Cruel Intoxication (Underground Kings 4)

Officer Howard scribbles something down, blue ink finally decorating the small blank page. “You don’t look too surprised to hear that.”

I lift a shoulder. “I’m not, I guess.”

“You don’t seem too bothered either,” Officer Howard decides to point out.

“I mean, my parents are pretty crappy people. Anything they say and do never surprises me. Would I be hurt if they were behind this? Yes. Surprised? No.”

Officer Howard rubs his eyebrows before putting pen to paper again. “Sounds like something we need to look into; don’t you agree?”

“I guess. I’d prefer if we left it alone. I just want to move on with my life,” I say, and this time he’s the one who doesn’t seem too surprised to hear about it.

“We can revisit that after we run through everything today. Tell me, Jolie. What’s your full name? Start from the beginning. I don’t want you to leave out any details.”

“Any?” I ask, not wanting to tell him everything that happened. I don’t want someone else feeling bad for me. I have enough of that to go around for the rest of my life.

“All of it. Even the unpleasant parts.”

“My name is Jolie Anderson…” I state, stretching my neck by turning it left and right. A cool breeze rolls by and dries the beads of sweat on my neck. I give him the rundown of everything, being kidnapped from college, trapped in a cabin, nearly starved. I told him about the baby, the abuse, the everything.

I don’t know how much time has passed since we started, but the sun is starting to set, and the stars are starting to peek out in the sky.

“Is there anything else?” he asks, a heavy strain thick in the air.

“Yeah, you are going to want to know that I killed him,” Owen says, off-handedly. “He attacked me on my campsite in the woods, trying to get to Jolie. I killed him. You might find his body soon.”

“You might have wanted to lead with this information. You guys can’t just go around killing people. I should arrest you, Owen.”

“For what? The man kidnapped her, abused her, and tracked her through the woods. Didn’t he deserve to meet his maker? Please,” Owen scoffs and puts his arm around my shoulders, tugging me close to him. The gesture is fast, natural, quick like a habit, and I don’t fight him on it. “He would’ve hurt her. I stopped him. He lives close to us, but it has to be off the edge of where the property line ends.”

“You mean, lived,” Officer Howard corrected him.

“His body should wash up soon. I bet it already has somewhere on the riverbank.”

Officer Howard seems pissed, but he is taking it in stride. Apparently, this is the one cop they have on their side when it comes to what they do, but it sure doesn’t seem like it. Looks like he’s itching to arrest Owen for murder.

“Jolie, do you want to have an investigation launched against your parents? To see if they are to blame?”

“No.”

“What?” Owen hisses and pulls away from me, staring at me dumbfounded. “You can’t be serious. Jolie…”

“I don’t want to!” I shout, silencing him and his reasons for me to prolong my torture. “I’m away from them. That’s all I want. That’s all I need. I want to move on, finally, for the first time in a year and a half. I have my life back, and that’s all I want, Owen. That’s it. Don’t you get that? Can’t we just let them think they won and I’m dead or something?”

“Sounds a lot like giving up, Jolie.”

I jolt to my feet and point a finger in his face, grinding my teeth together. “Don’t you ever talk about giving up to me. Don’t you ever say that to me again.” Out of everything we talked about within the last few hours, those words hurt the most. “You don’t know a damn thing. Give up,” I huff and place my hands on my hips. “I pulled wooden boards off the wall with my bare hands. I felt the wood break my skin and blood drip. He saw me fight and laid me on the bed to have his way with me again. I got out. I slammed him over the head with the board. I lived. A year and a half, I lived,” I pat my chest, and hurt swims my eyes. “I fought the best way I could, and I ran. Naked. In the woods. Hungry. Thirsty. Zero hope. I wanted to die trying to live, Owen. Don’t you ever say I gave up. You know what I’m doing now? Giving in. I’m giving into peace. I have that right. I have that freedom. I can move on with my life. Screw you for thinking I’m giving up. I’m allowed to.” A single tear drips onto the apple of my cheek. “Why don’t you disappear for a couple more days?” I jab, spinning on my heel and walking away. “Have a good night, Officer Howard.”

Opening the sliding glass door, I slam it shut behind me just as Owen yells my name. The water works are unable to be stopped.

“Hey, what’s wrong?” Heaven jumps up from the couch and takes a step toward me, but I lift my hand, telling him to stop.

“I… I need to be alone,” I say, which is ironic considering I’ve spent more time alone in the last year and a half than a normal person does in a lifetime. I never thought I’d want to be alone again, considering… It seems time alone is always needed, no matter what happens in your life.

“Sure.” Heaven nods and sits down, respecting the space I’m asking for. “If you need anything, let me know.”

I keep my head down and hurry to my room, a place that’s become a sanctuary in a storm. I open the door and slam it shut, locking it for good measure.

Then, I let go.