Dark Fall (Back Down Devil MC #3)(5)

Then suddenly he heard crying and he snapped back to reality.

Erik shook his head and stepped back. The man fell to his ass in a heap of bloody flesh. His head slumped to the side. Erik was about to kick the guy when he heard the crying again. It was coming from the truck.

Erik grabbed the open door and that’s when he saw how bloody his hands were. It was like a murder scene. When he looked in the backseat of the truck, he saw a little boy hugging a dirty white teddy bear and shaking.

“Shit,” Erik whispered.

“Will you help me?” the little boy asked.

Erik looked back and screamed for Miller. All the guys ran over and then they all took a step back when they saw the boy.

“What did you do?” Miller said and grabbed Erik’s leather cut.

“He’s going to hurt me,” the little boy said.

“Who is this man?” Erik asked.

“My daddy. He’s not supposed to have me. He’s bad. He took me from my mommy. I want to go home.”

Erik looked at Miller. “Call Jerry.”

“Holy Christ,” Gaige said as he crouched down and pressed his fingers to the man’s neck. “Well, he’s not dead.”

“He f*cking should be,” Erik said.

Erik put his hand on his gun and Miller grabbed his wrist.

“Hey,” Miller said. “This guy did nothing to us. You want to kill him in front of his son?”

Erik looked at the little boy in the backseat. He took his hand off his gun and pushed away from the truck. He looked up at the night sky. It was filled with millions of twinkling star clusters. Erik made fists and his hands were already sore. He looked back and saw the man slowly fall sideways to the ground. Miller was on his cell, probably calling Jerry to come clean this mess up. Blaine stood with one leg up on the truck, offering one of his rings to the little boy. Gaige stared at Erik.

There was nothing to say here, it was clear to them all.

Erik was intense, pissed off, and desperate to kill. He just hoped he could kill the right person before he killed too many of the wrong.





three.



Kaity ran. Her hands were covered in dried blood, blood from where she didn’t know. The only thing she did know was that she needed to keep running. If he caught up to her, he would kill her. In fact, that was his last promise to her. Part of Kaity always knew it would end in death. After all the time she spent helping him, this was how it would end.

The hallway was long and dark. Kaity put her hands out and could touch each side of the hallway. As she ran, her fingertips brushed against unknown objects. At first, she screamed, wondering if he was crazy enough to hang knives or something right on the walls. But it wasn’t knives touching her. It was pictures. They slid and fell back into place. Two fell, shattering the glass. Kaity whimpered, knowing he would hear the breaking glass and come find her.

She knew she was close. So very close. Down the hall and to the right. That would lead right to the steps. Freedom waited outside the front door.

Yes.

She was so close to having all of this.

Kaity’s legs hurt. Her shoulder ached. The dried blood on her hands was crusty. But that would wash off. It would all wash off. Maybe with time, the memories would wash off too.

At the end of the hallway, Kaity turned, stumbled, and caught herself against the wall. She braced herself for a few seconds and took deep breaths. She swallowed and prepared herself for the next part of the escape and turned to face the steps.

The tall silhouette was a living hell.

He reached for her and before Kaity could move or scream, a hand was on her neck. A big hand. A strong hand.

He squeezed.

So f*cking tight.

Kaity touched his hand. She pulled at his fingers, desperate to pry them loose. But it was impossible. He had always been so strong.

“Fuck,” she whispered. “Please… I…”

“Die,” he whispered. “Just…”

Die.

“DIE!” Kaity yelled as she sat straight up.

Her head slammed against the roof of the car and she jumped, thrashed, and fought the back of the driver’s seat for a few seconds before she realized that everything had been a dream. A reoccurring dream.

Kaity took a few deep breaths and looked around the beat up car. She bought it for cheap from a druggie who needed quick cash. The car sometimes didn’t start and she wasn’t even sure if the car was legally registered or insured. But that didn’t matter. All that mattered was that it put miles between her old life and a new life that waited… somewhere.

The car was parked at the end of an auto repair lot. It blended in perfectly with the other cars, accept for the fact that this car had a woman thrashing and screaming inside of it.

“Calm down,” Kaity whispered to herself.

She ran a hand through her hair and then touched her chest. She had no idea how her heart managed to keep going this long. The pounding and racing seemed like it would only end if and when her heart finally exploded within her chest.

Brad. A crooked detective who had charmed and seduced Kaity so that he could ultimately use and abuse her to the brink of death. She had no choice. She had to do what she did. Now Kaity was on the run, hoping that each mile that separated her from him would erase the memories. But it wasn't working yet.

Kaity looked out the windshield to the quiet street beyond the auto garage lot. She feared a cop would appear and take her in. A cop wouldn’t just take her in, he would take her back to that place. That place of darkness didn’t exist anymore, or she had been told, but Kaity didn’t know what she wanted to believe anymore. She had only been assigned to help once. Help him once.