Chapter 19

KATE.
The car rolled onto the road so effortlessly, it was like I wasn't the one driving it.
"This car is so responsive. "
"Reminds me of you. " Drew purred.
"Ew. Gross. Did you guys forget I'm here? " Bailey pretended to gag.
"No. I just don't give a fuck. " Drew replied.
Bailey rolled her eyes, mimicking a near fainting motion then slashed her hand across her neck as if saying 'this guy is going to be the death of me'.
I laughed. Ever since that meal we had together, Drew and Bailey had taken a liking to each other and I was happy that they'd both started bonding. My boyfriend and my best friend were cool with each other. What more could a girl want?
"Okay, I got to focus, Drew. We'll talk later. "
"I'll call you. " he said, then hung up.
We were currently borrowing Drew's car to go to a gig for a band. Technically, it wasn't borrowing because he'd asked us to take it even when we insisted on ubering but he refused adamantly, saying if Hakim couldn't drive us -because they couldn't, he'd want them to wait then bring us back home. I didn't want them going through that stress for me- we'd use his car.
The car was intimidating and sexy as hell -just like him. And he told me he was getting a hard on just from picturing me in the car. Then I'd accused him of having a transportation fetish. I had to admit I was getting wet driving his car too. Now, I wondered which one of us had the transportation fetish.
"So.... These are the benefits that comes with dating a celebrity? " Bailey mused.
"Apparently. "
"Well, I'd fuck a celebrity to get this kind of treatment. Just saying. " she admitted.
"Oh, Bailey. " I laughed.
I parked the car in the driveway when we got to the Club 300. The place was lit and I saw a group of three teenagers, loitering around on the driveway, making out.
Bailey and I danced like we were possessed on the floor, paring with two other guys who'd come together also.
I was slightly drunk and having so much fun! I saw Bailey giving her number to her dance partner and I grinned, knowing Bailey was going to get down with him.
"Hey. " someone tapped my shoulder.
I turned and saw it was my dance partner.
"How about we get out of here and go to my place? " he asked with heavy lidded eyes, unabashedly checking me out.
I bit my lip, shaking my head no. "I have a boyfriend. " I shouted so he could hear me over the music.
He narrowed his eyes at me, "I'm not asking you to date me. "
I felt an involuntary shiver run through me. I didn't like how he was looking at me, it made me highly uncomfortable.
Oh. Right. You just want to fuck me. Great. I was talking like Drew now.
"Sorry, I think I'll pass. " I went to Bailey and tapped her on her shoulder, "Want to get out of here? "
She nodded, giving her dance partner one last promising look before following me out. It was already dark by the time we got outside.
"Are you sure you can drive us? " Bailey asked.
"Yes, I'm sure. " I rolled my eyes, "I had just one drink, Bailey. "
"Okay. Okay. Just cross checking. Cause, you know, I'm not trying to die today. " she said, laughing.
"Me too, baby. " I said in a sing song voice.
I pulled the car out of the driveway vigilantly, as we made our way home. I was going to drop Bailey off before going back to my house because I didn't want her taking a taxi home this late.
As I turned a corner, my eyes caught a car in the rearview mirror, turning the corner too. But, it was New York. Cars were always moving so I had nothing to be afraid of.
But as I turned at a turning point, I saw the car turning along with me. And that's when I started to feel panic.
I stepped on the gas pedal and tried to go as fast as I could without endangering us but the car behind me increased in speed too.
"Kate, am I just being paranoid or is that black car following us? " Bailey asked with a tremor in her voice.
"I think they're following us, Bailey, what do we do? "
"Give me your phone and step on that gas pedal! "
She didn't wait for me to pass my phone to her. She dived for it and fumbled, looking for whatever it was she wanted from my phone.
I was driving the fastest I'd ever driven in my life and I was scared shitless. Was it someone dangerous? It could just be that guy from the club right? Maybe he thought I wasn't serious about not going home with him and he decided to follow me.
Or it could be someone dangerous who wants to kill you.
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. I couldn't die like this. I was still so fucking young. I didn't have kids yet for Christ's sake.
"Drew? " Bailey yelled into my phone. She was clearly the smarter one between us under crisis because I hadn't even thought to call Drew. "Can you hear me? "
"We're being trailed, Drew. We're -"
A gunshot rang out as a bullet fired past my head, hitting the windscreen and creating a hole in front of me.
Jesus fucking Christ. They were shooting at us?! They had guns in there. I glanced out through my window and saw there were literally no other cars on the road. It was just us and the attackers.
Who could possibly want to kill me? What had I done? I was nothing but kind to every person I met. Was it someone from the club?
I remembered the guy I danced with staring at me with narrowed eyes when I refused to go home with him. Had I danced with someone dangerous? God help me. I didn't want to die.
"What was that? " the phone was on speaker now and Drew sounded tense as hell.
"I just got shot at, Drew. " I yelled, shifting closer to Bailey so that any incoming bullet wouldn't touch me.
"Can you see the car? Do you have a clear view of it? " he asked and I could hear him moving.
I swerved to the right, making a sharp turn in hopes of losing the car, but to no avail. They were even getting closer to us now, just a few feet separated us.
"Who gives a flying fuck? We're about to be killed and you -"
A short fired past my head, scraping the skin and taking some flesh with it. I felt tremendous pain at the injury, my vision going blurry for a while. My hands flew from the steering in shock before coming back to land on it.
"Oh my God. Kate are you okay? " Bailey flung the phone on the dashboard, grabbing my face and turning it for better vision.
"What happened? " I could hear Drew's voice faintly.
"Kate just got shot, Drew. " Bailey whispered in a tremulous voice.
I couldn't say anything because I was still in shock. I was shot. For the first time in my life. I'd been shot. Jesus. And I didn't really feel the pain now. It didn't register. All I felt was shock.
"Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. " he breathed harshly, literally panting, and I'd never witnessed him like that before. "Can you guys look around? Do you know where you are? "
And I said the most absurd thing, "Drew, you're breathing too fast. Calm down for me? " because, hell, I didn't even know who I was anymore. I was driving on auto pilot and I wasn't even hearing a thing Bailey said.
"What the hell are you talking about Drew for? You're injured..... " Bailey rambled on.
She was yelling and talking in my face, trying to replace me in the passengers seat but I didn't budge. It was like someone took control of my body.
"Kate, don't fucking hang up. Can you hear me? I'm trying to track you guys down, just talk to me. Don't -"
I looked in the rearview mirror and saw a man leaning out from his window with a gun in his hand, aiming at me. Oh my God, he was going to shoot. And with the way he'd aimed the gun, there was no way I was going to dodge that bullet.
Without thinking, I swerved the car to the right.
......Crashing into a building.
There was nothing I could do. I just sat there, watching the whole thing happen. One moment, Bailey was yelling at Drew to call the cops quick before we died and the next, we were crashing into a building.
"Kate! Kate! " Drew's voice sounded faint to my ears.
And the last thing I thought before I lost consciousness was,
I finally get to see mom and dad again.
DREW.
"Kate, don't fucking hang up. Can you hear me? I'm trying to track you guys down, just talk to me. Don't fucking hang -" I was abruptly cut off by the unmistakable sound of a car crashing.
Please, God. Let that not be their car. Please. Please. Please.
"Kate! Kate!"
But it was. It was their car. Because she didn't fucking answer.
I threw my phone in the passengers seat, my eyes darting around wildly for a trace of them. My heart was beating one thousand miles a minute. I couldn't let anything happen to Kate. I wouldn't survive if anything happened to her. Period.
I hadn't supported them going to the club just because of a stupid gig for a band but then Bailey had told me I was being an 'overbearing' boyfriend and I'd let them go, doing the most I could. Giving them my car. And now this. Fuck.
When Bailey had called me, telling me there was a car following them, I'd panicked, jumping into my car and driving God know where. But they couldn't tell me where they were. When I'd heard the gunshot and she told me Kate had been shot, I'd lost my fucking mind.
God help those shooters if I catch them. No, not if, when. I was going to look for them later and snap their fucking necks one by one. But right now, I focused on finding the ruins of my car.
I picked my phone and dialed Michael. He was helping me track my car and doing a fucking slow job of it.
He picked up immediately.
"Do you know -"
"Yes, I just got it. It says Alabama way, just off the side of the bridge. "
I was on the lucky side because Alabama way was just at the next turning point.
"Thanks, Mike. " then I hung up.
My only fear now was that I hoped the accident hadn't been on the bridge. Fuck. Fuck. I ran my free hand through my hair. At the rate I was going, I was going to get bald before I hit forty.
I saw the car in the far distance and I recognized it as the one I'd given to Kate for the night.
It looked like it had crashed into a building. Thank fuck it hadn't run over the bridge. I was barely hanging on to my sanity right now.
I parked my car roughly and jumped out, running towards the car, with my heart in my throat.
One side of the car was completely lodged into the building.... And that side was Kate's side because she'd been the one driving. I ran over to the passenger's side that in the building and tried to open the door. But it was locked.
I couldn't see clearly inside because it was a tinted window but I caught hysterical movement. It was Bailey, trying to tell me something but I couldn't, for the life of me, figure out what.
I ran my hands through my hair, pulling at the roots. Shit. Shit. Shit. The longer I stayed here, unable to do something, the more Kate's situation got worse.
I ran to the car, called the cops then reported the situation to them. I ran back to the car, looking around for something to smash the window with.
Bailey yelled, but it came out muffled through the window.
"What are you saying? " I yelled, flattening my right ear against the glass.
Keim in meeining.
What? What the hell was that?
"I can't hear you. " I yelled.
She repeated it again, slower this time like she was exaggerating the movements of her lips, as if I could see her.
Kate is bleeding.
Jesus. Kate was bleeding in there and the longer I stayed out there, the more the blood loss. Jesus fucking Christ.
I didn't know where the strength came from but I found myself drawing my hand back and slamming my fist into the back seat window.
"Jesus. " I heard Bailey yell before she hastily helped me in opening the car.
We succeeded in getting the door open and I hastily crawled in, unbuckling Kate from the front seat and dragging her out of the car.
I carried her into my arms just as the cops and paramedics pulled over.
She was limp in my arms, with her eyes closed, an injury by the side of her left eye and a big gash on her forehead. I'd never been so scared in my entire life.
"Kate, " I shook her lightly, "Wake up. "
A woman tried to take her from me while someone rolled a stretcher to my side.
"Give her to me. " the woman tried to take her from me but I tightened my grip on her. I didn't want to let her go.
"Get your fucking hands off her. " I snapped, trying to walk away.
"She needs immediate medical care, sir. Do you want her situation to get worse? "
"You'll attend to her at my house. " I stated. I didn't want her away from me. I needed to see her. To assure myself that she was going to be okay. I didn't want her exposed to any more risks than she already was.
"Sorry, but we can't do that. She might be having internal bleeding. There's no telling the extent of her injuries. " another man tried to reason with me but I wasn't having it. The words didn't seem to penetrate.
"Oh, for fucks sake, would you give her to them. Let them take care of her, Drew, before she loses any more blood. " Bailey snapped.
"I'm not letting her go. " I growled.
Bailey had been taking treatment from one of the paramedics but now she stood, advancing towards me with narrowed eyes and her face twisted into something dark.
"You're going to let them take care of her. Even if it means I'll fight you. " she tipped her chin up, "Then I'll do it. "
I didn't know what made me finally pass Kate to her. Whether it was the promise of something dangerous happening to me, the adoration I had for Bailey, or the fact that Kate could literally be dying in my arms, I didn't know.
I watched as she was rolled into the back of the van, several people attending to her. Before Bailey got into the back with Kate, she came to me.
"Drew, I know how it is for you right now. I care about her too. But you're going to have to calm down. "
I exhaled brokenly, dragging my hands down my face. God, I hoped nothing happened to Kate.
I turned to her warily. She had just a cut on her hand from where glass hit her and a slight swelling on her cheekbone. "You really didn't see anything? Anything at all? " I desperately wanted to find the dead assholes. Because that's what they were -dead.
She shook her head, eyes on the ground, "I didn't, Drew. I'm sorry. And when they -" she glanced up at me sharply, her eyes going wide.
"What? What's that? " I asked, my heart beat quickening in excitement.
"Oh my God. I saw the number, Drew. I saw the car number. " she laughed in exhilaration.
I could fucking kiss her right now. "What's it? "
She rattled off a series of numbers and I froze when I heard the last three letters.
"You're sure that's the number on the car? "
She frowned, rethinking, "Yes, if I'm not mistaken. That's what I saw. "
My shoulders locked tight with tension, "How are you so sure? "
"I have a photographic memory, Drew. And it's never failed me. "
But I was already running towards my car, "I'll be back. "
"Don't do anything stupid, Drew. And by stupid, I mean beat someone to death. Because you wouldn't be of much use to Kate when you're in jail. " she yelled after me.
I was so fucking livid I couldn't see straight. That he would dare do something like this. Because it was him. If Bailey was correct, then it was. My blood pumped with venom and my body expanded in size. I was going to fucking kill him. He started this war and I was going to end it. But first, I was going to have a talk with the asshole.
When I walked in, I saw him lounging on a couch, with a hooker kneeling between his legs, giving him a blow job.
No person should see their dad's dick ever in this life, but I was unfortunate enough to see it when he saw me and hastily tucked himself in, pushing the hooker away.
She turned to me, saw the look on my face and scurried off, leaving her top in her haste.
"To what do I owe this untimely visit, son? " his voice was gruff and disgusting.
I stared down my nose at him, hating him and cursing mom for bringing me into this world through this pile of shit.
"Wow, you really outdid yourself this time, dad. "
"What the hell are you talking about? "
"Don't pretend you don't know what I'm talking about. It's beneath you. " I narrowed my eyes, "Or at least I thought it was. "
I saw panic enter his eyes briefly before he wiped it off. "You obviously know something I don't. Spit it out. "
I shrugged like I wasn't one second away from breaking his fucking nose, then I walked towards the door, "Well, I just want you to know that the battle line has officially been drawn. " I walked to the door, then turned back to face him, "You're smart, Thomas, but not smart enough. You forgot one little detail. No one, in Brooklyn, but you uses the words 'KJC' in their car number. " all the blood drained from his face and if I had any doubts before, I'd just confirmed them.
"You started the war, Thomas. And I assure you, I'm going to end it. You'll be waving the white flag. From your grave. "
I left him trembling in fear of the promise of what was to come.