I smile to myself. “Same.”
“Where are you now?”
“In the basement. Awaiting my punishment. I think he’s lost his mind.”
“You didn’t tell me he was hurting you like that,” he mumbles.
“What could you do? I thought coming back here would make it all stop. I thought he’d give you Ziggy and Michelle and you could go on with your life. I’m so naive when it comes to your worlds.”
“You’re innocent. There’s nothing wrong with that. If I wanted a hard ass biker chick, then I’d take someone like Pinky,” he says and I laugh.
“Pinky would kick your ass into shape,” I say fondly. “Listen, if Reggie hurts me, if it all goes wrong, you have to help Eva get Malia for me. You can’t let him raise her,” I say seriously.
“Shit, Anna, it won’t come to that. The police are tailing his trucks. They’ll arrest him.”
“No, they won’t.” I sigh. “Be realistic, Riggs. There’s videos on his phone of girls being hurt and taking drugs, but Crystal said that’s not enough. The blood-soaked towel isn’t enough. Marshall being beaten isn’t enough. They’ll never get anything to stick to him that will keep him inside. He’s gonna come home and hurt me. You have to prepare yourself and Eva for that.” I take the knife and slip it in the waistband of my shorts.
“No!” he growls. “I’ll call the mayor now and tell them he’s got you in the basement. That’s enough to get you out of there.”
“And then what? I got a court order before and he broke it. He’ll always come after me or Malia and I can’t spend the rest of my life running. I just need you to promise me that you’ll get Malia away from him.” He doesn’t reply. “Finn, please.”
“Fine,” he mutters. “I promise. But it won’t come to that. Somehow, I’ll get you out of there.”
I hear Reggie’s voice outside the basement door. “I have to go. He’s back,” I whisper.
“No, don’t hang up. Hide the cell,” he whispers. “I can track it.”
I glance around in a panic and then stuff the cell into my bra just in time as Reggie storms in. “Get up!” he yells, and I stand. “Your fucking boyfriend thinks I’m bluffing,” he shouts, grabbing my arm roughly. He drags me out of the room and through the house. “And now I have the cops on my ass.”
Outside, Crystal is holding Malia by Reggie’s car. “Get her in,” he growls.
“Where are we going?” I ask. Reggie opens the front passenger door and shoves me inside. Crystal fastens Malia into her car seat, then Reggie pulls Crystal towards him.
“Remember, when they come here, you tell them you know nothing. As far as you’re aware, we’re on a family day out.” She nods her head and he kisses her roughly.
Reggie wheel spins out onto the road and speeds along. “Reggie, where are we going?” I repeat. “Slow down, Malia’s in the car.”
“Your boyfriend tipped off the cops. They stopped my trucks and they’ll be looking for me soon.”
“So you’re on the run?”
“We’re gonna lay low for a while.” He moves in and out of traffic and I grip my seat. “I have someone on the way to bomb your little boyfriend’s den,” he adds and glances at me with a smirk. “One hour and he’ll be dust.”
“There’re kids there, and women. They’re all innocent in this.”
“Nobody’s innocent, Anna. They live there knowing that crime pays for their lifestyle and they make that choice to stay. You see me as the bad guy, but what he’s doing is the exact same, only he has the mayor backing him. He isn’t a nice guy just because he smiles and looks after his kid all by himself,” he says bitterly. “He sells drugs that get kids hooked. He’s responsible for the deaths of addicts too.”
“Please slow down,” I whisper.
“And he wants everything. Do you think he’ll be the same nice guy when he controls the streets on my side too? It’s a big job, Anna. He’ll have whores at his fingertips. He’ll soon forget about you.”
“Why are you running from the police? You always get out of things. There’s no way you’ll go to prison,” I say.
“Because, Anna, I have a trunk with enough drugs in it to make London look like a snowy Christmas scene . . . and a dead body.”
I whip my head to face him so fast that I hurt my neck. “A dead body?” I hiss. “Who the hell is in the trunk?”
“It’s a very long story, but let’s just say the mayor thinks his daughter has ran away with her boyfriend. Parental differences caused an argument.”
“Oh my god, you have the Mayor of London’s daughter in the fucking trunk of this car?” I almost scream. “Why?”
“It was a last-minute thing,” he says through gritted teeth. “I wasn’t thinking straight, and she ran out in front of my car.”
“You ran her over?” I ask.
“Not exactly, but I saw an opportunity.” He smacks the steering wheel a couple of times. “Fuck, fuck, fuck.” He’s unravelling. I’ve never seen Reggie in this state before.
Malia begins to cry, and I reach my hand behind the seat to stroke her leg. “You’re scaring Malia,” I hiss. “How did she end up dead?”
“She wouldn’t stop screaming and kicking the trunk. Everyone was looking as I drove past, so I strangled her.”
I bury my head in my hands. “Oh my god. What are you going to do with her now?”
“I’ve got somebody meeting me at the service station on the motorway.” He checks his watch. “Five more minutes and she won’t be my problem.”
“Where’s Stephan? I thought he was your right-hand man, but I haven’t seen him around in a while,” I ask.
His knuckles turn white as he grips the steering wheel tighter. “He left months ago. Took
