Shallow River

Don’t know why I didn’t just go into the personal bodyguard profession, the way my life is turning out.

Stalking her is my only resort. What the fuck else can I do? Text her? That psychopath more than likely is synced to her Cloud and is reading every interaction she has without her knowledge.

Ryan is just giving her the illusion that she has any semblance of privacy and independence. Wouldn’t surprise me if he starts giving her phone to her as a fucking privilege and taking it away from her as punishment—it’s exactly what happened with Alison.

My phone buzzes in my back pocket. Distractedly, I pull it out as I watch River and her friend get farther and farther away. I decide not to follow her today any longer. Approaching River is going to be like approaching a scared dog. She’s going to bite, and she’s going to bite really fucking hard. Best that I don’t put her in that position in front of other people. Or rather, put myself through that in front of other people.

Glancing down at my phone, my heart seizes. As if I conjured her into existence, Alison’s name is flashing across my phone.

She never calls me. Not anymore at least. We parted ways the same day her and Ryan officially parted ways. As much of an asshole as it might make me, I only felt responsible for getting her to safety, not picking up the pieces for her.

“Mako,” I answer, keeping my voice professional.

“Hey…” she trails off awkwardly. “I’m sorry to bother you. But uh, I’m a little concerned actually. About Ryan’s new girlfriend, River?” she poses her name as a question, not sure if I had already met her or not.

“Yeah, I’ve met her,” I say. The timing and reason behind Alison’s call only reinforces my determination. Feels almost like kismet.

Alison pauses, and then clears her throat. “I’ve tried talking to her. She’s… she’s not a very approachable person.” I crack a smile at that. Quite a fucking underwhelming statement if you ask me. She continues, “Ryan’s got her under his spell, and even though I’ve come out from under the fog, I don’t know how the hell to get someone else to.”

It’s nice knowing that I’m not the only one wants to try and help River escape. Alison is kind—inherently kind. She’s not the type of girl to go into a jealous rage when her high school sweetheart moves onto someone else. No, I’m pretty fucking sure there’s a small part of Alison that is glad it’s not her anymore. But that doesn’t mean she’s above letting the new girl suffer when she’s more than aware of what’s happening to her behind closed doors.

I wait. I already know what she wants. Little does she know I’ve already stuck my nose in the middle of something that probably shouldn’t have my fucking nose in it.

“Can you talk to her, Mako? Maybe try to convince her that she’s gotten into something pretty… pretty brutal? The only reason I survived that relationship is because of you. You got me out. You saved me. I need you to save her, too.”

I sigh. I hate when she says shit like that.

“You saved yourself Alison, not me. I just gave you the push to do it. You were the one in the relationship, and you were the only one that was able to claw your way out of it. That was all you.”

Girl is tougher than she gives herself credit for. Alison has been through too much for her to give the credit to someone else. No fucking way will I ever accept that.

She growls under her breath. My mouth quirks up, the sound cute coming from her. “You know what I mean, Mako. I never would have had the strength to leave if you weren’t there to help. I—I know I did that myself. But you were still my stepping stones.”

Frustrated, I pivot and start walking back to my car. I’m lingering on a campus I don’t belong on, where anyone can see me. The last thing I need is someone recognizing me. Ryan may have graduated, but he left his imprint on this place. And a lot of people know who I am and exactly how he feels about me. Those same people are also really fucking loyal dogs, too.

“I was planning on helping her, Ali,” I say finally, changing the subject back to the matter at hand. It makes me queasy when she gets all sentimental on me.

She sighs in her relief, which just makes the responsibility I feel even more suffocating. Now I have Alison counting on me, too.

I open the car door, nearly throw myself into the car, and slam the door shut. The heat is stifling, but I don’t turn the car on yet.

“But I can’t do this forever,” I sigh, admitting the thought that’s been haunting me since I learned what Ryan was doing to her. “I don’t know if I can save all his girlfriends from him forever. Maybe River will leave eventually, but we both know there’s going to be another one. Ryan isn’t the type to stay alone. He needs someone to control and break, and if it’s not you, or River, it’s going to be another girl. How do I spend the rest of my fucking like keeping tabs on him and trying to convince his girlfriends to leave?”

It’s killing me, is what I don’t say. The stress from it is exhausting, but when I imagine what they’re going through, my stress seems so trivial and I don’t have the willpower to walk away.

Alison scoffs. “That’s why we convince River to press charges. I…I was too scared. But if River comes forward, I will too. I’ll testify against him or whatever. We end it with River.” The conviction in her tone would be sweet, but poor Alison is also very naïve.

“Even if she does, it won’t sti

ck Ali. He’s a fucking lawyer for Christ’s sake, and I know the slimy shit has already made his connections with bad people. He’s dirty. And even if that wasn’t the case, Ryan is very good at manipulating people—especially our father. If Ryan doesn’t get himself off, our dad will… And then River will be in more danger than she was before.”

Another wave of frustration surges through me. I want to punch my fist through the steering wheel. It will never seize to amaze me how well Ryan has our parents under his thumb. They think he’s the perfect son—next to me of course because our parents would never pick favorites. But fuck, they really should considering one of their sons is an absolute piece of shit. Ryan will spin some story about how River is manipulative and lying, and just trying to get a piece of the family fortune. And Mom and Dad will believe it.

I know this because I’ve tried convincing them before that he was beating Alison. I showed them pictures of her injuries and his threatening texts, and when Ryan convinced them they were photoshopped, I went to my colleagues. I went to my boss. Lieutenant Sharp did believe me, but when he started an investigation, it was immediately shut down by his superior. Ryan’s reach was too far—he made too many valuable connections. My claims were buried, and my parents told me to drop it. Alison was lying, that’s all there was to it. Ryan would never do that to a girl—least of all a girl he’s in love with.

That’s probably our parent’s only flaw—but it’s a flaw that’s endangering lives. They love Ryan too much and Ryan is too good at manipulating people. Abusers don’t only manipulate their victims, but they manipulate others into believing that they’re upstanding people.

They manipulate them into believing that they would never hurt a fly, so when accusations come to the surface, they’re considered outrageous. These people know Ryan and they know he would never abuse a woman.