Page 43 of Battered Moves

“She’s desperate and doesn’t know what to do, Ry,” River chimes in quietly. “That guy is threatening us. Wouldn’t you leave to protect her if the roles were reversed?”

He nods, then says, “We can’t let her.”

“We won’t,” I nearly growl.

River goes back to stroking her hair when Chase comes out of the kitchen, handing each of us a water bottle and putting one for Liv on the coffee table.

“We stay together. There is no other option we would even consider,” River says. “But we have to think about what he could do. What exactly are we up against here?”

Chase sits down on the couch and lets his head fall into his hands.

“And how exactly are we going to do this?” he asks, and River is quiet for a moment.

“I don’t know,” he finally says. “But we should be careful. Don’t go out alone anymore, watch our surroundings—stuff like that.”

“You mean this fucker is a threat to us?” Ryder asks, his eyes widening.

“I don’t really know,” River says with a shrug. “But he killed Liv’s family. I think underestimating him would be a mistake.”

“We also have to think about Liv,” Chase says, leaning forward. “How do we protect her without making her feel like a prisoner? She already went through that once. We can’t make her feel trapped again.”

We all nod in agreement, knowing that Liv’s mental health is just as important as her physical safety.

“I think we should share our phone locations with each other at all times,” River suggests.

We all nod, liking the idea. I’m sure Liv will be okay with it too, since it’s not about us monitoring her but all of us sharing our locations to keep each other safe.

“I think Liv is right when she told us that he isn’t going to hurt her,” Ryder says. “He wants her back. He also didn’t want to hurt her when he went after her family.” He looks down at her beautiful sleeping face, while Chase lets out a sigh.

“Should we call the police?” he asks.

“It’s still just a threat from a man who’s locked up,” I say, shaking my head. “Maybe we should check in with her manager to make sure.”

“It’s not a bad idea to get some information from him,” River says, nodding in agreement. “If it weren’t for the fact that he found her and knows about us, I would say he’s just trying to rile her up with letters but can’t do anything about it like he did when she was still back in Canada. Obviously, he has someone on the outside feeding him information, and that’s the part that worries me.”

When River doesn’t have a plan anymore, we are all fucked.

“I’m going to make some dinner,” I announce to the room. “I think Liv should stay here, at least until Sunday. Gunner is working tomorrow and won’t be home, and I prefer him to be over there with her when she’s not with us.”

Chase nods. “She can use our stuff for tonight, and tomorrow, I’ll go with her to get some clothes and her school stuff so she can sleep and study here,” he suggests.

“I’ll tell Chris that she has to cover for us tomorrow,” I say, taking out my phone to send her a message. Ryder frowns and looks at me.

“Honestly, brother, how come you’re best buddies with Gunner? I don’t like him,” he complains, crossing his arms.

“I don’t like him much either, but I trust him with her, and it’s never a bad thing to have more eyes making sure she’s safe. We exchanged numbers to check in when Liv went missing, and somehow, we just kept updating each other about her. He truly cares for her, and that’s all that matters to me,” I say.

“How grown up of you,” Chase says with a smile.

“Yeah, well, fuck off,” I retort.

“Never mind,” he says with a chuckle.

Just as I turn to walk into the kitchen, a gut-wrenching scream comes from Liv, who’s still sleeping. River puts his hand on her, but she screams again. We all rush to her side, and she sits up in a blur, eyes wide, screaming once more.

“Liv, you’re safe. You’re with us, we’ve got you. You are safe,” River says, holding his hands up in surrender.

She holds her breath for a second before she starts sobbing, and River pulls her into his chest, shushing her and stroking her back.

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