Over the Edge

Ch.29-Vigilante

“And where are they?”

“One is five minutes away and one is ten minutes in the opposite direction.”

“Well which one is it?”

I felt Rico’s eyes burning into the back of my head. “What do you think, Rhys?”

“Why does it matter what I think?”

“You were right about him taking her. What does your gut say?”

My gut told me we were running out of time. “The one farther away.”

“Rhys . . .”

“Just trust me on this,” I insisted.

Emma’s dad took a left. “I sure hope you’re right,” he said. “Because if not . . . There is no second chance.”

~*~

When the rancid storehouse came into view, I knew we were in the right place. I just knew it.

“Both of you stay behind me,” Officer Hall ordered, taking out his gun and holding it in front of him. He crept up to the door, pressing his ear against it. Rage contorted his features as he swung his leg back and kicked the doors apart. They crashed open. Rico and I shared a look, not sure we wanted to get in the way of an enraged father.

“Hands where I can see them!” he shouted, voice reverberating off the walls. It was terribly dark inside, one meager light quickly flickering and fading out. I could see the bastard from the TV about fifteen feet away, shaking. I saw all the needles on the floor. Was he fucking high?

I scoured the area for Emma, heart dropping to my feet when I saw a body strapped down to a table of some kind. I was warned to stay back but I didn’t hear him. I didn’t hear anything but the roar of blood in my ears.

Emma.

“Holy shit,” Rico hissed, faltering as he came up beside me. I heard a loud crunch behind me, sparing a glance to see her father’s fist plow into the idiot’s face. He was still shaking, mumbling to himself. It made him compliant, like he expected to be caught. Like he had prepared himself to be caught.

“Call 9-1-1!” Officer Hall screamed at us, all the while speaking rapidly into his phone for back-up while he kept a knee pressed into Mike’s back. I was shocked, speechless, completely unhelpful. Rico, realizing this, pulled out his phone. My eyes wouldn’t wander from Emma.

She was pale and grey, not like the time when she had been abusing the pills. This was worse. Her head was bleeding just above her eye, and it was all swollen and purple and blue. I was afraid to look at her wrist, to find what I knew would be there.

“Ambulance is on the way,” Rico murmured, coming back to stand beside me. I was frozen, immobile. Was this a dream? No. It was happening . . . Right? I couldn’t tell anymore.

Rico picked up her wrist, turning it over. I saw him wince. “You have to look at this, man.”

I clenched my fists. “No.”

“He shot her up,” he continued, oblivious to my physical state of anguish seeing her in this way. “There must be ten needle pricks here.”

“Don’t tell me that,” I croaked helplessly. “Don’t tell me that, man.”

Everything that happened when the ambulances arrived was a blur. They strapped Emma up and took her away. Her father went with her, on the phone with different people. I was pretty sure he was speaking with Emma’s mother for most of it. Mike was taken into custody. After everybody had cleared out, I sat on my knees before the table, the dried blood spots—knowing they were Emma’s—making my stomach turn with nausea.

“You okay, Rhys?”

“No,” I answered truthfully. “I’m not.”

“She’ll be okay,” Rico tried to comfort me, patting my shoulder. “The doctors can help her.”

I shook my head. “Do you remember Andrew?”

Rico smirked. “Hard to forget that ass-face.”

I didn’t even crack a smile. “You remember his issue, don’t you? His parents left him on the streets and he nearly got taken out in gang violence. He used to shoot up on a regular basis.”

“Rhys . . .”

“Do you remember what happened?”

Rico let out a long breath. “Not really. I’ve blocked a lot of things from my mind.”

“He got carried away,” I answered for him. “Got all shot up in the bathroom. He had just as many needles as I see on this floor right now.”

Rico shook his head. “Don’t do this to yourself, Rhys.”

“Why? I’m just being realistic.” My eyes slipped closed. I leaned my head against the cold table. “He didn’t come back,” I finished hoarsely. “He crashed and they couldn’t bring him back. What if they can’t bring Emma back?”

“Dude your pessimism is killing me. What if they can?”

And that was the problem.

There was no way to know.

~*~

I couldn’t go by and see Emma. Not yet, at least. So I dropped Rico off at his place and travelled back down to the station. When I walked through the doors I saw Emma’s mom sitting in a stiff chair, tears rolling down her face. Officer Hall was crouched by her, whispering things to her.

Everything felt surreal. It didn’t feel like I was in my body. The events happening around me were blurry and hazy, muffled, like I had a pillow over my head. I watched a couple officers walk by with a guy between them. Upon closer inspection it was Mike.

Our eyes met across the ten-foot distance.

He smirked. She’s dead he mouth, looking smug and satisfied with himself. I growled, seeing red.

“You son of a bitch!” I shouted, lunging for him. I took the officers by surprise, managing to rip Mike away and throw him against the wall. Before I could get in a good punch, hands wrapped around my arms, hauling me back. The officers yanked Mike away from me and shoved him down a narrow hall.

“Get ahold of yourself, Rhys,” Officer Hall demanded.

“I wanna kill him,” I seethed. “I want to kill him so bad.”

“You’re not the only one, Mr. Richardson.” He let me go. “But he’s in our custody and the best we can do is put him away for life.”

That didn’t seem like enough.

Nothing for that bastard would be enough.

“He shot Emma up,” I stated. “Did you see how much heroin was in that room?”

At my words Mrs. Hall broke out in even more violent sobs. The officer pulled me aside. “Yes,” he hissed. “I’m quite aware of everything I saw in that room and I would ask that you not blurt out such things in front of my wife.”

I wasn’t sorry. It was hard to be sorry when you weren’t feeling anything. “My bad.”

He pinched the bridge of his nose. “We have him, Rhys. There’s nothing else we can do but wait and see when Emma wakes up.”

I stared down at my feet. “What if she doesn’t?”

I heard him walking away. “Keep praying that she does.”