Read ALL THINGS PRETTY PART TWO for Free Online Page B

only leverage
either of them had on me was Tommi and Travis.   Now I’m in control.
    “Throw the gun to me. Get on the ground, face down, hands
behind your head.”   Resigned, the
teacher does as I say.   I feel
Barber start to squirm again beneath me, no doubt waking from the elbow to the
face he got less than a minute ago.   With my knee, I kick him in the ribs.   Then, as his body folds in on itself, I
meet his face with my elbow again. Blood spurts from his wrecked nose and his
head lolls to one side.
    “Tommi,” I say as I roll Barber onto his belly.   “Get the gun. Travis, find me something
to tie these two up with.”
    Before any of this takes place, though, I hear a sudden
bang, like a door being thrown open. It’s followed by the loud order to, “Drop
it!”
    I don’t even have to turn around to know it’s the
cavalry.   There’s not a criminal in
history that can effectively master that command like an officer of the
law.  
    “Don’t shoot. I’m a cop.”   I raise my hands, letting my gun fall
around my trigger finger like Chaps did.   Slowly, I stand and turn around.   Poised just inside the door are two cops, dressed in gear that tells me
they were ready to storm this place the minute I texted it in. Black from head
to toe, Kevlar vest, face protection, assault rifles at the ready–they’re
prepared for war.   Behind them, I
see four more filing in. There are probably more outside, posted in different
positions surrounding this place.   “Damn
it’s good to see you boys!”
    “On your knees!”
    I do as I’m told.   I know they have to subdue us all until they can confirm who I am. I
smile as one of the men quick-steps toward me to kick
my gun away.   I’m in the home
stretch.
    It’s not until they haul me up by my cuffed hands that I
look around and am reminded of the emptiness of the room again.   My satisfaction is somewhat muted.  
    Shit!   I just hope all this wasn’t for
nothing.  
     

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE- TOMMI
     
    I’ve had so many nightmarish days in my life.   There have been days of death and
violence, blood and crime, loss and grief, but somehow I’ve weathered it
all.   Never have I felt like dying
would be a blessed relief.  
    Until today.  
    Today, I experienced more freedom and more betrayal than
I’ve ever known. Today, I experienced the love I’ve always craved and the
heartache I’ve always dreaded.   Today, I experienced truth and lies, sacrifice and selfishness, bliss
and desperation, and it’s tearing me apart.  
    I had Sig.   His
love, his trust, his understanding, and for a few minutes, I had hope.   Real hope.   But then, with just a few sentences, it
was ripped cruelly from my grasp, from my heart. Now I’m left with the tattered
remains of a life that I hated and a future that’s questionable at best.   And pain.    A lot of pain.
    As I sit at the police station, locked in an interrogation
room, wondering what’s happening with my brother, I fight back tears.   I don’t often allow myself the luxury of
tears, or of feeling sorry for myself, but right now I don’t think I can fight
either one.   All that I’ve done to
keep my brother with me, all that I’ve done to pave the way for a better life
for us, was a waste.   It was all for
nothing.   Here we are, separated,
staring down the barrel of disaster, just like I’ve worked so hard to avoid.   All because I trusted. I trusted someone I shouldn’t and it bit me in the butt.   Just like I knew it would.
    Thinking of Sig, of his betrayal steals my breath.   The ache in my chest is so poignant, I
lean forward in my chair, resting my forehead on the edge of the cool, metal
table, praying that the pain will go away.   To think, I was on the verge of telling him that I love him.   That would’ve been the cream on top of an
already epic fail of a day.  
    But I didn’t, I didn’t tell him. At least I’ll have my
pride–or a little of it, anyway–to keep me