I exhale a breath I didn't know I was holding and gave him a sweet smile in return.
There'd been so much messed up stuff happening, but if it led to me being with him, I didn't regret it either.
***
"Why are the cops here?" I ask, squinting along the long stretch of highway.
Kaiden is bothered by the sight of the road block, even as he tries to brush it off.
"Probably just to catch drunk drivers."
"It's eleven in the morning," I say, my nose crinkling, but there's nowhere else to go. Just the highway and a whole lot of more highway. We're only ten minutes outside of town, and my palms are sweaty against the wheel.
"Just act natural, Abby. You'll do fine. Just don't draw any attention to us that we don't want."
I stare at him, and we both know that's going to be impossible. We didn't have time to shower, our clothes still covered in dust and dirt, torn and ripped in places, and his black eye is, well... it's hard not to miss.
I slow the vehicle as we get to the traffic stop, putting on the brakes as we approach the first officer.
"Is there a problem with the road?" I ask, trying to be as sweet as possible. The man is likely only five years older than me, still a bit baby-faced, and he glances to his superior.
"Abigail Tuney?" he asks, trying to make his voice sound deep and commanding, but he doesn't have to. The fact that he knows my name sends a chill up my spine.
My stomach lurches, and I look at Kaiden desperately, but he looks just as surprised as me.
"Y-yes?" I say, terror beginning to grip me in earnest.
Are we arrested? Did Ryder already go to the cops and tell them what we did? We still have the gun on us! Damn it!
Not like ditching it would have been any better, since it's registered in my name.
"I need you to come with us."
"But... where?" I'm trembling, my hands slick on the steering wheel, and I'm trying not to hyperventilate.
"We need you to just come with us." He reaches for the driver's door, pulling it open, and I undo my seatbelt. "Kaiden, you too," he adds on, and Kaiden's already getting out of the car, his hands on the roof, his legs spread.
Another officer goes and frisks him, finding the empty gun in the low of his back, and I'm shaking so bad I can barely walk. The officer wraps his hand around my upper arm, guiding me to the cop car.
"What about my car?" I ask, my voice high pitched, and he gives me a brief look of pity.
"It'll be taken care of."
The officer guides the two of us back to the back of the cop car, though neither of us are handcuffed. That part stands out to me as really strange as we start heading down the road into town, but Kaiden's staring out the window, aloof.
It scares me that he's not looking at me, not reassuring me, and my stomach churns.
I feel like I'm going to be sick, my mouth watering, and I swallow it down nervously.
It's not long before we're pulling up outside not the police station, but a grungy warehouse that I didn't recognize. It's on the outskirts of town, and the only buildings nearby seem to be long-abandoned.
"Where are we?" I say, looking to Kaiden, and he looks simply defeated. He reaches out, squeezing my knee, turning reluctantly to face me.
"The end of the road, Princess," he says before the cop opens his door and yanks him out.
Everything is rusted, the building almost cavernous as obsolete equipment littered the corners. Windows are broken in and every high-heeled step echoed around us.
My legs barely work, and I have to be pushed along by the young officer, prodded to keep walking towards my doom.
I can't believe that this is how it all ends.
That we got away, tried to do the right thing, and that the end comes here, in a dirty, abandoned warehouse.
It's not where I thought I'd be at this point in my life. I'd wanted to go to college, better myself. Be someone Mom and Dad would be proud of.
Not someone dying with my step-brother at the hands of some drug dealer.
"I heard about last night," comes a voice echoing through the building, though I didn't recognize it, and despite the sun outside, I can't see anyone. There are still so many shadows, hiding places, and the voice sounds like it's all around us.
Footsteps echo as the cops stand their guard on either side of Kaiden and me. Did Ryder pay them off? Did he have that much influence in this town?
Kaiden stays silent at my side, his hands wrapped into tight, angry fists. He took a hell of a beating, but he certainly looked ready for more.
"I'm disappointed," the voice continues, and I can pinpoint it to the left corner of the building, just hidden between a bunch of rebar. "I thought you weren't willing to go all the way."
The man who appears a second later isn't someone I know. He rivals Kaiden's six and a half foot tall stature, though he's not as muscular, just big. His suit is tailored and tattoos run down his hands and up his throat, making him look menacing. Like a thug gone professional.