Come Back to Me

Chapter 49

I ripped the letter out of Melody's hand, ignoring her sputtering apologies and babbling, pathetic explanations of what had happened. I didn't care. She could sit on that couch, with her tears and snot running down her pretty face, repeating her pleas for forgiveness for as long as she wanted. It wouldn't do her any good. Whatever she had done had resulted in Beth being taken.

The letter said exactly what I thought it would, which is why I sprinted upstairs before I even finished it.

Stephen had accomplished what he had been threatening and taken Beth.

My fierce best friend was in the hands of a madman, enduring things it would do no good to imagine, all because he couldn't get what he wanted. He was forcing my hand.

I crashed into Mal's bedroom, heading straight for his closet. Someone was chasing after me. It didn't matter. Nothing mattered other than doing what Stephen wanted. I had to save Beth.

The letter was simple enough. Meet him at the Frog Pond tonight at 9 pm. Come alone. I'd trade myself for Beth.

I slammed my hand down on top of Mal's dresser and let loose a long, pained yell. It was frustration, anger, worry, doubt - every emotion I'd ever felt from the time I met Stephen to this instant. It was stupid to date him. Dumb to stay with him. Reckless to brush off his first acts of obsessive behavior. Careless not to take his early threats seriously. And there was only one person to blame.

All of this was my fault.

It was up to me to fix it.

I wiped at my tears angrily. There was no time for weakness. 

Right as I gripped the top of the dresser to open the lid, Noah and Walker stepped into the closet with me.

Noah sighed. "Reggie, what do you think you're doing?"

I whirled on him. "Don't you dare talk to me like that!"

I threw the crumpled letter at him and went back to Mal's dresser. I knew nothing about guns. Which one should I choose? I needed something large enough to inflict a lot of damage but not so big that I wouldn't be able to wield it effectively. Or hide it. Shit, I didn't even know how to load one.

Refusing to look like a fool, I grabbed one of the smaller handguns, surprised at its weight. It fit my hand pretty well.

"Have you ever used a gun?" Walker quietly walked up to my side and removed the gun from my hand. Before I could protest, he traded it for the smaller one. "35mm. The 9mm is a great choice and would do more damage, but for someone who isn't as experienced, the thirty-five is better."

"I want to do a lot of damage."

His lips quirked. "If you aim that thirty-five correctly, you'll do enough."

"Teach me."

Walker stepped back, and I noticed he had the letter. He held it up. "I need to coordinate a few things for tonight. I'll leave the teaching up to Noah."

He nodded at Noah as he exited the small space. I turned to Noah, expecting him to start lecturing me about how I didn't need a gun.

"This will make you feel better?" When I nodded, he glanced down at the weapon. "Okay, basics first." He took it from me.

"This is a Glock 43. They don't have a single safety that you can just flip on and off. Keep your finger off the trigger until you need to shoot. The safeties disengage as soon as you pull the trigger. Now, you need to know how to check if it's loaded."

Stepping closer, he held the gun in front of him so I could clearly see what he was doing. "There's no magazine in this right now, but there could still be a bullet in the chamber. You pull this slide back and push this side lock button up. It'll stay in the locked position, and then you can look here to see if there's a bullet. This one is empty."