CHAPTER
THIRTY-FIVE
____________________
Calder
I was barely a yard out of sight down the alley from Ella and Scott before I was inundated by emotions that I didn't want, and old memories I'd just as soon forget. I remembered skulking around this neighborhood, hounded by desperation and the sheer physical pain of withdrawal as I sought out my next high. I remembered the shame of not being able to fight the cravings, and the worry that I wouldn't find another fix before the withdrawal symptoms became debilitating. I remembered the fear and uncertainty of being homeless, directionless, and alone. I'd been a mere ghost of a human being, drifting through the world in and out of a drug-addled haze that could never fill the painful emptiness in my heart. I don't know how I lived through it and managed to get clean.
I kept my head down as I walked, trying to calm my emotions and staring at my shoes as I hurried along inexorably toward my destination. I was begging to get mugged, but was too unsettled inside to care. I jerked to a halt when I finally turned the corner of the old warehouse I was circling, and looked up at the moonlit brick building that I used to call home. Well, fuck. It was a shithole, a fucking nightmare. I didn't remember it ever looking this bad, but when all I cared about was getting high I hadn't noticed. I guess anything was better than sleeping on a street corner out in the open when you were homeless, but fuck me, it looked awful.
I stared up at the massive wall of crumbling brick and filthy broken windows that hid an interior that I knew was even worse. I shuddered at the thought of sweet little Violet being inside this place at the mercy of her asshole father. I had to get her out of there. I had to get her away from him no matter the cost to myself. That bastard didn't deserve her. She should have been mine all along, so I was taking her, and as long as there was breath in my body, I'd make sure he never touched her again. I'd take care of her like she deserved.
Those thoughts were an incentive enough to get me moving. I didn't have much time, and I couldn't afford to be sidetracked by the memory of my pathetic past or the emotions it engendered. I had a future now with Ella and Violet, and nothing would keep me from it. I surged forward and hurried quietly down the disintegrating and weed infested alley along the back of the abandoned five-story factory.
Near the back corner of the building was a section that jutted out from the first floor that was only one-story high. I knew there was a small roofed area up there that ran under a line of windows on the second floor. I also knew one of them had a broken lock. Well, at least it had been the last time I was here, but the place certainly didn't look like anyone had bothered to maintain it since then, let alone fix a window latch.
There was a large window in front of me that was recessed with a good-sized brick sill. It would make too much noise to break the glass to get in, besides that fact that I didn't know if I could find a safe path up to the third floor if I did. Instead, I climbed up onto the sill, then carefully stood and reached up to pull myself onto the roof above with a little effort. I didn't remember it being this easy in the past, but I had a lot more muscle on my frame than the scrawny kid I'd been back then. I stood slowly and walked carefully over to the nearby windows, hoping with each step that the roof didn't collapse under my weight.
I reached the fourth window and was relieved to find that it slid open fairly quietly and with just a small amount of force when I lifted the sash. I climbed through before I could second guess my determination, my feet crunching on debris as I stood. I immediately closed the window behind me, then turned to take in my surroundings. It was dark as hell, and eerily quiet. I pulled my phone out and opened the flashlight app, so I could take a look around.
I was in a small empty room that must have once been an office of some kind. The filthy hardwood floor was covered in bits of plaster that had crumbled off the walls, and other nasty things I didn't want to try to identify. A musty smell filled my nostrils. I glanced at the corner next to me and saw a pile of dirty and ratty blankets lying in the same spot where I used to sleep with a few used needles littered around it. Shit. Apparently, I wasn't the only addict to call this room home. I stared at the needles as memories of laying there and shooting up hit me hard. I could almost smell the acrid scent of the heroin bubbling in a spoon. I could practically feel the jab of the needle in my skin just before I lost myself to the rush that followed and slumped into oblivion on my sorry excuse for a bed.
What the fuck.
I recoiled from the blankets, wanting nothing to do with them, and staggered away as the light from my phone whirling wildly around the room. I bumped into the opposite wall and leaned against it, sucking in harsh breaths as I desperately fought down the rising craving, and the panic that followed.
I clamped my eyes closed and pictured Ella and Violet. I thought about them coming to live with me, and then marrying Ella and having a child with her, a brother or a sister for Violet. I thought about having a real family for the first time in my life. Those things held more power than any drug, power that was infused with love and hope. I latched onto that and held on tight until the craving and the panic began to subside. I'd fought my way free of that old life, free from the pain, and I'd come out the other side stronger. And now that I wasn't alone anymore, that knowledge made me stronger still. I wouldn't let my past rule me.
Calmer now, I pushed off the wall and crossed to the room's door. It hung partly open and askew with one of its hinges broken. I squeezed through carefully and emerged steadfast and determined to get this done. The only memories coming back to me now were useful ones as I moved through the familiar building with confidence. I stuck to the path that I remembered, my careful footsteps crunching softly as I moved along the perimeter of the building, avoiding the center where I knew the floor was weakest.
Eventually, I came to an old conveyor belt that was about four feet wide and rose up to the third floor. I could see dim light filtering down from the floor above, so I turned off the flashlight on my phone and tucked it back in my pocket as I approached. The last thing I wanted to do was announce my presence to Voss before I could get Violet out of here. I climbed up onto the conveyor belt and was glad it didn't start moving or collapse under me all together considering how rusty the metal was. The rubber belt had decent traction despite its poor condition and the dirt and plaster all over it. Within moments, I was peeking my head up onto the next floor.
There was light coming from across the large open room in the opposite corner, diagonal to my position, from what looked like a bunch of battery-operated lanterns. Dim eerie light radiated out from them in a wide circle amid the round support pillars spread evenly throughout the space. I looked straight ahead and could see more light spilling from an open doorway into what was probably another office. I could hear some low mumbled voices, but I couldn't make any of it out. I needed to get closer.
I crept slowly off the conveyor and over to a nearby pillar, making as little noise as possible, and froze behind it to listen. The unintelligible voices continued, so I figured it was safe enough to get closer. I moved from one pillar to the next, staying in the shadows as much as I could, until I was hiding behind one only a few yards from the open room. Now I could hear everything.
"Pumpkin," said a low masculine voice in a fake saccharine tone that didn't do much to hide the underlying irritation. "You need to stop whining now."
"But Daddy," replied Violet's wavering voice that sounded much younger than her ten years. "It's really gross in here, and I'm scared. I want Mommy, and I wanna go home."
She started sobbing softly on that last word. Violet was such a strong and resilient child, and hearing her so upset and afraid broke my heart. I longed to hold her and comfort her like she so obviously needed. That's not what her father gave her.
"Stop fucking crying, or I'll give you a goddamn reason to cry," Ray snarled out at her, any pretense of sweetness now gone from his voice. "It's all you've been doing all fucking day."
Violet's sobs merely intensified at his cruel words. A moment later, Ray made a disgusted noise, and then I heard footsteps approaching. Shit. I pressed myself against the pillar and held my breath as Ray passed so damn close to my hiding spot that I could clearly hear him grumble out, "Just as fucking pathetic as her whore of a mother," under his breath as he walked by. What a bastard. I trembled as I fought the sudden urge to rush after him right now and pummel his face in.
As he moved further away, I risked a peek in his direction. He was walking through the circle of lanterns toward an open door that I knew led to a stairway. He came to a stop in the doorway, and stood there looking down into the darkened stairwell, waiting for what I assumed was Ella. Here was my chance to get to Violet.
I held my breath and moved swiftly and as quietly as I could toward the room where I could still hear Violet crying softly. I kept an eye on Ray the whole time, but he never once looked my way. The arrogant bastard thought he was alone and had the advantage here. I couldn't wait to prove him wrong.
I slipped into the room and stilled in horrified disgust. I looked around the filthy little space lit by a lone battery-powered lantern sitting next to some empty beer bottles on an old wooden crate near the door. The only other thing resembling furniture in the room was an old stained mattress pushed up against the far wall amid piles of what looked like dirty clothes and God knew what else.
Poor Violet was curled up in a ball on the foul thing with her back to the door, her little body wrapped up in the only clean looking blanket that I could see. Her slender shoulders shook with her sobs. My hatred for her father reached an all-time high. What kind of man let his own daughter stay in a place like this and treated her like that? I stepped closer to her, eager to get her out of this shithole.
"Violet," I said in a bare whisper, not wanting to startle her.
She rolled over and stared at me with wide eyes. She opened her mouth to speak, but I pressed a finger to my lips to stop her. I crouched down next to her.
"I'm getting you out of here, kid," I whispered.
Relief flooded her tear-stained face as she nodded and flung herself up into my arms.
"I'm scared, Calder," she whispered in my ear, then leaned back to meet my gaze. "Something's wrong with Daddy," she added brokenheartedly, her eyes big and fearful.
"I know, baby," I reassured her as I gently wiped a tear from her cheek with my thumb. A deep need to protect her and take care of her fell over me. "I won't let him hurt you," I added fiercely and hugged her close for a moment as she latched her arms around my neck. "And I'll get you back to your mom too." Finally, I stood. "Let's go, kid," I whispered. I turned toward the door and froze when I heard voices coming from outside the room. I couldn't catch any actual words, but one of them was definitely Ella's.
Violet's eyes widened as she recognized her mother's voice too, and she moved forward as if to go to her. I put a hand out to stop her, then peered around the door frame to see Ella and Ray in the circle of lantern light standing several feet apart. Ella looked so scared, her eyes big and her face pale even in the low lantern light. I clenched my fists, my nails digging into my palms as I stifled the urge to go to her, but knew I couldn't without risking Violet's safety. We needed to go now. I turned to grab Violet's hand, to get her out of here when Ray's voice rose in anger.
"Do you understand, you stupid fucking whore?!" Ray growled viciously.
I looked back toward them to see that Ray had a hold of Ella's shoulders and was shaking her violently as he continued berating her. Shit. I tensed to go after the bastard, but then caught sight of Scott moving swiftly in from the side, unseen by Ray, who was now swinging his arm back to hit Ella. I knew Scott wasn't going to get to her in time. I started to take an unconscious step forward just as a sudden loud crash came from behind me. I whirled around to find Violet standing next to the upended crate she'd just knocked over amid the broken bottles and the still functioning lantern. She stared up at me with wide-eyed terror. Well fuck.
Before I could even respond, Violet's expression turned calculating, and she snatched up the lantern by its handle and rushed past me out of the room, leaving me hidden in darkness. I went to follow her, but froze when I heard Ray's voice.
"What the fuck are you doing in there?" he barked at his daughter from just outside the room.
I stepped back further into the darkened room and pressed myself against the wall next to the door. I reached for the gun at the small of my back, and pulled it out of its holster, thinking I might need it at this point. I stilled and listened with it pointed at the floor, hoping Violet's quick thinking would keep me from having to use the weapon at all.
"I...I knocked over the light," Violet said placatingly. "I'm sorry, Daddy."
"Violet, baby," I heard Ella say in a worried tone. "Are you okay?"
"She's fine," Ray answered for his child, his voice angry and tense. "Get your ass back in that fucking room, Violet. Now."
"But I wanna stay with Mom," Violet replied.
"I told you to stop your fucking whining," he snarled out.
"Don't talk to her like that," Ella snapped out. "She's your own daughter for God's sake."
"I'll talk to her any way I fucking like!" Ray shouted to her. "Especially when she constantly whines and acts like a pussy just like her pathetic fucking excuse for a mother!"
"Don't yell at my mom!" Violet yelled angrily as the light from the lantern began to move. A moment later, I heard Violet cry out in pain and fear.
Fuck. I was done hiding at that point and surged out of the room through the door to see Ray gripping Violet's arm and shaking her. I wanted to shoot him, but couldn't for fear of hitting the kid. When he pulled back a hand to strike his own daughter, I instantly rushed forward to stop him, but before I could take two steps, Ella had launched herself at Ray with a primal scream of rage and started clawing at his face and neck.
Ray almost immediately managed to shove her off of himself with one arm, while still gripping Violet with the other. Ella stumbled and fell to the floor, and a second later Ray was pulling out a gun from his waistband and pointing it at his own wife as she got back up on her feet and stared at it in terror. Son of a bitch. I froze a few yards behind Ray, who now had his back to me and still hadn't seen me. I raised my gun, but lowered it when I realized that I didn't dare shoot him with Ella and Violet now in my line of fire.
"You stupid fat whore!" Ray yelled as he loomed over Ella, his voice burning with rage.
Then two things happened simultaneously.
Violet sank her teeth into the meaty part of her father's forearm just as Scott launched himself out of the shadows to tackle Ella to the floor. The gun went off as Ray roared in pain and flung Violet violently away, sending her sprawling across the floor in a heap as the lantern in her hand dropped and rolled across the floor. He immediately turned and pointed his gun toward Ella again, who was now a sitting duck on the floor along with Scott, but I had already dropped my own weapon and thrown myself at him by then.
I plowed into him, making him grunt from the sudden impact, and grabbed his gun hand. I swung his arm upward, sending a bullet into the ceiling above us with a loud deafening crack. I grappled with him for the weapon, but the guy was big and packed a wallop as he started punching me in the side with his free arm. It fucking hurt, but I took it, steadfastly refusing to let go of his arm. I'd be damned if I let him hurt any of the people most important to me.
Our scuffle sent us careening wildly across the floor as he continued punching me. I fended him off with my elbows and knees as best as I could while still trying to wrest the gun away from him. I wasn't a trained fighter, but I grew up in The Armpit and knew how to fight dirty. I took the first opportunity I saw and kneed the bastard hard in the crotch. He let out a loud grunt of pain, and his grip on the pistol loosened. I was too slow to grab it though, and it clattered to the floor next to me as Ray staggered back with his hands pressed to his groin.
I scrambled after the gun and snatched it up. I flew to my feet again and turned to train it on Ray, fully prepared to put a bullet in him, but froze in horror at what I found in front of me. Our struggle somehow brought us close to Violet, and while I'd been picking up the gun, Ray grabbed her. He'd done the unthinkable, and was now holding up his own child against his chest as a human shield.
"I don't know who the fuck you are," he snarled at me venomously as he began slowly backing away from me toward the center of the room. He put one of his big hands around Violet's tiny throat in a clearly threatening gesture. "But back the fuck off if you don't want her to get hurt."
"No!" Ella screamed, and I could see Scott holding her back in my peripheral vision as she fought to get to Violet, who was crying and struggling to get free from her father to no avail.
"Let her go," I growled out. "She's just a child. Your child."
"That's right," I replied in a maniacal voice, his eyes gleaming madly as he continued backing away. "She's mine to do with as I fucking please."
"Stop moving," I barked out warningly, knowing he was approaching what I knew was the weakest part of the floor.
"Or what?" he asked with a sneer as he paused. "You gonna shoot me? If you shoot me, you shoot her too." He looked at Ella with a snide and strangely triumphant expression. This guy was fucked up in the head. "This is all on you. You should have done what you were told."
"Please, let her go, Ray," Ella begged in a terrified voice as she fought Scott's restraining grip around her waist to get to her daughter. "Please."
"You stupid fat cow," he sneered at her. "I'm going to make sure you never fucking see her again."
He started moving again. I could hear and feel a cracking noise under our feet, but Ray seemed oblivious to it. An icy shock of fear for Violet's safety surged through my veins in a sudden rush.
"Ray!" I blurted out in a panicked voice as I lowered my gun in the hopes he'd actually listen to me. "Stop!"
He glared at me and opened his mouth to speak as he took yet another step backwards. Before he could utter a single word though, another even louder crack came from beneath his feet. Ray glanced down, his eyes going wide in sudden comprehension, and then the floor underneath him abruptly gave way.
"Violet!" I shouted, dropping the gun as I instantly flung myself forward without a thought for my own safety.
I skidded across the floor on my belly and somehow managed to grab Violet's outstretched arm just before she disappeared into the large gaping hole. I kept on sliding though, and my upper body began slipping over the edge. We were just about to tumble down into the abyss together, when I felt a pair of strong hands grip my ankles. I could hear Scott grunting with effort behind me as he yanked us to a sudden halt. Thank fuck he was here.
Suddenly, Violet began screaming and struggling in my grip. I looked up to see Ray dangling from a nearby broken pipe he'd somehow managed to grab onto. He was reaching out and clawing at Violet as he tried to get a hold of her shirt. His eyes were crazed and desperate as he tried to grab her, his other hand slipping down the pipe. He was going to take his own daughter down right along with himself.
Fuck.
I tightened my grip on her, just as he finally succeeded in clasping her shirt in his fist. I held onto Violet for dear life as he began trying to jerk her out of my hands. She was shrieking frantically, her eyes wide with terror as she began slipping out of my hold. The anguish that hit me when I realized that I was about to lose her was unbearable.
Then I heard a sudden and almost inhuman scream of rage that I realized was Ella. The next thing I knew there was a stream of liquid splattering across Ray's face, and the caustic scent of pepper spray burned my nose. An instant later, he was howling in sudden agony as his hand fell away from Violet. His grip finally slipped from the pipe he was still holding onto, and I watched him fall screaming and flailing down into the blackness below. A moment later, his howls of agony were abruptly cut off with a loud crash, followed by yet another, and then there was silence.
Immediately, Scott began hauling me backwards, and I dragged Violet up out of the hole as he pulled us to safety.
"Mommy," Violet cried out as Ella fell to her knees next to us.
"My baby," Ella sobbed in relief as she pulled her daughter into a fierce hug.
I sat up and gathered them both into my arms and held them close, sobbing right along with them. I felt Violet's little trembling hands clutching my sweatshirt in a death grip as Ella buried her face against my chest. I laid my cheek on the soft hair of Ella's head and breathed in her familiar citrus scent for several long moments.
Eventually, movement caught my eye, and I looked up to see Scott approaching the hole through the floor with a small flashlight. He leaned out carefully over the edge and shined the beam of bright light down into the darkness below for a moment. He then turned back to meet my questioning expression and shook his head grimly in reply.
A massive wave of relief hit me, and I breathed out a deep shuddering sigh. Ella and Violet were safe now, and they would never have to worry about that bastard again. They were mine, and I was keeping them. I closed my eyes as I held my entire world tightly in my arms, vowing to myself that I would always keep them safe, and I would never let them go.