Forrester threw his legs over the side of the bed. He tried to stand but he couldn’t. He sat on the bed and tried to look as confident and tough as he could. He wasn’t sure if Gris had seen that he couldn’t stand up.
Gris was sneering, towering over him in the tiny cell.
“I’m going to take Elle back where she belongs,” Gris said.
“You so much as lay a hand on her, and you’re going to regret the day to the end of your life,” Forrester said.
“And who’s going to make me? You?”
“That’s right, me,” Forrester said.
At that moment, Gris threw a punch. Forrester dodged, leaning back, his ribs burning with agony. Gris’s fist flew in front of his face, harmless in the air, and Forrester grabbed it and yanked the wrist backward. Gris grunted in pain and lunged toward Forrester. Forrester tried to rise up and get out of the way but his body refused to obey. The cracked ribs needed time to heal. He leaned back but Gris landed on him painfully. He punched Gris twice in the face but as soon as Gris’s knee landed on his broken ribs, he knew the fight was over. He almost blacked out from the pain.
Gris noticed and capitalized on his advantage, punishing Forrester’s already damaged rib cage with a flurry of powerful punches. Each punch further damaged the broken ribs, causing agony in every nerve of Forrester’s body.
Gris got back to his feet and looked down at Forrester. Forrester had to struggle just to remain conscious.
“I’m going to fuck you up so bad, you’re not even going to remember your name,” Gris said.
And then the heel of his boot struck Forrester’s ribs. Forrester tried to grab it but he was losing control of his muscles. He looked up and saw the lightbulb of the cell above him. Then Gris’s face. Then everything went black.
He couldn’t see, but he hadn’t fully lost consciousness. Gris kicked him repeatedly, in the ribs, in the chest, in the face. Forrester was powerless to protect himself.
Through the fog of pain he heard the sheriff’s voice.
“Enough, Gris. You’re going to kill him.”
“I want to kill him.”
“Not in my jail, you don’t.”
“Well then, at least let me make sure he doesn’t follow me.”
“Follow you?”
“I’m taking the bitch home, where she belongs, and I need to know no one’s coming after her.”
Forrester felt a merciless kick from Gris’s boot strike him in the face, and then he blacked out for real. It would be days before he regained consciousness.
Chapter 32
Elle
IT WAS JUST GROWING DARK when Elle saw the headlights pull into the lot of the diner. She recognized them instantly as Gris’s. She knew those headlights intimately. She’d watched them, in despair, every night for the past few years as they pulled into the driveway of her home with Gris. He’d wasted no time getting his car fixed.
“He’s here,” she said.
Kelly and Grace both stopped what they were doing and looked up at her. There were no customers in the place.
“Don’t worry,” Grace said. “He can’t do anything to you. Not while we’re here.”
“You’re not alone,” Kelly said. “We’ve got your back, Elle.”
Elle nodded nervously. She prayed her friends were right. They didn’t know Gris like she did. They didn’t know the violence he was capable of. Her biggest fear wasn’t even for herself. Gris was her problem and she knew she’d have to deal with him. Her biggest fear was that she’d drag Kelly and Grace into her world, and that they’d end up getting hurt too. She couldn’t allow that to happen. Grace was getting on in years, and Kelly was looking after her brother.
Gris was alone. He pushed the door open forcefully and came inside. The three women watched him from the kitchen as he made his way to the counter and took his seat.
Kelly made to go serve him but Elle stopped her.
“No,” she said. “Leave this to me. He’s my burden to bear.”
“The hell he is,” Kelly said. “You left him. He’s got nothing to do with you anymore.”
Elle smiled but couldn’t let Kelly take the heat in her place.
“I’ll go,” she insisted, “but I’m more grateful than you can know.”
Elle walked up to the counter as confidently as she could.
“What can I get you?” she said, as if she’d never met Gris before in her life.
Gris just smiled at her.
“It’s nice to see you too, honey.”
“Don’t call me that,” Elle said.
“That’s not what you were saying a few days ago. Come on, babe. Don’t treat me like that.”
“Either order something, or leave,” Elle said. “I’m not your honey.”
“Fine, I’ll have a coffee,” Gris said.
Elle put a mug in front of him and poured the coffee. For a second, her mind flashed back to the time, just a few days earlier, when she’d been pouring Forrester his coffee. He’d reached out and touched her. It had been a real moment, something true and from the heart. This was nothing like that.