A/N: HAPPY NEW YEAR! What better way to start out a new year than by having a new chapter? :)
June 30, 2005
Angel Grove, CA
There were loud screeching noises. Banging. Screaming. I could hear crying and the sound of panting it seemed. I tried to find the source of the noise but all I could make out was darkness. My body felt like I was swimming, my head dipping below the surface now and then. I gulped for air, hoping to find a way out of the inky blackness. My memories seemed to slip the more I floated and soon, I didn't know where I was. The blackness was warm and welcomed me, like a deep bath or a raft in the sun. I closed my eyes, enjoying the sensation as I let everything slip away.
Soon though, the waters I was in grew chopping and my arms and legs began to feel like they weighed a ton each. This made them achy and sore, a pressure coming from my head. It felt like someone was trying to squeeze my head like a grape, the insides threatening to burst out from the pressure. I struggled to find the relief again but it wasn't there. The darkness started to grow lighter now, a source of light swinging above my head. My eyes refused to focus on it as it grew brighter, my eyes hurting from the brightness of it. Everything else faded and washed out, that swinging light the only thing I could make out.
My eyelids weighed like heavy bricks as they dragged open. I was confused at first, unsure why I was so tired. My eyes were blurry as I turned my head, pain coming from my shoulder. I blinked a few times, my vision becoming more clear. I saw that I was inside of my basement. The single light bulb on a cord was above my head, swinging as it made the illumination move with each pass. Our Christmas decorations were stacked in the corner by the water heater while the rest of my mother's things were on the other side of the room from when she had packed up the house. Why was I in the basement? Had I fallen asleep here or something? I went to move my hands and found that I couldn't. Looking down at myself, I saw I was in a pink dress. There was dirty and something red smeared on the front of it. My hands were tied at the wrist to the chair I was sitting in. My ankles were as well, my bare feet attached to the legs of the chair. I pulled against my restraints, them not giving away in the slightest when I did.
The memory of the wedding came to mind. I could remember being at the wedding and enjoying the reception with everyone. I could recall getting into the truck and talking to Tommy. Everything after that was fuzzy. There were loud crashing noises that I couldn't connect to a memory as well as some yelling. Had there been an accident of some sort? There was blood all over me and my shoulder ached and throbbed. If so, how did I end up back here? And who had tied me up to a chair?
Raising my head, I was surprised to see that there were two forms off to the right side of the room. Upon further examination, I saw that it was Tommy and Jason. Both had their hands above their heads, their wrists handcuffed over a wooden support beam. Tommy had a gash above his right eye, dried blood on the side of his face. Jason had scratches on his left cheek and what looked like a black eye forming above it. Both of them were covered in blood and had white fabric shoved into their mouths. Tommy pulled against his handcuffs when he saw I was awake, his eyes widening.
"Where's Lily?" I asked, my voice hoarse. My heart thundered in my chest as I looked around the room I could see, hoping to spot her car seat hiding somewhere nearby. It wasn't there though and there was no sign of her to be found. I looked back up at Tommy, terrified. He shook his head, trying to tell me something. I couldn't understand it through the muffled noises he was making. His eyes shifted from me to behind me. He narrowed his eyes, Jason also glaring in that direction. I heard movement behind me but I couldn't see, my shoulder preventing me from seeing any farther that my side.
"Hello, Kimmy." A voice said, making my heart stop. Slowly, I turned my head to the left and saw Nick come walking from behind me. He wore a smile, his hair neatly cut and combed on his head. He was clean shaven and dressed in a white button up shirt and dress pants. He seemed ready for a job interview, the small of cologne coming from his direction. I shook my head in disbelief. "What? You looked surprised to see me?"
"How?" I asked. "How are you even here? You're supposed to be in jail."
"It's funny how prisons are designed to keep people in yet they provide the best environment for coming up with plans to get out." I heard more movement behind me and two more people came into view. One was Pete which was no shock to me. But I was surprised to see another man standing there. It was the same man who had come to the theater, posing as the gas company worker. "I'm sure you remember Pete. He's been very helpful to me since I was locked up. He even helped me get in touch with an old friend from Miami." My eyes widened.
"You're the one who came looking for Nick the day we were leaving Florida." I said, recalling the day someone had knocked on the door and asked for him. I had lied to the guy, trying to protect Nick. That's why the man had looked so familiar when he showed up at the theater.
"I am." The man said. "You're one shitty liar." I glared at him.
"You see, Kim. When I told you I wanted to leave Florida, it wasn't because I wanted to build a family or make things work for you. Andrew here needed someone out West to make runs to his cargo ships on the coast. See, he needed someone to be able to meet his guys to send his product off to him. What better cover up was there than moving to this shithole little town and pretending to want a better life for us?" He looked me up and down, liking his lips. "You look great, by the way. I see you got your body back after the pregnancy." I glared at him.
"Where's my daughter?" I asked. "What did you do to her?"
"Oh, she's fine. Andy's wife has her upstairs. Cute as a button that little one is by the way. Good to see she looks just like you." He smirked, crossing his arms. Walking over, he stopped between Tommy, Jason, and I. Tommy glared at him, his expression reading that he could murder him with his bare hands if he had the chance.
"How did you escape prison?" I asked. He smiled at me, seemingly proud of his work.
"Well, when I realized I was going to be in there longer than I had originally planned for, I knew I was going to need some assistance. I had Pete get in contact with Andy who had some connections out here. Lucky for me, he was able to convince some of his men to land a contracting job inside of the prison to repair some duct work. I managed to sneak into their van when no one was working and I was out of there in no time. I came here to find you but you weren't home. I found the invite for the wedding on the fridge though and decided that I could pay my respects to Adam and Billy. Hope the wedding was special. It was just dumb luck on our part that we saw you coming from the wedding as we were almost there. I owe Pete some credit for the quick thinking to drive you off the road. Glad to see that you're mostly okay."
"Are you insane?! Lily was in the truck with us! You could have murdered an innocent baby!" I exclaimed. "You need to turn yourself back into the police, Nick. You're an escaped convict. Once they catch you, you're going to spend the rest of your life behind bars without the chance of seeing daylight again."
"You and I both know that I'm not going to do that, Kimmy." Nick said, perching himself on the steps that led up to the house. "I mean, not after such an elaborate plan was in place. Though, I thought for sure you had thrown it out of whack the other day but Andy had something else up his sleeve."
"What are you talking about?" I asked, glaring at Nick.
"While I was on the run, I needed to make sure that I had everything I needed. Pate and his friends were gracious enough to pay a visit to Trini and Jason's for me." Nick stood up and walked over to Jason. He stood close enough that they would have been nose to nose if Jason wasn't strung up. "I heard it was quite the mess once they were done. I wish I could have been there to see it. I asked them to make sure they hit that bitch's kitchen extra hard to serve her right. Must have burned you to know you couldn't even protect your home, huh Tough Guy?" Nick asked, smirking at Jason. "But, I'll admit that I screwed up this part. I was only supposed to go home to get some things and then head out of town. I wasn't counting you to be there though and I let you get to me. Of course, if you didn't have Beavis," Nick drew his arm back and punched Jason in the stomach. Jason groaned, doubling over the best he could in his position. "And Butthead," He stepped over to Tommy and punched him as well. Tommy tried not to flinch but I saw the pain in his eyes. "Following your every move, I might have been able to take care of things and hit the road."
"Why don't you do that now then?" I asked. "No one is stopping you. Just go."
"And miss my chance to visit with my wife?"
"Ex-wife." I hissed. He narrowed his eyes at me and slapped me, the sound echoing across the basement. Tommy pulled against his handcuffs, a noise coming from him.
"Shut it, lover boy. Or she'll get a lot worse." Nick said, pointing at Tommy. "Now, where was I? Right. So, I'm sitting in jail and I had to think of something to get the police off my tail. I figured if I just took you out of the picture, they wouldn't have someone to testify against me." Nick walked over and leaned against the support beam in front of me. "I didn't think it would be that hard but you proved to be harder to kill than I imagined. Pete followed you for a while and he almost succeeded when he set the gas to leak at the karate school." He sighed. "But, naturally, you managed to get out of that. I'm surprised you're even still here." He added, lazily looking over at Tommy. "You're like a cockroach."
"Get to the damn point." I said.
"You're so patient." He said. "We had hoped you both would have died that night but it didn't happen. So, when I ended up going to prison, I knew that I needed to get my revenge. We thought we would try to do it again by sending Andy to your work to plant something in your office. We weren't counting on you being there. It was then when I realized that I was going to have to take care of things myself."
"Fine. Do whatever you want to me then. Just let Tommy and Jason go. And give them Lily." I said. "There's no reason they need to get hurt when it's me you want."
"Are you joking right now? There's plenty of reasons." Nick said, standing up. He walked over to me and ran a thumb down my cheek. I pulled my head away and he grabbed a handful of my hair so hard that it made tears spring to my eyes. He turned to look at Tommy. "So, tell me, Tommy. How was it fucking my wife? Was she good? Did she do that little thing with her mouth that she does so well? Life changing, isn't it?" Nick let go of me and shoved the chair I was in. It tipped slightly, almost sending me falling over. I was able to keep myself from toppling. Nick glared at me and reached behind himself, pulling his gun from his belt line. He turned the safety off and cocked it, holding it at his side. "You know, for a while, I really thought it was just me seeing something that wasn't there. I almost believed her when she said nothing was going on between the two of you. I blame that on the drugs I had been using though. They do some crazy shit to your brain. I'm clear headed now, though."
"Then you need to realize you have to stop this." I said. "It's not right, Nick. You can just get the fuck out of here and avoid the cops all together." Nick laughed.
"Are you trying to tell me what's right and wrong, Kimberly?" He asked. "You've got some nerve. You know what? Let's talk about some right and wrong!" He smiled, walking over to Tommy. "How about you start, Kim? How about you tell everyone about how you broke poor Tommy's heart all those years ago? How you broke up with him through a letter? Ouch. Sorry, man. I told her to call and make it quicker. Course, I was just trying to get her in the sack sooner but it still sucks."
"We've worked through that." I said.
"Oh? Well, that's great! Has Tommy worked through the fact you've been lying to him since pretty much the day you returned here?" Nick asked. "Hmmm? I was shocked at first to hear in court that he didn't know but then it clicked to me."
"Stop it." I said, glaring at Nick.
"What's the matter, Kimmy? Afraid the jig is up?" He walked closer to Tommy. "I think it's about time you tell everyone the truth."
"You don't know what you're talking about."
"Sure, I do." He said, shrugging his shoulders. "The room is listening, Kim. Come clean! Everyone is waiting."
"Nick, you need to stop." I said. He lifted his arm and pointed the gun at Tommy's temple.
"Either you tell the truth or Tommy's brains end up decorating the back wall of the basement."
"No!" I exclaimed, fear gripping my chest.
"That's what I thought." Nick said. "Now, Kimberly. Please tell us. Who is Lily's father?" I opened my mouth to speak, tears in my eyes. I looked over at Tommy who locked eyes with me.
"I'm so sorry." I whispered, feeling a tear drip down my cheek.
"We're waiting!" Nick yelled, cocking the gun.
"Tommy is Lily's father." I said, the words coming out and hanging in the air around us. Tommy's eyes widened, shock filling them. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. This isn't how I wanted to tell you. I promise." I said, tears streaming down my face.
"You hear that, Golden Boy? Even though you fathered her child, she let people believe that I was her baby daddy. She would rather people believe I was Lily's father than you. That's gotta sting, man."
"That's not true!" I exclaimed. "I was trying to protect her and you. I didn't want anyone to get hurt. I swear."
"I'm not sure about that one, Tommy." Nick said, walking towards Jason. "I think that your best friend here actually knew too. I mean, her and Jason are shoved up each other's asses as it is. I'm sure Jason knows something. Am I right?" Nick asked, looking over his shoulder at me. I didn't move to speak and he pointed the gun at the side of Jason's hair line.
"He wanted me to tell you as soon as he found out." I whispered. Tommy looked between Jason and I, a mixed expression on his face.
"Oh, I am loving this angst. Feelings like one of those dramas people watch on the Lifetime channel." Nick let out a loud laugh. Above our heads, I heard something and it was followed by a baby crying. Lily.
"Let me see my baby. Please." I cried. "I need to make sure she's okay."
"You're going to have plenty of time with her." Nick said. He nodded over at Pete who walked over to me. He untied my feet. "See, Andy has offered me a promotion. I'm going to be running his operations down in Mexico. And I figured that you're probably going to be needing someone else to help raise Lily with you now since you're nothing but a big fat liar. Can't keep our family apart anymore, now can I?"
"What? No!" I said as Pete tied my hands together. I tried to fight him off but he pulled a gun from his waist as well.
"I told you, Kimberly." Nick said, stepping over to me. "I wasn't going to let you go that easy. You made a mistake and I can forgive you for that. We can be a happy family again." He grabbed my left bicep and turned to face Tommy and Jason. "Now, boys. No hard feelings, right? I mean, I get it. Women, am I right? And our Kimmy here is a handful. I want to thank you for taking such great care of my daughter though. I owe you for that, Tommy. I think I'm going to make one hell of a step-dad, don't you think?"
"RV is here, boss." Andy said, nodding at Nick.
"Right. Well, this is where we say our good-byes. I'll make sure Kimmy writes. Maybe another breakup letter, right Tommy? Oh. Too soon. My bad." Nick started pulling me towards the stairs. Pete climbed up them first while Andy hung back a few steps behind Nick and I. Nick stopped and turned back towards Tommy and Jason again. "Before I forget, here's a parting gift as a token of my gratitude." He extended his hand and pointed the gun at Tommy. He pulled the trigger, Tommy letting out a loud muffled groan as he doubled over. Nick shifted, the gun now pointed at Jason. He fired again, hitting Jason in the midsection. I let out a scream, trying to run over to them. Nick cut me off, grabbing me before I could reach them. He picked me up and put me over his shoulder.
"TOMMY!" I screamed as he carried me up the stairs and out of sight.
