TABOO: THE COMPLETE SERIES(49)

TREY


"It's time," Weldon said.

I was certain he was going to try something. It wouldn't be Weldon if he didn't try to get away.

"Stop with your bullshit, Weldon I'm not buying it."

He glanced at his sister sitting right next to her. “You've disappointed me, Jackie."

Jackie was still a little drowsy from whatever drug cocktail Jake had used on her.

"Shut the fuck up," I said. “Or you're going to get hurt—”

But I couldn't finish the sentence because Weldon’s free hand lunged for Jackie and he started to choke her. I rushed to help but out of nowhere, I felt a hard shove and I was surprised to find it came from Weldon.

I noticed too late his hand was free from the restraint and I didn't know how it was possible.

I tried to take charge of the situation but Weldon’s strength was no match for me.





COLTON





There was a scuffle on the other end of the door and we both were on edge, unable to move a muscle. on one hand, it could be Jake and then I'd have hope but on the other, it could be more danger...





TREY


Weldon slammed me hard against the wall. He was trying to scare me, trying to get to my gun but I wasn't about to go down easy.

"You think I'm going to let you off that easy you piece of shit?" he screamed. He managed to struggle the gun out of my hand and it fell to the floor and we both lunged for it.





COLTON


Whoever it was on the other end was clearly having trouble opening it. It was an old building and the locks were jammed and some of them no longer worked. I'd noticed that when Stoll was bringing me up here.

"Weldon?" Stoll called out. But when no answer came from the other end, he went back to waiting.

Please let it be Jake... please...

At last someone pushed at the door hard and it opened.

A silhouette appeared from the tiny bit of light.

"Weldon?" I noticed Stoll was keeping his hopes up, just as I was.

But when the person stepped out of the shadows, we both knew it wasn't anyone we were expecting.

"You," Stoll said. “You're alive."

The guy who stepped up was older than me but not by much. He looked at me with a gentle gaze, which was strangely calming. Less calming was the fact that he was carrying a weapon, just as locked and loaded as Stoll and now it was also pointed at Stoll.

"Are you Jake?" The question startled me.

"Uh," it took me a while to realize an answer was expected. "No... Jake’s my brother... But how do you...?"

"Don't have time for introductions," he said. “Take his gun. Now!"

"What makes you think I'll give it to him?" Stoll said and laughed.

“Because I know how much you love to be alive," the stranger said. “Me, I’m already dead, so I don’t mind shooting you in the face or throwing you off the building if you piss me off."



The tension on the rooftop was palpable. I didn't know if I had time to think about my choices, so I picked the one that sounded more appealing than dying from Stoll's bullet when his boss turned up.

Apparently, the stranger knew a little about Weldon and his most trusted henchmen.

He fished out a rope from somewhere and I took it and tied Stoll's hands behind his back with all the strength I could muster. My body was breaking down it seemed. Every second that passed I could feel the strength waning and I wasn't sure how long I could keep this up. If they hadn't pumped me so full of drugs I'd probably be in a lot more pain. But right now my main concern was that I might fall any second.

"I'm Ryan," the stranger said. “What’s your name?"

I hesitated because honestly my brain wasn't even working at half it's usual capacity and the incident with Weldon and the rest of it, mixed with lack of sleep and food made for a bad combination. Eventually, I said it out loud and hoped for the best.

"Colton," I said. “Do you know where my brother is?"

"No idea," he said. “I don’t actually know Jake personally. I know about this whole thing because of Trey. I thought he could use some help."

The mention of that name brought more shitty memories. But there were more pressing matters at hand. "What do we do with him?"

“I have a few ideas," Ryan said and grabbed Stoll's arm and pushed him to the edge of the building. Stoll must have seen his death looming in front of him because he looked terrified. “You said you weren't going to kill me if I gave you the gun!"

"I lied," Ryan said and was about to push Stoll when the door opened and we both heard a new voice. "If you kill him you're no better than the person you hate so much," Jake said.

God, was I happy to see him.

I noticed he was armed but he wasn't pointing it at anyone.

"He's the one who does all the dirty work," Ryan said. “You won’t believe some of the things he did to me!"

"You won't believe some of the things he did to me," Jake responded.

"Look, I know you mean well," Jake continued. “But we can't become him to fight him."