Deep Waters

Chapter Fifty-Five

Fortunately, later than sooner, the boys finally arrived and broke the awkward silence between me and the man who had recently attacked me. "This is bad," Andre commented as he yanked the man's wrists behind his back and tightened cuffs around each of them. I was assuming he meant the fact that this meant Charles knew where I was. I mean he had just stated the obvious, but honestly, I wasn't even surprised that Charles had already found me. He's always one step ahead of us.

As Andre pulled the man to his feet, earning a pained cry from his throat, Kason walked up to me with that familiar concerned look in his eyes. His hands found my cheeks as his gaze scanned my whole body for injuries. Once I seemed in the clear, he noticed the gun still being gripped in my hand. "Dang, this is bad," Jay spoke up. My attention transferred to him and I hardly noticed Kason taking the gun out of my hand, only to hold it himself.

"That was said already," I mentioned. It was obviously brought up the first time, much more the second.

Jay shrugged and moved to follow his father toward the woods to help him pull along the limping man. "It seemed worth repeating."

With the handgun in one hand, my boyfriend grabbed my palm in his other and started dragging me along the path behind the rest of them. "Where's Shanice?"

"At the house waiting for the police." Kason's gaze lingered on the injured man far ahead of us. Jay had caught up and was carrying most of his weight with the help of Andre to make traveling on foot easier for him. "You shot him?" His voice was quieter than before. I knew that he already knew the answer to that question. so I wasn't exactly sure why he asked it. A hint of shock concealed his face. and I knew he was probably just as surprised as I was that I had indeed shot a man. Though it wasn't a lethal shot. He'd be fine other than getting a nasty scar.

"I kind of had to," I ended up replying, leaning into his upper arm as we walked.

An exhale loudly escaped his lips. "I have to say, Charles sure sent a big, buffy man to get you," he commented with a sly smile. "He probably didn't think you could handle yourself against him."

I rolled my eyes, but I knew he was actually probably right. "Well, I did handle myself against him and I'd say I did it with flying colors." I chuckled and nudged him lightly in his side with my elbow. "Thanks to you, I guess," I played.

My boyfriend cheered and I could see the pride clothing his wide grin. "My training had really done you well so far."

"Yeah. It has."

#

I sat on the front porch with my cellphone in my hand while I watched Kason and Andre talk to the police. Jay would be over there with them but he was currently inside with his mom. Shanice was quite emotional at the moment. Apparently watching a stranger attack your son's friend and then seeing that same man get shot in the leg by said friend, wasn't something that was easily observed by everyone. Me not being very bothered by it just showed how much I was used to it I guess.

"How are you and Miles holding up?" I asked into my cellphone.

"As well as we could be I guess," Olivia answered. She explained to me that she had accepted the incident involving Charles and her parents, but it didn't make it any easier. She still had to get used to the fact that they weren't around when she needed them. "Miles has been burying his face deep into work," she told me. "He's determined on getting revenge...Have you talked to him any lately?"

Shaking my head, I told her no. Isn't it weird how we subconsciously move our heads in responses on the phone even though the people on the other end clearly can't see us? "Not for a while."