Rebels at Sterling Prep: Cole (Rebels at Sterling Prep Duets #2), page 24
They won’t care.
Because I may as well be dead to them.
Bitter laughter crawls up my throat and spills from my lips. In some ways, my parents are as bad as Donny. Sure, they don’t deal in drugs or guns, but they bargain with secrets and money. People like my father, the elite families of Gravestone County, are only concerned with two things, reputation and the size of their bank accounts.
I should feel lucky I’m free of them, of the life they had all planned out for me. But I’ll never forget what they did to me. The pain, the gaping hole in my heart, will forever bind us.
They broke me.
Irrevocably changed me.
And now... well, now I’m pretty sure I’m in love with a murderer. But I read somewhere once that lost souls call to other lost souls. They seek each other out like glimpses of light on the horizon.
Maybe I was always supposed to come to Sterling Bay. The same way Cole was always supposed to escape his life in the Heights.
Maybe we were fated to meet, to save each other.
I cling to the thought as the fight slowly leaves my body and I finally succumb to the darkness.
I wake with start, the icy fingers of fear wrapping around my throat as I try to swallow. It’s dark still. Darker than before. My mouth is dry and my head pounds.
“Hello?” I croak, aware of someone in the trailer with me.
“Boss said to bring you this.” Ski mask man steps forward. His face is no longer obscured, but part of me wishes it was. An angry, jagged scar runs across his eye and down the side of his face. His eyes narrow when he notices me staring. I instantly avert my gaze.
“You should drink something.” He uncaps the bottle and advances toward me, but I slam my lips together.
He drugged me.
There’s no way I’m drinking anything he—
“Don’t make this more difficult than it needs to be.” He almost sighs the words, but I refuse to mistake the softness in his voice for regret.
Turning my head, I avoid his proximity until he roughly grabs my face and squeezes my cheeks together, forcing me to open my mouth. He pours the water in, not caring that I can barely swallow.
“Fucking stubborn bitch,” he murmurs.
The second he backs up, I heave a deep breath, aware that my school shirt is wet. His eyes go to my chest, making bile rush up my throat.
He licks his lips, openly gawking at me. “Shame the boss said we could look but couldn’t touch.”
Oh God.
I screw my eyes shut, trying to take myself to another place. Somewhere—anywhere—better than this. But it’s futile. The stale air permeates my thoughts, anchoring me to the cold, dank trailer.
He watches me for a few more seconds before slowly retreating. “Ain’t nobody to blame for this but Jagger,” he says.
“What will happen to him?” The words fall from my lips.
“Your boyfriend will fall in line or suffer the consequences.”
A shiver runs through me. Cole did all this to save Ace, to protect his brother... it doesn’t seem fair.
But I know all too well that life isn’t fair. It’s cruel and hard and messy. I’m only eighteen, but sometimes it feels like I’ve lived too much life for a young girl.
My stomach aches and I want nothing more than to rub it, to place my hand there and settle the nerves wreaking havoc inside me. But the second my mind goes there, I think of the baby that may or may not be growing. If I’m pregnant, I can only be six or seven weeks at the most.
Tears well in my eyes. A baby is the last thing I need, the last thing Cole needs, but I can’t deny the rush of love I feel. After everything I survived at the hands of my parents, it feels like a second chance.
A shot at doing things right.
My captor clears his throat, yanking me back to reality with a thud. My head snaps up in his direction, and he shoots me a dirty smirk. “Who knows, maybe if Jagger fucks up, you and I will get to have some fun after all.”
The memory of his knife at my throat, his body pressed close to mine, floods my mind. I would rather die than become his plaything.
Cole will come.
I want to believe the little voice. But when you’ve been betrayed by everyone you ever cared about, it’s not easy.
“See you soon, pretty girl.” He slips into the shadows and the trailer door creaks open before slamming shut and plunging me into darkness once more.
I’m so cold and tired, still weary from whatever drug he gave me. But I can’t slip under again. Not if I want to survive this. I need to stay awake. I need to be ready for when someone comes for me. Because I have to believe they will.
I have to believe that Cole and his brothers are out there, looking for me.
Because if they’re not... then I have nothing.
No hope.
No one.
CHAPTER TWO
Cole
My eyes are still locked on the image of Hadley on my cell, and just one word repeats in my head.
Pregnant. Pregnant. Pregnant.
My hand trembles as the world around me tilts on its axis.
This can’t be happening.
It has to be a dream. Or at the very least, one very sick joke. A way of getting back at me after her attack. She’s punishing me, showing me just how much I needed to get out of the life I’ve found myself in.
But I know it’s neither of those things.
This right now is very much real.
The fear that’s lacing through my veins. The panic that’s squeezing my chest to the point I’m struggling to drag in the air I need. It’s all very real.
And the photograph before me? That’s equally as real.
That motherfucker has my girl.
He could… he might… “Fuuuuuuuck,” I scream, launching my cell across the room.
“You need to come right now.” The sound of Remi’s equally panicked voice fills my ears, and when I look up, I find her eyes wide and face pale as she holds her cell to her ear.
“We’ll wait here. Be quick. Please,” she begs down the line.
She hangs up and drops her arm, letting it dangle uselessly by her hip.
“Ace is coming. We’re going to fix this, Cole. We’re going to find her and everything will be okay.”
Her words register in my head, but I can’t make myself believe them.
Donny has her. Nothing about this is okay.
“Y-you said…” I stutter but soon trail off, not able to even say the words.
“I don’t know, Cole. She told me last night that her period is late. It-it’s probably just a false alarm but…” It might not be.
She doesn’t say the words, but I hear them loud and clear nonetheless.
Stumbling back, I hit the wall with a thud before sliding down until my ass collides with the floor.
I shouldn’t just be sitting here. I should be out trying to find her, to save her, but as my head continues to spin, I can’t get a grip on reality, let alone consider what my first move might be.
He could have taken her anywhere.
She could already be… “No, no, no,” I chant, needing to hear the words. He wants me, not her. Killing her wouldn’t get him what he wants. He’s just trying to draw me in.
He’s planned this. Knowing Donny, he’ll have planned it well. We need to go in with a plan of our own, one that’s going to result in all of us walking away unscathed while Donny dies a slow and painful death for trying to mess with us.
I have no idea how much time passes as I sit there with my forehead resting on my arms, but eventually I hear two pairs of feet race our way before both Ace and Conner come barreling into the room.
Lifting my head, I find their wide-eyed, panic-stricken faces, but unlike me, they seem to be holding it together.
“Where’s the picture?” Ace asks the second he comes to a stop, clearly knowing what he’s doing.
Remi hands him my cell, which she must have collected from wherever it landed after I launched it. I’m surprised the damn thing still works.
“Motherfucker,” he grunts—I assume at seeing Hadley bound, gagged and completely useless—but the next words out of his mouth make me think he’s already got a plan. “You two, pack her a bag, whatever you think she might need, and get to the house. You,” he states, looking down at me. “You’re coming with me.”
I scramble to get to my feet. “W-where are we going?”
“To go and get your girl back.”
“But where? How?” My heart pounds. “She could be anywhere.”
“Yeah, but she’s not, is she?” My brows pull together at the riddle he seems to be talking in. “Are you just going to stand there looking confused, or are you coming?”
After giving Remi a kiss to her forehead and throwing his bike keys at Conner, he takes off.
“Please be safe,” Remi calls after him.
“Always. I love you, Princess.” If the situation were any different, I’d expect Conner to say something about Ace’s show of affection for his girl. As it is, when I glance at him, he just slaps me on the shoulder in a way of support before pulling a terrified Remi into his arms as I race off behind Ace.
I catch up with him as he exits the building.
“You got the car keys?”
“Yeah.”
“Good, let’s go.”
The two of us sprint toward the parking lot, and before I even get a chance to think, Ace is in the driver’s seat and wheelspinning the heap of junk out of Sterling Prep.
“You gonna tell me where we’re going anytime soon?” I ask as he makes a sharp right, throwing me into the car door.
“How closely did you look at that photo Donny sent?” His voice is so steady and calm. I wish I knew how that was possible in this situation. I feel like I’m about to explode at any minute.
“Not very close. I got the gist of it pretty damn fast, though.”
“Look again,” he demands, passing my cell back over.
I do as he suggests and fight against my need to crush it to tiny pieces when the image of her fills the screen once more.
There should only ever be one reason why she’s bound and gagged, and it has nothing to do with Donny or any motherfucker other than me.
The only person’s mercy she should ever be at is mine, but she should know that only pleasure will come out of it.
Ripping my eyes from Hadley, I look at her surroundings.
“Motherfucker,” I grate, now seeing all the things I missed before. “So she’s in our old trailer. What are you suggesting we do exactly? He’ll be expecting us. We can’t just march in and demand her back.”
“I haven’t entirely figured that out yet,” he admits with a heavy sigh.
“And here I was, thinking you knew what you were doing,” I mutter.
“I’m sorry, but this isn’t exactly a daily fucking occurrence for me. We just need to get there, is all I know.” He takes another corner way too fast, but I sense it coming this time and hold on as he leans into it. “We’ll go around the back, get a sense of what’s going on, and then we’ll make a plan.”
I want to cuss and shout that he doesn't have anything better, but I know he’s right. We can’t possibly make a plan until we know what we’re dealing with.
The rest of the drive toward Sterling Heights is in silence. The tension and anticipation in the car is so thick it’s hard to breathe, but I use it to fuel me. I channel it into my determination to get Hadley out of this in one piece.
Every part of me screams to go running in there, but I know I need to be smarter if I don’t want to get us all killed.
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
“This is all your fault,” I grate out.
Ace glances over at me. “You really want to play that game right now?”
“I need to blame someone,” I mutter, once again beginning to lose control.
“Yeah, well try looking a little further afield than this car. I only did what I had to do to keep us alive. Our parents are the ones who fucked this all up.”
Ain’t that the fucking truth.
“You still want to go to James with this?”
“I don’t fucking know what to do about this right now. This is a fucking mess.” Anger fills his tone, and while I know that he’s pissed I took his place with Donny, I suspect he’s angrier with himself for putting me in that position in the first place.
“If that cunt had just done what he should have from the very beginning, then none of this would have happened,” I muse.
“It’s too late now, Cole. What’s done is done.”
“For you, maybe,” I mutter, but I soon slam my lips shut when he looks over at me.
“What the hell is that supposed to mean?”
“Nothing. Forget it.”
“Fuck that, Cole. What don’t I know?”
“Nothing. Go down that way,” I say, pointing down one of the various tracks that lead to our former trailer park.
He glances over, his eyes telling me that this isn’t over. As far as I’m concerned, it is. I have no intention of ever telling anyone the things that still haunt me from our childhood. No one else deserves to have that fucked-up shit in their heads.
Ace pulls the car to a stop and kills the engine far enough away that no one would hear us coming.
“What the fuck are you waiting for?” I bark at him when he remains in his seat.
“Pass me your cell again.”
I do as I’m told, and he stares down at the image in silence for a few seconds.
“What?”
“Nothing, let’s go and see what’s going on.”
We jump out of the car before climbing the bank that will allow us to see the trailer park in the valley below.
The second our old home emerges before us, we both notice the issue.
“Where the fuck is it?”
“Motherfucker,” I roar.
“We should have known it wasn’t going to be this easy.”
My eyes lock on the patch of land where our old, dilapidated trailer used to sit. Nothing else has changed, but our home, the only evidence we ever existed here, is gone.
“Now wha—” My words are cut off as Ace waves his arm in front of my face before pointing across the park.
“See him?” he whispers.
I narrow my eyes in the direction he’s looking, and after a few seconds, movement in the trees catches my eye. “They’re waiting for us.”
“So what’s the plan? She isn’t here, so it seems pointless going down there and getting ambushed,” I point out.
“But then how are we going to find out where she is? They’re the only fuckers who know. We need them to lead us to her.”
“What are you thinking?” I ask.
Ace blows out a slow breath that only succeeds in filling my stomach with dread. “I think that I should go down there. Let them catch me in the hope they’ll take me to the same place. You can follow.”
“Just like that?” I don’t like it, at all, but we’re running out of time.
“Do you have a better fucking suggestion?” he snaps.
“Beat it out of him and leave the fucker fighting for his life?”
Ace eyes me for a second. “You really think that just because he’s the only one we see, he’s the only one down there? Donny knows what we’re capable of. He’s got his best guys down there waiting for us.”
“Great,” I mutter.
“Exactly. That means they’re not surrounding her. He’s probably left her wide open. We find her, it should be fairly straightforward.”
“Ok, great.” Sarcasm drips from my words. “Off you go then.”
He turns to look at me once more, shaking his head. “I know you’re getting impatient. Trust me, I understand, but we need to do this smart, not fast.
“The longer they wait, the more they’ll start to believe we’re not coming. They’ll get bored, impatient… tired. We need everything to our advantage right now, not to mention that when the sun sets, it’ll make my arrival more of a surprise. I’m more than willing to take down a few fuckers if I can.”
“So we just sit here and wait until the sun sets while fuck knows what is happening to Hadley?”
“He won’t touch her.” Ace levels me with a serious look.
“You sound awfully confident about that.”
“I know Donny,” he says. “I know how his mind works.”
“And if you’re wrong?”
“Then it’s just something we’ll have to live with.”
“I need her fucking back, Ace.”
“I know, man.” He reaches over and squeezes my shoulder. “Trust me, I get it. And we’re going to get her back. Hadley is stronger than this, and lucky for her, we’re better than Donny fucking Lopez. You don’t work for that cunt for as long as I have and not learn a few of his tricks.”
The next couple of hours are up there with some of the longest of my life as we watch Donny’s guys below do exactly as Ace predicted. They get bored and start wandering around instead of hiding in the shadows like he guessed they would.
They expected us to turn up before now.
“Why don’t we own a sniper rifle?” I ask. It’s not really a serious question, more just something to fill the painful silence around us. “It would have made this so much fucking easier.”
“Probably because I don’t really want to spend the rest of my life locked up for armed murder. That something you’re interested in?”
I swallow nervously. I could already be put away for a long time if the truth were to ever surface. And for all I know, every motherfucker down there knows my secret. Another reason why killing them off one by one seems appealing to me right now.
“No one would know it’s us.”
Ace narrows his eyes at me. “You’re fucking serious.”
“Oh, so you wouldn’t be saying the same if it meant getting Remi back in one piece.”
“Fuck me, Cole. You really fucking love her, don’t you?”
“I… uh…” My chest tightens.
“Yeah, don’t worry, bro. It takes a while to get used to.” Silence falls between us as I try to accept his words, but much like everything else that’s happened in the couple of days, they just don’t register.
