at him and silently demanding an answer. He grunts, then as we drive deeper toward our destination, when I know that we must be close, only then does he speak.
“There’s a hostage situation,” he rasps.
“I’ll kill that cunt if she hurts my fiancée or my baby.”
Campbell’s eyes widen, he turns around, his gaze finding mine. “Fiancée? Baby?”
“Tennessee and I are engaged and when we’re married, I’m adopting Holden, her two-year-old.”
Before he can say a word, before he can react at all, I see it. We approach the house and I see blacked-out SWAT vans and police cars. I see a firetruck and an ambulance off in the distance. I see uniformed officers and others in SWAT gear.
What I don’t see is Tennessee or Helen. I also don’t see whoever took them or Susan. I know that Susan has to be here, there is no way she isn’t. Not with what happened to Lucinda. If she was innocent, she would have made a big show about what happened with Lucy. She would have been overly dramatic and making it about her.
My stomach drops, because I know that this moment, this is going to change everything. Every single fucking thing. If Susan succeeds in hurting Tennessee, she’ll come out getting exactly what she wanted, which was everything from me.
I’ve finally found my happiness. I’ve found my peace. I’ve found the woman who truly completes me. A woman who loves me for me. A woman that I love wholly. The woman that I want to spend the rest of my days with.
Without a second thought, I open the door and run toward the house. Men shout behind me, I can hear them calling out for me to stop, but I ignore all of them.
Opening the front door, I see a man standing in the living room. He starts to charge me, but I’ve got years of boxing and twenty pounds of muscle on his thin frame. Without hesitating, I reach back, balling my hand into a fist and punch him in the side of the head. He falls down without an ounce of fight.
Running through the house, I follow the sound of Holden’s cries. I don’t even recognize them, because Holden is not a baby that cries. He’s content, happy, and adjusted. The only reason I assume it’s him is because he’s hopefully the only child in the house. That’s when I see them.
Helen is sitting on a filthy, soiled mattress holding a screaming Holden as she tries to rock him. My gaze slides down to the floor and that’s where she is. Tennessee is lying on the floor, lifeless.
“Where is she?” I growl.
Taking a couple steps inside, I turn my back to Tennessee to protect her in case Susan comes back in and she does. As soon as she realizes I’m here, she makes an appearance from the bathroom.
Susan laughs softly. A laugh that once, decades ago, I found alluring. “I see you found my gift for you. It’s pathetic how obsessed you are with her. It’s the young snatch, right? I find that hilarious, men pay for my pussy, Landry. Pay for it. And here you are, with someone that probably doesn’t even know how to truly please you. Or is that what this is? You want to be a teacher?”
She doesn’t realize it, doesn’t sense them approaching behind her. I don’t alert her to the fact that not only are SWAT team members here, but so is Detective Campbell and some other men who look equally important.
“What did you do to her?” I rasp.
I want nothing more than to turn around and take Tennessee in my arms, but I cannot risk this moment. I need Susan to say it, I need her to admit it. Even if Susan is a witness, Susan has to say the goddamn words.
Susan leans forward, her tits about to fall out of her low-cut top, and she chuckles. “I bashed her head into the floor. Fuck her and fuck your happiness, Landry. She’s not the first bitch I’ve ended and she won’t be the last. I am Susan Astor and I always, always, come out on top.”
Before she can say anything else, the police swarm her, they take her down to the ground and cuff her. I watch for just a moment before I turn to Tennessee and sink down to my knees. I hear someone shout for an ambulance and then I realize that it’s me, it’s me shouting and yelling.