Mess Me Up
Page 36
I didn’t smile.
I didn’t hang out with people.
I kept to myself, and I continued to mourn the loss of my relationship with Rome, but now at least I was only crying when I saw something that reminded me of him. Which, unfortunately, was still pretty regularly.
My phone rang, and I glanced at the screen, surprised when I saw it was Wade.
I contemplated not answering, but I wouldn’t ignore it today. Something told me that I should answer.
I hadn’t answered any of the calls from any of Rome’s friends lately, either. Bayou, Wade, Linc, Joe Blow, and a few other of the MC members that had all called, I assumed, to check in on me.
I was assuming so that they could relay to Rome how I was doing and rub it in his face.
Whatever the reason, I stopped answering calls from all of them. I didn’t want them to hurt Rome in any way, including rubbing his face in the fact that I was doing just fine… especially because I really wasn’t.
Answering the call, I steeled myself for what I’d hear.
What I heard wasn’t at all what I expected.
“Hello?” I answered hesitantly.
“Izzy?” Wade’s deep voice drawled.
“Yeah,” I said softly. “It’s me.”
He breathed out, clearly relieved as if he hadn’t expected me to answer.
“Okay,” he said. “I have a lot to tell you.”
I waited, unsure if I wanted to hear whatever it was that he had to say, but unable to stop myself at this point.
I was so hungry for any word on Rome that it was killing me slowly.
“Are Ruben and Diana all right?” he started.
I frowned.
“Ruben and Diana?” I asked softly. “How would I know?”
I kept expecting them to show, but they never did.
My hope was that they found some other alternative that meant that they wouldn’t have to run away.
Or maybe they did run away, just not to me.
There was a pregnant pause, and then Wade cursed. “They didn’t go with you?”
I cleared my throat. “I told them the address where I would be, and said if they happened to show up, I’d give them shelter, but I wouldn’t take them with me. I didn’t want to get them—or myself—in trouble.”
He growled. “I should’ve tried fucking harder to get a hold of you. Okay. Fuck. Do you have any idea where they’re at?”
I thought about it. “No, I swear to you. I honestly have no clue. Why?”
“That’s my reason for calling,” he muttered. “Rodrigo’s trial is next week. We need you to come back and testify about what you saw in those photos. I only have the original evidence, the photos that you sent to me, but they’ll be given more weight if you’re there to testify as to what you saw at Senator Antilles’s house.”
“So fast?” I asked. “Doesn’t a case like this normally take a long time to come to trial?”
Wade snorted. “Rodrigo killed a United States senator to hide that shit. The prosecution believes that they have enough evidence to indict him not only on the possession of child pornography and sexual assault of a minor charge but also the murder of Senator Antilles. Your testimony could be crucial in validating some of the evidence and convincing the jury. Which is why I’m calling—we were hoping that you could come back tomorrow or the next day.”
“How do you know I’m not halfway across the country and can’t make it?” I asked softly.
“Because I have friends in law enforcement all over the country, and Rome…” He quickly went quiet.
“Rome what?” I pushed.
“Rome followed you.”
I felt my heart start pounding.
“Rome knows? Rome followed me here?” I asked softly.
“Yeah,” Wade replied. “He knows where you’re at…I’m honestly surprised you haven’t seen him yet.”
I felt something inside of my chest take flight.
“Oh,” I murmured. “Okay.”
He chuckled softly. “Give him time, sweetheart. He’s gonna get there. How are you?”
I thought about that question for a long moment. “About as good as one can be when they’re pregnant, and the father of the baby wants nothing to do with them, I guess.”
Wade grunted. “I wouldn’t be so sure about that.”
I was.
Or at least, I had been before Wade had called.
Now, I wasn’t sure of a freakin’ thing.
“I can be there tomorrow,” I told him, not wanting to talk about anything related to the man that I loved any more. Doing so just made the hole in my heart bigger, and I couldn’t deal with that right now. I still had a lot of work to do.
“Can you get here on your own? Or do you need a ride?” he asked. “I have no problem coming down there to get you.”
I laughed. “If I can’t get my car to start, which I will, I’ll just ask Tyler to bring me.”
“Yeah,” Wade murmured, his voice warm. “Tyler. The man who’ll get his face pummeled if he shows it here. I’d suggest leaving him there for the time being.”
I frowned. “What are you talking about?”
But Wade didn’t feel like answering that since the next words out of his mouth were said with finality. “I’ll see you tomorrow. Bye, girl.”
Then I only heard silence.
Pulling the phone away from my face, I saw that he’d hung up.
Little shit.
“What was that about?”
I looked up to find Telly standing there, looking at me curiously.
I’d completely forgotten about her.
“I need to go home.”
Telly smiled. “I bet you won’t be coming back.”
I laughed. “I’ll come back. Don’t worry.”
Because I honestly couldn’t see that there’d be anything—or anyone—to make me want to stay.
Chapter 23
Shit a moose! Shit a moose! Can we use Fandango!
-Apparently, not the words to Bohemian Rhapsody
Izzy
I was back home, and I wasn’t sure that I wanted to be.
But I had to help.
I had to do what I could to make sure Rodrigo never hurt another person.
Maybe if I’d said something about how I had been treated by Rodrigo, those girls wouldn’t have suffered at his hands.
I felt bad because had I pressed charges on the man, maybe he wouldn’t have been in the position of power that allowed him to abuse those girls or maybe people would’ve known that he was dangerous and stayed far away from him.
Maybe, maybe, maybe.
I was full of maybes.
I hadn’t even made it a half mile into the town when I saw the first Bear Bottom Guardians MC member.
Liner waved at me from where he sat leaning against his bike as he filled up his gas tank.
I waved back.
The next person I saw was Bayou, who was also leaning against his bike at the restaurant that had been my and Rome’s favorite.
He waved, and I waved back.
It happened like this with Linc as well, but he was in the grocery store’s parking lot.
Finally, when I saw Wade waiting for me at the police station, I realized that maybe I had no clue what in the hell was really happening here.
“What’s going on?” I asked curiously.
Wade grinned. “What makes you think that something’s going on?”
I rolled my eyes. “The welcome wagon.” I gestured behind me, encompassing the entire town with a sweep of my arm. “I saw, I think, five members of the Bear Bottom Guardians, Wade. What the hell? It was like they were just waiting for me.”
Wade grinned. “That’s because they were. They were watching out for trouble. Having you as the only witness in the same town as that piece of shit makes him nervous.”
“Him?”
I knew who he was talking about, but I didn’t want to say his name in case I was wrong.
“Rome,” Wade murmured quietly. “Rome didn’t want you left alone for a second, just in case anything happened to you. Plus, we were pretty sure you’d get pissed.”
I wouldn’t have gotten pissed.
I didn’t hang out with people.
I kept to myself, and I continued to mourn the loss of my relationship with Rome, but now at least I was only crying when I saw something that reminded me of him. Which, unfortunately, was still pretty regularly.
My phone rang, and I glanced at the screen, surprised when I saw it was Wade.
I contemplated not answering, but I wouldn’t ignore it today. Something told me that I should answer.
I hadn’t answered any of the calls from any of Rome’s friends lately, either. Bayou, Wade, Linc, Joe Blow, and a few other of the MC members that had all called, I assumed, to check in on me.
I was assuming so that they could relay to Rome how I was doing and rub it in his face.
Whatever the reason, I stopped answering calls from all of them. I didn’t want them to hurt Rome in any way, including rubbing his face in the fact that I was doing just fine… especially because I really wasn’t.
Answering the call, I steeled myself for what I’d hear.
What I heard wasn’t at all what I expected.
“Hello?” I answered hesitantly.
“Izzy?” Wade’s deep voice drawled.
“Yeah,” I said softly. “It’s me.”
He breathed out, clearly relieved as if he hadn’t expected me to answer.
“Okay,” he said. “I have a lot to tell you.”
I waited, unsure if I wanted to hear whatever it was that he had to say, but unable to stop myself at this point.
I was so hungry for any word on Rome that it was killing me slowly.
“Are Ruben and Diana all right?” he started.
I frowned.
“Ruben and Diana?” I asked softly. “How would I know?”
I kept expecting them to show, but they never did.
My hope was that they found some other alternative that meant that they wouldn’t have to run away.
Or maybe they did run away, just not to me.
There was a pregnant pause, and then Wade cursed. “They didn’t go with you?”
I cleared my throat. “I told them the address where I would be, and said if they happened to show up, I’d give them shelter, but I wouldn’t take them with me. I didn’t want to get them—or myself—in trouble.”
He growled. “I should’ve tried fucking harder to get a hold of you. Okay. Fuck. Do you have any idea where they’re at?”
I thought about it. “No, I swear to you. I honestly have no clue. Why?”
“That’s my reason for calling,” he muttered. “Rodrigo’s trial is next week. We need you to come back and testify about what you saw in those photos. I only have the original evidence, the photos that you sent to me, but they’ll be given more weight if you’re there to testify as to what you saw at Senator Antilles’s house.”
“So fast?” I asked. “Doesn’t a case like this normally take a long time to come to trial?”
Wade snorted. “Rodrigo killed a United States senator to hide that shit. The prosecution believes that they have enough evidence to indict him not only on the possession of child pornography and sexual assault of a minor charge but also the murder of Senator Antilles. Your testimony could be crucial in validating some of the evidence and convincing the jury. Which is why I’m calling—we were hoping that you could come back tomorrow or the next day.”
“How do you know I’m not halfway across the country and can’t make it?” I asked softly.
“Because I have friends in law enforcement all over the country, and Rome…” He quickly went quiet.
“Rome what?” I pushed.
“Rome followed you.”
I felt my heart start pounding.
“Rome knows? Rome followed me here?” I asked softly.
“Yeah,” Wade replied. “He knows where you’re at…I’m honestly surprised you haven’t seen him yet.”
I felt something inside of my chest take flight.
“Oh,” I murmured. “Okay.”
He chuckled softly. “Give him time, sweetheart. He’s gonna get there. How are you?”
I thought about that question for a long moment. “About as good as one can be when they’re pregnant, and the father of the baby wants nothing to do with them, I guess.”
Wade grunted. “I wouldn’t be so sure about that.”
I was.
Or at least, I had been before Wade had called.
Now, I wasn’t sure of a freakin’ thing.
“I can be there tomorrow,” I told him, not wanting to talk about anything related to the man that I loved any more. Doing so just made the hole in my heart bigger, and I couldn’t deal with that right now. I still had a lot of work to do.
“Can you get here on your own? Or do you need a ride?” he asked. “I have no problem coming down there to get you.”
I laughed. “If I can’t get my car to start, which I will, I’ll just ask Tyler to bring me.”
“Yeah,” Wade murmured, his voice warm. “Tyler. The man who’ll get his face pummeled if he shows it here. I’d suggest leaving him there for the time being.”
I frowned. “What are you talking about?”
But Wade didn’t feel like answering that since the next words out of his mouth were said with finality. “I’ll see you tomorrow. Bye, girl.”
Then I only heard silence.
Pulling the phone away from my face, I saw that he’d hung up.
Little shit.
“What was that about?”
I looked up to find Telly standing there, looking at me curiously.
I’d completely forgotten about her.
“I need to go home.”
Telly smiled. “I bet you won’t be coming back.”
I laughed. “I’ll come back. Don’t worry.”
Because I honestly couldn’t see that there’d be anything—or anyone—to make me want to stay.
Chapter 23
Shit a moose! Shit a moose! Can we use Fandango!
-Apparently, not the words to Bohemian Rhapsody
Izzy
I was back home, and I wasn’t sure that I wanted to be.
But I had to help.
I had to do what I could to make sure Rodrigo never hurt another person.
Maybe if I’d said something about how I had been treated by Rodrigo, those girls wouldn’t have suffered at his hands.
I felt bad because had I pressed charges on the man, maybe he wouldn’t have been in the position of power that allowed him to abuse those girls or maybe people would’ve known that he was dangerous and stayed far away from him.
Maybe, maybe, maybe.
I was full of maybes.
I hadn’t even made it a half mile into the town when I saw the first Bear Bottom Guardians MC member.
Liner waved at me from where he sat leaning against his bike as he filled up his gas tank.
I waved back.
The next person I saw was Bayou, who was also leaning against his bike at the restaurant that had been my and Rome’s favorite.
He waved, and I waved back.
It happened like this with Linc as well, but he was in the grocery store’s parking lot.
Finally, when I saw Wade waiting for me at the police station, I realized that maybe I had no clue what in the hell was really happening here.
“What’s going on?” I asked curiously.
Wade grinned. “What makes you think that something’s going on?”
I rolled my eyes. “The welcome wagon.” I gestured behind me, encompassing the entire town with a sweep of my arm. “I saw, I think, five members of the Bear Bottom Guardians, Wade. What the hell? It was like they were just waiting for me.”
Wade grinned. “That’s because they were. They were watching out for trouble. Having you as the only witness in the same town as that piece of shit makes him nervous.”
“Him?”
I knew who he was talking about, but I didn’t want to say his name in case I was wrong.
“Rome,” Wade murmured quietly. “Rome didn’t want you left alone for a second, just in case anything happened to you. Plus, we were pretty sure you’d get pissed.”
I wouldn’t have gotten pissed.
