Criminal(19)

I don't have any control over my actions as I run out the door, jumping into my car.

I have to save him!

***

I know this road.

Just a hazy, faded memory of being down here before, past the strange, colorful mansion, recessed away and lit with blue floodlights. It looks just as I remember it, and the memory of playing a stupid car game fills me.

"I spy, with my little eye, something that is green!"

"Come on, Abby! That's so easy. There's nothin' green out here 'cept that house," Kaiden says, punching me in the arm. We're too old for these games, but we've been driving forever and we're both getting bored out of our minds.

"Fine, fine. I spy, with my little eye, something that is purple."

Kaiden looks around, trying to figure it out in vain, and I feel really smug that he can't see it. But then he spots it in the distance, a weird little lighthouse mailbox, painted purple, and he points at it with a grin.

I pass off the same mailbox, and I know where Ryder's going. This was the way we drove when we went camping that time, so many years ago.

In the middle of the desert, so far from everything...

Dread grips my heart. Ryder's way off in the distance, and I have my lights turned off. I know how dangerous it is, but getting Ryder's attention is way more dangerous, and the road is abandoned this time of night anyways. There's not even any street lights illuminating the way, and the sound of Ryder's bike booms loudly.

I try to keep up while keeping far enough away that I won't be seen, my hands shaking and I grip the wheel tighter, trying to calm my nerves. He's going to be fine. This is Kaiden. Big, strong, tough Kaiden.

My hero, Kaiden.

My love, Kaiden.

The thought comes to me unbidden, and yet I know just how true it is.

Beneath all our fighting and arguing burns real passion that I've been hiding from for so long. All the anger I've felt towards him, all the resentment, it all stems from him leaving me. From the fact that I can't get him out of my life.

The realization is intense, and for a moment, thoughts of Kaiden fill my mind. Smiling at me after I give some sassy comment and the way he touched his hand along my jaw and looked at me right before he left home. Even the anger when he saw me on his doorstep, begging for a place to sleep now brings a pitter-patter to my heart.

And just as I'm lost to my pleasant reverie, Ryder's bike turns off the path. I'm too far away to see exactly where he's going, and I start getting panicked until I can see off in the distance a set of headlights.

I open my glove box, grabbing the gun my dad gave me for my birthday last year. In case of emergencies only, is what he'd said, and this was definitely an emergency.

I park, my lights still off, and get out of my car as quietly as I can.

In the desert, sound travels differently, and I take each step as quietly as I can, my high heels left behind in the car, the warmth of the day still radiating upon my bare feet. When we were kids camping out here, we used to listen to the little animals walking around, so I know I have to be delicate.

My eyes adjust to the darkness, my heart racing as I walk, trying to avoid the few sources of lights. I can see at least two vans and Ryder's bike, probably a quarter mile in the distance, and I move faster.

"You think you can threaten me?"

The words reach me and send a shiver down my spine. Ryder.

"You think you have anything over me?" He's screaming now, but I can't quite make them out. They're behind one of the vans. I start running.

"You need to be reminded of your place, fuck-head. You are nothing without me. I took you and molded you into a fucking man and you think you can turn your back on me? You think you can tell me what you're going to do, just because that cunt of a sister walks back into your life?"

I'm close now, just a few feet away, and I crouch down. I can't move to see them without getting in the light of the vans, so I lay flat on my belly, looking under the van at their feet.

There's four of them. And all of them are facing Kaiden.

"We had a deal, man! What will Axel say?" Kaiden protests, his voice low and angry, and Ryder laughs.

"Ah yeah, our 'deal' where I leave your little sister out of this and get you out of your jail time and everyone lives happily ever after? Not going to fucking happen, and Axel will be none the wiser. You went down in a bad deal."

Ryder’s voice mutates into one of sick cheer that turns my blood cold, "But, Kaiden, my boy. Don’t worry. We do have a very special guest here tonight, so you two can die and rot together."

He knows I'm here.





Abigail is here.

My hands clench into fists, and I stare at Ryder, my green eyes locked on his steely blue gaze. I can't believe what a fucking scumbag he is, and he's the guy that wants me to take the fall for him.