Her Love Ran Crimson (Crimson Series) Read online

  Jase: Just thinking about you.

  I melt just knowing he is up at this ungodly hour thinking about me. It takes everything for me not to text him back and tell him I have thinking about him all day too. I only have a little more than two months left and then I am out of here. If only I could take Jase with me.

  Chapter Nine

  After playing hooky from school for a couple days and ignoring all of Jase’s calls and text messages, his calls and messages became less frequent. Frank was elated that I missed school and was able to be his little errand girl. I get this very strange feeling things are getting more dangerous. I have always been cautious of what I am doing, always checking my surroundings to see if people are following me. That’s the scariest part about doing these things for him. Also, now that I have missed school with the excuse of stomach flu, and have made myself completely available to Frank, he might assume that this is going to be how it is. I know he doesn’t want me going to school and just wants me doing all the dirty work for him, so his fingers are not touching stuff and he isn’t going out to client’s houses and getting seen. He never wants his hands in the pot.

  I take my shower as quickly as possible and get ready to take off, so I can run by the coffee shop before school. I need to make an appearance or else the school will start asking questions. It’s Friday. I wish I could say I was like the others and look forward to the weekends. That is not the case. I loathe the weekends. I hate not having something to do that keeps me busy.

  On my way out the door Frank yells from the couch his lazy ass never gets off of unless somebody has made a mistake.

  “Maddison!”

  I shiver every time he yells my name knowing he has something he wants me to do. “Coming,” I yell, so he doesn’t get upset. He doesn’t like when I take too long to answer. Several times I have been smacked across the face for taking my time. He treats me as his puppet and I have to obey.

  “I have something for you to deliver. It’s a little bit out of the way to school, but it is very important that it gets there as soon as possible. Address is on the envelope,” he says sternly and shoos me off with a wave of the hand.

  I am going to be late to school. Great! I don’t dare say this, though. I have learned my lesson on that. Maybe I should just take the day off, but then I think of all the makeup work I have to do. It’s strange how nobody has ever questioned my days missed from school. How Jase doesn’t even know me and he is already wondering why I am cutting out of school early. I hope I am making the right decision cutting him out of my life. It was such a simple decision that maybe if something was that simple maybe it needs to be thought about more. Here I go second guessing myself with Jase. After all, he will see how disgustingly broken I am inside, and how nobody can save me.

  I drive to the address printed on the envelope, which took me almost thirty minutes to get here. I listen to music to soothe my nerves. I am in a higher class of neighborhoods than I’m used to. In my rearview I notice a car that looks almost identical to Jase’s car close behind me. I get this crazy feeling in the pit of my stomach that it is him. It pulsates all the way down to my toes.

  Pulling up to the place, I instantly remember it. It’s weird how one look at the house brings back a rush of memories. This is Philip Becker’s house. I kind of do an inner freak out knowing he was just at my school. What, is he snooping? Did Frank send him to follow me? To make sure I am keeping my mouth shut?

  I quickly run up to the door and knock two times. Philip answers the door.

  “It’s been a long time. I knew you looked familiar the other day at school. How is your old man doing?”

  He says this in a calm, cool, and collected voice as if he is doing nothing wrong at all. He honestly doesn’t look at all affected that what possibly is in this envelope could ruin his career and send him to jail for a very long time. This is corruption at its finest.

  I despise this man. I don’t know if I hate him or Frank more. Both have ruined my life as much as the other. Although Frank was responsible for my mom’s death. Philip didn’t do what families depend on him to do. He made sure to overlook key evidence and never file charges against Dixon and Frank. Possibly there are many middle men who pay him off to keep him quiet. I am sure there is a lot of money in this envelope. This is what they call hush money.

  “He isn’t my old man and I don’t care to know how he is doing. We don’t talk like that. I have to get to school. I’m late.” I hand him the envelope. After he takes it I walk back down to my car. Being here creeps me out. It’s like being on the devil’s side. It just feels weird.

  I set off on my way to school hoping I will make at least a couple minutes of first period. I am a bundle of nerves today, scared out of my mind to see Jase. It has been almost a week since I have seen him or returned his attempts to get in touch with me. It doesn’t help that he is in four out of my six classes. Seeing him is inevitable.

  As soon as I get a late pass from the office, I head to class. I have managed to make it in enough time to have a few minutes in my first class.

  I knock on the door to the room. Mr. Shultz answers.

  “I hope you’re feeling better. I’ll give you your makeup work after class.”

  “Thanks,” I say, heading to my seat. I keep my head down to avoid glares from the students and to avoid looking for Jase. I can feel the tension in the air. I am sure everyone is staring at us, waiting for a show, but I won’t give them that satisfaction.

  I take my seat quickly, but don’t bother getting my stuff out since the class is coming to an end soon. When the bell rings I make my way to the podium where Mr. Shultz is standing. He hands me a packet.

  “Take your time in completing the assignments.”

  “Thank you,” I say graciously. Everyone has left the classroom, including Jase. I’m a little bummed. I go to my locker to deposit the work and to get to my stuff for the next class. I am going to be very busy for the next couple days trying to finish this all up in a reasonable time.

  “Let’s talk,” Jase says as he gently grabs my arm and pulls me down the hallway.

  I go along with it not wanting to make a scene, but this type of behavior doesn’t fly with me. I don’t like being tugged and told what to do. I get enough of that at home.

  “Jase, let go. I will follow you, but I can’t be late to class. Can’t we do this later?” I ask yanking my arm away from him.

  “You are ignoring me and won’t talk to me. No! We can’t. Just give me a chance,” he pleads.

  I agree and give him a second to say what he needs to say. Obviously it’s important to him.

  “What’s going on? You don’t return my calls, nothing. I get nothing from you. We had a great time and I get nothing. What did I do? Please just let me know.”

  I shift uncomfortably knowing I can’t give him what he wants. It pains me to see him like this, but he will never understand why I am doing this. I am doing this for him. “Jase, look, I had a great time, but it isn’t what I need right now. I need to focus on school and getting my shit done to get out of here. It’s the most important thing to me right now. I wish I could tell you and make you see, but I can’t. I’m sorry,” I say. As I start to pull away he grabs on again and whispers in my ear.

  “I will make you trust me. I promise you this. I am not giving up on you. You might be used to everyone giving up, but I assure you, Maddie, that I won’t. You’ll see.”

  With that he walks away making me feel alone and empty. What I wouldn’t give to spill everything to him! To let him take it all away. I know he can help distract me from everything while I am still here, but I can’t let him. I can’t depend on anybody to fix this. Just me. He has felt safe since day one and I might have just blown my chance at something, but I remind myself it’s for his own good. I blink my eyes rapidly to make my tears disappear, but one tear escapes and falls to the ground. I am not sure when he got this power over me but he has. I wipe the trail from the tear away and make my way to my n
ext class that I share with him. It takes everything I have to not go running into his arms. If he wants to try I won’t tell him no. It won’t be easy to stay away, I have learned. These last couple of days have killed me, but it can’t hurt to have a friend. Too bad I wish he was more of a friend.

  The rest of my day drags at school with most of my classes being in a fog. I spend my time day dreaming about the words he said to me. I make my way to my car once school is out.

  When I get to my car I notice a note on the windshield. Sure that it is Jase who left it for me, I grab it and flip it over and read it.

  Don’t think I have forgotten about you, my dear Maddison. Till we meet again Sooner rather than later. I will be waiting. D.

  I suddenly feel ill. Rage takes over as I rip and shred the paper until it’s too small to rip anymore. I cry uncontrollably as I destroy the paper, making sure it doesn’t exist anymore. I stomping on it and smash it between my shoes and the pavement. This is what I would do to Dixon if I had the chance. When I get the chance.

  I don’t know how I got on the floor, but I must have blacked out because I wake up to Jase staring down at me, lifting my head to rest in his lap. He’s staring at me with panic in his eyes.

  “Are you okay? Shit, Maddie, what happened? I was walking to my car when I saw you as you were falling to the ground.” He is rubbing his hand over the top of my head. It’s comforting to have someone take care of me for once.

  “Um yeah, I’m fine. I got to get going,” I say as I try to lift myself off the ground. I rub my chin as I feel a burning, tingling sensation. My fingers feel wet so I look down to see they are now covered in crimson red blood.

  “Let me help you. I’m taking you to the hospital. You need stitches. Here press this hard on your chin,” he says as he hands me a towel from his gym bag. I protest and instead push my palm into my flesh to try and stop the bleeding. I am wobbly as I get to my feet. I place my hands on the car to steady myself. Jase notices how unstable I am on my feet, so he wraps his arm around my waist to help me stand and shoves the towel into my hand. I reluctantly press it to my chin. Every inch of skin he touches awakens. I don’t even think about my chin anymore. He interrupts my thoughts.

  “Get in the car. I’m taking you.”

  “Wait…I can’t… Just help me to my—”

  He cuts me off and grabs me again and pulls me toward his car.

  “Why can’t you go to the hospital? Please tell me you are joking. Get in the car Maddie. I’m not asking.”

  He grabs the attention of some kids making their way to their cars. Now they are staring, making this more of a situation than I wanted it to be. I just want the pain that is increasing at the moment to stop. I remove the towel from my chin and look at it. It’s almost completely blood soaked. It doesn’t seem as though it is easing up. I know what I should do. I should go with him and let him take care of me, but I’m still conflicted. I smash the towel to my face and look up at Jase. “Fine! Just make it quick. Take me to my doctor’s office instead of the hospital, though.”

  I see a small smile creep up on his face knowing he that has won this round. When he notices I catch him smiling in triumph he clears his throat and puts back on his concerned face. He guides me to his car still holding onto my waist making sure I don’t fall down or maybe it is to keep me close so I don’t try to make a getaway.

  After we drive to my doctor’s office and park in the lot we head up to Dr. Peterson’s office on the fifth floor of the building. He is a doctor paid by Frank’s organization to keep things quiet when things go wrong. Another person who needs to go down in this operation. He checked me out when I was found. Of course I would never go to a regular doctor. There would be paper trails, questions, and a whole new mess to clean up that would take a lot of time and money.

  After checking in and only have a small stay in the waiting room, I am called back into the tiny room where they have already set up the cold steel tray with instruments to sew up my chin. The smell in the room is sterile and takes me back to the time I was brought here after my mom was killed and I was injured.

  Dr. Peterson comes in. “How are you feeling? I’m just going to clean this up and stitch it real quick. Shouldn’t take long. Just hold still because this might burn a bit.”

  I don’t even bother talking back to him. I just grab Jase’s hand for comfort. I am uncomfortable with the pain and with this place. The antiseptic stings badly, so I squeeze his hand hard. The pain shoots through me and I don’t know if this can get any worse. I bite my lip, so I don’t scream. Next comes the numbing shots to the area that the deep cut is in. Once the first needle is stuck into my chin, the pain is extreme, and the topical they put on before this didn’t do much to numb my chin. I start sweating and feel lightheaded like I might pass out. Jase notices and holds my shoulders from behind to keep me up. His touch instantly calms me and I focus on that until I am all stitched up with a bottle of pain killers in hand and heading back to the car.

  Once we are in his car I turn to him and say, “Thank you. You didn’t have to do this, but you did and I appreciate it.” I put my hand on his knee and smile as much as I can before it starts hurting.

  “I told you I won’t give up. I said I will make you see, Maddie. This is just the beginning.” he says to me with calming eyes.

  All I can do is sit back and enjoy the rest of the quiet ride home because you know what they say. It’s the quiet before the storm.

  Chapter Ten

  Someone puts their hand across my mouth to stop my screaming. I am grabbing at the person’s hand trying to claw at it and rip it away from my mouth. A cloth covers my nose and mouth and I slowly start to fade. My arms are turning into jelly as I try to break away. I am getting sucked into the obscurity of the unknown.

  I don’t know how long I am out or what has happened until I slowly wake up from the fog I’m in. I try to move and open my eyes slowly to figure out where I am. My eyelids are so heavy. A hand covers my mouth again just as I’m about to scream for my mom. Someone leans down close enough to my ear that I feel a lip brush against it.

  “If you promise not to scream I’ll take my hand away and not use this duct tape on your pretty little mouth.”

  I am trembling so hard all I can do is nod in agreement, so the man doesn’t use the tape on me. Tears are rolling freely down my cheeks, but I won’t make a noise. I won’t give in. I am a fighter. I know my mom will come for me.

  “Good girl,” he says.

  It’s dark in this place and my eyes are not adjusting. I can’t make out who he is until he speaks again.

  “Maddison,” he rasps out and then inhales sharply through his teeth making a hissing noise, “my dear, I told you acting like a little stuck up bitch would end up biting you in the ass one day. You couldn’t just act like the trash you come from. Instead always with your nose in the air thinking you are better than your family. You’re here because Frank thought he could get away with fucking with my money. Nobody messes with what’s mine but me! Now you’re mine. So, what are we gonna do with you first?” His hand trails down the side of my neck…

  I wake up screaming, “NO, no, no!” I am thrashing around in my bed. The sheets are wrapped around me making it impossible to escape. I need to get out of here. The feeling is so real I sit up and look back and forth and all around the room looking for the person who is in my dreams. I see nobody. I try to slow down my racing heart. The deep breaths are starting to work. Once I am sure nobody is in my room I peel off the blankets that are stuck to me from the sweat that has drenched me. I get out of bed and rip the sheets off of my bed to wash them because now they are dirty just like him. I look some dry clothes to throw, I want to rinse off, but waking Frank at this hour is not something I want to do. I will be lucky if I didn’t already wake him.

  Once I’m changed I know I have to get out of here. Since the sun is just starting to rise I decide on heading to the park to catch up on all the missed work I have from ditching school.
I grab my keys and tip toe out of the house. The pain in my chin returns with a vengeance, so I grab my purse and dig out a pain pill and swallow it on a dry throat.

  I make it to the park just in time to watch the sun as it rises over the rocks where I went climbing with Jase. A smile settles on my lips just thinking about him. Maybe I will shoot him a text when I get through some homework to thank him again for taking such great care of me again.

  I head toward a picnic table where I can spread all of my books and papers out. I freeze when I see the person from my nightmare jogging down the hill. I quickly put the hood on my sweatshirt up to hide my face and walk with my head down so Dixon doesn’t see me. When I turn on my heel to get back to my car I bump into strong arms. “NO!” I can’t help the scream that comes out of my mouth.

  “Maddie, you’re safe. What’s wrong??”

  I sink my face into Jase’s warm chest finding comfort there. I know I am safe, and Dixon wouldn’t come near me with someone around.

  “Nothing. I thought I saw something. It’s nothing really. What are you doing here so early?” I asked as he rubs my back, which instantly soothes the panic in me.

  “I fell asleep early last night, so I woke up early. Decided to come scope out some rocks for our next climb once your chin gets better. How’s it feeling anyway?”

  I rub it lightly thanking the pain pill that has taken the pain away momentarily. “Okay right now, it was pretty painful this morning, but nothing too bad. I actually was about to text you and thank you for taking care of me yesterday. How is it that you are always in the right place at the right time?” I ask shaking my head while thinking how amazing it feels to have my head on his chest. It just feels right being with him. I wish this wasn’t so hard. My life is complicated and dangerous. I know he knows nothing about it and I want to keep it that way. I don’t ever want him to look at me like the rest of them. Like I’m a killer.