Page 149 of Run
“Something wrong?” Lena asks.
“I have some missed calls and messages from Ari.” Pulling up her text first, my pulse spikes.
I have to pick Lena up from her house. Listen to your voicemail …
“Uh, Lena, did you talk to Ari today?” I dial my voicemail.
She pulls her head back, eyebrows pinched together. “No, I told you, I haven’t talked to her in a while.”
I hold the phone up to the side of my head, putting a hand against my other ear to make sure I hear her message clearly.
“Oh, hey. Hi. Um … it’s Ari. Obviously … This is possibly the first time I have ever left you a voice message and it’s weird as shit.”Come on, Ari, get to the point …
“Anyway, Lena texted me. She needs to be picked up at the house because her car won’t start and she’s scared Axel’s going to come back.”
My eyes shoot up to Lena standing in front of me, and my insides tighten as I recall seeing her car in the parking lot.
“Where’s your phone?” I bark at Lena, as Ari goes on about waiting on the road, or something along those lines. “Yourphone, Lena. Where is it?” I hear Ari tell me she loves me at the end of her message.
“I forgot it at home today. Why?”
Before I can even register the look of confusion on her face, I’m running out of the pub, pulling my helmet over my head. I jump on the Ducati, kick the engine to life, and peel out of the lot. Car horns beep and brakes squeal as I cut through traffic, my mind going a mile a minute. Weaving in and out of vehicles, I start flying down the parkway once I leave the city, pushing the speed of the bike until it’s vibrating under my hands and legs. The sun is setting quickly and the cold air bites at the skin on my bare arms and through the cotton of my shirt. I turn onto the backroads and continue as fast as I can go while still controlling the motorcycle.
Axel lured Ari to him. And if they’re alone, I know what that means. And for once in my life, I’m glad to know just how much she can take.
Just hang on a little longer, Red. I’m almost there …
I turn onto our old street and tear down the road, passing Fonz’s childhood home in a blur. Lena’s property comes into focus and the first thing I see is Ari’s car with the door open. I turn into the driveway so fast that I skid and have to leap off the bike as I come to a stop, letting it fall to its side. I notice Ari’s car is still running as I pass it, tearing my helmet off and casting it to the side.
“Ari!” I approach the door to the side of the house, but something stops me in my tracks. A feeling. I turn my head, then my body, and my legs take me around the side of the house, toward the garage. Gravel crunches loudly under my boots as I turn the corner, and freeze when I hear whistling. My eyes swing up to see Axel standing inside the garage. His back is to me as he begins to speak.
“You always did come running for her.”
He turns and looks at me, wiping his hands on a towel, and I take him in. He doesn’t look much different than he did when we were young. His black hair has some gray in it, and it’s overgrown a little, but he’s clean-shaven. He’s still a big motherfucker. A dirty white T-shirt is stretched over his torso, and his black shop pants are ripped and faded, but they hug his muscular thighs.
I open my mouth to call for Ari again, but choke on my words when I realize the towel he’s holding is stained with blood.
“You’ve grown into quite the beast, boy.” Axel looks at his hands as he continues to wipe them clean. “That how you were able to trash my house so easily?”
“Where is she?”
He shrugs.
“I swear to God, asshole, I will kill you with my bare hands.”
This time he chuckles. “Oh, relax.” He tosses the towel onto the workbench, and I notice a bloody screwdriver. I suck in a strangled breath as a horrible thought runs through my mind. “Oh, don’t worry about that,” Axel says. “It’s not what you think.” Turning, he shows me his side. “I’m the one who got speared.” He runs a hand over a bloody spot on his shirt that looks like he was stabbed. “She’s still a feisty little thing, I’ll give her that.”
“Where is she?” My voice is louder now.
Axel waves a hand in the air. “She’s around here somewhere. She crawled off after she got me with the screwdriver. I was giving us both time to recoup before our next round. But now that you’re here, let’s just cut to the chase.”
“What does that even mean? What could you possibly want from Ari now?”
“I don’t want anythingfromher. I just want her to keep coming around. She’s my daughter. She belongs here with me.”Something catches my eye as I shake my head at the villain standing before me, and I force myself not to look to the side.
“All you ever did was hurt her.” When Axel turns and takes a few steps toward his workbench, I risk a glance to the side of the garage where I see Ari’s leg slip out from behind Axel’s car, then disappear as she pulls it back in.
“Haven’t you ever heard of tough love?” The volume of Axel’s voice pulls my attention back to him. He’s leaning on the workbench, hands spread far apart, head hanging between his shoulders. He bangs his hands on the hard surface once before turning around and looking at me. “All I ever did was try to toughen her up. She was cast aside right from the start, from someone who was supposed to love her the most. If that isn’t a bitch, well, I don’t know what is. I tried to show her that Lena and I, we picked her. We chose to take care of her, to make her our family.”
