“Fucking useless bitch,” he rants disgustedly. “All she had to do was drive the car. Four years of planning this shit out, and she’s too busy getting high to remember her one goddamn job. I’ve put up with that asshole O’Leary, and fucked that crazy bitch,” he nods at Claire, “to get my payday, and she can’t do one goddamn thing. But, hey, maybe I can have a little fun with your Cherry. I’d bet you would pay for me to give her back to you.”
“Put her down. Now! There’s no way out of here. It’s the end of the line,” I shout, and I see him jump. He glares at me and then makes his move. He pushes Layla roughly off his shoulder and she lands with a loud thud on the concrete. She utters a small cry, and I see red.
I’m distracted by her falling, and for a moment my attention is diverted. I lower my gun and make a move towards my girl. As I step towards her I catch a glimpse of him out of the corner of my eye, pulling a kitchen knife out from behind his back.
My body is already in motion but he’s closer to Layla. He stands above her and raises his arm. I see his intention is to bring the big knife down on her, and I react.
In a split second I aim my gun at his head and pull the trigger. No hesitation. Direct hit.
The loud pop rings through the garage and Justin hits the ground as I reach Layla.
I hear Layla’s mother start to scream, and I don’t know if she’s upset he’s dead, or if she’s so strung out she’s just in a panic over a loud noise. I don’t give either of them a second of my attention as I go to my girl.
“Layla, baby, look at me,” I say, frenzied. I rub my hands over her face and head, trying to see if she’s okay. I don’t know where she hurt herself, but, thank God, she’s semi-conscious so she must have hit her head when she fell. Or maybe it just the drugs he slipped her.
Suddenly Jeanette is by my side, helping me wake her up. “I think he drugged her, but it must not have been much. She’s still breathing and her eyes are opening,” she says.
Layla looks up at me with foggy eyes blinking slowly. She doesn’t say anything so I guess she must be drifting in and out of consciousness. “Look at me, Cherry. I’m right here. Are you hurt? Talk to me, baby. I love you so much. I’m right here.” I’m rambling but I don’t give a fuck.
Jeanette helps me in looking her over, and she sees a big bruise already forming on her hip. “She must have banged her hip on the ground when he dropped her. Fucking hell, I’m glad that dick-bag is dead. I want to kill him all over again for that shit. Do you have any idea how difficult that was to watch and not be able to do anything?” She looks up at me and gives me a small smile, like she’s trying to make an inappropriate joke, maybe trying to get me to calm down a little. I feel like my whole body is shaking. It probably is. I’m sure I’ll laugh later.
“I need to get her to the hospital and make sure she and the baby are okay. I don’t know what that motherfucker gave her,” I say and pick Layla up.
“Two steps ahead of you, big guy,” Jeanette says, jangling the keys to the truck in her hand. “You sit in the back with her. I’ll drive.”
Saint walks over with Layla’s mother and looks at me with a questioning raised eyebrow. I know that look. He’s asking if we should take her out back and clean up this mess completely.
I look at the woman who was once the epitome of elegance – never a hair out of place and always perfectly dressed. She was a cold bitch but had her shit together. That woman would be ashamed if she could see herself now. She was a shitty mother and a pretty shitty human being, but I don’t think she would be standing here if it wasn’t for Dean O’Leary. That man ruins lives and his wife is no exception. I look back at Saint and shake my head.
I lock eyes with her, and I can see she’s coming down from her high. She knows what’s just happened. “I’m letting you leave here with your life. Nothing happened here today as far as you’re concerned. You leave and you never, ever come back. You won’t have contact with Layla or our baby. Ever. You disappear on your own or next time I see you, I make you disappear. We clear?”
Tears start to stream down her cheeks, but she takes a deep breath and nods. “Thank you,” she whispers and turns to leave. Before she makes it out of the garage she looks back and says, “For what it’s worth, tell her I’m sorry.” With that, she’s gone.
This bitch is clearly crazy, making up some idea that we had something, but I just can’t bring myself to kill her. It’s Layla’s mother. She never really did anything worth killing her for. Maybe being with O’Leary all those years made her lose her grip. I can always finish her off later if she tries something. I look at Saint, and he knows what I need. “I’ll take care of this. No need to worry,” he tells me, motioning towards Justin’s body. This isn’t our first time dealing with a corpse. He knows what to do.
I get in the backseat and position Cherry in my lap. I look up to see Jeanette in the front seat, fiercely kissing Saint goodbye. It’s over quickly, and before I know it she’s cranking up the truck. Cherry breathes evenly and occasionally looks around almost drunkenly as she slips in and out, but I need to know she and the baby are going to be okay.