Page 18 of A Fighting Chance

A startled yelp escapes me as I jump to my feet. When I turn around, I find Kristoff standing there frowning at me. Zeus is right beside me in an instant, pressing his weight against my leg.

“He’s not dangerous,” I reply when I finally have my pulse under control. “And there is no one else here.”

Kristoff looks around the park before smiling at me. “Seems we are alone. At last.” He removes a gun from behind his back, letting it rest at his side. “It didn’t have to be like this, you know?”

My blood is cold as it flows through my veins. I’m not sure what the hell is going on here, but I do know I am in serious shit. My phone is in my hand. I was busy texting Ali, trying to get him to join us. Fumbling around I hope I hit the call button.

“What is going on Kristoff?” I ask keeping my voice even.

“I saw you at the fight last week,” he smiles. “So beautiful, so radiant. I knew I had to have you. But then you choose that piece of shit Alistair over me!”

His voice has gone up an octave and there is something else in his eyes. Something that makes my skin crawl.

“Kristoff,” I start but he waves the gun in my direction.

Zeus growls lowly and the gun is instantly aimed at him. Panic overwhelms me and I try to step between them. “Please don’t,” I beg, dropping my phone to the ground and holding my hands in the air.

“Tie him up!” Kristoff yells at me, throwing the leash I had left on the bench at me, but I accidentally drop it.

Reaching down to pick it up I see that my call has indeed gone through and pray that Alistair is listening to every word. Looping the leash around the frame of the jungle gym I clip it onto Zeus collar. A whine escapes him as I move toward Kristoff.

“I don’t know what you want from me, Kristoff.” My voice is calm and controlled, but on the inside, I am nothing but pure panic. My knees feel weak beneath my weight, and I pray that they don’t give out.

“I wanted you!” he yells and Zeus barks pulling at the leash. “But you gave yourself to him. I fucking saw you!” Kristoff is clearly not in his right mind. Each word is yelled louder, and he keeps swinging the damn gun around. “I would have been good to you but now I just want to make both of you as miserable as I am.”

Chapter Eleven

Alistair

Music plays in the background as I work on the arm of a boy who just finished high school with my brother Damian. The piece is intricate, and I clear my mind of everything else, staying focused solely on what I am doing.

My phone has made shrill sounds from inside the drawer twice now and although I want nothing more than to grab it, I remain focused.

When it rings, I stop what I am doing and shut down my machine and lower the music. “Why don’t you take five minutes?” I ask my client.

“Sounds good. I need to hit the head anyway.”

Pointing him in the right direction I grab my phone and smile when I see Mercedes’s face lighting up my screen.

“Hey Babe.”

I wait a moment, but she doesn’t reply. Did she accidentally dial me? Just as I am about to hang up and call back, I hear a man’s voice and my blood runs cold as ice.

“Tie him up!” the man yells. My chair clatters as it falls over when I jump to my feet.

A moment later I can hear Mercedes. “I don’t know what you want from me, Kristoff.” Her voice is calm, but I can hear the fear she is trying to hide.

Kristoff.

I will fucking kill him with my bare hands if he so much as touches her.

“I wanted you!” he yells, and I hear Zeus bark in the background. “But you gave yourself to him. I fucking saw you!” I feel sick to my stomach, knowing that he watched us together. How did I miss this? “I would have been good to you but now I just want to make both of you as miserable as I am.”

Keeping the phone pressed close to my ear, I storm through the shop and out the door. I hear Malichai call out to me, but I am not stopping for anything. I fling myself into the front seat of my truck and thank God it looked rainy this morning. The Harley wouldn’t have been any help in this kind of situation. My cell phone automatically connects to Bluetooth, and I hear a pained cry escape from Mercedes.

“Where are you taking me?” Her voice is moving further away from her phone. “I can’t just leave Zeus tied up here, in the park!”

Smart girl. I know exactly where she is.