine

Carson

 

It took Caroline an eternity to get back in touch with me. After leaving Tinder’s, I’d ridden home. She’d texted me when I was on the way and then called me soon after. I was just happy that I’d had a chance to talk with her before the cops did. I knew they would show no mercy, not even for a pretty girl like Caroline.

 

I listened to the recording. It was pretty solid, but Caroline could have cut it off a little earlier. Now I knew the cops were going to find out about the pictures. I could have cursed myself for not being more thorough when I’d gone to talk to Lucas. I couldn’t believe that I’d been stupid enough to believe him.

 

“I deleted everything!” Yeah fucking right, Lucas. You didn’t delete shit. I wanted to go back in time and punch him hard for every single fucking second that he’d lied to me. I wanted to make him pay. For what he’d done to me, but most of all, for what he’d done to Caroline. I knew that with speed and a little luck, the recorded testimony would be enough to lock him up and put him behind bars.

 

Lucas had been more demented and more dangerous than I’d given him credit for. I couldn’t believe that someone like Caroline had gotten mixed up in this. It made me shiver to realize how much worse it would have been if I hadn’t interfered. She’d be stuck helping Lucas for the rest of her life, or until the cops caught up. Sure, they weren’t the brightest around, but I knew that she still had to watch her back. I wasn’t even sure if the recording would be enough to exonerate her. Lucas’s words were chilling, but he also was drunk. I hoped that wouldn’t be enough to ruin the testimony.

 

Shaking my head, I stuck my phone in my pocket and grabbed my jacket. I knew that I had to act quickly if I wanted to get out there and save Caroline. But first, I had to go to the cops. I hated the police. As a member of the MC, I never trusted them. They were always looking for ways to fuck us, looking for ways to make it so they could put us all behind bars and control everything themselves. But the cops who’d showed up at Tinder’s had absolutely no idea what they’d been doing. I remembered them gawking over Caroline on the security cam footage like she was some kind of strange animal. It was enough to make me feel sick.

 

I hopped on my bike and sped towards the police station. It was the middle of the day and there were no cars on the roads, but it took me forever to get there. The receptionist eyed me with boredom when I burst through the front doors.

 

“Who here is working on the Tinder’s heist?”

 

The receptionist looked at me with crossed eyes. “I don’t know,” she said dully. “Want me to page the sergeant?”

 

“Sure,” I said, throwing my hands down on the counter. “Whatever, whoever, just do it fast.” I glared at her. “This is an emergency.”

 

“Fine,” she said in the same snippy tone. “Hold your horses.”

 

It took her forever to page one of the cops. Finally, two guys in uniform came down the hallway. One of them was picking at his teeth with a wooden toothpick.

 

“Can we help you?”

 

“Yeah,” I said. “I’m Carson Dover, the security guard from Tinder’s. I have something you’ll want to hear.”

 

One of them looked at me skeptically. “I don’t know,” he said slowly. “Just what would that be?”

 

“Stop wasting fucking time,” I growled, raking a hand through my hair. “This is fucking serious!”

 

The other cop moved his hand to his gun. “Come on,” he said slowly. “There’s no need for that kind of aggression around here. Whatever it is, we’ll handle it.”

 

“Take this,” I said, handing him my phone. “There’s a recording on it, from Caroline. She’s the woman in the videos. You need to listen to what she says.”

 

“Holy shit,” one of the cops breathed. “Are you for real?”

 

“Yes,” I hissed. “Just hurry up and take it. I have to go.”

 

“Not so fast,” the first cop said. “We need to talk to you, how did you get this?”

 

“It doesn’t matter!” I said loudly, stepping backwards. “I have to go, right now.”

 

The cops came towards me, shaking their heads. Before I could give them any chance to get closer, I turned on my heel and ran. I heard them yelling and stomping their feet behind me in a futile attempt to catch up, but I was faster. I bolted out of the station and leapt on my bike, gunning it to life and pointing it in the direction of Caroline’s apartment.

 

The cops were hot on my tail; I could hear the sirens starting behind me almost immediately. I drove as fast as I could but I couldn’t shake them, and I knew that I was leading them straight to Caroline. Shit. But it was too late to stop and turn around. Besides, I’d told her that I was coming. I’d promised her. I couldn’t let her down, not again, not after I’d fucked up this much in the first place. I felt overwhelming guilt for having told her that Lucas had been taken care of. There’s still time, I told myself. We can still make this work.

 

When I pulled into Caroline’s parking lot, I dropped my bike and ran up the stairs two at a time. I stood outside her door breathing hard. Inside was silent. A chill of fear ran down my spine as I stood with my ear to the door. In the distance, the sirens were starting to get louder and louder. Just as my hand was on the doorknob, a male voice came into earshot. Lucas. I couldn’t hear what he was saying, but I heard Caroline protest loudly, followed by a loud cracking sound. I winced as I imagined him slapping her. When we’d talked last, he’d been asleep. I knew that he must be angry and hungover by now, and I knew I had to get to Caroline as fast as possible.

 

Caroline’s apartment had a porch with a separate door around the back; I remembered seeing it after leaving one time, after we’d had sex. Silently, I held my breath and snuck around the back of the complex. Her porch was about a half-story into the air, but if I stood on the air conditioning unit, I could pull myself up.

 

It was broad daylight and I was feeling self-conscious about scaling the wall. Just fucking do it, I told myself. If you don’t hurry up, he’s going to kill her. Or the cops will kill them both. Just fucking hurry. I climbed on top of the whirring air conditioning box and grabbed a hold of Caroline’s porch grating. The metal was rusting and it stung my hands but I hauled myself up and over the railing. The door was shut and the blinds were drawn. Cautiously, I reached out and slid it open. Yes! I thought triumphantly. It worked!

 

Easing myself inside, I pressed my ear to the wall and listened for voices. Lucas had stopped talking, but I thought I heard a woman’s faint sobs. My heart lurched when I thought about him hurting Caroline. I already wanted to rip him apart with my bare hands; somehow just killing him didn’t seem like enough.

 

I reached into the back of my waistband and pulled out my gun. Cocking it and making sure the safety was off, I aimed it and slid along the wall, creeping down the hallway. From the living room, I could hear the sounds of the TV. There was no talking, and the crying seemed to have stopped. When I rounded the corner, I saw Lucas sitting on the couch. Caroline was crouched at his feet, looking miserable. She looked up and saw me and I held a finger to my lips. Caroline’s eyes widened, but she didn’t move and betray me. I stepped further into the room until I was right behind Lucas.

 

“Get up and fight me like a man,” I said. “Asshole.”

 

Lucas jumped at the sound. He stood and turned around shakily. I could smell the alcohol wafting off his breath from where I stood and I realized that he was still heavily intoxicated. Suddenly, the rage inside of me boiled over. I lurched forward and grabbed Lucas with one hand, slamming him to the floor. He looked up at me with dazed eyes and I hit him over the head with my pistol before winding back my fist and punching him hard in the face.

 

“That’s better than you deserve,” I hissed. “Get up and fight like a man, asshole!” I repeated. Lucas blinked at me.

 

“No! Carson!” Caroline cried out. She grabbed my arm and tried to drag me away. “Carson, leave him alone! You know you can’t touch him!”

 

“Stay out of this,” I hissed. Caroline stumbled backwards and she cried out as I punched Lucas hard, again and again. Every time he tried to struggle and sit up, I punched him. Before long, Lucas was staring up at me with two black eyes.

 

“You ain’t gonna beat me,” he hissed. “You can’t do it. I know you can’t. You don’t have the fucking balls,” Lucas spat. His breath smelled foul, and I kicked him hard with the toe of my boot. He cringed and curled up in the fetal position, but then he opened his eyes and gave me the same smug grin as before. “You know you can’t kill me,” he said. “You can’t risk going to prison.”

 

“Fuck you,” I spat. Leaning down, I whipped him with my gun over and over, until blood was gushing from his nose and mouth. In the corner of the room, Caroline was sobbing loudly.

 

“Carson!” Caroline cried. She came forward and wrapped her small hands around my arm, jerking it back from Lucas’s prone figure. “Carson, leave him alone,” she pleaded. “He’s passed out. He’s not going to hurt you anymore.”

 

“It’s not me he hurt,” I growled. “It’s you.”

 

Caroline’s cheeks pinked. “I’m sorry,” she whispered softly. “Please leave him alone. You know that means you could go back to prison,” she added under her breath. “I don’t want to see you hurt.”

 

My hands were already swelling and sore. I hated to admit it, but I knew that she was right. “Fuck,” I muttered. “I don’t even care if I go to prison for that. It felt too good.”

 

Caroline wrapped her arms around me and squeezed me tight. “Please,” she said softly. “Please just hold me for a minute. I can deal with everything else that’s gonna happen as long as you keep holding me.”

 

I breathed in the vanilla-chili scent of her hair and closed my eyes, pulling Caroline’s tight little body towards me. She melted against my frame and wrapped her arms snugly around my torso. I felt my some of my anger dissipate as she held on tightly, burying her face in my chest. When I felt the front of my shirt getting wet, I knew she was crying. Caroline’s whole body was shaking. I felt totally and completely helpless. Breaking in and beating up her assailant was one thing, but whenever a woman cried around me, I just desperately wanted to make her stop.

 

“Caroline, please,” I whispered soothingly into her hair. “It’s gonna be alright. I promise everything’s gonna be okay.” My hands were splattered with Lucas’s blood, but I held her anyway. It seemed fitting; a killer’s hands. They were still my hands after all, and I knew how much pleasure—and pain—they could bring. But right now the most important thing was that they were touching Caroline.

 

She pulled away and looked at me with her wet emerald eyes. “No it’s not,” she said in a shaky voice. “Nothing’s ever gonna be okay again.” She twisted around and craned her neck to look at Lucas’s prone body. He stirred but didn’t wake, and Caroline cried out in anguish. She buried her face in my chest and resumed sobbing. All I could do was stroke her back and murmur soothing bullshit until the moment had passed. I didn’t know what I was supposed to do; I’d already taken care of Lucas. I didn’t know why she was still so upset.

 

“Caroline, listen,” I told her. “We don’t have much time. You need to get out of here. The cops were right on my ass as I was driving out this way.” Caroline’s frame sagged against me. Sighing, I wrapped my arms more tightly around her and pulled her back to the bedroom. At least this way, she wouldn’t have to look at Lucas.

 

“The cops are coming?” She looked up at me with a whole new level of panic and anxiety on her face. “Did you tell them?”

 

I put my hands on her shoulders and looked into her scared face. “Caroline, I had to,” I told her breathlessly. “They were going to arrest you if I didn’t.”

 

Panic and fear registered on her face. “Oh my god,” she said in one quick breath. “I don’t believe it, Carson.”

 

I nodded. “Caroline, this is for the best,” I said. “I promise. Everything is going to be okay. Everything is going to work out.”

 

The sirens became louder and I winced, knowing that soon they’d be entering the apartment complex. I hadn’t hidden my bike when I parked, and it was clearly visible from the road. If the cops were paying attention, they’d know exactly where to go. I shuddered; the scene was likely to be chaos, but it was necessary chaos. They’d have to question everyone—including myself—and it wasn’t going to be fun, but it had to happen.

 

Caroline clung to me even tighter and buried her damp face in my armpit. I stroked her hair and tried to keep my mind off what would happen later. I was exhausted, suddenly. All of the trauma of the past week was catching up with me. And I knew that if I was feeling tired, Caroline must be a wreck.

 

The sirens got closer and closer. I could tell they were in the parking lot.

 

“Caroline, these cops are going to want to talk to you,” I told her urgently. “Tell them the truth. The whole truth, right from the beginning.”

 

She shook her head and bit her lip. “I can’t!” she said in a panicked rush. “I can’t tell them everything. They’ll blame me, Carson. I know they will. They’ll tell me it’s at least partially my fault.” She lowered her eyes. “Lucas made me an accessory!”

 

“They’ll believe you,” I said in a soothing tone, hoping that my words could mean something to her. The truth was, I wasn’t entirely sure if they would. I knew that the recorded testimony would only go so far. They’d have to get statements from each of us. My head spun at the amount of paperwork we’d have to go through just to be clear. And maybe I wasn’t even clear. There was still the definite possibility that I’d have to go to jail.

 

Finally, I heard car doors slamming outside. “They’re here,” Caroline said in a panicked voice. It was a few octaves above her normal register. “I’m not ready,” she said in a rush. “Can you stay with me?”

 

“For as long as I can,” I promised her. My hands were swollen and aching and my whole body was starting to hurt. Lucas had been too drunk to put up much of a fight, but I still felt exhausted. I could have slept for days.

 

Someone was pounding on the door. “I’ll get it,” Caroline said.

 

I shook my head. “No, let me,” I told her. “It’ll be better this way. Trust me.”

 

She nodded. Her green eyes were wide with fear, but she let me pass her and walk out to the living room.

 

“Open up!” I heard a cop grunt from the other side of the door. “We know you’re in there!”

 

I opened the door and wedged my boot firmly in place, keeping it open only a few inches. “You can come in,” I told them. “Lucas’s incapacitated right now. Caroline’s right here.”

 

“We need to take both of them downtown,” the cop replied. “Move, Dover. Or you’ll get it.” He cocked his gun and aimed it at me. A spike of fear went through my heart, but I knew that I couldn’t move.

 

“We’ll talk here,” I said urgently. “She’s terrified. She’s been through a lot, and she’s feeling traumatized right now.”

 

The cop shook his head. “That ain’t how this works,” he growled. “Now open the fucking door!”

 

“Promise me you won’t jump to conclusions,” I begged. “Please. The tape recording says everything. You listened to it, didn’t you?”

 

The cop nodded. “We heard everything we need to hear,” he said gruffly. For some reason, that didn’t make me feel better. “Now let me in,” he repeated. “I don’t want to use force against you, Carson.”

 

Reluctantly, I stepped back from the door. The cop burst through with two of his cronies. They were all armed and pointing their guns around. When they saw Lucas’s bloody form on the floor, they turned to me.

 

“What the fuck is this?” one of them asked. He got in my face. “What the fuck? Did you do this?”

 

I nodded. “In self defense,” I said quickly. “And to protect Caroline.”

 

The cop nodded. “I’ll need a statement from you,” he said. “You’ll have to come downtown with us.”

 

My heart sank. “Fine,” I said. “I’ll tell Caroline. Should I have her get her coat?”

 

The cop nodded. “My guys are already talking to her,” he said. From the bedroom, I heard a shriek. The cops were trying to push the door open and Caroline was cowering inside.

 

“Caroline, let them in!” I yelled loudly. “They only wanna talk to you!”

 

“No!” she shrieked. “No! I can’t! I’m scared!”

 

“Ma’am, we’re not going to hurt you,” one of the cops said. “But you need to come out and talk to us or else we’ll have to come in and get you.”

 

“Don’t make them do that,” I called. “Caroline, come out and talk to them. It won’t take long. I promise!”

 

After what felt like an eternity of waiting, Caroline emerged from the bedroom. She poked her head out, looking scared and upset like a little girl. I watched as she sniffled wiped her damp eyes with a hand.

 

“Okay,” she said finally. “We can talk.”

 

“Good,” one of the cops praised. “Let’s go out to the living room and get ready to go downtown.” He looked me over from head to toe. “As for you,” he began, scratching at his chin with his fingers. “You know this might lead to a lot of trouble, Dover. You remember the little talk we had when you were last in the station?”

 

I gulped. Caroline’s face fell as she realized what the cop meant. It was true; they’d warned me about additional assault. And now that worry was coming to life.

 

“I know,” I said gruffly. “I know. I’ll talk to you guys. I’ll come downtown.”

 

The cop nodded. “We hate to punish for good behavior,” he said. “But we don’t exactly write the laws.”

 

I rolled my eyes. The only thing I hated more than cops were sanctimonious, awful cops.

 

I watched as Caroline cautiously let herself out of the bedroom. She was still clad in her top and jeans from earlier, but she looked exhausted. In the living room, one of the cops had hauled Lucas to his feet and they were dragging him outside. His face was covered with blood and he was muttering something about how he didn’t do anything. I rolled my eyes. It was fucking pathetic.

 

“Are you taking me with him?” Caroline asked in a quivering voice. “I don’t want to ride with him,” she added. She pointed a finger towards Lucas and shuddered backwards when he smiled at her through a mess of gore. “Please,” she added quietly. “I can’t stand the thought of being next to him for another second.”

 

The cops nodded. “Fine,” one of them said. “I’m Officer White, and this is Officer Jameson. Ride downtown with Officer Jameson.”

 

Caroline nodded hastily. “I will,” she said in a voice barely above a whisper. “Thank you.”

 

I was on autopilot as the cops led the three of us outside. The late afternoon sun was starting to shimmer and fade and I squinted my eyes against the glare in the parking lot. They pushed Caroline into the back of one cop car and Lucas in the other.

 

“Do you have a choice?”

 

Instantly, I went over to Jameson’s car and stood by the door. Caroline’s face brightened when she saw me. The drive downtown seemed to take no time at all. I was wondering all of the things they would ask. I wondered what they already knew, and what they’d look for confirmation on. The whole thing was such a mess that my head was spinning. The more I thought about it, the more exhausted I felt.

 

Caroline’s hand found mine in the backseat of the police cruiser and she squeezed my fingers.

 

“I’m sorry,” she said. “I know this means a lot of trouble for you.”

 

I shook my head. “It doesn’t necessarily,” I told her. “Things could be fine.”

 

Caroline bit her lip. “I feel bad,” she told me. “I never wanted this to happen to you. You have to understand that, Carson. I never wanted you to rescue me.”

 

When she said it, I couldn’t respond for some reason. Something inside of me was broken, unresponsive. I sighed heavily. I knew that we’d have to talk about it later, but I wanted to put it off for as long as I could.

 

“I know,” I told her finally. “I know. We’ll get through it. It’ll be okay.”

 

Caroline didn’t look reassured. She turned towards the window and pressed her face against the glass. When I felt the cruiser begin to shake, I looked over and saw that she was crying. Hoarse little strained sounds were coming out of her mouth and she covered them up with both hands, but I still hear. Jameson drove on, oblivious to our emotional scene in the backseat.

 

“It’ll be okay,” I repeated. But I was no longer sure of who I was reassuring—Caroline or myself.