Page 50 of Pedal to the Metal

Half way through my shift, I started to feel the effects of last night hit me. I was getting sleepy, and I couldn’t seem to stop yawning. By the time my shift ended I was ready to just crawl into bed but as I left the store, I saw Jagger leaning against my car with a bouquet of red roses. When I got closer, he extended them out to me, “Hello there pretty girl.”

“Oh Jagger, they’re beautiful. Thank you," I tell him as I take the roses from him and bring them to my nose and inhale deeply.

“So, I wanted to make up for last night. Ace is awake, and the cops are going to talk to him. We’ve been asked to be present and since youarefamily, I was hoping you’d come with me," he tells me.

I hesitate for a moment because I’m not sure if he actually does want me there or if he just feels like he has to in order to make up for last night. I step closer to him and look up into his amber colored eyes. “Jagger, I’ll be more than glad to go with you if that’s what you really want but I don’t want you to feel obligated to take me because of last night. It isn’t necessary that I go.”

“Londynn, Iwantyou to come with me. You’re a part of this family,myfamily. Please come with me," he says.

I nod my head and hand him my keys since I didn’t see his car anywhere. He opens the door for me then walks around to the driver’s side. When we arrive at the hospital I spot Jagger’s brothers, Sadie and Kynlee all standing around waiting for us. As we get out and approach the group, they all welcome me which helps calm some of my nerves. I’m not sure why I’m nervous though. We all gather around Ace’s bed with two detectives whose names I’ve already forgotten because the sight of Ace makes me sick to my stomach. One side of his face is nothing but a swollen, bruised mess. He can’t even open his eye on that side. He’s got multiple cuts, stitches and bruises on his body from what I can see. An IV is in his hand distributing fluids and a medicine of some sort.

Everyone is standing around and gawking at Ace like he’s an alien, myself included when Ace finally says, “Damn I knew I felt like shit, but I had no idea I looked like it too.”

It makes us all laugh which is exactly what we needed right now. I notice that when Ace tries to laugh with us, he winces and grabs his side like he’s in pain. As suddenly as the laughing had started it ends. One of the Detectives steps forward and speaks. “We need to ask some questions about last night while it’s still fresh in your mind.” Ace nods for him to continue and the detective gets out a small notebook and a pen. The detective asks a series of questions, most of which we already know the answers too thanks to Kynlee. About what time he believed he arrived and left Red Hott, what he was doing there, did he have any enemies but the one everyone wanted to know the answer to was finally asked. “Did you see who did this to you?”

Ace hesitates and looks around the room at all of us like he’s trying to remember something from last night, but I can tell it’s something more. His eyes or eye since only one can open at themoment, lands on me and while he shakes his head no, I know it means he’s lying. He’s trying to protect someone, and I can’t help but feel like it was me. “No sir, I didn’t see who they were. They hit me in the back of my head with something, I went down then tried to get back up but that’s when they stabbed me. I know there was more than one person, but I never got to see their faces. I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay son. We’ll continue to investigate and if you happen to remember anything at all don’t hesitate to call us.” The detective says as he hands Axell a card with his name and number on it.

After the detectives left, we were ushered out as well so Ace could rest. I ended up with Jagger at his place and after making up I drifted off to sleep. However, I woke from a nightmare in the middle of the night. Trying to get back to sleep turned out to be harder than I imagined. I had been so tired when I climbed into this bed but now, I was staring at Jagger’s ceiling, unable to sleep because I kept seeing Ace’s eye on me. Why did he look at just me? And why had no one else seemed to notice this? I know if Jagger had noticed this he would have mentioned or asked about it by now.

By the time Jagger’s alarm goes off I’m already showered, dressed and attempting to make breakfast. Jagger comes down the stairs and as much as I want to get caught up in the fluttering in my stomach, I can’t allow myself to. I decided last night while lying awake that I would go see Ace and get to the bottom of his reaction. Maybe, I was just being paranoid, but I had to find out. Jagger walks up behind me and wraps his arms around my waist and kisses my cheek. “You’re up early pretty girl, couldn’t sleep?”

“No, I slept fine. I just got a text from Kristy, my boss, asking me if I could fill in half the day today. Apparently, someone called in sick," I tell him and feel a pang of guilt for lying to him.

“Oh okay, well since you’re only working half a day do you want to meet back up here, and we can have lunch together?”

“Yeah, sounds great," I tell him.

“Good then I’ll go into the shop while you’re at work too," he says before kissing my cheek again and heading back upstairs. When I hear the shower start up, I quickly grab a piece of paper and leave him a note telling him I’d see him for lunch. As I slip out of Jagger’s front door, I feel guiltier than I have in years.

****

After stopping by my place to change clothes I head to the hospital and breathe a sigh of relief when I don’t notice any of the James’ or Kynlee’s car in the lot. I have to keep my anxiety at bay while making my way up to Ace’s room. When I reach ICU, I let the nurse at the desk know who I was going to see, she told me no longer than a fifteen-minute visit but I doubted I’d even need that long.

When I first enter Ace is asleep or at least he seems to be but without even opening his eyes he says, “I knew you’d come back but you shouldn’t have Londynn.”

“How’d you know it was me?” I ask him bewildered by how he knew it was me without opening his one good eye.

He rolls his head towards me, allowing his good eye to focus on me. “Because it smelt like flowers in here all of a sudden," I laugh, and Ace asks, “What are you doing here?”

“I think you know. You gave me a look yesterday when the detectives asked you if you saw your attacker. I want to know why?” I explain.

He shakes his head, “I didn’t give you a look, hell I can barely see.”

“Ace. You did, and you know it. If you saw who did this to you then you need to tell those detectives.”

“Why?” he asks.

I sigh, “So they can arrest them.”

“Londynn, you think the world is so black and white but it’s not. If I tell them the guys still won’t get arrested. I’m sure they already have an alibi in place. It would be a waste of time and hurt more people than what it already has," he explains.

I study him for a moment. “Are you calling me naïve?”

“Maybe a little. You grew up in a world where the law worked for you, it was your friend. You could depend on it but not in my world Londynn. The James’ word or description of someone isn’t going to be good enough to make the detectives from this side of town do anything. What happened doesn’t matter. I survived, yes maybe I’ll have a few more badass scars now but I’m going to live.”

“But Ace itdoesmatter. Someone did this to you and they deserve to pay. You’re letting them get away with this by not saying anything," I plead with him.

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