Page 80 of Wicked Spite
“Alright, alright,” Ramsey mumbles, eyes glued to the screen. “But it’s not gonna do us any good if we end up wrapped around a tree.”
“I can drive better than you fucking skate,” I retort, pushing the truck even faster. She’s mine, and no one takes what’s mine. No one fucks with what’s mine.
“Let’s hope she’s alright,” Ramsey says, a rare note of sincerity in his voice.
“She better be,” I murmur, my gaze fixed on theexit that will take us right to Wellington Academy. “Because if she’s not, there’ll be hell to pay.”
When I find out what’s going on, one thing is for certain.
I will rain hell down on anyone, and everyone involved.
Even if it’s my blood.
Even if it’s my own goddamn wife.
Chapter 28
Reagan
Just as I make it to Wellington, I see my sister, kicking and screaming as three adult women who I can only assume are teachers are watching. A man with salt and pepper hair is holding up on her tiptoes by her elbow. The gate is thankfully open, and I barrel through without checking in, making the women jump out of the way. Pieces of shit. I don’t care what my father told them; you don’t just stand there while a young girl is screaming that she doesn’t want to go with some old guy she doesn’t know.
I’m not fast enough because before I can block his car in, he’s shoved my sister in the back seat. I want to jump out and grab her, but he’s already in the driver’s seat. I know by the time I get to him, he’ll already be gone, and I can’t let them get out of my sight. I don’t know what my plan is. There is no plan. There’s just me, fighting for my sister, and when I say he’ll have to kill me to get me off his ass, I mean it. One of the women I almost ran over starts beating on the side of the SUV and rage wells up inside me. I open my door, slamming it into her and knocking her to the ground. She’s screaming, andshe’s lucky that I don’t have the time to curb stomp her because that’s what she deserves for being on my father’s payroll.
The asshole who thinks he’s going to own my sister is pulling out of the parking lot with a quickness I didn’t expect from someone his age. But he doesn’t know who I am. I have enough rage inside me right now to take him on with my bare hands.
I slam on the accelerator, my knuckles white as I grip the steering wheel with all the ferocity of a caged animal. The tires screech against the pavement, echoing the scream in my head as I chase after the sleek car carrying Reese.
The city blurs past me as I weave through the traffic. Panic and adrenaline fuel my resolve, pushing me to keep pace with the man’s car just ahead of me.
I growl under my breath, swerving around a slow-moving van that the shiny black car has passed. The van honks it’s horn, and I flip off the driver and speed up to catch up with my father’s business associate. As I tailgate his vehicle, I can’t help but notice how jerky his driving is. His windows are tinted, so I can’t see what’s going on, but as his car lurches over into oncoming traffic and then back into our lane, I can’t help but think maybe Reese is giving him hell, trying to get him to pull over and let her out. A fierce grin spreading across my lips, I say out loud even though she can’t hear me, “Kick him. Fuck the bastard up.”
Despite the satisfaction that thought brings me, I know I need to act quickly. I won’t let Reese suffer a moment longer than necessary, and I know with her small size, one hit from that asshole could be life threatening. He wants her alive, but I’m afraid with the threat of someone chasing him and her defiance, he might act out of anger. I grit my teeth andtighten my grip on the steering wheel, my eyes narrowing in determination. As I edge closer to the man’s car, I know I need to take a risk—something daring that will force him to pull over and release Reese.
“Fuck it,” I mutter, swallowing the fear that threatens to choke me. My foot presses down harder on the accelerator, and my heart races in tandem with the engine’s roar.
The distance between our cars shrinks until it’s nonexistent. I press forward, feeling the impact of my front bumper against the back of his car. Each jolt sends a shock through my body, a visceral reminder of what’s at stake.
I take a deep breath, trying to calm the frantic pounding of my heart. I need to be smart about this and be calculated. I can’t shake the image of Reese’s terrified eyes, the way she struggled against the man’s iron grip. The thought makes my blood boil, ignites a fire within me that demands action.
I think he’s going to pull over, but instead he pulls down a side road. It’s gravel and there’s literally nothing back here except overgrown dead grass, it seems. Unless Reese saw me and mentioned who I am, he probably doesn’t know who’s after him. I don’t know his business, but if he’s fucking around with my father, he probably has more people than just me who want him dead. “Pull over so I can kill you,” I mutter under my breath, my knuckles white around the steering wheel.
“Fuck it,” I hiss, gritting my teeth as I brace myself for another, harsher impact.
With a jolt, my front bumper connects with the back of his car again. He tries to shake me off, but I hold tight, matching his every move.
“Let her go, you bastard!” I scream out my window, my voice raw with desperation. I want him to see me. Penn Blackwoodmight be a monster, but even he would be no match for me right now. I will not give in until this motherfucker is bleeding out at my feet.
“Reagan, help me!” Reese’s voice reaches me, a guttural cry that shatters what’s left of my composure. She’s opened the passenger window, and I tell by the way she’s moving that she’s kicking at the man as he tries to stay on the road and out of the grass.
“Jump, Reese! Jump out! It’ll be okay!” I scream at her, but she either can’t hear me or can’t get her foot away from him to do what I’m suggesting. It’s better for her to end up with broken bones than what he has in mind for her.
The deafening silence is interrupted only by the screeching of tires. We skid around a corner, and he comes to a halt near an abandoned warehouse it looks like, and I slam on my brakes.
“Reese!” I scream, my voice cracking with desperation as I jump out of the SUV.
“Get the fuck away from her!” My words echo, bouncing off the decaying brick of the warehouse. The man doesn’t respond as he gets out of the driver’s seat, his mouth drawn tight with annoyance. I realize now that he must have pulled over because he figured out that it was me chasing him and not some hitman he screwed over.
We stand there glaring at one another. I don’t have a weapon, and I don’t want to advance on him too quickly because if he kills me, she doesn’t have much of a chance of escaping him.
